Giving a task update | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Cómo va la tarea?

   How is the task going?

   Cómo

   how

   va

   is going

   tarea

   task; assignment

   More detail

   Cómo is the question word meaning “how” here. The accent mark distinguishes interrogative cómo from unaccented como, which has other uses. It asks about the manner or state of something, as in ¿Cómo está? — “How is he/she/it?” va is the third-person singular present form of ir, “to go.” In this question, ir is used for progress: ¿Cómo va ...? asks how something is proceeding, not necessarily where it is going. The form agrees with the singular subject la tarea; the present tense presents the task’s current progress. Example: ¿Cómo va el proyecto? — “How is the project going?” la tarea means “the task” or, in an appropriate context, “the assignment.” Tarea is a feminine singular noun, so the definite article is la; its plural is las tareas. The article identifies the task as a particular one in context, without by itself stating how many tasks there are. Together, ¿Cómo va la tarea? literally asks how the task is going and naturally means “How is the task going?” It is a reusable way to ask about the current progress of a singular activity or piece of work: ¿Cómo va + singular noun?

2. La mayor parte está terminada.

   Most of it is done.

   mayor

   greater; larger

   parte

   part

   está

   is

   terminada

   finished

   More detail

   mayor appears in la mayor parte, a fixed way to express “the greater part” and, in this sentence, “most.” It is the comparative form associated with grande: grande = big/great, mayor = greater/larger or older, depending on context. Here it marks the larger portion, not a person’s age. The related expression la menor parte refers to the smaller portion. parte means “part” or “portion.” It is a feminine singular noun, which is why the article is la and the following adjective is feminine singular. La mayor parte refers to most of the task in the supplied context, but it does not say that every part is finished. está is the third-person singular present form of estar, “to be.” Estar is used here for a current state or result. For example: La tarea está lista. — “The task is ready.” terminada means “finished” or “completed” here. It is the feminine singular form of terminado, the past participle of terminar, used adjectivally to agree with feminine singular parte. Compare El trabajo está terminado. — “The work is finished.” The masculine form terminado agrees with trabajo, while terminada agrees with parte. Together, La mayor parte means “most of it” in this context, and está terminada says that this portion is in a finished state. The whole utterance means: “Most of it is done.”

3. ¿Qué hay que revisar?

   What needs checking?

   ¿Qué

   what

   hay que

   needs to / has to

   revisar

   check

   More detail

   ¿Qué asks for the thing or task being identified. The accent marks its interrogative use; compare que without an accent, which commonly links clauses rather than asking “what.” Example: ¿Qué necesitas? — “What do you need?” hay que is an impersonal Spanish construction meaning that something needs to be done or must be done. It does not identify a particular person who has the obligation. The form hay stays the same regardless of who carries out the action. Pattern: hay que + infinitive. Example: Hay que esperar. — “We/one has to wait.” revisar is the infinitive “to check” or “to review.” It follows hay que in its unchanged infinitive form. Its related first-person form is reviso (“I check”), as in Reviso los números. — “I check the numbers.” Together, ¿Qué asks which task is involved, and hay que revisar expresses that this task needs to be done. The whole utterance therefore means “What needs checking?” or, more literally, “What is it necessary to check?”

4. Necesito revisar los números.

   I need to check the numbers.

   Necesito

   I need

   revisar

   to check

   números

   numbers

   More detail

   Necesito is the first-person singular present form of necesitar (“to need”): yo necesito. It states the speaker’s need. The same pattern is reusable with a different infinitive, for example, Necesito descansar. — “I need to rest.” revisar is an infinitive meaning “to check” or “to review.” After necesito, the infinitive names the action that is needed: Necesito revisar... — “I need to check...” The infinitive does not show a separate subject here; the understood subject is the speaker, supplied by necesito. números is the plural of the noun número, “number.” The written accent remains in the plural: número → números. The preceding los is the masculine plural definite article, agreeing with números; together, los números means “the numbers,” referring to a specific set in this context. For comparison, el número means “the number.” Together, Necesito + revisar expresses the speaker’s need, and los números identifies what the speaker needs to check. The complete meaning is “I need to check the numbers.”

5. ¿Vamos a tiempo?

   Are we on schedule?

   Vamos

   we go

   a tiempo

   on time; on schedule

   More detail

   Vamos is the first-person plural present form of ir (“to go”): yo voy, tú vas, él/ella va, nosotros vamos. It expresses “we go” here; the combination with a tiempo gives the schedule-related meaning. The first-person plural form identifies “we,” and the question marks make the utterance a question. A tiempo is a common expression meaning “on time.” In this utterance, it means being on schedule. The noun tiempo means “time,” but a tiempo is useful to learn as the complete expression. Example: Llegamos a tiempo. — “We arrive on time.” Together, ¿Vamos a tiempo? asks whether we are on schedule. The natural translation is “Are we on schedule?”

6. Podemos terminar esta tarde.

   We can finish this afternoon.

   Podemos

   we can

   terminar

   finish

   esta

   this

   tarde

   afternoon

   More detail

   Podemos is the first-person plural present form of poder, meaning “we can” here. Spanish uses this form for “we”; the following infinitive identifies the action that is possible. Compare puedo (“I can”) and podemos (“we can”). Terminar is an infinitive meaning “to finish.” After a form of poder, Spanish uses the infinitive: Podemos terminar = “We can finish.” Example: Puedo terminarlo hoy. = “I can finish it today.” Esta means “this” and is the feminine singular form of the demonstrative. It agrees with the feminine singular noun tarde; the form does not identify which specific afternoon beyond the context. Compare este with a masculine singular noun and estas with a feminine plural noun. Tarde is a noun meaning “afternoon” in this expression. Esta tarde is the reusable pattern for “this afternoon.” In other contexts, tarde can also refer to the later part of the day, but here the fixed translation specifies “afternoon.” Together, podemos + infinitive expresses ability or possibility: Podemos terminar means “we can finish.” Adding esta tarde specifies when the finishing can happen, producing the complete meaning: “We can finish this afternoon.”

7. ¿Debemos informar al equipo?

   Should we update the team?

   Debemos

   should / ought to

   informar

   inform; update

   equipo

   team

   More detail

   Debemos is the first-person plural present form of deber: debemos = “we should” or “we ought to.” It expresses an obligation or recommendation for the speaker and at least one other person. The form is not the infinitive; its base form is deber. For example: Debemos esperar. — “We should wait.” informar is an infinitive. After deber, the infinitive names the action that is recommended or required: debemos informar = “we should inform” or, in this context, “we should update.” Spanish informar commonly means “to inform,” while the fixed translation selects the compatible “update” sense here. For example: Debemos informar al cliente. — “We should inform the client.” equipo is a masculine singular noun meaning “team.” In al equipo, al is the contraction of a + el; it marks the team as the recipient or target of the informing/updating. The noun’s gender is shown by the article el, not by al alone. A plural example is a los equipos — “to the teams.” Together, Debemos informar al equipo forms a question because it is enclosed by ¿ ... ?. Debemos supplies “should we,” informar supplies the action, and al equipo identifies the team as the target. Thus the complete utterance means: “Should we update the team?”

8. Vamos a informarles después de terminar esta parte.

   Let's update them after we finish this part.

   Vamos a

   we’re going to

   informarles

   update them

   después de

   after

   terminar

   finish

   esta

   this

   parte

   part

   More detail

   Vamos a combines the first-person plural present form vamos of ir with a and an infinitive. Together, this is a reusable near-future pattern meaning “we are going to …”; in this sentence, the fixed translation presents it as a proposal: “let’s …”. Example: Vamos a revisar el informe. — “We’re going to review the report.” informarles means “to update/inform them” here. informar is the infinitive, and les is an attached indirect-object clitic referring to the people being informed. les is plural and does not mark the recipients’ gender. The clitic attaches to an infinitive: informarles; compare Les informo mañana. — “I’ll inform them tomorrow.” después de means “after” and introduces what happens later. Before an action expressed with an infinitive, the reusable pattern is después de + infinitive: Después de comer, salimos. — “After eating, we leave.” terminar is the infinitive “to finish.” Here it names the action that occurs before the main action. In después de terminar, the understood subject is compatible with the main clause’s “we”: “after we finish.” Example: Después de terminar el trabajo, descansamos. — “After finishing the work, we rest.” esta is the feminine singular demonstrative “this.” It agrees with the feminine singular noun it modifies, rather than carrying the main action itself. The matching masculine form is este, as in este informe (“this report”); esta parte means “this part.” parte is a feminine noun meaning “part” or “section.” Its gender is reflected by the feminine form esta before it. Example: Esta parte es importante. — “This part is important.” Together, the chunks express a first-person-plural plan or proposal to inform the group referred to as “them,” with that action taking place after the speakers finish the part referred to as “this part.”