Breakdown of Пожалуйста, не бросай мусор на улицу.
на
on
улица
the street
не
not
пожалуйста
please
бросать
to throw
мусор
the trash
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Questions & Answers about Пожалуйста, не бросай мусор на улицу.
What is the function and form of бросай?
It’s the second person singular informal imperative of the imperfective verb бросать, used here to tell someone “do not throw.”
Why is the imperfective verb бросать used instead of the perfective бросить in this prohibition?
The imperfective imperative expresses a general or habitual prohibition, i.e. “don’t ever do this.” A perfective imperative (не брось мусор на улицу) would forbid a single, one‐time action and is less common for general rules.
In which case is мусор, and why does it look like the nominative?
мусор is in the accusative case as the direct object of the verb. Because мусор is an uncountable (mass) noun, its accusative form is identical to the nominative.
Why is улицу in the accusative case with на?
When на indicates motion toward a destination, it requires the accusative case. Here на улицу means “onto/to the street.”
Why do we use на with улица instead of в?
Certain location words like улица conventionally pair with на for both static and directional senses (на улице, на улицу). в улицу sounds unnatural.
What role does пожалуйста play and can its position change?
пожалуйста means “please” and softens the prohibition. It can appear at the beginning or the end without changing the core meaning:
• Пожалуйста, не бросай мусор на улицу.
• Не бросай мусор на улицу, пожалуйста.
How would you address this prohibition formally or to a group?
Use the plural/formal imperative бросайте (second person plural):
Не бросайте мусор на улицу, пожалуйста.
Why is there no subject pronoun like ты before бросай?
In Russian the subject is often omitted because the verb ending (–ай) already shows it’s ты. Adding ты is possible for emphasis but not required.
Why is the negative particle не placed before the verb?
In Russian negative imperatives are formed by placing не directly before the verb, just as in other negated Russian verb forms.