Breakdown of Нельзя брать выброшенные вещи.
вещь
thing
брать
to take (imperfective)
нельзя
one must not
выбросить
to throw away
Questions & Answers about Нельзя брать выброшенные вещи.
How is the participle выброшенные formed from the verb выбросить?
It is a past passive participle made from the perfective verb выбросить (to throw away). For verbs ending in -ить, the -и- changes to -е-, and we add the double -нн- suffix. This gives the stem выброшенн-, to which we add the plural ending -ые to match the noun.
What case is выброшенные вещи in here?
It is in the accusative plural. The verb брать (to take) needs a direct object in the accusative case. Since вещи (things) is an inanimate noun, its accusative plural looks exactly like its nominative plural. The participle выброшенные agrees with it and uses the matching -ые ending.
Why does this sentence use the imperfective verb брать (to take) instead of the perfective взять?
When the word нельзя means "it is forbidden" or "you must not do it", it is followed by an imperfective infinitive. If we used the perfective взять, the meaning of нельзя would change to "it is impossible" (meaning you physically cannot take them, rather than you are not allowed to).
I know the verb бросать means "to throw". How does it relate to выброшенные?
The participle выброшенные comes from выбросить, which is the perfective form of "to throw out". The prefix вы- usually means "out". So, while the root брос- relates to throwing, adding вы- gives us "to throw out" or "to throw away". Thus, выброшенные вещи are "thrown-away things" or "discarded items".
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