Breakdown of Kannst du bitte Papier trennen und den Gelben Sack nicht einfach mit Restmüll füllen?
Questions & Answers about Kannst du bitte Papier trennen und den Gelben Sack nicht einfach mit Restmüll füllen?
Because Kannst du …? is a yes/no question form used as a polite request. In German questions, the conjugated verb comes first:
- Statement: Du kannst bitte Papier trennen. (less natural with bitte there)
- Request/question: Kannst du bitte Papier trennen?
In everyday speech, this question form often functions like Could you …? in English.
Papier trennen means to separate paper in the sense of sorting waste. In German-speaking countries, waste separation is common, so trennen is frequently used for sorting recyclables:
- Papier trennen = put paper into the paper recycling, not into general trash.
When talking about a material/category in general (paper as a type of waste), German often drops the article:
- Papier trennen = separate paper (as a category) You can say das Papier, but it often sounds more specific, like a particular batch of paper:
- Kannst du bitte das Papier trennen? = the paper (we have here)
Der Gelbe Sack (literally the yellow bag) is a well-known German waste-collection bag/container for packaging recyclables (depending on the region, often plastic/metal packaging). It’s a fixed term in Germany’s recycling system, so it’s capitalized like any noun phrase:
- der Sack = bag
- gelb describes it, but in the official/common name it’s written Gelber Sack / Gelbe Tonne.
Because Sack is the direct object of füllen (to fill), so it’s in the accusative case:
- Nominative: der Gelbe Sack
- Accusative: den Gelben Sack
Also, Gelben ends in -en because after den (a definite article), adjectives take the weak ending:
- den gelb-en Sack (masculine accusative)
Normally adjectives are not capitalized in German, but in names/labels of things (especially established terms), capitalization is common. Gelber Sack is treated like a proper/common-name label for that specific recycling bag system, so you’ll often see Gelber/Gelbe/Gelben capitalized.
In less “name-like” usage, you might also see lowercase, but Gelber Sack is very standard.
nicht einfach means not just / not simply / not carelessly. It adds the idea that the person is doing it in an overly simplistic way (dumping everything together):
- den Gelben Sack nicht einfach mit Restmüll füllen = don’t just fill the yellow bag with general trash
Because nicht is negating einfach (the manner: simply/just). German often places nicht directly before what it negates:
- nicht einfach = not simply/just
If you moved nicht, the focus could change. Here the speaker is mainly criticizing the “just dump it in” approach.
Because mit always takes the dative case. Here it means with (i.e., using residual waste as the content you fill it with):
- mit Restmüll = with general/residual waste
Restmüll is a mass/category noun, so it often appears without an article:
- mit Restmüll = with residual waste (in general)
The main verb is kannst (from können). The other verbs stay in the infinitive. With two coordinated actions connected by und, you get:
- Kannst du … [Infinitive phrase 1] und [Infinitive phrase 2]?
Here:
- Papier trennen (infinitive trennen)
- den Gelben Sack … füllen (infinitive füllen at the end of its phrase)
It’s normal that trennen appears earlier (right after Papier) while füllen comes at the very end of the sentence.
Kannst du bitte …? is polite for someone you address as du (friend, family, roommate). More formal options are:
- Könntest du bitte …? (a bit softer/more polite with du)
- Könnten Sie bitte …? (formal you, Sie)