Breakdown of Lass bitte das Glas auf dem Tisch stehen.
Questions & Answers about Lass bitte das Glas auf dem Tisch stehen.
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.
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.