Đừng bỏ ớt vào nồi nhé.

don't

Breakdown of Đừng bỏ ớt vào nồi nhé.

• vào: into
• nhé: (softener)
• ớt: the chili pepper

Questions & Answers about Đừng bỏ ớt vào nồi nhé.

What does đừng mean here, and how is it different from không?

Đừng is used to tell someone not to do something. It is the normal word for a negative command:

• Đừng bỏ ớt vào nồi. = Don’t put chili into the pot.

By contrast, không is mainly used for negation in statements:

• Tôi không ăn ớt. = I don’t eat chili.

So in commands:

• Đừng + verb = Don’t ...

Using không instead of đừng here would sound unnatural for a direct command.

Why is bỏ used here? Doesn’t it also mean to leave or to throw away?

Yes — bỏ has several meanings, and that often confuses learners.

Common meanings of bỏ include:

• to put/add in
• to leave/abandon/quit
• to throw away

In this sentence, bỏ means to put / add something into something else:

• bỏ ớt vào nồi = put/add chili into the pot

This is very common in cooking language:

• Bỏ đường vào cà phê. = Put sugar in the coffee.
• Bỏ hành vào chảo. = Put onions in the pan.

So the meaning depends a lot on context.

What is the role of vào in this sentence?