Moving a Report Deadline | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich brauche mehr Zeit für den Bericht.

   I need more time for the report.

   brauche

   need

   mehr

   more

   Zeit

   time

   Bericht

   report

   More detail

   brauche is the first-person singular present form of brauchen, “to need.” The explicit subject is Ich, and the verb ending agrees with that first-person singular subject: Ich brauche ... = “I need ...”. Example: Wir brauchen Hilfe. — “We need help.” mehr means “more” and expresses a greater amount or degree. It is the comparison form related to viel (“much/many”): viel → mehr → am meisten. Here it modifies the amount of Zeit, so mehr Zeit means “more time”; it does not by itself state a specific number. Zeit is a noun meaning “time.” In this sentence it refers to time as a resource or amount, not to a particular clock time. German nouns are capitalized, so the observed form is Zeit. Example: Ich habe keine Zeit. — “I have no time.” The phrase für den Bericht means “for the report.” für is a preposition that takes the accusative case. Bericht is a masculine noun meaning “report,” and its definite article changes from nominative der Bericht to accusative den Bericht after für. The article marks the grammatical form; it does not add a separate meaning such as “one.” Together, Ich brauche + mehr Zeit + für den Bericht gives: “I need more time for the report.”

2. Was hält die Arbeit auf?

   What's slowing things down?

   Was

   what

   hält … auf

   slows down

   Arbeit

   work

   More detail

   Was is the question word “what.” Here it is the subject: it asks what thing or factor is causing the slowdown. In this use, was does not change form for masculine, feminine, or plural things. hält ... auf comes from the separable verb aufhalten, “to hold up” or “to slow down.” The observed form hält is the present-tense third-person singular form of halten within this verb: aufhalten → hält ... auf. The vowel change from a to ä belongs to halten; auf is the separated particle and moves to the end of the main clause. Example: Der Verkehr hält den Bus auf. — “Traffic is delaying the bus.” Arbeit means “work” here. With the article, die Arbeit is a singular definite noun phrase. Arbeit is feminine, and in this sentence the phrase is the accusative object of aufhalten: the work is what is being delayed. The accusative feminine article die has the same form as the nominative feminine article, so the article’s form alone does not show the case here. Together, Was asks for the cause, hält ... auf expresses slowing or delaying, and die Arbeit is the delayed activity. The whole utterance means “What’s slowing things down?”

3. Einige Informationen fehlen noch.

   Some information is still missing.

   Einige

   some

   Informationen

   information

   fehlen

   are missing

   noch

   still

   More detail

   Einige means “some” here and accompanies the plural noun Informationen. It is an indefinite quantity expression: it indicates more than one item without specifying an exact number. Its form changes with grammatical case, gender, and number; in this sentence, Einige is the plural form used for the subject. Informationen is the plural of Information. The ending -en marks the common plural form of this noun. German uses the plural because the sentence presents the missing information as multiple pieces or items. For example: Einige Fragen sind offen. — “Some questions are still open.” fehlen is the base form of the verb meaning “to be missing” or “to be absent.” Here it is present tense, third-person plural, agreeing with the plural subject Einige Informationen. A useful contrast is Die Information fehlt. — “The information is missing,” versus Die Informationen fehlen. — “The pieces of information are missing.” The singular form is fehlt; the plural form observed here is fehlen. noch means “still” in this sentence. It indicates that the state of being missing continues up to the relevant point in time. It does not itself indicate how long the state has continued. Together, Einige Informationen is the subject, fehlen says that they are missing, and noch adds the continuing-time meaning “still.” The complete utterance therefore means: “Some information is still missing.”

4. Wie viel mehr Zeit brauchst du?

   How much more time do you need?

   Wie viel

   how much

   mehr

   more

   Zeit

   time

   brauchst

   need

   du

   you

   More detail

   Wie viel asks about the amount of something treated as a mass or uncountable quantity. Here it asks for the amount of Zeit, “how much time.” Compare wie viele for countable plural nouns: Wie viele Bücher? — “How many books?” mehr means “more” or “additional” here. Its base form is viel (“much”); the comparison chain is viel → mehr → am meisten. In this sentence, mehr means additional time, without stating a comparison point explicitly. Example: Ich brauche mehr Zeit. — “I need more time.” Zeit is the noun “time.” It is feminine: die Zeit; its plural is die Zeiten, though the mass meaning in this utterance is singular. The phrase mehr Zeit means “more time,” and Zeit is the object of brauchst. brauchst is the present-tense second-person singular form of brauchen, “to need”: du brauchst. The verb agrees with du; it is not an inflection of Zeit. Example: Du brauchst eine Pause. — “You need a break.” du is the informal singular “you.” It identifies the person being asked, while brauchst carries the matching second-person singular ending. The formal counterpart is Sie, with Sie brauchen rather than du brauchst. In the question structure, Wie viel mehr Zeit is the requested amount, brauchst is the finite verb, and du is the subject. German information questions typically place the question element first and the finite verb directly after it: Wie viel Zeit brauchst du? — “How much time do you need?” Adding mehr makes the request specifically about additional time. Thus Wie viel mehr Zeit brauchst du? means “How much more time do you need?”

5. Könnten wir die Frist auf einen späteren Zeitpunkt in dieser Woche verschieben?

   Could we move the deadline to later this week?

   Könnten wir

   Could we

   Frist

   deadline

   späteren

   later

   Zeitpunkt

   point in time

   Woche

   week

   verschieben

   move; postpone

   More detail

   Könnten wir means “Could we” here. könnten is the second-person? No: it is the first-person plural form of the Konjunktiv II of können, used with wir to make a polite suggestion or request about a possible action. The present-tense form is wir können; the form here is not being used to mark past time. Frist means a deadline or time limit. Its base form is feminine: die Frist; its plural is die Fristen. In this sentence, die Frist is the thing being rescheduled. späteren is a form of the comparative adjective spät (“late”): spät → später (“later”) → am spätesten (“latest”). The ending in späteren is required by the surrounding noun phrase einen späteren Zeitpunkt: Zeitpunkt is masculine singular, and auf indicates a destination here, so the phrase is in the accusative after the masculine article einen. Zeitpunkt means a specific point in time, rather than a general period. Its plural is Zeitpunkte. For example: Wir wählen einen passenden Zeitpunkt. — “We choose a suitable time.” Woche means “week”. The phrase in dieser Woche means “this week”; Woche is feminine, and dieser is the form used with it in this temporal phrase. This identifies the relevant week without stating a particular day. verschieben means “to postpone” or “to move to a later time”. It is an infinitive, placed at the end because it follows the modal form könnten. A reusable example is: Wir verschieben den Termin. — “We are postponing the appointment.” The related noun Termin refers to the scheduled appointment or date, while Frist refers specifically to a deadline or time limit. Together, Könnten wir introduces a polite proposal, die Frist names the deadline, auf einen späteren Zeitpunkt gives the new destination in time, and in dieser Woche limits that destination to this week. verschieben supplies the proposed action, producing the meaning “Could we move the deadline to later this week?”

6. Das passt, aber schick dem Team ein kurzes Update.

   That works, but send the team a short update.

   Das

   that

   passt

   works

   aber

   but

   schick

   send

   Team

   team

   kurzes

   short

   Update

   update

   More detail

   Das is the demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. Its form is neuter singular; as a pronoun, it can refer to an understood situation or proposal rather than naming it again. The form does not by itself identify a particular noun referent. passt is the third-person singular present form of passen, “to fit” or, as here, “to work/be acceptable.” The subject is Das: Das passt. = “That works.” The present form can describe a current assessment. Example: Der Termin passt. — “The appointment works for me/is suitable.” aber means “but” and links the acceptable point to a contrasting request. It does not itself express the request or its manner. schick is the informal singular imperative of schicken, “to send.” The implied subject is singular informal du; the imperative addresses that person directly. Compare Schickt ... for an informal plural group and Schicken Sie ... for a formal singular or plural addressee. Example: Schick mir die Datei. — “Send me the file.” Team is the noun “team.” In this sentence it is part of dem Team, meaning “to the team”: dem marks the recipient in the dative. The noun itself is a neuter loanword in German: das Team. kurzes is an inflected form of the adjective kurz, “short.” It agrees with the neuter singular noun Update in the accusative phrase ein kurzes Update; the ending -es reflects this article–adjective–noun combination. The base form is kurz; its comparative is kürzer (“shorter”). Example: Sie schreibt eine kurze Nachricht. — “She writes a short message.” Update is the noun “update,” referring here to a brief piece of updated information. In ein kurzes Update, it is neuter singular and is the direct object of schick. The indefinite article ein marks the noun phrase as indefinite; it does not by itself state a numerical count. Together, Das passt gives the assessment “That works,” and aber introduces a contrasting action. Schick dem Team means “send to the team,” while ein kurzes Update names what should be sent: “a short update.” The complete utterance is therefore: “That works, but send the team a short update.”

7. Ich erkläre, was fertig ist und was noch fehlt.

   I'll explain what is ready and what is still missing.

   erkläre

   explain

   was

   what

   fertig

   ready; finished

   ist

   is

   und

   and

   noch

   still; yet

   fehlt

   is missing

   More detail

   erkläre is the first-person singular present form of erklären, “to explain.” With the subject Ich, the reusable pattern is Ich erkläre ... — “I explain / I’ll explain ...”; German present tense can express a planned near-future action when the context makes that clear. was means “what” here and introduces a clause naming the information to be explained. A useful pattern is Ich weiß, was ... — “I know what ...”. In this utterance, was is used again after und to introduce a second parallel clause. fertig means “ready” or “finished.” In was fertig ist, it is a predicate adjective: it describes the state of the understood thing, rather than changing form for the subject. Example: Der Bericht ist fertig. — “The report is finished.” ist is the third-person singular present form of sein, “to be.” In was fertig ist, the verb comes at the end because was ... ist is a subordinate clause. The same form also appears in the fixed pattern Es ist fertig. — “It is finished.” und joins two equivalent parts and means “and.” Here it coordinates was fertig ist with was noch fehlt, so the explanation covers two categories in parallel. noch means “still” here. It shows that the state of being missing continues at the relevant time. For example, Ein Teil fehlt noch. — “One part is still missing.” Its position before fehlt helps form the meaning “is still missing”; it is not part of the verb itself. fehlt is the third-person singular present form of fehlen, “to be missing” or “to be absent.” The thing that is missing is the subject in German: Der letzte Teil fehlt. — “The last part is missing.” This differs from English constructions where a person may be described as missing something; here the clause means that something is not present or not yet available. Together, Ich erkläre supplies the main action, while was fertig ist and was noch fehlt are the two parallel things being explained. The full utterance therefore means “I’ll explain what is ready and what is still missing.”

8. So können alle die Verzögerung einplanen.

   That will help everyone plan around the delay.

   So

   that way; so

   können alle

   everyone can

   Verzögerung

   delay

   einplanen

   plan for

   More detail

   So means “that way” or “in this way” here. It refers to the situation just described and introduces the result: using that information, the planning can be done around the delay. German so can also mean “so” in other contexts, but its precise contribution depends on the surrounding statement. können alle combines können with alle. können is the modal verb “can” and expresses possibility or ability. Its present-tense forms include ich kann, du kannst, er/sie/es kann, wir können, ihr könnt, and sie/Sie können; the form here is können, used with plural alle. alle means “everyone” here and functions as the subject. With a modal verb, the other verb normally remains an infinitive at the end of the clause: Alle können teilnehmen. — “Everyone can participate.” Verzögerung is the noun “delay.” Its base form is die Verzögerung; the feminine article die is visible immediately before the quoted noun in the sentence. The noun is related to sich verzögern, “to be delayed,” but the noun itself names the delay as a thing or circumstance. In this sentence, it is the object of the planning verb. einplanen means “to plan for” or “to allow for” something. It is a separable verb: in a simple main-clause present-tense sentence, ein can separate from planen, as in Wir planen die Verzögerung ein. — “We allow for the delay.” After the modal können, however, the full infinitive einplanen stays at the end: Alle können die Verzögerung einplanen. The sentence assembles as So (“that way”) + können alle (“everyone can”) + die Verzögerung (“the delay”) + einplanen (“plan for”). Thus, So können alle die Verzögerung einplanen. means “That will help everyone plan around the delay.”