Planning the Next Steps at Work | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich bin mit der Hauptaufgabe fertig.

   I finished the main task.

   Ich bin

   I am

   mit

   with

   Hauptaufgabe

   main task

   fertig

   finished; done

   More detail

   Ich bin is the first-person singular form of sein (“to be”): ich bin = “I am.” In this sentence it introduces a current completed state. The same pattern is reusable with an adjective: Ich bin bereit. — “I am ready.” mit means “with” and here introduces the thing that has been completed. In the construction mit etwas fertig sein, it means “to be finished with something” or “to be done with something.” mit governs the dative case. Hauptaufgabe means “main task.” It is a compound of Haupt- (“main”) and Aufgabe (“task”). The full noun phrase is mit der Hauptaufgabe: die Hauptaufgabe becomes der Hauptaufgabe after mit because the feminine singular noun is in the dative case. Example: Ich bin mit der Arbeit fertig. — “I am finished with the work.” fertig means “finished” or “done.” It is an adjective used after sein, and in this position it does not take an adjective ending: Ich bin fertig, Die Aufgabe ist fertig. It is not a past-tense verb form. A useful contrasting adjective is bereit (“ready”): Ich bin fertig says the task is done, while Ich bin bereit says the person is ready. Together, Ich bin + mit der Hauptaufgabe + fertig forms the reusable pattern Ich bin mit [Dativ] fertig. The fixed utterance therefore means “I finished the main task,” more literally “I am finished with the main task.”

2. Lass es von jemandem prüfen, bevor du es teilst.

   Have someone review it before you share it.

   Lass

   have / let (imperative)

   es

   it

   von jemandem

   by someone

   prüfen

   review / check

   bevor

   before

   du

   you

   teilst

   share (you)

   More detail

   Lass is the imperative singular form of lassen. Here, with an object and an infinitive, lassen means to arrange for or have something done: Lass es prüfen = “Have it checked.” The same form can mean “let” in another construction, as in Lass ihn gehen (“Let him go”), so prüfen determines the meaning here. The first es is a pronoun meaning “it.” Its concrete referent is not named in this sentence; it functions as the thing that someone is to check. The later es has the same form and refers to the thing being shared. German es does not itself identify a particular object beyond this context. von jemandem uses jemandem, the dative form of the indefinite pronoun jemand (“someone”). With von, the dative marks the person who carries out the checking: von jemandem prüfen lassen is a useful pattern for “have something checked by someone.” jemand is not a specific person; the sentence leaves that person unspecified. prüfen is the infinitive “to check” or “to review.” After lassen in this construction, it remains an infinitive rather than becoming a finite verb. For example, Lass sie den Text prüfen. means “Have her check the text.” bevor introduces a time clause meaning “before.” In a German subordinate clause introduced by bevor, the finite verb normally comes at the end: bevor du es teilst. du is the informal singular “you” used as the subject of the subordinate clause. teilst is the second-person singular present form of teilen, “to share.” The form can be represented as teilen → du teilst; the ending -st marks this subject in the present tense. For example, Du teilst den Link. means “You share the link.” Together, Lass es von jemandem prüfen says to arrange for an unspecified person to review the object. bevor du es teilst sets the timing: that review should happen before the addressee shares the object. The complete utterance is therefore: “Have someone review it before you share it.”

3. Wer sollte es prüfen?

   Who should review it?

   Wer

   who

   sollte

   should

   es

   it

   prüfen

   review; check

   More detail

   Wer means “who” and asks for the person responsible for an action. It is the subject question word here: the unknown person is the one who would do the reviewing. Compare the object question word wen in a sentence such as Wen soll ich fragen? — “Whom should I ask?” sollte is a form of sollen, used here to express a recommendation or expected choice: “should.” The form sollte can also be the simple past form of sollen, so the surrounding meaning determines whether it means “should” or “was supposed to.” In this question, the fixed translation supports the recommendation meaning. With a modal verb, the other verb remains in the infinitive and moves to the end. es is a pronoun meaning “it.” It is the accusative object of prüfen; the fixed translation confirms that the object is being referred to as “it,” without identifying its specific nature. German es is also used for a neuter noun in other grammatical roles, but its form does not change here for this object role. prüfen is the infinitive meaning “to review” or “to check.” Its base form is prüfen; a present-tense example is Sie prüft den Plan. — “She reviews the plan.” With sollen, use the infinitive: Wer sollte das prüfen? — “Who should check that?” Together, the question word Wer identifies the unknown reviewer, sollte asks who is recommended or expected to act, and es prüfen means “review it.” The German word order is therefore Wer sollte es prüfen?: “Who should review it?”

4. Frag die Teamleitung, weil sich der Plan ändern kann.

   Ask the team lead because the plan may change.

   Frag

   ask

   die Teamleitung

   the team lead

   weil

   because

   sich

   oneself; itself

   der Plan

   the plan

   ändern

   change

   kann

   can; may

   More detail

   Frag is the informal singular imperative of fragen (“to ask”). The subject is understood as du, so Frag! means “Ask!”; the polite or plural imperatives are different: Fragt! addresses several people informally, while Fragen Sie! is formal. die Teamleitung is the team lead or team leadership. Here it is the direct object of fragen: jemanden fragen means “to ask someone.” die is the accusative singular article for this feminine noun; the article itself does not state a numeric count. Example: Ich frage die Teamleitung. — “I ask the team lead.” weil introduces a reason clause and means “because.” In a German weil clause, the finite verb normally moves to the end. der Plan means “the plan.” It is the subject of the reason clause, shown by the nominative masculine article der. The same noun has the accusative form den Plan when it is a direct object: Ich ändere den Plan. — “I change the plan.” In sich ändern, sich is the reflexive element used with ändern when the subject changes itself or undergoes a change. Here, with der Plan, it is understood as “itself,” referring grammatically to the plan. The infinitive construction is sich ändern; finite examples include Der Plan ändert sich (“The plan is changing”) and Die Pläne ändern sich (“The plans are changing”). ändern means “to change.” In this utterance it is the infinitive required after the modal kann. Do not confuse it with sich ändern: without the reflexive element, jemanden oder etwas ändern means “to change someone or something,” while sich ändern describes the subject changing. kann is the third-person singular present form of the modal verb können. With an infinitive, it expresses possibility here: Der Plan kann sich ändern — “The plan may change.” In the subordinate clause, kann goes to the end, after ändern. Compare Der Plan kann sich ändern (main-clause order) with weil sich der Plan ändern kann (because-clause order). Together, Frag die Teamleitung gives the command “Ask the team lead.” The reason is weil sich der Plan ändern kann: “because the plan may change.” The complete utterance is therefore “Ask the team lead because the plan may change.”

5. Soll ich auch eine kurze Nachricht vorbereiten?

   Should I prepare a short message too?

   Soll ich

   Should I

   auch

   also; too

   kurze

   short

   Nachricht

   message

   vorbereiten

   prepare

   More detail

   Soll ich forms a reusable yes/no question pattern: Soll ich + ...? means “Should I ...?” Here soll is the present-tense first-person singular form of sollen, used to ask about the speaker’s advisable or expected action. The subject ich follows the verb because German yes/no questions commonly place the finite verb first. Compare Soll ich warten? — “Should I wait?” auch adds “too” or “also”. In this sentence it means that preparing a message is an additional possible action. Its exact position can vary with emphasis, but here it comes directly after ich. kurze is the adjective kurz (“short”) in an inflected form. It describes Nachricht and has the ending -e because the noun phrase is feminine accusative: eine kurze Nachricht. The adjective’s comparison forms are kurz, kürzer (“shorter”), and am kürzesten (“shortest”). Example: eine kürzere Nachricht — “a shorter message.” Nachricht is a feminine noun meaning “message” in this context. Its plural is Nachrichten: eine Nachricht — “a message”; zwei Nachrichten — “two messages.” The article eine identifies an indefinite message but does not by itself state a numerical count in the English sense. vorbereiten is the infinitive “to prepare.” It is a separable verb: in a main-clause statement, the finite part and prefix separate, as in Ich bereite die Nachricht vor — “I prepare the message.” After the modal verb soll, however, the complete infinitive remains at the end: Soll ich die Nachricht vorbereiten? — “Should I prepare the message?” Together, Soll ich introduces the question about the speaker’s action, auch marks that action as additional, eine kurze Nachricht identifies the thing to be prepared, and vorbereiten supplies the action in its infinitive form after the modal. The whole utterance therefore means: “Should I prepare a short message too?” This is a direct, neutral way to ask whether that additional task is advisable or expected.

6. Erkläre, was sich geändert hat und wo man die Datei findet.

   Explain what changed and where to find the file.

   Erkläre

   explain

   was sich geändert hat

   what has changed

   wo man

   where one/you

   Datei

   file

   findet

   finds

   More detail

   Erkläre is the informal singular imperative of erklären (“to explain”), addressed to one person. The formal alternative is Erklären Sie!. was sich geändert hat means “what has changed.” geändert is the past participle of ändern (“to change”), used here with hat, the third-person singular present form of haben. The verb phrase sich ändern means “to change”; sich is part of that form here. In this subordinate clause, the finite verb hat comes at the end. wo man introduces a location clause: “where one/you.” man is the German generic pronoun for people in general and takes a third-person singular verb. It is different from Mann (“adult male”). Datei means “file.” It is feminine, so its definite article is die: die Datei (“the file”). Its plural is Dateien (“files”). findet is the third-person singular present form of finden (“to find”). With man, man findet means “one finds” or, in this instruction, naturally “you find.” The form itself does not add a separate modal meaning such as “can.” Together, Erkläre gives the instruction, followed by two coordinated points: was sich geändert hat (“what has changed”) and wo man die Datei findet (“where one/you find the file,” naturally “where to find the file”). The whole utterance means: “Explain what changed and where to find the file.”

7. Ich werde um eine Prüfung bitten und eine kurze Notiz hinzufügen.

   I will ask for the review and add a short note.

   Ich werde

   I will

   um … bitten

   ask for

   Prüfung

   review

   kurze

   short

   Notiz

   note

   hinzufügen

   add

   More detail

   Ich werde expresses “I will”: werden is the first-person singular form of werden, used here as a future auxiliary. In this construction, the main verb stays in the infinitive later in the clause. Compare Ich werde warten — “I will wait.” um ... bitten is the reusable German pattern for asking for something: um is followed by the requested thing, and bitten is the lexical verb. The phrase is discontinuous here because eine Prüfung comes between um and bitten. bitten means “ask/request”; it is different from fragen, which is commonly used for asking a question or asking someone something. The requested thing is in the accusative: Ich bitte um Hilfe — “I ask for help.” Prüfung is feminine (die Prüfung). In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies it as a review, although the same German noun can also mean an exam in other contexts. Its base form is the noun Prüfung; the plural is Prüfungen. The form eine Prüfung is feminine accusative after um; eine is an indefinite article, not by itself a claim about a numerical count. kurze describes Notiz and means “short” here. Its base adjective is kurz; the comparative is kürzer (“shorter”), and the superlative is am kürzesten (“shortest”). The ending in kurze reflects the feminine accusative noun phrase after eine: eine kurze Notiz. For example, Ich schreibe eine kurze Nachricht means “I am writing a short message.” Notiz means “note” here. It is feminine: die Notiz; its plural is Notizen. In eine kurze Notiz, the noun phrase is accusative because it is the thing being added. A useful related distinction is Nachricht, which usually means “message,” whereas Notiz is typically a note. hinzufügen means “add.” It is a separable verb: in a present-tense main clause, Ich füge eine Notiz hinzu places hinzu at the end. After the future auxiliary werde, however, the infinitive remains together: Ich werde eine Notiz hinzufügen — “I will add a note.” Together, Ich werde um eine Prüfung bitten means “I will ask for the review,” and eine kurze Notiz hinzufügen means “add a short note.” The coordinated infinitives bitten und ... hinzufügen share the future auxiliary werde, so the complete utterance is: “I will ask for the review and add a short note.”

8. Das sollte die Übergabe klarer machen.

   That should make the handoff clearer.

   Das sollte

   That should

   die Übergabe

   the handoff

   klarer

   clearer

   machen

   make

   More detail

   Das sollte combines das (“that”) with sollte, the form of sollen used here for “should.” Das is a demonstrative pronoun: it points to an understood situation or action, and the fixed translation confirms that intended “that” reference without identifying it more specifically. Sollte expresses an expected or intended result here, not a firm statement that the result has already happened. Because sollen is a modal verb, the other verb stays in the infinitive and moves to the end of the clause. die Übergabe means “the handoff.” Übergabe is a feminine noun; the article die marks it as singular feminine in the accusative in this sentence. The noun is the thing affected by machen: the sentence says that the handoff will be made clearer. klarer is the comparative form of the adjective klar (“clear”): klar → klarer (“clearer”). It describes the resulting state of the handoff. In this position it is a predicative comparative after machen, so it does not take a separate adjective ending for the noun. Example: Die Erklärung macht den Ablauf klarer. — “The explanation makes the process clearer.” machen means “make” here. It is the infinitive required with the modal sollte; the construction etwas klarer machen means “make something clearer.” Together, the structure is Das sollte [object] [comparative adjective] machen: “That should make [the object] [clearer].” Thus Das sollte die Übergabe klarer machen. means “That should make the handoff clearer.”