Learn Hardcore Greek: Τα μπουκάλια και το χαρτί θα πεταχτούν στον κάδο ανακύκλωσης μετά την εκδρομή. - The bottles and the paper will be thrown into the recycling bin after the excursion.

The verb is from πετάω / πετώ (to throw).
The form πεταχτούν is the aorist subjunctive passive, 3rd person plural, which with θα is used as the simple future passive: they will be thrown.

So θα πεταχτούν = they will be thrown (once / as a single event).

Why is the passive θα πεταχτούν used instead of an active form like θα πετάξουν?

Θα πεταχτούν (passive) = they (the bottles and the paper) will be thrown.
Θα πετάξουν (active) = they will throw (someone/something).

Here we care about what happens to the bottles and the paper, not who is doing the throwing. Greek, like English, often uses the passive when:

The doer is obvious, not important, or not mentioned (e.g. the students, we, people in general).
The focus is on the objects affected.

So the sentence is naturally in the passive: The bottles and the paper will be thrown in the recycling bin…

Why is the verb plural (θα πεταχτούν) when το χαρτί is singular?

The full subject is:

Τα μπουκάλια (plural) και το χαρτί (singular)

Two nouns joined by και (and) together form a plural subject, so the verb must be 3rd person plural:

Τα μπουκάλια και το χαρτί θα πεταχτούν…
The bottles and the paper will be thrown…

If the subject were only το χαρτί, the verb would be singular:

Το χαρτί θα πεταχτεί… = The paper will be thrown…

Why is it τα μπουκάλια and not οι μπουκάλια?

Because μπουκάλι is neuter:

Singular: το μπουκάλι (the bottle)
Plural: τα μπουκάλια (the bottles)

Article patterns:

Masculine: ο / οι
Feminine: η / οι
Neuter: το / τα

So:

το μπουκάλι → τα μπουκάλια (neuter)
It cannot take οι, which is for masculine/feminine plurals.

Why is το χαρτί singular in Greek when in English we might say papers or waste paper?

In Greek, το χαρτί is often used as a mass noun, meaning paper as a material rather than countable individual sheets.

So:

Τα μπουκάλια (many separate items, countable)
Το χαρτί (paper as stuff/matter, treated as one mass)

If you specifically want sheets of paper, you could say:

Τα χαρτιά = the papers / the sheets of paper

Could we drop the articles and say Μπουκάλια και χαρτί θα πεταχτούν…?

You can say Μπουκάλια και χαρτί θα πεταχτούν…, but it sounds:

More general, like bottles and paper will be thrown… (not specific ones).
Less natural in this context, where we are usually talking about the bottles and the paper from the trip.

Greek uses definite articles much more than English. When the context is specific (e.g. “the things from the excursion”), the definite articles τα and το are normal and expected:

Τα μπουκάλια και το χαρτί θα πεταχτούν…

What is στον in στον κάδο? How is it formed and what case is it?

Στον is a contraction:

σε (in, to) + τον (the, masculine accusative singular) → στον

So:

σε + τον κάδο → στον κάδο

Case:

Κάδο is in the accusative (from ο κάδος).
After σε, the noun goes in the accusative: σε + accusative.

Meaning:

στον κάδο = into the bin / in the bin (here: into the recycling bin).

Why is it κάδο and not κάδος?

Dictionary form:

ο κάδος = the bin

That’s nominative singular. In the sentence, κάδο is the object of the preposition σε(→στον), so it is in the accusative singular:

Nominative: ο κάδος
Accusative: τον κάδο

Hence:

στον κάδο ανακύκλωσης = into the recycling bin

What does κάδος ανακύκλωσης literally mean, and why is ανακύκλωσης in the genitive?

Literally:

ο κάδος = the bin
η ανακύκλωση = recycling
ανακύκλωσης = of recycling (genitive singular)

So κάδος ανακύκλωσης = bin of recycling, i.e. recycling bin.

The genitive (ανακύκλωσης) is used like English of or like a noun modifier:

κάδος σκουπιδιών = bin of garbage / trash bin
κάδος ανακύκλωσης = bin of recycling / recycling bin

How is ανακύκλωση → ανακύκλωσης formed?

Base noun:

η ανακύκλωση (recycling) – feminine, ending in -ση

For feminine nouns in -ση:

Nominative: η ανακύκλωση
Genitive: της ανακύκλωσης

So the stem ανακύκλωση- + genitive ending -ς → ανακύκλωσης

In our sentence we drop the article της because it’s part of a noun–noun phrase:

ο κάδος της ανακύκλωσης (full phrase)
κάδος ανακύκλωσης (as a compact compound-like phrase)

Why does μετά take την εκδρομή (accusative) and not some other case?

In Modern Greek, μετά meaning after is followed by the accusative case:

μετά την εκδρομή = after the excursion
μετά το μάθημα = after the lesson
μετά τη δουλειά = after work

So:

η εκδρομή (nominative) → την εκδρομή (accusative)
Article changes: η → την

What is the nuance of εκδρομή here? Is it like trip, excursion, outing?

Η εκδρομή usually means:

A day trip, excursion, or outing, often organized:
- a school trip
- a group outing
- a short recreational trip

It’s not typically a long vacation or international trip (for that, Greek often uses το ταξίδι).

Can μετά την εκδρομή go at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Both are correct:

Μετά την εκδρομή, τα μπουκάλια και το χαρτί θα πεταχτούν στον κάδο ανακύκλωσης.
Τα μπουκάλια και το χαρτί θα πεταχτούν στον κάδο ανακύκλωσης μετά την εκδρομή.

Moving μετά την εκδρομή to the front slightly emphasizes the time (after the trip) but the meaning is the same.

How do you pronounce μπουκάλια, and what sound does μπ represent?

Μπουκάλια is pronounced approximately:

[buˈkaʎa] or more simply boo-KA-lya

Key points:

μπ at the beginning of a word = /b/ sound.
ου = /u/, like oo in food.
άλ is stressed: μπου-ΚΑ-λια (stress on ΚΑ).
λια is like lya, with a soft l-y sound.

So μπουκάλια ≈ book-AL-ya (with stress on AL).

Why does the passive form look like πεταχτούν with -χτ-, instead of something like πεταξτούν?

The active verb is πετάω / πετώ (to throw).
The passive uses a different stem:

Active aorist: πέταξα (I threw)
Passive aorist: πετάχτηκα (I was thrown)

So the passive stem is πεταχτ- (with χτ).
The 3rd person plural aorist subjunctive passive is:

(να) πεταχτούν = (that) they be thrown

With θα, this form gives the simple future passive:

θα πεταχτούν = they will be thrown

The χτ is just part of the passive stem of this verb.

What is the difference between θα πεταχτούν and θα πετιούνται?

Both are future passive, but with different aspect:

Θα πεταχτούν
– simple future passive (using aorist stem)
– one complete event: they will be thrown (once, at that time)
Θα πετιούνται
– continuous / repeated future passive (from present stem πετιέμαι)
– repeated or ongoing action: they will be getting thrown / will be thrown regularly

In this sentence, we talk about a specific future occasion (after the excursion), so θα πεταχτούν is the natural choice.