Choosing the Highest-Impact Task | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich habe vier Aufgaben, und alle wirken wichtig.

   I have four tasks, and they all feel important.

   Ich

   I

   habe

   have

   vier

   four

   Aufgaben

   tasks

   alle

   all

   wirken

   seem; feel

   wichtig

   important

   More detail

   Ich is the first-person singular pronoun in the nominative case: “I.” It is the subject of the first clause. The object form is mich, as in Sie sieht mich — “She sees me.” habe is the first-person singular present form of haben — ich habe, “I have.” Here it expresses possession or what the speaker has: four tasks. The same verb has forms such as du hast (“you have”) and sie haben (“they have”). vier means “four.” It is a cardinal number and does not change for grammatical gender. With a count above one, the noun is plural here: vier Aufgaben. An example is vier Bücher — “four books.” Aufgaben is the plural of the feminine noun die Aufgabe, “task” or “assignment.” The plural form is useful in contexts involving several tasks: eine Aufgabe — “one task,” vier Aufgaben — “four tasks.” alle means “all” or “all of them.” In this sentence it is a plural subject referring to the four tasks already mentioned, so alle wirken means “they all seem.” Its form is not an indication of a particular gender here; it agrees with the plural group. For example, Alle sind bereit means “Everyone is ready” or, for a known group, “They are all ready.” wirken is the third-person plural present form of wirken, “to seem” or “to come across.” The subject alle requires this plural form: alle wirken. A singular subject would use wirkt, as in Die Aufgabe wirkt wichtig — “The task seems important.” wichtig means “important.” After wirken, it is a predicate adjective, so it has no adjective ending in this sentence: Die Aufgaben wirken wichtig — “The tasks seem important.” Its comparison forms are wichtiger (“more important”) and am wichtigsten (“most important”): Diese Aufgabe wirkt wichtiger — “This task seems more important.” The first clause, Ich habe vier Aufgaben, says that the speaker has four tasks. The conjunction und links it to the second clause, alle wirken wichtig: all four of those tasks seem important. Together, the utterance means “I have four tasks, and they all feel important.” The wording presents importance as how the tasks appear or feel, rather than as a direct classification that they objectively are important.

2. Unterscheide zwischen Dringlichkeit und Auswirkung, bevor du die Reihenfolge festlegst.

   Separate urgency from impact before you choose the order.

   Unterscheide

   distinguish; separate

   zwischen

   between

   Dringlichkeit

   urgency

   Auswirkung

   impact; effect

   bevor du

   before you

   Reihenfolge

   order; sequence

   festlegst

   determine; set

   More detail

   Unterscheide is the informal singular imperative of unterscheiden (“to distinguish”). It asks one person to tell two things apart. Unterscheiden is not a separable verb: the prefix remains attached in forms such as Du unterscheidest ... (“You distinguish ...”). zwischen introduces the two things being distinguished. In this relation, German uses zwischen with the dative; because these are bare nouns, the case is not visible in Dringlichkeit und Auswirkung. A reusable pattern is zwischen A und B unterscheiden (“distinguish between A and B”). Dringlichkeit is a feminine noun meaning “urgency,” the degree to which something needs prompt attention. Its related adjective is dringend (“urgent”), as in Die E-Mail ist dringend. (“The email is urgent.”) The noun and adjective are different forms: Dringlichkeit is not an inflection of dringend. Auswirkung is a feminine noun meaning “impact” or “effect,” especially an effect something has on a situation. Its plural is Auswirkungen (“effects; impacts”). Example: Das hat große Auswirkungen. — “That has major effects.” bevor du begins a subordinate clause meaning “before you.” du is the informal singular “you” subject. bevor places the event in its clause before the event in the main clause; the finite verb then comes at the end of that subordinate clause. Reihenfolge is a feminine noun meaning “order” or “sequence,” here the order in which the tasks should be handled. Example: Die Reihenfolge ist klar. — “The order is clear.” festlegst is the second-person singular present form of the separable verb festlegen (“to determine; set”). In a main clause, the parts separate: Du legst die Reihenfolge fest. (“You determine the order.”) In this bevor clause, they remain together at the end: bevor du die Reihenfolge festlegst. Together, Unterscheide zwischen Dringlichkeit und Auswirkung means “Distinguish between urgency and impact.” The subordinate clause bevor du die Reihenfolge festlegst adds “before you choose the order,” so the complete utterance tells one person to distinguish these two considerations before deciding the sequence of tasks. The informal imperative and du address one person directly.

3. Die E-Mail ist dringend, aber der Bericht wirkt sich auf das Kundentreffen morgen aus.

   The email is urgent, but the report affects tomorrow's client meeting.

   Die E-Mail

   the email

   dringend

   urgent

   der Bericht

   the report

   wirkt sich … aus

   affects

   das Kundentreffen

   the client meeting

   morgen

   tomorrow

   More detail

   Die E-Mail means “the email” here. E-Mail is a feminine noun, so its definite article is die in the nominative singular: die E-Mail ist .... The plural is die E-Mails; the article alone does not show singular in that plural form, so the noun form and context matter. dringend means “urgent” here. It is an adjective used after the linking verb ist, so it has no ending in this position: Die E-Mail ist dringend. Compare the attributive form eine dringende E-Mail, where the adjective appears before the noun and takes an ending. dringend is not the same as wichtig: something can be important without requiring immediate action. der Bericht means “the report.” Bericht is a masculine noun, and der marks the nominative singular here because the report is the subject of the second clause. A useful related form is berichten (“to report”), but Bericht itself is the noun in this sentence. wirkt sich ... aus is the separated present-tense form of the verb sich auswirken (“to have an effect on; to affect”). The subject is third-person singular, so auswirken becomes wirkt; the separable prefix aus appears at the end of the clause. The reflexive part sich belongs to this verb and does not mean that the report affects itself. A reusable pattern is Etwas wirkt sich auf etwas aus. — “Something affects something.” The verb sich auswirken auf takes auf with an accusative object when it means “to affect.” Thus the affected thing appears in auf ..., while the verb’s separated prefix comes later: Der Bericht wirkt sich auf ... aus. das Kundentreffen means “the client meeting.” Kundentreffen is a compound noun: Kunden refers to clients or customers, and Treffen means meeting. The whole compound is neuter, so the definite article is das. Here it is the accusative object after auf: auf das Kundentreffen. Do not treat das as a general sign of accusative; it is the form used for neuter singular in both nominative and accusative. morgen is the temporal adverb “tomorrow.” It identifies when the meeting occurs: das Kundentreffen morgen means “tomorrow’s client meeting” in this context. German can place a time adverb after the noun without using an apostrophe construction. The conjunction aber connects the two clauses with a contrast. First, Die E-Mail ist dringend states that the email is urgent. Then der Bericht wirkt sich auf das Kundentreffen morgen aus states that the report affects tomorrow’s client meeting. Together: “The email is urgent, but the report affects tomorrow’s client meeting.”

4. Der Bericht hat eine größere Auswirkung, besonders wenn andere davon abhängen.

   The report has higher impact, especially if others depend on it.

   Bericht

   report

   hat

   has

   größere

   greater

   Auswirkung

   impact

   besonders wenn

   especially if

   andere

   others

   davon abhängen

   depend on it

   More detail

   Bericht means “report” here. The noun’s base form is Bericht; its citation form is commonly given as der Bericht, and its plural is die Berichte. German nouns are capitalized. In this sentence, der marks masculine singular nominative for the subject noun phrase. hat is the present-tense third-person singular form of haben (“to have”): ich habe, du hast, er/sie/es hat. Here it says that the report has an impact. größere is the comparative form of groß (“great” or “large”). A useful comparison chain is groß → größer → am größten; before a noun, the superlative would use an attributive form such as größte. Here größere is the comparative adjective in the feminine singular accusative phrase eine größere Auswirkung. It signals higher impact relative to an understood comparison point, not a numerical amount. Auswirkung means “impact” or “effect.” Its base form is Auswirkung, commonly cited as die Auswirkung; the plural is die Auswirkungen. In eine größere Auswirkung, the article and adjective show a feminine singular noun phrase, and the phrase functions as the object of hat. eine alone does not establish a numerical count. besonders wenn introduces the condition under which the preceding claim is especially relevant: “especially if/when.” In a wenn clause, the finite verb normally comes at the end. Example: Ich helfe, wenn du mich brauchst. — “I help when you need me.” andere means “others” here: people other than the already understood participant or participants. It is a plural form used substantively, so no noun is repeated after it. The fixed sentence does not specify the exact referents. davon abhängen means “depend on it” in this sentence. abhängen is the infinitive/base form and is used with von or the corresponding pronominal adverb davon for the thing on which someone depends. In wenn andere davon abhängen, andere is plural, so the present-tense form is abhängen; it happens to look identical to the infinitive. Here davon refers to the report, as established by the fixed translation. Example: Viele Entscheidungen hängen davon ab. — “Many decisions depend on it.” Together, Der Bericht hat eine größere Auswirkung means “The report has higher impact.” besonders wenn andere davon abhängen adds the condition “especially if others depend on it,” with abhängen at the end of the subordinate wenn clause. The complete meaning is: “The report has higher impact, especially if others depend on it.”

5. Die Designprüfung blockiert außerdem ein anderes Teammitglied.

   The design review also blocks another teammate.

   Designprüfung

   design review

   blockiert

   blocks

   außerdem

   also; in addition

   anderes

   another; different

   Teammitglied

   team member

   More detail

   Designprüfung is a compound noun meaning “design review”: Design identifies the subject area, and Prüfung means a review or examination. Prüfung is feminine, so the singular definite article is die. The compound is written as one word. Example: Die Prüfung beginnt. — “The review begins.” blockiert means “blocks” here. It is the third-person singular present form of blockieren: ich blockiere, du blockierst, er/sie/es blockiert. The subject here is singular, Die Designprüfung, so this verb form agrees with it. Example: Der Fehler blockiert den Prozess. — “The error blocks the process.” außerdem is an adverb meaning “also” or “in addition.” It adds this blocking effect to another relevant fact; it does not change the time or certainty of blockiert. Example: Außerdem fehlt ein Dokument. — “In addition, a document is missing.” anderes means “another” or “different” here. It is the neuter singular accusative form of the attributive adjective ander- in ein anderes Teammitglied. The phrase is accusative because it is the direct object of blockiert; Teammitglied is neuter, and with the indefinite article ein, the adjective takes the ending -es. The related form anders is used adverbially or predicatively, as in Das ist anders (“That is different”), but it is not the inflectional base of this attributive form. The indefinite article ein does not by itself state a numeric count; the phrase identifies another or different team member. Example: Ich sehe ein anderes Problem. — “I see another problem.” Teammitglied means “team member.” It is a neuter noun: das Teammitglied; its plural is die Teammitglieder. In this sentence it is the direct object, the person affected by the blocking. Example: Das Teammitglied wartet. — “The team member is waiting.” Together, Die Designprüfung is the singular subject, blockiert says what it does to its object, and außerdem adds this information. ein anderes Teammitglied is the affected object. The complete meaning is: “The design review also blocks another teammate.”

6. Dann kümmere dich zuerst um die Prüfung, die dein Teammitglied aufhält, wenn das schnell geht.

   Then handle the review that is blocking your teammate first if it will be quick.

   Dann

   then

   kümmere dich

   take care of; handle

   zuerst

   first

   Prüfung

   review; examination

   Teammitglied

   team member

   aufhält

   holds up; blocks

   schnell geht

   can be done quickly

   More detail

   Dann means “then” and places this action after something already established. It is a useful sequencing word: Dann mache ich weiter. — “Then I’ll continue.” kümmere dich comes from sich um etwas kümmern, “to take care of something” or “handle something.” Kümmere dich is the informal singular imperative of sich kümmern; dich is the matching reflexive pronoun for du. The construction keeps um with the thing being handled: Kümmere dich um die Aufgabe. — “Take care of the task.” zuerst means “first” and marks priority or order. Here it says that this task should be handled before the other relevant tasks, without itself stating how many tasks there are. die Prüfung means “the review” in this sentence. The noun Prüfung is feminine, which is why the article is die; in another context it can also mean “examination” or “test.” The fixed translation selects the work-review meaning here. Prüfung is also the object of um: sich um die Prüfung kümmern — “handle the review.” die dein Teammitglied aufhält is a relative clause describing die Prüfung. The relative word die refers back to the feminine noun Prüfung, while dein Teammitglied is the actor that is being held up. Teammitglied is a neuter noun (das Teammitglied), and dein agrees with it here. A useful pattern is die Aufgabe, die ... aufhält — “the task that ... is holding up.” aufhält is the third-person singular present form of the separable verb aufhalten, “to hold up” or “delay.” Its base form is aufhalten; in a main clause, the prefix separates: Die Prüfung hält dein Teammitglied auf. — “The review is holding up your team member.” In the relative clause, the verb remains together at the end: die dein Teammitglied aufhält. The person being delayed is the object of aufhalten, while dein Teammitglied is the subject here. wenn das schnell geht is a conditional clause meaning “if it will be quick” in the fixed translation. wenn introduces a condition. schnell means “quickly” here and modifies geht. geht is the third-person singular present form of gehen, “go”; in schnell gehen, German can describe a process as going quickly or being quick to complete. das is the neuter demonstrative/pronoun for the relevant task or handling situation; the supplied translation supports the general reading “it,” without identifying a more specific noun as its grammatical antecedent. The whole sentence combines the sequence marker Dann, the informal imperative kümmere dich um ..., and the priority adverb zuerst: “Then handle the review first.” The relative clause identifies which review: it is the one holding up your team member. The final wenn-clause limits that instruction to the condition that the task will be quick: “Then handle the review that is blocking your teammate first if it will be quick.”

7. Danach kann ich mich auf den Bericht konzentrieren, ohne jemanden zu unterbrechen.

   After that, I can focus on the report without interrupting anyone.

   Danach

   after that

   kann ich

   I can

   mich

   myself

   Bericht

   report

   konzentrieren

   focus

   jemanden

   anyone

   unterbrechen

   interrupt

   More detail

   Danach is a temporal adverb meaning “after that.” It points back to an already established event or time without specifying it by itself. Example: Danach gehe ich nach Hause. — “After that, I go home.” kann ich combines the modal verb können with the subject pronoun ich. kann is the present-tense first-person singular form of können; with ich, it expresses “I can.” In this sentence, the ability or possibility applies to the action expressed by the infinitive konzentrieren, which comes later. Example: Ich kann heute arbeiten. — “I can work today.” mich is the first-person singular reflexive pronoun in the accusative form. It refers back to the subject ich in the reflexive verb sich konzentrieren auf. The matching forms include ich konzentriere mich (“I concentrate”), du konzentrierst dich (“you concentrate”), and er konzentriert sich (“he concentrates”). Bericht is a masculine noun meaning “report.” Here it occurs as the noun in auf den Bericht. The preposition auf belongs to sich konzentrieren auf, and this use takes the accusative, shown by masculine accusative den. The noun itself remains Bericht; den marks the noun phrase’s grammatical role. Example: Sie konzentriert sich auf den Bericht. — “She focuses on the report.” konzentrieren is the infinitive “to focus” or “to concentrate.” Together with sich and auf, the reusable pattern is sich auf etwas konzentrieren — “to focus on something.” Because kann is a modal verb, konzentrieren stays in the infinitive rather than being conjugated after ich. Example: Wir konzentrieren uns auf die Aufgabe. — “We focus on the task.” jemanden is the accusative form of the indefinite pronoun jemand. In this sentence, within ohne ... zu unterbrechen, it means “anyone”; it identifies no particular person. The accusative marks the person affected by unterbrechen. The corresponding nominative form is jemand, as in Jemand wartet. — “Someone is waiting.” unterbrechen is the infinitive “to interrupt.” The construction ohne jemanden zu unterbrechen means “without interrupting anyone”: ohne introduces an action that does not take place, and zu unterbrechen is its infinitive construction. jemanden is the object of unterbrechen. Example: Er liest, ohne mich zu unterbrechen. — “He reads without interrupting me.” Assembled from left to right, Danach sets the time as “after that.” kann ich mich auf den Bericht konzentrieren says that I can focus on the report, with kann carrying the conjugated verb and konzentrieren remaining infinitive. ohne jemanden zu unterbrechen adds that this happens without interrupting anyone. The complete meaning is: “After that, I can focus on the report without interrupting anyone.”

8. Abhängigkeiten können beeinflussen, welche Aufgabe zuerst kommen sollte.

   Dependencies can change which task should come first.

   Abhängigkeiten

   dependencies

   können

   can

   beeinflussen

   influence

   welche

   which

   Aufgabe

   task

   zuerst

   first

   kommen

   come

   sollte

   should

   More detail

   Abhängigkeiten is the plural of Abhängigkeit, meaning dependencies. The plural form shows that the subject consists of more than one dependency. Singular: eine Abhängigkeit; plural: Abhängigkeiten. können is the plural form of the modal verb können (“can” or “be able to”). Here it says that the dependencies have the possibility or capacity to affect something. A modal verb is followed by an infinitive: Abhängigkeiten können ... beeinflussen. beeinflussen means “to influence” or “to affect.” It is the infinitive used after können; the finite verb is können, while beeinflussen stays in its base form. Example: Regeln beeinflussen den Ablauf. — “Rules affect the process.” welche means “which” here and introduces the embedded question about the task. It functions with the following noun, Aufgabe, and takes the form required by that noun’s grammatical gender and case in this clause. It is not the subject by itself; together, welche Aufgabe means “which task.” Aufgabe means “task.” Its plural is Aufgaben. In welche Aufgabe, it is singular, so the phrase asks about one task, without asserting that there is only one task overall. Example: Welche Aufgabe ist dringend? — “Which task is urgent?” zuerst means “first” in the sense of coming before the others in an order or sequence. It modifies the event expressed by kommen: it identifies the task that should come first. Example: Dieser Schritt kommt zuerst. — “This step comes first.” kommen is the infinitive of kommen, “to come.” In this sentence it is used for a task’s place in an order, not necessarily for physical movement. After the modal-like form sollte, the infinitive remains at the end of the embedded clause. Example: Welche Aufgabe kommt zuerst? — “Which task comes first?” sollte is the third-person singular form of sollen in the simple past, and in this context it conveys “should.” Its singular form agrees with the singular subject welche Aufgabe; the form would be different with a plural subject, for example welche Aufgaben ... sollten. Here sollte expresses the recommended or intended order, while kommen names the ordering event. Together, Abhängigkeiten können beeinflussen means “dependencies can influence.” The embedded clause welche Aufgabe zuerst kommen sollte identifies what they can influence: which task should come first. The complete utterance therefore means that dependencies can change or affect the intended ordering of tasks: “Dependencies can change which task should come first.”

9. Die dringende E-Mail kann bis nach dem Entwurf des Berichts warten.

   The urgent email can wait until after the report draft.

   dringende

   urgent

   E-Mail

   email

   kann

   can

   bis nach

   until after

   Entwurf

   draft

   Berichts

   report

   warten

   wait

   More detail

   dringende describes the email as urgent here. Its base form is dringend; the ending -e is the adjective ending used with the definite article die in this nominative feminine singular noun phrase. The ending is determined by the article, case, gender, and number together, not by subjecthood or singularity alone. Compare: eine dringende E-Mail (“an urgent email”) and dringende E-Mails (“urgent emails”), where the surrounding grammar gives the adjective a different ending. E-Mail is the noun “email.” It is feminine in German: die E-Mail; its plural is die E-Mails. In this sentence it is the thing that is able to wait. kann is the third-person singular present form of the modal verb können (“can, be able to”). The subject is singular and third person, so the form is kann; with a plural subject, it would be können. A modal verb is paired with an infinitive: Die E-Mail kann warten means “The email can wait.” bis nach gives the time boundary “until after.” It places the endpoint after the event or point named by the following phrase. Here, it does not mean merely “until”; nach contributes the idea that the endpoint is later than the report draft. Entwurf means “draft.” Its base form is der Entwurf, a masculine noun. In dem Entwurf, it is in the dative after nach; here, the complete phrase is nach dem Entwurf des Berichts, where dem Entwurf identifies the point after which the waiting may continue. Example: Nach dem Entwurf folgt die Überarbeitung. — “After the draft comes the revision.” Berichts is the genitive singular form of der Bericht (“report”). The ending -s marks the relationship “of the report”: der Entwurf des Berichts means “the draft of the report.” The noun carrying this genitive form is Bericht, not Entwurf. warten is the infinitive “to wait.” Its base form is also warten; after the modal kann, the infinitive appears at the end of the clause. In this sentence it is used without an object: the email can wait. Example: Wir können bis morgen warten. — “We can wait until tomorrow.” Together, Die dringende E-Mail is “the urgent email,” kann ... warten says that it is able to wait, and bis nach dem Entwurf des Berichts sets the endpoint as after the report draft. The complete meaning is: “The urgent email can wait until after the report draft.”

10. Beim Priorisieren geht es um Konsequenzen, nicht nur um Druck.

    Prioritizing is about consequences, not just pressure.

    Beim Priorisieren

    when prioritizing

    geht es um

    is about

    Konsequenzen

    consequences

    nicht nur

    not only

    Druck

    pressure

    More detail

    Beim Priorisieren means “when prioritizing.” beim is the contraction of bei dem; here it introduces an activity expressed by the nominalized infinitive Priorisieren, which is capitalized because it functions as a noun. This pattern is reusable: Beim Lernen ... = “When studying ...” and Beim Planen ... = “When planning ...”. geht es um is the fixed impersonal pattern “it is about” or “the issue is.” The es is a formal subject, not a specific participant. In this pattern, um introduces what the matter concerns: Es geht um Zeit. = “It is about time.” Konsequenzen means “consequences” here: the results or effects that should be considered when prioritizing. It is the plural of die Konsequenz; the singular is eine Konsequenz, and the plural form has the ending -en. nicht nur means “not only” or “not just.” It limits the following consideration and signals that pressure is one factor, but not the only one. A fuller contrast often uses nicht nur ..., sondern auch ... (“not only ..., but also ...”), although the second part is left implicit here. Druck means “pressure.” It is a masculine noun: der Druck; in this sentence it follows um in the phrase um Druck. The word can describe physical pressure or social/work pressure; the fixed translation supports the latter broad sense, without specifying a particular source of that pressure. Together, Beim Priorisieren geht es um Konsequenzen says that the focus in prioritizing is consequences. nicht nur um Druck adds that the focus is not pressure alone. The complete meaning is therefore: “Prioritizing is about consequences, not just pressure.”