Breakdown of Lass bitte das Glas auf dem Tisch stehen.
dem
the; (masculine or neuter, dative)
der Tisch
the table
auf
on
das Glas
the glass
Questions & Answers about Lass bitte das Glas auf dem Tisch stehen.
Why is it Lass and not du lässt or lassen?
Lass is the informal singular imperative of lassen, used when speaking to one person you would call du.
So:
- lass = command to one person (du)
- lasst = command to more than one person (ihr)
- lassen Sie = formal command
Examples:
- Lass bitte das Glas auf dem Tisch stehen. = speaking to one person informally
- Lasst bitte das Glas auf dem Tisch stehen. = speaking to several people
- Lassen Sie bitte das Glas auf dem Tisch stehen. = formal
German imperatives usually do not include the subject pronoun unless you want special emphasis.
What does stehen lassen mean here?
Here stehen lassen means to leave something where it is or not move/remove it.
Literally, the parts are:
- stehen = to stand
- lassen = to let, allow, leave
Together, etwas stehen lassen often means:
- leave it there
- don’t take it away
- don’t move it
So in this sentence, the idea is not just that the glass is standing, but that the speaker wants it to remain on the table.