אל תזרוק את הבקבוק לפח הזה; אנחנו ממחזרים פלסטיק ונייר.

In Modern Hebrew, negative commands are usually formed with אל + future tense, not with the imperative form.

So:

• תזרוק = you will throw / you throw
• אל תזרוק = don’t throw

This is the normal way to say a negative command to one male person.

Compare:

• זרוק! = Throw!
• אל תזרוק! = Don’t throw!

So even though תזרוק looks like a future form, after אל it functions as a negative command.

תזרוק is the form used when speaking to one male person.

Here are the matching forms:

• אל תזרוק = don’t throw (to one male)
• אל תזרקי = don’t throw (to one female)
• אל תזרקו = don’t throw (to more than one person)

Hebrew marks gender and number in verbs much more than English does, so this is something learners notice quickly.

Here את is the direct object marker. It appears before a definite direct object.

So:

• הבקבוק = the bottle
• את הבקבוק = marks the bottle as the direct object of the verb

In English, there is no equivalent word, so it often feels strange to learners.

Compare:

• זרקתי בקבוק = I threw a bottle
• זרקתי את הבקבוק = I threw the bottle

Important: this את is not the preposition meaning with. Hebrew has two different words spelled את:

• את = direct object marker
• אֶת / אִת־ = with

In Hebrew, demonstratives like הזה (this, masculine singular) usually come after the noun.

So:

• הפח הזה = this bin / this trash can
• literally: the bin this

This is normal Hebrew word order.

A few examples:

• הספר הזה = this book
• הילד הזה = this boy
• הבקבוק הזה = this bottle

Notice that both the noun and the demonstrative are definite:

• הפח = the bin
• הזה = this

לפח is made of:

• ל־ = to / into
• פח = bin, trash can

So לפח means to the bin or into the bin, depending on context.

With a verb like throw, English usually prefers into the bin or in the trash, but Hebrew often uses ל־ in this kind of sentence:

• לזרוק לפח = to throw into the bin / to throw in the trash

So the Hebrew phrasing is natural even if the preposition does not match English exactly.

The correct phrase is לפח הזה.

Here is how it works:

• ל־ attaches to the noun: לפח
• the noun is definite because of הזה
• in Hebrew, a noun followed by this/that is understood as definite

So פח הזה by itself would be wrong, but הפח הזה is correct. After a prefix like ל־, the ה־ of the noun often disappears in form:

• הפח = the bin
• ל + הפח becomes לפח

Then you still have:

• לפח הזה = to this bin

This is a very common pattern:

• לבית הזה = to this house
• למקום הזה = to this place

Yes, Hebrew could omit אנחנו if the subject is clear from the verb.

• ממחזרים already means we recycle or they recycle, depending on context
• אנחנו ממחזרים explicitly means we recycle

Including אנחנו adds clarity or emphasis. In this sentence it helps contrast the idea:

• Don’t throw that bottle in this bin; we recycle plastic and paper.

So the speaker is stressing we as a group or household or workplace.

ממחזרים is the present tense plural masculine form of the verb למחזר (to recycle).

Breakdown:

• dictionary form: למחזר = to recycle
• singular masculine present: ממחזר = recycling / recycles
• singular feminine present: ממחזרת
• plural masculine/mixed: ממחזרים
• plural feminine: ממחזרות

So אנחנו ממחזרים means we recycle or literally we are recycling, depending on context.

Hebrew present tense is often built from a pattern rather than by simply adding endings to the infinitive, so it can look unfamiliar at first.

In Hebrew, the masculine plural is the default form for a mixed group or for a group whose gender is not specified.

So:

• אנחנו ממחזרים = we recycle (male group or mixed group)
• אנחנו ממחזרות = we recycle (all-female group)

This is standard Hebrew grammar. English does not mark this distinction, so it can feel unusual to native English speakers.

Because את is generally used before definite direct objects, and here פלסטיק ונייר are being used in a general, non-specific sense:

• פלסטיק = plastic
• נייר = paper

So the meaning is something like we recycle plastic and paper in general, not the plastic and the paper.

If the objects were definite, you would usually use את:

• אנחנו ממחזרים את הפלסטיק ואת הנייר = we recycle the plastic and the paper

In the original sentence, the more general version sounds natural.

Not always exactly, but it is a very common translation.

פח can mean:

• trash can
• bin
• garbage bin
• waste container

The best English translation depends on context. In this sentence, bin or trash can works well.

Also, in everyday Hebrew, פח is very common in practical instructions like:

• לזרוק לפח = throw in the trash
• פח מיחזור = recycling bin

The semicolon links two closely related ideas:

• Don’t throw the bottle in this bin
• we recycle plastic and paper

The second clause explains the first one. In English, you could also use:

• a period
• a dash
• because
• we recycle... so...

In Hebrew writing, the semicolon here is perfectly natural, especially in a clear written instruction.

Only the command part would need to change.

To one man:

• אל תזרוק את הבקבוק לפח הזה; אנחנו ממחזרים פלסטיק ונייר.

To one woman:

• אל תזרקי את הבקבוק לפח הזה; אנחנו ממחזרים פלסטיק ונייר.

To several people:

• אל תזרקו את הבקבוק לפח הזה; אנחנו ממחזרים פלסטיק ונייר.

The rest of the sentence can stay the same unless the speaker also wants to change we recycle to a specifically feminine plural form:

• אנחנו ממחזרות = we recycle (all women)

A natural pronunciation is:

Al tizrokh et habakbuk lapakh haze; anákhnu memakhzrim plastik veniyár.

A few notes:

• אל = al
• תזרוק = tizrokh
• הבקבוק = habakbuk
• לפח = lapakh
• הזה = haze
• אנחנו = anákhnu
• ממחזרים = memakhzrim
• ונייר = veniyár

The sound kh represents the throaty Hebrew letter sound in words like תזרוק, פח, and ממחזרים.