Breakdown of Den leeren Becher wirfst du bitte in den Mülleimer, nicht auf den Tisch.
der Tisch
the table
du
you
nicht
not
in
into
Questions & Answers about Den leeren Becher wirfst du bitte in den Mülleimer, nicht auf den Tisch.
Why does the sentence start with Den leeren Becher instead of the subject du?
German often moves something other than the subject to the first position for emphasis or contrast.
So:
- Den leeren Becher = the empty cup
- wirfst du bitte ... = are you throwing / throw please ...
Starting with Den leeren Becher puts focus on that object, almost like:
- The empty cup — please throw that in the trash, not on the table.
This is very natural in German. The verb still stays in the second position, which is why wirfst comes right after Den leeren Becher.
A more neutral version would be:
- Du wirfst den leeren Becher bitte in den Mülleimer, nicht auf den Tisch.
Both are grammatical, but the original emphasizes what should be thrown away.
Why is it den leeren Becher and not der leere Becher?
Because Becher is the direct object of the verb werfen, so it is in the accusative case.
Becher is masculine, so:
- nominative: der leere Becher
- accusative: den leeren Becher
That is why both the article and the adjective ending change:
- der → den
- leere → leeren
So the sentence is not saying the empty cup as the subject; it is saying the empty cup as the thing being thrown.
Why is the adjective leeren and not just or ?