Breakdown of L'alluminio, lo gettiamo nel bidone giallo.
lo
him/it (direct object)
nel
in the (in + il) / while / upon (doing something)
giallo
yellow
il bidone
the bin, the trash can
l'alluminio
the aluminum (m)
gettare
to throw, to throw away
Questions & Answers about L'alluminio, lo gettiamo nel bidone giallo.
Why do we have both L'alluminio and lo in this sentence?
This is a structure called left dislocation. In Italian, when you want to emphasize the object of a sentence, you can pull it to the very front. However, when you do this, Italian grammar requires you to also include a pronoun—in this case, lo—right before the verb to refer back to that fronted object.
How do I know which pronoun to use before gettiamo?
The pronoun has to match the gender and number of the object you moved to the front. Since alluminio is a masculine singular noun, you must use the masculine singular direct object pronoun lo. If the sentence were about plastic (la plastica), you would use la instead: La plastica, la gettiamo nel bidone giallo.
Could I use buttiamo instead of gettiamo here?
Yes, absolutely! Both gettare and buttare mean to throw or to throw away. Buttare is actually more common in everyday spoken Italian, while gettare can sound slightly more formal, but they are completely interchangeable for talking about trash.
Why is it nel bidone instead of just in il bidone?
In Italian, when the preposition in is followed by a definite article like il, they must combine into one word called an articulated preposition. In plus il always becomes nel. You need the article here because you are referring to a specific yellow bin.
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