Reducing Unnecessary Video Meetings | Learn German in English

Sentence explanations

1. Ich möchte unnötige Videokonferenzen nach Möglichkeit reduzieren.

   I want to reduce unnecessary video meetings where possible.

   Ich möchte

   I want to

   unnötige

   unnecessary

   Videokonferenzen

   video meetings

   nach Möglichkeit

   where possible

   reduzieren

   reduce

   More detail

   Ich möchte means “I want to” here. Ich is the first-person singular subject, and möchte is the form used with ich to express a desire or intention in a polite, less forceful way. It comes from mögen; the useful form chain is mögen → möchte for this kind of present desire. The following infinitive states what the speaker wants to do. Example: Ich möchte lernen. — “I want to learn.” unnötige means “unnecessary” and describes Videokonferenzen. Its base form is unnötig. The ending -e is adjective inflection: here the adjective modifies a plural noun in the accusative without a preceding article that shows the case. Example: Wir vermeiden unnötige Fragen. — “We avoid unnecessary questions.” Videokonferenzen means “video meetings” or “video conferences.” It is the plural of the feminine noun Videokonferenz; the plural form is also the accusative form in this sentence. German compounds such as Videokonferenz combine Video with Konferenz, but the complete compound is the useful noun to learn. Example: Videokonferenzen können Zeit sparen. — “Video meetings can save time.” nach Möglichkeit is a reusable expression meaning “where possible” or “if possible.” The noun is Möglichkeit (“possibility”); after nach, it appears in the dative, and this expression uses it without an article. Example: Bitte komm nach Möglichkeit früh. — “Please come early if possible.” reduzieren means “to reduce” and is the infinitive that completes möchte: Ich möchte ... reduzieren means “I want to reduce ...”. The infinitive remains unchanged after möchte and is placed at the end of this main clause. Example: Wir möchten den Lärm reduzieren. — “We want to reduce the noise.” Together, Ich möchte introduces the speaker’s intention, unnötige Videokonferenzen is the accusative object of reduzieren, and nach Möglichkeit limits the intention to situations in which reduction is possible. The German sentence therefore means: “I want to reduce unnecessary video meetings where possible.”

2. Ich verstehe das, obwohl manche Gespräche davon profitieren, dass man Reaktionen sehen kann.

   I understand, though some discussions benefit from visible reactions.

   Ich

   I

   verstehe

   understand

   das

   that

   obwohl

   although

   manche

   some

   Gespräche

   discussions

   davon profitieren

   benefit from it

   dass

   that

   man

   one; people in general

   Reaktionen

   reactions

   sehen

   see

   kann

   can

   More detail

   Ich means “I” here. It is the first-person singular personal pronoun. Its related object form is mich, as in Sie hört mich (“She hears me”); Ich is used for the subject. verstehe is the first-person singular present form of verstehen (“to understand”). The ending -e marks the ich form here: ich verstehe, du verstehst, sie versteht. In this sentence, the present tense expresses the speaker’s current understanding. das means “that” and is an accusative neuter demonstrative pronoun in this use. It points to the content the speaker understands, rather than naming that content again. Compare Ich verstehe es (“I understand it”), where es is a personal pronoun rather than a demonstrative. obwohl introduces a contrast: “although” or “though”. It sends the clause it introduces to the subordinate-clause pattern, so the finite verb appears at the end of that clause. manche means “some” in the sense of “some, but not all.” Here it is the plural nominative form modifying Gespräche: manche Gespräche. The form changes with grammatical case and number; for example, mancher is a masculine singular nominative form. Gespräche is the plural of Gespräch (“conversation” or “discussion”). The plural ending is -e: ein Gespräch → Gespräche. In this sentence, the plural noun is the subject of the clause introduced by obwohl. davon profitieren is a reusable construction meaning “benefit from it” or “benefit from that.” profitieren is the lexical verb, and davon is a pronominal adverb referring to a previously understood matter. German commonly uses von + dem/der for a noun and davon when referring to a matter: Die Gespräche profitieren davon (“The discussions benefit from it”). dass introduces the content of what benefits the discussions: “that.” It begins another subordinate clause, in which the finite verb again comes at the end. man is an impersonal pronoun meaning “one” or “people in general.” It is grammatically singular, so the verb is kann, not a plural form. It does not identify a particular person. Reaktionen is the plural of Reaktion (“reaction”). Here it is the accusative object of sehen: the general subject man can see reactions. The singular is eine Reaktion; the plural is Reaktionen. sehen means “to see.” After the modal verb kann, it remains an infinitive: man kann Reaktionen sehen (“people can see reactions”). The modal construction is können + infinitive; the finite form kann carries the tense and person marking. kann is the third-person singular present form of the modal verb können (“can” or “be able to”). Its base form is können; the forms include ich kann, du kannst, and er/sie/es kann. Here it expresses possibility or ability, not a command. Together, Ich verstehe das means “I understand that.” Obwohl manche Gespräche davon profitieren, dass man Reaktionen sehen kann adds the contrast “though some discussions benefit from being able to see reactions.” The full utterance therefore means: “I understand, though some discussions benefit from visible reactions.”

3. Komplexe Entscheidungen verdienen eine Live-Diskussion, aber für Updates gilt das oft nicht.

   Complex decisions deserve live discussion, but updates often do not.

   Komplexe

   complex

   Entscheidungen

   decisions

   verdienen

   deserve

   Live-Diskussion

   live discussion

   Updates

   updates

   gilt

   applies

   das

   that

   oft

   often

   nicht

   not

   More detail

   Komplexe describes Entscheidungen and appears before the noun. Its ending is the strong attributive adjective ending used here with a nominative plural noun when no article supplies the ending; the base form is komplex. The noun's singular is feminine (die Entscheidung), but the plural form here is governed by plural number and nominative case, not by a separate feminine-plural adjective ending. Compare komplexe Fragen (“complex questions”). Entscheidungen is the plural of Entscheidung (“decision”). The pair is die Entscheidung / die Entscheidungen. The ending -en here belongs to the plural noun form, not to the adjective. verdienen is the present-tense form used with the plural subject Entscheidungen. Its base form is also verdienen; with a singular subject, German uses verdient, as in Diese Entscheidung verdient Aufmerksamkeit (“This decision deserves attention”). Here it means “deserve,” not “earn money.” Live-Diskussion is the feminine compound noun in eine Live-Diskussion, the thing that the decisions deserve. Its article pattern is die Live-Diskussion / eine Live-Diskussion. Here Live- describes a discussion taking place in real time; it is not the verb leben (“to live”). aber introduces the contrast with the first clause. für Updates uses für with the accusative case. Updates is the plural of Update, a commonly used loanword for a new piece of information or a status change. Because it is an unmodified plural after für, its form is the same as the nominative plural. The phrase identifies updates as the relevant category; it does not state a number. gilt is the third-person singular present form of gelten (“to apply,” “to be valid”). The subject is das, so the singular form gilt is used. Compare Das gilt auch hier (“That applies here too”) and Das gilt nicht (“That does not apply”). das is a neuter demonstrative pronoun functioning as the subject of gilt. In this sentence it refers to the preceding proposition that complex decisions deserve a live discussion, as reflected by the fixed translation’s “that ... do not” structure. Its grammatical form does not by itself determine every possible referent in other contexts. oft means “often” and modifies the second clause. It indicates that the non-application is frequent, not universal. nicht negates gilt: for updates, the preceding proposition often does not apply. The combination oft nicht means “often not”; nicht is not negating oft. The utterance first states Komplexe Entscheidungen verdienen eine Live-Diskussion (“Complex decisions deserve live discussion”). aber then contrasts this with für Updates gilt das oft nicht (“but updates often do not”). Together, the sentence means: “Complex decisions deserve live discussion, but updates often do not.”

4. Dann sollten wir Entscheidungsbesprechungen vom Informationsaustausch trennen.

   Then we should separate decision meetings from information sharing.

   Dann

   then

   sollten wir

   we should

   Entscheidungsbesprechungen

   decision meetings

   vom

   from the

   Informationsaustausch

   information sharing

   trennen

   separate

   More detail

   Dann means “then” here: it links this recommendation to the preceding discussion in time or sequence. It can also introduce a consequence in other sentences, for example: Dann gehen wir. — “Then we’ll go.” Sollten wir combines wir (“we”) with sollten, the form of sollen used here to express a recommendation: “we should.” Wir is first-person plural. In this sentence, sollten is not a statement that the separation already happened; it presents it as advisable. Compare Wir sollen ... (“We are supposed to ...”), which can report an instruction, while Wir sollten ... commonly gives advice. With a modal verb such as sollen, the other verb stays in the infinitive and goes to the end of the clause. Entscheidungsbesprechungen means “decision meetings.” It is the plural of Entscheidungsbesprechung, a compound noun built from Entscheidung (“decision”) and Besprechung (“meeting or discussion”). The plural ending is -en: eine Entscheidungsbesprechung → Entscheidungsbesprechungen. The compound is the subject of trennen, so these meetings are the things to be separated. Vom is the contraction of von dem. Here von expresses separation from a source or category, and dem marks the following masculine singular noun in the dative. German commonly uses the pattern etwas von etwas trennen — “separate one thing from another.” Informationsaustausch means “information sharing” in this sentence. It is a masculine compound noun formed from Information and Austausch (“exchange”). Because it follows von, the phrase is vom Informationsaustausch; the dative marking is carried by the article contraction, while this noun itself has the same visible form in the singular here. The sentence treats information sharing as the second side of the separation. Trennen is the infinitive “to separate.” Its base form is trennen; with a modal verb, it remains in the infinitive at the end: Wir sollten ... trennen. A useful pattern is A von B trennen — “separate A from B.” Together, Dann sollten wir sets out a recommendation, Entscheidungsbesprechungen names what should be separated, and vom Informationsaustausch trennen supplies the separation pattern and its second element. The whole utterance means: “Then we should separate decision meetings from information sharing.”

5. Schriftliche Updates würden den Menschen ermöglichen, überlegter zu antworten.

   Written updates would let people respond more thoughtfully.

   Schriftliche

   written

   Updates

   updates

   würden

   would

   Menschen

   people

   ermöglichen

   enable; make possible

   überlegter

   more thoughtfully

   antworten

   respond

   More detail

   Schriftliche means “written” here and describes Updates. It is the adjective form of schriftlich; with a plural noun and no article before the adjective, it takes the ending -e: schriftliche Updates. The adjective agrees with the plural noun, while the noun itself supplies the meaning of the things being written. Updates is the plural of Update, a commonly used German loanword for an update or status report. Its plural ending is -s: ein Update → Updates. In this sentence, the adjective and noun together are the subject: written updates are the things that would make the action possible. würden is the third-person plural Konjunktiv II form of werden, used here as the auxiliary for a hypothetical or conditional “would.” The pattern würden ... ermöglichen corresponds to “would enable ...”; the main lexical verb remains in the infinitive at the end of the clause. Würden agrees with the plural subject schriftliche Updates. Menschen means “people” and is the plural of Mensch. The form Menschen is also used in several cases; here, the preceding form den marks the plural dative: den Menschen. The construction jemandem etwas ermöglichen means “to enable someone to do or have something.” ermöglichen means “to enable” or “make possible.” It is the infinitive of ermöglichen; in this sentence it follows the auxiliary würden. A useful pattern is jemandem ermöglichen, etwas zu tun: “to enable someone to do something.” Here, den Menschen is the person group receiving the possibility, and zu antworten names the enabled action. überlegter means “more thoughtfully” in this sentence. It is the comparative form of the adjective überlegt (“thoughtful” or “considered”), used adverbially to describe how people would respond: überlegt → überlegter. The comparative ending shows a comparison with responding in a less thoughtful way, without specifying a particular comparison point. antworten means “to respond” or “to answer.” It is the infinitive after zu: zu antworten. German uses zu plus an infinitive in this type of construction, jemandem ermöglichen, ... zu antworten—“to enable someone to respond.” The verb antworten commonly takes auf for what is being answered, as in auf eine Frage antworten (“answer a question”). Together, schriftliche Updates is the plural subject; würden ermöglichen says that they would make something possible; den Menschen identifies the people who receive that possibility; and überlegter zu antworten expresses the enabled action and its manner. The whole utterance therefore means: “Written updates would let people respond more thoughtfully.”

6. Sie schaffen außerdem Aufzeichnungen, die später nützlich sind.

   They also create records, which is useful later.

   Sie

   they

   schaffen

   create

   außerdem

   also

   Aufzeichnungen

   records

   die

   which

   später

   later

   nützlich

   useful

   sind

   are

   More detail

   Sie means “they” here, as fixed by the translation. The capital letter is also used for formal singular or plural “you,” but that is a different reading; in this sentence, Sie is the third-person plural subject. schaffen is the base form “to create.” It is also the present-tense form used with sie (“they”): sie schaffen. Example: Sie schaffen neue Aufzeichnungen. — “They create new records.” außerdem adds another point: “also” or “in addition.” It does not change the verb form. Example: Außerdem helfen sie. — “They also help.” Aufzeichnungen means “records” or “recorded notes.” It is the plural of Aufzeichnung; the singular is eine Aufzeichnung, and the plural form ends in -en. Example: Die Aufzeichnungen sind wichtig. — “The records are important.” die introduces the relative clause. Here it is the plural nominative relative pronoun referring to the records, and it is the subject of sind. In this use, the plural form is die regardless of the antecedent’s grammatical gender. Example: Das sind die Notizen, die nützlich sind. — “Those are the notes that are useful.” später means “later,” referring to a later time without specifying exactly when. Example: Wir sprechen später darüber. — “We will talk about it later.” nützlich means “useful” or “helpful.” It describes something that provides practical value. Example: Diese Information ist nützlich. — “This information is useful.” sind is the present-tense plural form of sein, “to be.” The relevant chain is sein → sie sind; sind agrees with the plural subject die, not with nützlich. Together, Sie schaffen außerdem Aufzeichnungen means “They also create records.” The relative clause die später nützlich sind adds that these records are useful later. The complete meaning is: “They also create records that are useful later.”

7. Könnten wir diesen Ansatz bei einem regelmäßigen Meeting testen?

   Could we pilot that approach with a recurring meeting?

   Könnten wir

   Could we

   diesen

   that

   Ansatz

   approach

   bei

   with; at

   regelmäßigen

   recurring; regular

   Meeting

   meeting

   testen

   test; pilot

   More detail

   Könnten wir combines könnten, the Konjunktiv II form of können, with the subject wir (“we”). Here it presents a tentative, polite proposal or request, not a claim about past ability. A reusable pattern is Könnten wir …? — “Could we …?” Example: Könnten wir morgen anfangen? — “Could we start tomorrow?” diesen is the masculine accusative singular form of the demonstrative determiner dies-. It agrees with Ansatz and marks the specific approach as the object of testen. Compare dieser Ansatz (“this approach” as a subject) and mit diesem Ansatz (“with this approach” after a dative preposition). In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the intended meaning as “that approach.” Ansatz is a masculine noun meaning “approach” or “method” here. Its plural is Ansätze. Example: Dieser Ansatz funktioniert. — “This approach works.” bei is a preposition that takes the dative. With einem Meeting, it places the proposed testing in the setting or connection of a meeting; in this context, bei einem Meeting is naturally “with a meeting” or “at a meeting.” Its meaning is context-dependent, so it is not a universal equivalent of English “with.” regelmäßigen is the adjective regelmäßig (“regular” or “recurring”) with the ending required in this noun phrase. After the dative article einem, it appears as masculine/neuter dative singular regelmäßigen, agreeing with Meeting. Example: Wir haben ein regelmäßiges Meeting. — “We have a regular recurring meeting.” Meeting is a neuter noun in this usage: das Meeting, dative singular einem Meeting, plural Meetings. The indefinite article einem marks an unspecified meeting in the dative; it does not by itself assert a numerical count as the main point. testen is the infinitive “to test.” After the modal verb könnten, the lexical verb remains in the infinitive and appears at the end of this question. In this context, “pilot” conveys trying the approach in practice. Example: Wir testen den Ansatz. — “We are testing the approach.” The structure is Könnten wir + diesen Ansatz + bei einem regelmäßigen Meeting + testen?: “Could we pilot that approach with a recurring meeting?” The participants are wir (“we”), and the sentence asks about the possibility of carrying out the testing; it does not state that the testing has already happened or will definitely happen.

8. Wir können ihn testen und die Qualität der Ergebnisse vergleichen.

   We can test it and compare the quality of outcomes.

   Wir können

   we can

   ihn

   it

   testen

   test

   Qualität

   quality

   Ergebnisse

   outcomes

   vergleichen

   compare

   More detail

   Wir können means “we can.” können is the present-tense form of können for wir; it expresses ability or possibility here. With a modal verb, the other verb stays in the infinitive and goes to the end of its clause or coordinated verb group. For example: Wir können morgen beginnen. — “We can begin tomorrow.” ihn means “it” here. It is the accusative form of the masculine personal pronoun: er (nominative) → ihn (accusative). The preceding context supports the approach as the intended item being tested; German uses masculine ihn because Ansatz is masculine. The pronoun’s form reflects its object role, while the following verb is the action performed on it. testen means “to test.” It is the infinitive after können; the same form is also used as the dictionary form. Example: Wir testen den Plan. — “We are testing the plan.” Qualität means “quality.” It is a feminine noun: die Qualität. In die Qualität der Ergebnisse, die Qualität is the thing being compared, while der Ergebnisse specifies whose quality. der here marks the plural genitive form of die Ergebnisse (“of the outcomes/results”). Ergebnisse means “outcomes” or “results.” It is the plural of Ergebnis; the form der Ergebnisse is genitive plural after Qualität. Example: Die Ergebnisse sind klar. — “The results are clear.” vergleichen means “to compare.” It is another infinitive coordinated with testen under können; German does not need to repeat the modal: Wir können testen und vergleichen — “We can test and compare.” Together, Wir können ihn testen says “We can test it,” and die Qualität der Ergebnisse vergleichen says “compare the quality of the outcomes/results.” The shared modal können applies to both actions, so the complete utterance means: “We can test it and compare the quality of outcomes.”