Managing an unsustainable workload | Learn Danish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Jeg har været produktiv, men tempoet er ved at blive uholdbart.

   I have been productive, but the pace is becoming unsustainable.

   Jeg

   I

   har været

   have been

   produktiv

   productive

   men

   but

   tempoet

   the pace

   er ved at blive

   is becoming

   uholdbart

   unsustainable

   More detail

   Jeg is the first-person singular subject pronoun, meaning “I.” Danish uses jeg for the subject and mig for the object: Jeg ser ham means “I see him,” while Han ser mig means “He sees me.” The fixed sentence does not identify the speaker’s gender. har været is the perfect form of være (“be”): present-tense har plus the past participle været. With Jeg, this gives “I have been,” describing a state or situation extending up to the relevant present. Example: Jeg har været travl. — “I have been busy.” produktiv is the adjective “productive.” Here it is the common-gender singular form used predicatively with the speaker. The adjective, not Jeg, carries the form distinction: produktiv is common singular, produktivt is neuter singular, and produktive is plural or definite in relevant contexts. Example: Arbejdet er produktivt. — “The work is productive.” men connects two contrasting clauses and means “but.” It leaves the first clause valid while introducing a contrast: being productive is set against the pace becoming unsustainable. tempoet means “the pace.” Its base noun is tempo; tempoet is its singular definite form, “the pace.” Danish treats tempo as a neuter noun (et tempo), and the definite ending is part of the noun form. Example: Tempoet er højt. — “The pace is high.” er ved at blive is a reusable construction meaning “is becoming” here. It consists of present-tense er (“is”), ved at (“in the process of”), and the infinitive blive (“become”). The construction presents a change that is underway or approaching completion; it is not simply the adjective uholdbart by itself. Example: Vejret er ved at blive koldt. — “The weather is becoming cold.” uholdbart means “unsustainable” in this sentence. It is the neuter singular form of the adjective uholdbar, agreeing with the neuter noun tempoet; the adjective’s base is uholdbar, not tempo. Holdbar means “durable” or, in an abstract situation, “sustainable,” while the prefix u- gives uholdbar the opposite meaning. Example: Denne løsning er uholdbar. — “This solution is unsustainable.” Together, Jeg har været produktiv means “I have been productive.” men introduces the contrast, and tempoet er ved at blive uholdbart means “the pace is becoming unsustainable”: the pace is undergoing a change toward an unsustainable condition. The complete utterance is therefore: “I have been productive, but the pace is becoming unsustainable.”

2. Jeg sætter pris på, at du tager det op, før din præstation falder.

   I appreciate you raising it before performance drops.

   Jeg sætter pris på

   I appreciate

   tager det op

   raise it

   før

   before

   præstation

   performance

   falder

   falls; drops

   More detail

   Jeg sætter pris på is a reusable Danish way to say “I appreciate” or “I value.” The verb is sætter, the present form of sætte; in this fixed expression, sætter pris på is understood as one construction meaning to appreciate something. The construction can be followed by a noun phrase or by a clause introduced with at. Example: Jeg sætter pris på din hjælp. — “I appreciate your help.” tager det op means “raise it” here: bring an issue up for discussion. tager is the present form of tage (“take”), while det is the pronoun “it.” The meaning comes from the construction tage noget op, not from a literal physical lifting. With a noun, Jeg tager problemet op. means “I raise the problem.” før means “before” and introduces the event that happens earlier. In this sentence it connects du tager det op (“you raise it”) with din præstation falder (“your performance drops”). Example: Ring, før du går. — “Call before you leave.” præstation means “performance,” especially the quality or level of someone’s work or results. It is a common-gender singular noun; its indefinite form is en præstation, and its definite form is præstationen. With the possessive din, Danish uses din præstation without a separate article: “your performance.” falder means “falls” or “drops” here. It is the present form of falde (“fall”). Danish present-tense verbs do not change form for the subject’s number or grammatical gender, so falder is also used with plural subjects. Example: Temperaturen falder. — “The temperature drops.” Together, Jeg sætter pris på expresses appreciation, at du tager det op specifies what is appreciated—your raising the issue—and før din præstation falder gives the time relation: before your performance drops. The complete meaning is: “I appreciate you raising it before performance drops.”

3. Jeg kan fortsætte med at levere, hvis vi reducerer antallet af prioriteter.

   I can continue delivering, provided priorities are reduced.

   Jeg kan

   I can

   fortsætte

   continue

   levere

   deliver

   hvis

   if

   vi

   we

   reducerer

   reduce

   antallet

   the number

   prioriteter

   priorities

   More detail

   Jeg kan means “I can.” Jeg is the first-person singular subject, “I,” and kan is the present form of kunne, “can/be able to.” Danish modal verbs are followed by an infinitive without at: Jeg kan fortsætte = “I can continue.” fortsætte means “continue.” It is an infinitive here because it follows the modal kan. With an activity, Danish commonly uses fortsætte med at + infinitive: fortsætte med at levere means “continue delivering.” levere means “deliver” or, in this context, “provide the expected work or output.” It is an infinitive after at in med at levere. The same form can describe delivery more literally in another context, so the intended sense here comes from the sentence’s work-related meaning. hvis introduces a condition and means “if.” The clause after it states the condition under which the main clause applies. For example, Jeg kommer, hvis jeg har tid. means “I will come if I have time.” vi means “we.” It is the first-person plural subject of the conditional clause. Danish subject pronouns distinguish singular and plural here: jeg is “I,” while vi is “we.” reducerer means “reduce.” It is the present-tense form of reducere; Danish present-tense verbs do not change according to the subject’s person or number, so the same present form can occur with jeg, vi, or another subject. Here vi reducerer means “we reduce” or, in this condition, “we reduce.” antallet means “the number.” It is the definite singular form of antal, “number [of something].” The definite form points to the relevant number as a specific quantity; it does not itself name the items being counted. Danish commonly uses antallet af + noun for “the number of …”; here the following noun phrase identifies what is being counted. prioriteter means “priorities.” It is the indefinite plural of prioritet, “priority.” The plural indicates multiple priorities, but it does not state a particular numerical count. In antallet af prioriteter, it forms the reusable pattern “the number of priorities.” Together, Jeg kan fortsætte med at levere means “I can continue delivering.” hvis vi reducerer antallet af prioriteter adds the condition “if we reduce the number of priorities.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I can continue delivering, provided priorities are reduced.”

4. Vi er nødt til at skelne mellem presserende arbejde og arbejde, der primært udføres for synlighedens skyld.

   We need to distinguish urgent work from work done mainly for visibility.

   Vi er nødt til

   we need to

   skelne

   distinguish

   mellem

   between

   presserende

   urgent

   arbejde

   work

   primært

   mainly

   udføres

   is carried out

   for … skyld

   for the sake of

   synlighedens

   visibility

   More detail

   Vi er nødt til is a reusable Danish necessity construction: være nødt til at + infinitive means that the subject needs to or must do something. Vi is first-person plural, so the sentence presents the need as belonging to “we.” The infinitive marker at introduces the following verb. Example: Vi er nødt til at vente. — “We need to wait.” skelne means “distinguish” or “tell apart.” It is the infinitive after at; its present-tense form is skelner. Example: Det er vigtigt at skelne mellem fakta og vurderinger. — “It is important to distinguish between facts and assessments.” mellem means “between” and introduces the things being distinguished. Here, the two sides are the two kinds of arbejde that follow. The construction skelne mellem X og Y is a useful pattern for distinguishing X from Y. presserende describes something urgent. This adjective has the same written form with common-gender and neuter singular nouns, and also in the plural; the noun and the surrounding phrase determine the form in other adjective patterns. Here it modifies arbejde: urgent work. arbejde means “work.” It is a neuter noun: et arbejde is “a piece of work/job,” while the definite form is arbejdet and the plural is commonly arbejder. In this sentence it occurs on both sides of the distinction: first as urgent work, and later as work characterized by the relative clause. primært means “mainly” or “primarily.” It is the neuter singular form of the adjective primær, used here because it describes the action expressed by udføres through an adverbial form. It limits the purpose: the work is carried out mainly for visibility, not necessarily exclusively for that purpose. udføres means “is carried out” or “is performed.” It is the present passive form of udføre (“carry out, perform”), formed with -s; the active counterpart is udfører, as in De udfører arbejdet. — “They carry out the work.” The relative clause der primært udføres ... describes the second occurrence of arbejde. for ... skyld is a fixed pattern meaning “for the sake of ...” or “for ...’s sake.” The two parts are separated here by the noun phrase synlighedens: for synlighedens skyld. Example: Hun gjorde det for holdets skyld. — “She did it for the team’s sake.” synlighedens is the genitive form of synlighed, “visibility.” The ending -s marks the noun phrase as the possessor or specifying element in synlighedens skyld; it does not mean that visibility is a person. skyld in this fixed expression means “sake,” not blame or debt. Together, Vi er nødt til at skelne says “we need to distinguish,” and mellem presserende arbejde og arbejde, der primært udføres for synlighedens skyld identifies the two categories: urgent work, and work that is mainly carried out for the sake of visibility. The complete meaning is: “We need to distinguish urgent work from work done mainly for visibility.”

5. Nogle synlige opgaver bruger energi uden at ændre på resultaterne.

   Some visible tasks consume energy without changing results.

   Nogle

   some

   synlige

   visible

   opgaver

   tasks

   bruger

   use or consume

   energi

   energy

   uden at ændre på

   without changing

   resultaterne

   the results

   More detail

   Nogle means “some” here and is used with a plural noun. It does not state an exact number. Compare nogle opgaver (“some tasks”) with nogen opgave (“any/some task,” singular, in relevant contexts). Synlige describes opgaver as visible. Its base form is synlig; the adjective has forms such as synligt with a neuter singular noun and synlige with a plural or definite noun. Here synlige agrees with the plural opgaver. Opgaver means “tasks.” Its singular base noun is opgave, and opgaver is the indefinite plural. For example, Jeg har tre opgaver means “I have three tasks.” Bruger is the present-tense form of bruge, “to use.” In this sentence it has the context-specific sense “consume,” because energi is what is being used. Danish present-tense verbs do not change for the subject’s person or number: jeg bruger and de bruger both use bruger. Energi means “energy.” It is a mass-like noun here, so the sentence refers to energy generally rather than asserting a particular unit or amount. De bruger meget energi means “They use a lot of energy.” Uden at ændre på introduces an action that does not occur: “without changing.” Ændre is the infinitive form of “change,” and uden at is followed by an infinitive. Ændre på noget is a reusable construction meaning “change or alter something,” with på forming part of that construction. For example, Hun gik uden at ændre planen means “She left without changing the plan.” Resultaterne means “the results.” The noun’s singular base form is resultat; resultater is the plural, and the definite plural resultaterne adds the ending -ne. The definite form presents the results as identifiable in the situation; it does not by itself say whose results they are. Together, Nogle synlige opgaver gives “some visible tasks.” bruger energi says that these tasks use or consume energy, and uden at ændre på resultaterne says this happens without altering the results. The complete meaning is: “Some visible tasks consume energy without changing results.”

6. Så bør vi bevidst fjerne dem eller uddelegere dem.

   Then we should cut or delegate them deliberately.

   Så

   then

   bør vi

   we should

   bevidst

   deliberately

   fjerne

   remove

   dem

   them

   eller

   or

   uddelegere

   delegate

   More detail

   Så means “then” here and links this sentence to the preceding reasoning. It can also mean “so” in other contexts, but here it marks the resulting proposal. bør vi combines the modal verb bør with the subject pronoun vi. bør is the present form of burde and expresses what is advisable or what ought to happen; it is not a simple statement that something will happen. After a modal verb, Danish normally places the next verb in the infinitive without at: Vi bør fjerne ... means “We should remove ...”. vi means “we”; the sentence presents the action as a recommendation involving the speaker and others. bevidst means “deliberately” or “consciously”. It tells us that the choice to remove or delegate is intentional, rather than accidental. The adjective is bevidst; bevidst is also the corresponding adverbial form here. fjerne is the infinitive of the verb “to remove”. In this sentence, the fixed translation supports the practical sense “cut” or “eliminate”, not physical cutting. A useful pattern is fjerne noget — “remove something”. Example: Vi bør fjerne unødvendige trin. — “We should remove unnecessary steps.” dem is the object form meaning “them”. It refers to the plural items under discussion, supported by the translation and the preceding context about tasks. Danish distinguishes subject de (“they”) from object dem (“them”): De fjerner dem. means “They remove them.” eller connects alternatives and means “or”. It joins the two possible actions rather than adding both actions as required. The pattern A eller B presents a choice between A and B. uddelegere is the infinitive of “to delegate”. It means to assign responsibility for something to another person or group. Like fjerne, it follows the modal bør without at: Vi bør uddelegere opgaven. — “We should delegate the task.” Together, Så bør vi gives the recommendation “Then we should”; bevidst says the decision should be intentional; and fjerne dem eller uddelegere dem gives the two alternatives, “remove/cut them or delegate them.” The repeated dem is the shared plural object of the two coordinated verbs, so the complete utterance means: “Then we should deliberately cut or delegate them.”

7. Jeg ville også have gavn af tydeligere punkter, hvor vi stopper.

   I would also benefit from clearer stopping points.

   Jeg

   I

   ville

   would

   også

   also

   have gavn af

   benefit from

   tydeligere

   clearer

   punkter

   points

   hvor

   where

   vi

   we

   stopper

   stop

   More detail

   Jeg means “I” here: the speaker is the experiencer of the potential benefit. Danish personal pronouns distinguish forms such as jeg “I” and du “you”; jeg is the subject form used for the speaker. ville is the past-tense form of ville “want; would,” and here it expresses a hypothetical or politely framed result: “would.” Danish modal verbs are followed by an infinitive, as in ville have “would have.” også means “also” and adds this point to another relevant point. Its position immediately after ville gives the sentence the sense “would also …” rather than changing the basic meaning of the verb. have gavn af is a reusable expression meaning “benefit from” or “get use from.” The noun gavn means “benefit” in this expression, and af introduces what provides the benefit. The form have is the infinitive after the modal ville. Example: Jeg har gavn af klare regler. — “I benefit from clear rules.” tydeligere means “clearer.” It is the comparative form of the adjective tydelig “clear”: tydelig → tydeligere “clearer.” The comparison is with stopping points that are less clear, without specifying a particular standard or item of comparison. punkter means “points” here, specifically points or markers at which something can stop. It is the plural of the noun punkt “point.” Danish commonly forms this plural with -er: et punkt → punkter; the indefinite article et marks the noun as common-gender? No: punkt is a neuter noun, so its singular indefinite form is et punkt. hvor introduces the clause describing the points: “where.” It can introduce a relative clause referring to a place, point, or situation. In this sentence, it connects the points with the action that occurs at them. vi means “we,” the subject of the relative clause. Danish uses vi for the first-person plural subject; it does not change according to the gender of a noun nearby. stopper means “stop” here. It is the present-tense form of stoppe “to stop.” Danish present-tense verbs do not change for person or number, so the same form is used with jeg, vi, and other subjects: Vi stopper. — “We stop.” Together, ville også have gavn af says “would also benefit from.” The object of that benefit is tydeligere punkter, “clearer points,” and hvor vi stopper specifies them as points where “we stop.” The complete meaning is: “I would also benefit from clearer stopping points.”

8. Jeg kan definere kriterier for, hvornår hver aktiv opgave er afsluttet.

   I can define completion criteria for each active task.

   Jeg kan

   I can

   definere

   define

   kriterier

   criteria

   for, hvornår

   for when

   hver

   each

   aktiv

   active

   opgave

   task

   er afsluttet

   is completed

   More detail

   Jeg kan means “I can” here. kan is the present form of kunne, used for ability or possibility. After a modal such as kan, Danish uses the infinitive without at: Jeg kan definere = “I can define.” definere is the infinitive “to define.” Its present form is definerer: Jeg definerer kriterier = “I define criteria.” kriterier means “criteria” here and is the plural of kriterium. The useful form chain is et kriterium (one criterion), kriteriet (the criterion), kriterier (criteria), and kriterierne (the criteria). The plural form does not itself specify whether the criteria are definite; kriterierne marks definiteness. for, hvornår introduces what the criteria concern: the point or condition for when something is completed. hvornår is used for “when” in a question or an embedded question-like clause. Example: Jeg ved, hvornår mødet starter. — “I know when the meeting starts.” hver means “each” or “every” in a distributive sense. It normally goes with a singular noun: hver opgave = “each task.” This differs from alle opgaver, “all tasks,” which uses a plural noun. aktiv means “active” here. It is the common-gender singular form before opgave: en aktiv opgave. The related forms are aktivt with a singular neuter noun and aktive with plural or definite noun phrases, as in aktive opgaver — “active tasks.” opgave means “task” here. It is a common-gender noun: en opgave (a task), opgaven (the task), opgaver (tasks), and opgaverne (the tasks). In this sentence, hver opgave presents the tasks one at a time as members of the set being considered. er afsluttet means “is completed” here. er is the present form of være (“to be”), and afsluttet is the past participle of afslutte (“to complete” or “to finish”), used here to describe the resulting state. Example: Opgaven er afsluttet. — “The task is completed.” The singular form afsluttet is the same in this sentence for common-gender and neuter nouns; plural attributive forms can be afsluttede, as in afsluttede opgaver — “completed tasks.” Together, Jeg kan definere says that the speaker has the ability or possibility to define something. kriterier for, hvornår hver aktiv opgave er afsluttet specifies that these criteria concern the point or condition at which each active task is in a completed state. The whole utterance therefore means: “I can define completion criteria for each active task.”