Following up on a job interview | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Könnten Sie die nächsten Schritte im Prozess erläutern?

   Could you clarify the next steps in the process?

   Könnten Sie

   Could you

   nächsten

   next

   Schritte

   steps

   Prozess

   process

   erläutern

   explain

   More detail

   Könnten Sie is a formal, polite way to ask whether someone can do something. Könnten is the Konjunktiv II form of können for Sie; here it softens the request rather than referring to past time. Capitalized Sie is the formal second-person pronoun. Compare the direct question Können Sie ...? (“Can you ...?”) with the more tactful Könnten Sie ...? (“Could you ...?”). nächsten means “next” here: it identifies the steps that follow in the process. It is an inflected adjective; its base form is nächst-, and the ending in die nächsten Schritte reflects the plural accusative noun phrase. Schritte is the plural of Schritt (“step”). The phrase die nächsten Schritte is the direct object of erläutern. Example: Wir besprechen die nächsten Schritte. — “We are discussing the next steps.” Prozess means “process.” In im Prozess, im is the contraction of in dem; the phrase places the steps within the process. Prozess is a masculine noun, with plural Prozesse. The fixed translation supports the intended meaning “the process,” not a different sense of the word. erläutern means “to explain” or “to clarify” something. It is an infinitive, and its base form is also erläutern. In this question, it comes at the end because könnten is the finite modal verb and the requested action remains in the infinitive: Könnten Sie ... erläutern? The pattern is reusable with another object, for example: Könnten Sie den Ablauf erläutern? — “Could you explain the procedure?” Together, Könnten Sie makes a polite formal request, die nächsten Schritte names what should be explained, im Prozess specifies the relevant process, and erläutern names the requested action. The complete meaning is: “Could you clarify the next steps in the process?”

2. Das Auswahlgremium wird Ihre Unterlagen prüfen und entscheiden, ob ein weiteres Gespräch nötig ist.

   The panel will review your materials and decide whether another conversation is needed.

   Auswahlgremium

   panel

   Unterlagen

   materials; documents

   prüfen

   review; examine

   entscheiden

   decide

   ob

   whether

   weiteres

   another; further

   Gespräch

   conversation

   nötig

   necessary; needed

   More detail

   Auswahlgremium means the panel or selection committee here. It is a neuter singular noun: das Auswahlgremium; the compound combines Auswahl (“selection”) with Gremium (“committee/panel”). The form is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative. Unterlagen means documents or application materials here. It is the plural of Unterlage; after Ihre, it is the accusative object of the review. German often uses the plural Unterlagen for a set of submitted documents or materials. prüfen means to review or examine. This is the infinitive; its finite present form for das Auswahlgremium would be prüft. With wird, the infinitive remains at the end of its coordinated verb phrase: wird ... prüfen. entscheiden means to decide. It is another infinitive coordinated with prüfen, so wird applies to both actions: “will review and decide.” A useful contrast is eine Entscheidung treffen, literally “make a decision,” which is another common way to express deciding. ob introduces an indirect yes-or-no question and means “whether.” In an ob clause, the finite verb goes to the end. This gives ob ein weiteres Gespräch nötig ist, literally “whether another conversation necessary is.” weiteres is the inflected form of weiter (“further; additional”) used with the neuter singular noun Gespräch. With the indefinite article ein, the neuter nominative form is ein weiteres Gespräch. Here it means “another” or “an additional,” not a statement about how many conversations have already occurred. Gespräch means conversation or interview here. It is a neuter noun: das Gespräch; its plural is die Gespräche. In this sentence it is the subject of ist, while nötig describes whether that conversation is necessary. nötig means necessary or needed. It is a predicate adjective after ist, the third-person singular form of sein (“to be”), so it does not take an ending here. Ein Gespräch ist nötig means “A conversation is necessary.” The unquoted forms also help assemble the sentence: Ihre is the formal “your” before plural Unterlagen, and wird is the third-person singular form of werden. With an infinitive, wird ... prüfen und entscheiden expresses a future action. The coordinating word und joins the two infinitives. Together, Das Auswahlgremium wird Ihre Unterlagen prüfen und entscheiden, ob ein weiteres Gespräch nötig ist. means: “The panel will review your materials and decide whether another conversation is needed.”

3. Ich kann die angeforderten Beispiele über das Bewerbungsportal hochladen.

   I can upload the requested samples through the application portal.

   Ich kann

   I can

   angeforderten

   requested

   Beispiele

   samples; examples

   Bewerbungsportal

   application portal

   hochladen

   upload

   More detail

   Ich kann combines the subject pronoun Ich (“I”) with the modal verb kann, the first-person singular present form of können (“can; be able to”). With an ordinary lexical verb, können places that verb in the infinitive at the end of the clause: Ich kann helfen. — “I can help.” Here, the ability or possibility applies to the uploading described at the end. angeforderten means “requested” here. It is the attributive form of angefordert, the past participle of anfordern (“to request formally”). It describes Beispiele, so it receives the plural accusative ending -en after the definite article die: die angeforderten Beispiele. The ending belongs to the adjective/participle angeforderten, not to the noun. Example: die angeforderten Unterlagen — “the requested documents.” Beispiele is the plural of Beispiel (“example”); in this sentence, the translation specifies the intended sense “samples.” The form is plural and accusative because it is the direct object of hochladen. Example: Ich sende die Beispiele. — “I send the examples.” Bewerbungsportal is a compound noun meaning “application portal”: Bewerbung refers to an application, and Portal means “portal.” German compounds are written as one word, and the final noun determines the compound’s grammatical gender; das Portal therefore gives das Bewerbungsportal. In the sentence, über das Bewerbungsportal expresses the route or medium “through the application portal.” hochladen is the infinitive “to upload,” formed from hoch (“up”) and laden (“load”). Because it follows the modal kann, it remains an infinitive at the end rather than becoming a finite verb. In a main clause without the modal, the separable verb can appear as Ich lade die Beispiele hoch. — “I upload the examples.” Together, Ich kann states the speaker’s ability or possibility, die angeforderten Beispiele identifies the requested samples as the direct object, über das Bewerbungsportal gives the route, and hochladen names the action. The complete meaning is: “I can upload the requested samples through the application portal.”

4. Die von Ihnen erwähnte Projektzusammenfassung wäre besonders hilfreich.

   The project summary you mentioned would be especially useful.

   von Ihnen erwähnte

   mentioned by you

   Projektzusammenfassung

   project summary

   wäre

   would be

   besonders

   especially

   hilfreich

   helpful

   More detail

   von Ihnen erwähnte means “mentioned by you” here. erwähnte is the inflected past participle of erwähnen (“to mention”), used before a noun as an adjective-like modifier. Its ending agrees with the feminine singular noun Projektzusammenfassung; the phrase is comparable in meaning to “the project summary that you mentioned.” Ihnen is the formal “you” in the dative case, required by von in this phrase. In another context, Ihnen can refer to one or more people addressed formally, but here the translation identifies the addressee as “you.” Projektzusammenfassung is a compound noun meaning “project summary.” Its head is Zusammenfassung (“summary”), so the compound is feminine: die Projektzusammenfassung. German compounds normally take their grammatical gender from their final component. Example: eine kurze Projektzusammenfassung means “a short project summary.” wäre is the singular subjunctive II form of sein (“to be”). In this sentence it expresses a hypothetical or conditional assessment: “would be,” rather than stating simply that something is helpful. The useful contrast is ist (“is”) versus wäre (“would be”). Example: Das wäre hilfreich. — “That would be helpful.” besonders is an adverb meaning “especially” here. It intensifies the following description, so it says that the summary would be helpful to a notable degree. Example: Das ist besonders wichtig. — “That is especially important.” hilfreich is an adjective meaning “helpful” or “useful.” It describes something that provides help; it is not the same as nützlich in every context, although the two can overlap. Here it is the predicative adjective after wäre, so it does not receive an adjective ending: wäre hilfreich. Example: Ihre Erklärung war hilfreich. — “Your explanation was helpful.” Together, die von Ihnen erwähnte Projektzusammenfassung is the noun phrase “the project summary you mentioned.” The article die and the ending on erwähnte mark the feminine singular noun phrase. wäre besonders hilfreich then says that this summary would be especially useful. The complete meaning is: “The project summary you mentioned would be especially useful.”

5. Ich kann den Kontext einbeziehen, ohne vertrauliche Informationen über Kunden offenzulegen.

   I can include context without exposing confidential client information.

   Ich kann

   I can

   Kontext

   context

   einbeziehen

   include; take into account

   ohne

   without

   vertrauliche

   confidential

   Informationen

   information

   Kunden

   clients; customers

   offenzulegen

   disclose; reveal

   More detail

   Ich kann means “I can” here. kann is the present-tense form of können for ich; the modal verb expresses ability or possibility. With a modal verb, the other verb normally appears as an infinitive at the end of the clause: Ich kann das erklären. — “I can explain that.” Kontext means “context.” The noun is masculine: der Kontext; in this sentence, den Kontext is the accusative form because it is what is included. The definite article changes from der to den in the masculine accusative: Ich berücksichtige den Kontext. — “I take the context into account.” einbeziehen means “to include” or “to take into account.” It is the infinitive used with kann. This verb is separable in finite clauses: Ich beziehe den Kontext ein. — “I include the context.” With kann, it remains together as the infinitive einbeziehen. ohne introduces what is absent or not done and is followed here by a zu-infinitive. The pattern is ohne ... zu + infinitive, meaning “without ...-ing”: Sie ging, ohne sich zu verabschieden. — “She left without saying goodbye.” vertrauliche means “confidential” in this sentence. It describes Informationen, which is feminine plural and is in the accusative in the phrase governed by offenzulegen. With no article before a plural noun, the adjective has the ending -e: vertrauliche Informationen. The adjective itself has the base form vertraulich. Informationen means “information” here. It is the plural form of die Information; German commonly uses the plural when referring to pieces or items of information. In this sentence, vertrauliche Informationen is the thing that must not be disclosed. Kunden means “clients” or “customers.” Here it is the plural of der Kunde and, after über in the meaning “about,” it is accusative plural: Informationen über Kunden means “information about clients.” The form is also used in some other cases, but here the preposition über selects the accusative for this meaning. The phrase describes the subject of the information, not an explicit genitive phrase meaning “the clients’ information.” offenzulegen means “to disclose” or “to reveal.” It is the zu-infinitive of the separable verb offenlegen; with this verb, zu is inserted between the prefix and the verb stem: offenlegen → offenzulegen. The construction ohne vertrauliche Informationen ... offenzulegen means “without disclosing confidential information.” Together, Ich kann den Kontext einbeziehen says “I can include the context,” and ohne vertrauliche Informationen über Kunden offenzulegen adds the manner or limitation “without disclosing confidential information about clients.” The complete utterance therefore means: “I can include context without exposing confidential client information.”

6. Dieses Urteilsvermögen im Umgang mit vertraulichen Informationen ist hier wichtig.

   That kind of judgment when handling confidential information is important here.

   Dieses

   this

   Urteilsvermögen

   judgment

   im Umgang mit

   when dealing with

   vertraulichen

   confidential

   Informationen

   information

   wichtig

   important

   More detail

   Dieses is the neuter singular form of the demonstrative determiner dies-. Here it is nominative because it accompanies the subject Urteilsvermögen; the form also occurs in neuter singular accusative contexts, so the ending alone does not identify the case. Example: Dieses Verfahren ist hilfreich. — “This procedure is helpful.” Urteilsvermögen means the ability to make sound judgments or decisions, rather than a single judgment. It is a neuter noun: das Urteilsvermögen. In this sentence it is singular and forms the subject with Dieses. Example: Gutes Urteilsvermögen ist wichtig. — “Good judgment is important.” im Umgang mit is a reusable construction meaning “when dealing with” or “in handling.” im is the contraction of in dem; Umgang is a masculine noun, and mit requires the dative. The pattern im Umgang mit + noun can describe how someone handles a person, matter, or situation. Example: Im Umgang mit Kunden ist Geduld wichtig. — “When dealing with customers, patience is important.” vertraulichen means “confidential” here. It is the inflected form of the adjective vertraulich. Its -en ending appears because it modifies plural Informationen after the dative-governing preposition mit; the ending is not caused by the adjective’s meaning itself. Example: Wir schützen vertrauliche Daten. — “We protect confidential data.” Informationen is the plural of die Information, meaning “information” or “pieces of information.” After mit, the plural is dative, but this plural form itself does not visibly change: mit Informationen. Example: Sie arbeitet mit vertraulichen Informationen. — “She works with confidential information.” wichtig means “important.” As a predicate adjective after ist, it has no adjective ending: etwas ist wichtig. This contrasts with an attributive use, where the adjective is inflected: eine wichtige Information — “an important piece of information.” Together, Dieses Urteilsvermögen identifies this kind of judgment as the subject. im Umgang mit vertraulichen Informationen specifies the situation in which that judgment matters, and ist hier wichtig says that it is important here. The complete meaning is: “That kind of judgment when handling confidential information is important here.”

7. Wann kann ich mit dem Ergebnis der Prüfung rechnen?

   When should I expect to hear the outcome of the review?

   Wann

   when

   kann ich

   can I

   mit … rechnen

   expect

   Ergebnis

   outcome

   Prüfung

   review

   More detail

   Wann asks about time: “when.” It is used for an event or situation whose time is being requested. Example: Wann beginnt die Sitzung? — “When does the meeting begin?” kann ich uses können in the present tense, first-person singular: ich kann — “I can.” In this question, kann comes before the subject ich, as is normal when a question word introduces a German question. Here, kann contributes the idea of what the speaker may or should expect, rather than physical ability. mit … rechnen is the reusable German construction mit etwas rechnen, meaning “to expect something” or “to count on something.” The verb is rechnen; in this construction it takes mit and the thing expected is in the dative case. The two parts are separated here because mit dem Ergebnis der Prüfung comes between them. Example: Wir rechnen mit einer Antwort. — “We expect an answer.” Ergebnis means “result” or “outcome.” Its base form is the neuter noun das Ergebnis; after mit, it appears as dem Ergebnis, the dative singular form. The noun can refer to the outcome of an assessment, process, or decision, as it does here. Prüfung means “review” in this context; in other contexts it can mean an examination or test. It is the feminine noun die Prüfung. In das Ergebnis der Prüfung, der Prüfung is a genitive phrase meaning “of the review,” identifying which outcome is meant. The fixed translation selects the “review” sense here. Together, Wann kann ich mit dem Ergebnis der Prüfung rechnen? literally organizes the meaning as “When can I expect the outcome of the review?” The question asks when the speaker should expect that outcome, without asserting that it has already been produced. This is a polite, practical way to ask about an expected time.

8. Wir werden Sie kontaktieren, nachdem das Auswahlgremium seine Beratung beendet hat.

   We will contact you after the panel finishes its discussion.

   Wir werden

   we will

   Sie

   you (formal)

   kontaktieren

   contact

   nachdem

   after

   Auswahlgremium

   selection panel

   Beratung

   discussion

   beendet

   finished

   More detail

   Wir werden means “we will” here. werden is the finite form of werden for wir; with an infinitive later in the clause, it forms the future: Wir werden ... kontaktieren = “We will contact ...”. The same verb can also mean “become” when it is used without this future pattern. Sie is the formal “you” in this sentence and is the object of kontaktieren. Formal Sie is capitalized and has the same written form for singular and plural; the sentence itself does not specify which number is intended. It is distinct from lowercase sie, which can have other pronoun functions. kontaktieren is an infinitive meaning “to contact”. After a finite form of werden, the main verb remains in the infinitive and appears at the end of the main clause. Example: Wir werden ihn morgen kontaktieren. — “We will contact him tomorrow.” nachdem introduces a subordinate clause meaning “after”. In German, the finite verb in a clause introduced by nachdem goes to the end. The clause describes the event that is completed before the contact occurs; it does not itself add a separate statement about who will make the contact. Auswahlgremium means “selection panel”. It is a compound noun: Auswahl identifies the selection function and Gremium means a panel or committee. Its grammatical gender is neuter: das Auswahlgremium. Example: Das Auswahlgremium tagt heute. — “The selection panel is meeting today.” Beratung means “discussion” in this context. It is a feminine noun: die Beratung. In seine Beratung, sein- is the possessive stem selected by the neuter possessor das Auswahlgremium, while the ending -e agrees with the feminine singular noun Beratung in the accusative phrase. Thus seine does not mean that the panel is male; it expresses that the discussion belongs to the neuter panel. beendet is the past participle of beenden, “to finish” or “to end”. With the auxiliary hat, it forms the perfect construction beendet hat inside the subordinate clause. Because das Auswahlgremium is singular, the auxiliary is hat; the participle itself does not show that singular agreement. Example: Sie hat die Arbeit beendet. — “She has finished the work.” Putting the parts together, Wir werden Sie kontaktieren says “We will contact you”. nachdem das Auswahlgremium seine Beratung beendet hat says “after the selection panel has finished its discussion”. Together, the utterance means: “We will contact you after the panel finishes its discussion.” The future construction is suitable for a formal statement about a planned later action.