1

I've created this sign for a bathroom in a property that I rent out:

enter image description here

(And yes, before you ask - I have fished several such items out of toilets in the past.)

Is the wording correct? I'm particularly uncertain about не vs. нет, but any other pointers would be appreciated.

Edit: my apologies for not reading the site rules carefully, and thanks to those who provided constructive comments. As one of them is that I shouldn't have posted just an image, but rather the text, here it is:

Пожалуйста, поставьте только туалетную бумагу в туалете! не влажные салфетки детские салфетки бумажных полотенец пластик игрушки и т.п.

For comparison, I have the same sign (with the same layout) in some other languages, such as English:

Please put only toilet paper in the toilet! NO wet wipes baby wipes paper towels plastic toys etc.

...and so I'd like as much as possible to keep the same flow. If indeed it's not idiomatic Russian to give a list with не/нет followed by a number of items, then so be it. But I would wonder: you find, for example, apartment buildings in the U.S. that have such signs outside (NO in large type, followed by a list of things not to do: ball playing, loitering, etc.); are such signs unknown in Russia?

0

2 Answers 2

2

The phrase with NO will be

Запрещается + Inf.

Строго запрещается + Inf.

Запрещено + Inf.

Строго запрещено + Inf.

But bear in mind that is sounds very official and angry.

If you mean to be more friendly, you can use the following:

Просим не + Inf.

Просьба не + Inf.

Туалет is the room, while a toilet is унитаз.

Поставить в туалете means to put sth. that can stand in the restroom, e.g., a vase, or a toilet paper roll if you put it vertically on a shelf.

To put sth. in the toilet means бросать в унитаз, спускать в унитаз. That is to dump things there.

Бумажных полотенец has a different and wrong case. Бумажные полотенца.

2

I personally haven't come across signs in Russian designed in a model you mention. Rather it would be a simple enumeration of objects/activities with no fancy formatting.

As for the verbiage, the idiomatically Russian one would look something like the following:

Пожалуйста, бросайте в унитаз только туалетную бумагу!
НЕ БРОСАТЬ влажные салфетки, детские салфетки, бумажные полотенца, пластик, игрушки и т.п.

In case if by пластик you really mean plastic bags, then it needs to be replaced with целлофан.

To model the verbiage in the English style you propose

Пожалуйста, бросайте в унитаз только туалетную бумагу!
НИКАКИХ влажных салфеток, детских салфеток, бумажных полотенец, пластика, игрушек и т.п.

But in my opinion this is not formal enough for a sign if formality is important.

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.