Question 1

The verb отложи often means "to postpone" or "to put off." Why does it translate to "set aside" here?

Accepted Answer

The prefix от- conveys the idea of moving something away from a center or separating it. While it is very commonly used metaphorically for time (postponing an event), in this sentence it is used in its literal physical sense: taking physical objects (вещи) and moving them to the side.

Question 2

I learned that оставить means "to leave." Why is it translated as "to keep" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

In Russian, the concept of "keeping" a physical object is often expressed as "leaving it" (leaving it with yourself, or leaving it as it is). When you are sorting through items, to оставить them means you are not throwing them away, but leaving them in your possession. You also use the same root to tell a server to "keep the change" (оставьте себе).

Question 3

Since the current lesson covers universal pronouns, could I say Отложи всякие вещи, которые...?

Accepted Answer

You could, but it significantly changes the tone. Всякий means "any sort of" or "all kinds of." Saying Отложи всякие вещи implies you are setting aside a random, mixed-up variety of things. If you wanted to emphasize that you want to keep absolutely everything, you would use все вещи (all things) or каждую вещь (every single thing), rather than всякие.

Question 4

Why does которые take this specific case here?

Accepted Answer

Которые refers back to the plural noun вещи. In the second half of the sentence, this relative pronoun acts as the direct object of the verb оставить (you want to keep which items). Because вещи is an inanimate noun, the accusative plural form of the pronoun is identical to the nominative plural, resulting in которые.

Отложи вещи, которые ты хочешь оставить.

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