Clarifying Dependencies at Work | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Die Diskussion wurde angespannt, sobald die Leute anfingen, die Prioritäten aller zu ordnen.

   The discussion got tense once people started ranking everyone's priorities.

   Diskussion

   discussion

   wurde

   became; got

   angespannt

   tense

   sobald

   once; as soon as

   Leute

   people

   anfingen

   started

   Prioritäten

   priorities

   aller

   everyone’s

   zu ordnen

   to rank; to arrange

   More detail

   Diskussion means “discussion” here. It is a feminine noun: die Diskussion in the singular and die Diskussionen in the plural. The article die in the utterance marks this singular noun in the nominative role as the subject of wurde. wurde is the past-tense singular form of werden. Here werden is used with the adjective angespannt to express a change of state: “became” or “got,” not the passive meaning “was [done].” Its form does not show the subject’s gender; the singular subject is die Diskussion. Example: Die Situation wurde schwierig. — “The situation became difficult.” angespannt describes a tense or strained state. In this utterance it is a predicative adjective after wurde, so it describes the resulting state of the discussion. Its base form is also angespannt; it is not an inflected form here. Example: Die Stimmung ist angespannt. — “The atmosphere is tense.” sobald introduces the time condition “once” or “as soon as.” It introduces a subordinate clause, so the finite verb appears at the end of that clause: sobald die Leute anfingen. A useful contrast is wenn, which can also mean “when/if” but does not by itself carry the specific “as soon as” meaning of sobald. Leute means “people.” It is a plural-only or normally plural noun in this use: die Leute means “the people,” while eine Person means “one person.” The form Leute itself does not mark a particular gender for the people referred to. anfingen is the simple-past plural form of anfangen, “to start” or “to begin.” The prefix is separable in finite forms (sie fangen an), but in this subordinate-clause form the whole past-tense form is anfingen. It is followed by zu ordnen, so the construction means “started to rank/arrange.” Example: Sie fingen an zu arbeiten. — “They started working.” Prioritäten means “priorities.” It is the plural of Priorität; the singular accusative form is die Priorität, and the plural form is die Prioritäten. Here it is the direct object of zu ordnen, so the people are ranking or arranging the priorities. aller means “everyone’s” in this context. It is the genitive plural form of alle used without an expressed noun: die Prioritäten aller means “everyone’s priorities.” The form marks the possessor, not a numeric count. Example: Die Entscheidungen aller wurden verglichen. — “Everyone’s decisions were compared.” zu ordnen is the infinitive construction “to rank” or “to arrange.” The verb ordnen can mean putting things into an order or arranging them; with Prioritäten, the intended meaning is ranking priorities. The pattern anfangen, etwas zu tun means “to start doing something.” Together, Die Diskussion wurde angespannt says that the discussion changed into a tense state. sobald die Leute anfingen, die Prioritäten aller zu ordnen specifies when that happened: once people started ranking everyone’s priorities. The complete meaning is therefore: “The discussion got tense once people started ranking everyone’s priorities.”

2. Es klang so, als hätten einige Teams das Gefühl, dass ihre Arbeit zurückgestellt wurde.

   It sounded like some teams felt their work was being pushed aside.

   klang

   sounded

   als hätten

   as if ... had

   einige

   some

   Teams

   teams

   Gefühl

   feeling

   ihre

   their

   Arbeit

   work

   zurückgestellt wurde

   was put aside

   More detail

   klang is the simple-past form of klingen (“to sound”). Here, es klang means “it sounded,” referring to the overall impression. Compare klingen (present), klang (simple past), and hat geklungen (perfect). Example: Das klang gut. — “That sounded good.” als hätten introduces the comparison “as if ... had.” hätten is the plural subjunctive-II form of haben, agreeing with einige Teams. In this sentence, the construction presents the teams’ feeling as the content of the impression rather than as a direct assertion with haben. einige means “some” and marks an unspecified plural group. It contrasts with alle (“all”) and keine (“no” or “none”). Example: Einige Leute warten. — “Some people are waiting.” Teams is the plural of Team, “team.” The noun has the same visible form in the singular and plural, so the plural reading here is established by einige and the surrounding grammar. Example: Zwei Teams spielen heute. — “Two teams are playing today.” Gefühl means “feeling.” The construction das Gefühl haben, dass ... means “to feel that ...” or literally “to have the feeling that ...”. Here, das Gefühl is what the teams have. Example: Sie hat das Gefühl, dass etwas fehlt. — “She feels that something is missing.” ihre means “their” here. It is a possessive determiner associated with the plural owners, while its ending agrees with the possessed noun phrase. In ihre Arbeit, the ending fits feminine singular Arbeit in the nominative, because ihre Arbeit is the subject of the passive clause. Example: Die Teams prüfen ihre Pläne. — “The teams are checking their plans.” Arbeit means “work” and is a feminine noun: die Arbeit. Here it means the work belonging to the teams. Example: Ihre Arbeit ist wichtig. — “Their work is important.” zurückgestellt wurde means “was put aside” or “was pushed aside.” zurückgestellt is the past participle of the separable verb zurückstellen (“to put aside” or “to postpone”), and wurde is the simple-past form of werden used to form the passive. Because Arbeit is singular, the passive auxiliary is singular: Die Arbeit wurde zurückgestellt. — “The work was put aside.” In the subordinate clause, the participle comes before the auxiliary at the end: dass ihre Arbeit zurückgestellt wurde. The sentence assembles as Es klang so, als hätten einige Teams das Gefühl, dass ihre Arbeit zurückgestellt wurde. Es klang so gives the overall impression, als hätten ... introduces what that impression was like, and das Gefühl, dass ... specifies its content. Together, the utterance means: “It sounded like some teams felt their work was being pushed aside.”

3. Das kann das Vertrauen beeinträchtigen, auch wenn es niemand so gemeint hat.

   That can hurt trust, even if nobody meant it that way.

   Das

   That

   kann

   can

   das

   the

   Vertrauen

   trust

   beeinträchtigen

   hurt; impair

   auch wenn

   even if

   es

   it

   niemand

   nobody

   so

   that way

   gemeint hat

   meant

   More detail

   Das is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It points to a situation or proposition already understood, rather than naming a person. Its form is neuter singular; the capitalization is required because it begins the sentence. Compare Das ist problematisch. — “That is problematic.” kann is the present-tense form of the modal verb können for ich, er/sie/es, and das. With a second verb, it expresses possibility or potential: Das kann helfen. — “That can help.” The lexical verb stays in the infinitive at the end of the main clause, as in beeinträchtigen here. The lower-case das in das Vertrauen is a definite article, not the demonstrative pronoun at the start. It marks the noun phrase as neuter singular. The article has the same form in nominative and accusative here; Vertrauen is accusative because it is the object affected by beeinträchtigen. Vertrauen means “trust” and is a neuter noun: das Vertrauen. German commonly uses it without a plural when referring to trust as an abstract quality. Example: Vertrauen braucht Zeit. — “Trust takes time.” beeinträchtigen means “to impair” or “to negatively affect.” It is a separable-looking but non-separable verb in this form: the prefix be- stays attached, and the infinitive is beeinträchtigen. Its object is the thing whose quality or effectiveness is harmed; here, that object is das Vertrauen. auch wenn introduces a concessive subordinate clause, meaning “even if” in this sentence. It presents a condition that does not cancel the main statement. In a German subordinate clause introduced by auch wenn, the finite verb goes to the end: auch wenn es niemand so gemeint hat. es is a neuter singular pronoun functioning here as the object of gemeint haben; the fixed translation supports the meaning “it.” The supplied sentence does not identify a more specific noun for this it, so its exact referent should remain understood from the situation rather than being assigned to a particular nearby word. niemand means “nobody” or “no one.” It is grammatically singular, so a verb agreeing with it uses a singular form. Example: Niemand weiß es. — “Nobody knows it.” so means “that way” here. It describes the manner or intended interpretation of the action, rather than meaning simply “very.” The pattern etwas so meinen means “to mean something that way” or “to intend something in that sense.” gemeint hat is the perfect form of meinen, “to mean” or “to intend.” gemeint is the past participle, and hat is the present-tense form of haben used as the auxiliary. In this subordinate clause, the auxiliary comes last: niemand ... gemeint hat. The form gemeint is not derived from the noun Meinung; its base verb is meinen. Putting the parts together, Das kann das Vertrauen beeinträchtigen means “That can hurt trust”: the previously understood situation is presented as having the potential to harm trust. auch wenn es niemand so gemeint hat adds “even if nobody meant it that way.” The complete utterance therefore says that an unintended meaning or effect can still hurt trust.

4. Vielleicht sollten wir vor dem nächsten Treffen Abhängigkeiten und Wichtigkeit voneinander trennen.

   Maybe we should separate dependencies from importance before the next meeting.

   Vielleicht

   maybe

   sollten wir

   we should

   nächsten

   next

   Treffen

   meeting

   Abhängigkeiten

   dependencies

   Wichtigkeit

   importance

   voneinander

   from one another

   trennen

   separate

   More detail

   Vielleicht means “maybe” here. It is an adverb expressing uncertainty about the proposal; it does not itself mark the proposal as a question. sollten wir combines sollten, the form of sollen used here, with wir, “we.” In this sentence, sollten presents a recommendation or advisable course of action: “we should.” The infinitive belonging to this modal verb appears later as trennen. A reusable pattern is Wir sollten ... + infinitive, for example: Wir sollten warten. — “We should wait.” vor dem nächsten Treffen means “before the next meeting.” The temporal preposition vor takes the dative here. Treffen is a neuter noun, so the definite article is dem; nächsten is the inflected form of the adjective nächste agreeing with this dative noun phrase. The base comparison is nah — “near”; nächste means “next” in this time-related use. The phrase sets a deadline or time frame, not a claim about how many meetings there are. Abhängigkeiten means “dependencies” in this sentence. Its singular base noun is Abhängigkeit; Abhängigkeiten is its plural form. The noun can refer to relationships in which one thing relies on another. Example: Wir prüfen die Abhängigkeiten. — “We are checking the dependencies.” Wichtigkeit means “importance.” It is a feminine noun, and its form does not change here for number because the sentence uses the singular. It refers to the degree of importance of something, rather than to the thing itself. Example: Die Wichtigkeit dieses Punktes ist klar. — “The importance of this point is clear.” voneinander means “from one another” or “from each other.” It is a reciprocal form used when the separation concerns two or more entities in relation to one another. It does not identify additional participants beyond the entities involved in the stated separation. trennen is the infinitive “to separate.” It is the lexical verb selected by sollten; in a main clause with this modal construction, the infinitive stands at the end. Example: Wir trennen die beiden Begriffe. — “We separate the two concepts.” Together, Vielleicht sollten wir frames a tentative recommendation, vor dem nächsten Treffen gives the time frame, and Abhängigkeiten und Wichtigkeit voneinander trennen states the proposed action: separating dependencies and importance from one another. The whole utterance therefore means: “Maybe we should separate dependencies from importance before the next meeting.”

5. Einige Aufgaben müssen zuerst erledigt werden.

   Some tasks need to happen first.

   Einige

   some; several

   Aufgaben

   tasks

   müssen

   must; need to

   zuerst

   first

   erledigt werden

   be completed

   More detail

   Einige means an unspecified plural subset: “some” or “several.” It is the plural form used here with Aufgaben; it does not identify how many. Compare einige Aufgaben (“some tasks”) with alle Aufgaben (“all tasks”). Aufgaben is the plural of Aufgabe, “task” or “assignment.” The plural ending is -en here. Example: Eine Aufgabe ist wichtig. — “One task is important.” müssen is the present-tense plural form of müssen, “must” or “need to.” It expresses necessity, and this modal construction places the other verb forms at the end of the clause. Useful forms include ich muss (“I must”), du musst (“you must”), and sie müssen (“they must”). Capitalized Sie müssen means “you must” when addressing one or more people formally; capitalization distinguishes that form from sie müssen. zuerst means “first” in the sense of doing something before other relevant steps. It modifies the completion event here, so the tasks are required to be completed before the other steps under discussion. Example: Wir lesen zuerst die Anleitung. — “We read the instructions first.” erledigt werden expresses passive completion: erledigt is the past participle of erledigen (“to complete” or “to take care of”), while werden forms the passive. The tasks are presented as the things that receive the action, without stating who completes them. In the pattern müssen + participle + werden, the meaning is “must be completed.” Example: Die Formulare müssen ausgefüllt werden. — “The forms must be filled out.” Together, Einige Aufgaben identifies some tasks, müssen marks their necessity, zuerst places their completion before other relevant steps, and erledigt werden presents that completion passively. The whole utterance therefore means: “Some tasks need to be completed first.”

6. Aber dadurch sind sie nicht wertvoller.

   But that does not make them more valuable.

   Aber

   but

   dadurch

   through that; as a result

   sind sie

   they are

   nicht

   not

   wertvoller

   more valuable

   More detail

   Aber marks a contrast with what has just been stated. It corresponds to “but” and normally introduces a result or point that differs from an expectation. Example: Ich verstehe das, aber ich stimme nicht zu. — “I understand that, but I do not agree.” dadurch means “through that” or, in this sentence, “as a result of that.” It points to an already understood circumstance or action rather than naming the means again. Example: Dadurch wird alles einfacher. — “That makes everything easier.” In sind sie, sind is the present-tense form of sein (“to be”) for a third-person plural subject. sie is the third-person plural pronoun here, matching the translation “they/them”; the fixed translation identifies the entities being discussed as “them.” The form sind is different from singular ist: Sie sind bereit. — “They are ready.” nicht negates the following predicative description in nicht wertvoller. It makes the sentence say that the entities are not more valuable, rather than asserting the positive comparison. wertvoller is the comparative of the adjective wertvoll (“valuable”): wertvoll = valuable, wertvoller = more valuable, am wertvollsten = most valuable. Because it follows sein as a predicate, it appears here without an adjective ending. Example: Dieses Ergebnis ist wertvoller. — “This result is more valuable.” Taken together, Aber dadurch introduces a contrast and presents the relevant circumstance as a possible cause or effect, sind sie supplies the plural subject and “are,” and nicht wertvoller denies the comparative description. The whole utterance therefore means: “But that does not make them more valuable.”

7. Ich kann vor unserem nächsten Treffen eine Übersicht über die Abhängigkeiten erstellen.

   I can put together a dependency map before we meet again.

   Ich kann

   I can

   vor

   before

   nächsten

   next

   Treffen

   meeting

   Übersicht

   overview

   über

   about; of

   Abhängigkeiten

   dependencies

   erstellen

   create; compile

   More detail

   Ich kann expresses “I can” here: können is the modal verb, in the present-tense first-person singular form kann. With a modal verb, the other verb normally appears as an infinitive at the end of the clause: Ich kann ... erstellen = “I can create ...”. vor means “before” when it introduces a time. In vor unserem nächsten Treffen, it refers to a time before the meeting. For this temporal meaning, vor takes the dative: unserem marks the dative form of unser with the neuter noun Treffen. nächsten means “next” here. It is the inflected form of nächst- before the dative noun phrase Treffen: vor unserem nächsten Treffen. The adjective changes its ending because of the case, gender, and determiner in this phrase; nächsten itself is not the noun’s base form. Treffen means “meeting” here. It is a neuter noun, so the phrase uses unserem Treffen in the dative after vor. The plural has the same visible form, Treffen, although the surrounding words can show which number is intended. Übersicht means “overview”. It is a feminine noun; its plural is Übersichten. An Übersicht über ... is a structured overview of a subject, so in this sentence it can naturally be rendered as a “dependency map.” über introduces what the overview concerns in eine Übersicht über die Abhängigkeiten: “an overview of the dependencies.” In this use, the following noun phrase is accusative, shown by die; the same preposition can have other meanings and case patterns in other contexts. Abhängigkeiten means “dependencies” here. It is the plural of feminine Abhängigkeit; the plural ending is -en. The definite article die is plural in this phrase, and die Abhängigkeiten is the thing being mapped or summarized. erstellen means “create” or “compile” here. It is an infinitive, and it remains at the end because it depends on the modal verb kann. A reusable pattern is Ich kann [object] erstellen — “I can create [object].” Together, Ich kann + eine Übersicht ... erstellen gives “I can create an overview ...”. vor unserem nächsten Treffen places that action before the next meeting, and über die Abhängigkeiten specifies the overview’s topic. The complete meaning is: “I can put together a dependency map before we meet again.”

8. Damit sollte die Diskussion konkret bleiben, statt persönlich zu werden.

   That should keep the discussion concrete instead of personal.

   Damit

   that way

   sollte

   should

   Diskussion

   discussion

   konkret

   concrete

   bleiben

   remain

   statt

   instead of

   persönlich

   personal

   zu werden

   to become

   More detail

   Damit means “that way” here: it points to the intended effect of the preceding plan or action, rather than naming a new participant. It can introduce a result or purpose, as in Damit vermeiden wir Missverständnisse. — “That way, we avoid misunderstandings.” Sollte is the form of sollen used with the singular subject die Diskussion. In this sentence, sollte expresses an expected or intended result: “should.” The same form can also be the past form of sollen, so the surrounding context determines the reading. Here, the fixed translation supports the expectation/intention reading. Sollen is a modal verb, and the other verb goes to the end in the infinitive: Die Diskussion sollte ... bleiben. Diskussion is a feminine singular noun meaning “discussion.” Its plural is Diskussionen. The article and adjective endings, when present, show its grammatical gender and number; the noun itself does not change gender according to the situation. Konkret means “concrete” here in the sense of specific and focused on definite information or points. As a predicative adjective after bleiben, it has no ending: Die Diskussion bleibt konkret. — “The discussion remains concrete.” Bleiben means “remain/stay.” It is the infinitive selected by the modal sollte; the finite modal carries the tense and person marking, while bleiben stays in the infinitive. A useful contrast is bleiben “remain” versus werden “become”: Die Diskussion bleibt sachlich. — “The discussion remains objective.” Statt introduces an alternative and means “instead of.” Before an infinitive clause, German commonly uses statt ... zu or anstatt ... zu: Sie prüft die Fakten, statt zu spekulieren. — “She checks the facts instead of speculating.” Persönlich means “personal” here, describing the character the discussion should not take on. It is predicative after werden, so it has no adjective ending. In other positions, an adjective may take an ending, for example eine persönliche Bemerkung — “a personal remark.” Zu werden means “to become.” Werden is the infinitive of the verb whose basic meaning here is “become,” and zu marks the infinitive clause after statt. The adjective persönlich describes the resulting state: statt persönlich zu werden means “instead of becoming personal.” Together, Damit sollte die Diskussion konkret bleiben says that the intended effect is for the discussion to remain specific and focused. Statt persönlich zu werden contrasts that desired state with the alternative of becoming personal. The whole utterance therefore means: “That should keep the discussion concrete instead of personal.”

9. Dann können alle die Diskussion auf dieselben Informationen gründen und nicht nur auf ihren Frust.

   Then people can base the discussion on the same information, not just their frustrations.

   Dann

   then

   können alle

   everyone can

   Diskussion

   discussion

   dieselben

   the same

   Informationen

   information

   gründen

   base

   nicht nur

   not only

   ihren

   their

   Frust

   frustration

   More detail

   Dann means “then” here and links this statement to the preceding situation. It can also introduce a consequence or next step: Dann machen wir weiter. — “Then we’ll continue.” können alle combines the modal verb können with alle. können is the present-tense form used with the plural subject and expresses ability or possibility here: “can.” The infinitive gründen comes later because a modal verb normally sends the other verb to the end of its clause. alle means “everyone” or “all [the relevant people]”; the sentence does not specify their individual identities. Diskussion is a feminine noun meaning “discussion.” Its plural is Diskussionen. In this sentence, die Diskussion is the accusative object of gründen, because the people can base the discussion on something. dieselben means “the same” in the sense of identical ones, not merely similar ones. It agrees with Informationen, which is plural and accusative here: dieselben Informationen. A useful contrast is ähnliche Informationen — “similar information”; that does not necessarily mean identical information. Informationen is the plural of Information; the singular is Information, and the plural is Informationen. Here it refers to information as the shared basis for the discussion. Example: Wir brauchen dieselben Informationen. — “We need the same information.” gründen means “to base” in this use. The reusable pattern is etwas auf etwas gründen: “to base something on something.” gründen is the infinitive after können; the finite verb is können. Example: Sie gründen ihre Entscheidung auf Fakten. — “They base their decision on facts.” nicht nur means “not only.” It introduces the idea that the basis is not limited to one thing. Here it combines with auf ihren Frust, while the earlier phrase supplies the other basis: the discussion can be based on the same information, not only on frustration. ihren is the possessive determiner meaning “their” in the intended reading. Its ending is the form required by masculine accusative Frust after accusative auf in the pattern etwas auf etwas gründen. The possessive stem ihr- identifies a plural third-person possessor here, corresponding to alle, while the ending reflects the possessed noun’s grammatical features and case. Thus ihren is not chosen merely because the possessor is plural. Frust means “frustration” here. It is a masculine noun and is used in the singular in the German sentence, even though the fixed English translation uses plural “frustrations.” German Frust can describe the general feeling collectively. Example: Sie spricht aus Frust. — “She speaks out of frustration.” Together, können alle die Diskussion auf dieselben Informationen gründen means “everyone can base the discussion on the same information.” und nicht nur auf ihren Frust adds the contrast: the discussion can be based on the same information and not only on their frustration. The complete utterance is therefore: “Then people can base the discussion on the same information, not just their frustrations.”