Reviewing meeting action items | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. ¿Podemos revisar las tareas pendientes de la reunión?

   Can we review the action items from the meeting?

   Podemos

   can we

   revisar

   review

   tareas

   tasks

   pendientes

   pending

   de la

   from the

   reunión

   meeting

   More detail

   Podemos is the first-person plural present form of poder (“to be able to; can”). In this question, it means “can we” and presents the action as a possibility for the speaker and others together. Compare puedo (“I can”) and pueden (“they/you all can”); podemos identifies the subject as “we.” revisar is the infinitive “to review” or “to check.” After a conjugated form of poder, Spanish uses the infinitive: Podemos revisar means “we can review.” Example: Podemos revisar el informe. — “We can review the report.” tareas is the feminine plural noun tarea, “task.” The plural ending -s shows that more than one task is meant. Here, the fixed translation identifies these tasks as action items. pendientes is the plural form of the adjective pendiente, here meaning “pending” or “outstanding.” It describes tareas. Pendiente has the same singular form for masculine and feminine nouns, while pendientes is the plural form for either gender. Example: Hay dos tareas pendientes. — “There are two pending tasks.” de la combines the preposition de (“of; from”) with the feminine singular article la (“the”). Together, it introduces the source or relation of the noun phrase that follows. Here it connects the tasks with the meeting, giving the meaning “from the meeting.” reunión is the feminine singular noun “meeting.” The accent mark is part of its spelling. In de la reunión, it is the meeting associated with or supplying the action items; the phrase does not by itself specify additional details about that meeting. Together, Podemos revisar asks whether the speaker and the relevant others are able to review something. las tareas pendientes identifies that something as the outstanding action items, and de la reunión links them to the meeting. The complete utterance is therefore a request to review the meeting’s outstanding action items, expressed as a “Can we…?” question.

2. Tengo abierto el resumen, así que vamos a revisarlas.

   I have the summary open, so let's check them.

   Tengo

   I have

   abierto

   open

   resumen

   summary

   así que

   so

   vamos a

   let’s

   revisarlas

   check them

   More detail

   Tengo is the first-person singular present form of tener (“to have”): yo tengo. Here it expresses possession or a current state. Example: Tengo tiempo. — “I have time.” abierto comes from abrir (“to open”). In tener + participle, it describes the resulting state of something that is kept open. It agrees with el resumen: masculine singular, hence abierto. The form would be abierta with a feminine singular noun, for example Tengo abierta la puerta. — “I have the door open.” resumen is a masculine noun meaning “summary.” Its plural is resúmenes. In this sentence, el resumen is the thing being kept open; it is not the object referred to by las in revisarlas. así que introduces a consequence: “so” or “therefore.” It connects the open summary with the speaker’s proposed next action. vamos a contains vamos, the first-person plural present form of ir (“to go”), followed by a. Before an infinitive, ir a + infinitive expresses a planned or imminent action. Here it begins vamos a revisar: “we are going to review” or, naturally, “let’s review.” The subject includes the speaker and at least one other person; this construction does not by itself specify who the other person is. revisarlas combines the infinitive revisar (“to review/check”) with the direct-object pronoun las: revisar + las. Las is feminine plural, and in this bounded context it refers to las tareas pendientes from the preceding sentence, reflected by “them” in the fixed translation. With a masculine singular object, the corresponding combination would be revisarlo, as in Vamos a revisarlo. — “We are going to review it.” Together, Tengo abierto el resumen says that the speaker currently has the summary open. Así que marks the consequence, and vamos a revisarlas proposes that the speaker and others review the pending tasks. The whole utterance means: “I have the summary open, so let’s check them.”

3. ¿Quién debe contactar al cliente?

   Who should contact the client?

   ¿Quién

   who

   debe

   should

   contactar

   contact

   cliente

   client

   More detail

   ¿Quién asks for the person who performs the action. In this sentence it is the unknown subject, and its singular form pairs with debe. The plural question form is ¿Quiénes...? when asking about multiple people. Example: ¿Quién viene? — “Who is coming?” debe is the present-tense form of deber for a third-person singular subject. Here deber + infinitive expresses “should” or “is expected to”: debe contactar. The same form can also express “must” when the context indicates obligation. Example: Ella debe llamar hoy. — “She should call today.” contactar is the infinitive “to contact.” After deber, the following verb remains in the infinitive rather than being conjugated: debe contactar, not debe contacta. Example: Debemos contactar al proveedor. — “We should contact the supplier.” cliente means “client” or “customer.” It is a noun whose form can be used for a male or female person; the article and other agreeing words show the grammatical gender in a particular phrase, as in el cliente or la cliente. Here the noun appears in al cliente, where al is the contraction of a + el; the preposition a marks the person being contacted. Together, ¿Quién debe contactar al cliente? asks which person is expected or advised to contact the client: “Who should contact the client?”

4. El líder del proyecto se encargará de eso.

   The project lead will handle that.

   líder

   leader

   proyecto

   project

   se encargará

   will handle

   eso

   that

   More detail

   líder means “lead” or “leader” here. It is a noun; líder has the same form for a person of any gender, while the article can show the grammatical gender of the noun phrase: el líder. Example: La líder del equipo llegó. — “The team leader arrived.” proyecto means “project.” It is a masculine noun, so el proyecto is used. In del proyecto, del is the contraction of de + el, meaning “of the project.” The phrase el líder del proyecto means “the project lead,” identifying the lead by the project they are associated with. se encargará means “will handle” here. The base verb is the pronominal form encargarse de, “to take care of” or “to handle” something. encargará is its simple future form for third-person singular: él/ella/usted se encargará. The future ending marks a later action, and se belongs to the verb encargarse; it is not the object meaning “that.” A reusable pattern is X se encargará de Y — “X will handle Y.” Example: Marta se encargará de la reunión. — “Marta will handle the meeting.” eso is a neuter demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” or “that matter.” It refers to an already understood matter rather than naming a specific noun in this sentence. Unlike a noun-modifying demonstrative such as ese informe (“that report”), eso stands on its own. Example: Yo resolveré eso. — “I will solve that.” Together, El líder del proyecto is the subject, se encargará de expresses future responsibility for something, and eso is that matter. The complete utterance means: “The project lead will handle that.”

5. ¿Qué debo hacer después?

   What should I do next?

   ¿Qué

   what

   debo

   I should

   hacer

   to do

   después

   next; afterwards

   More detail

   ¿Qué is the accented interrogative “what.” It asks for the identity or content of something in a direct question. Compare qué in questions with que without an accent, which commonly introduces a statement or subordinate clause. Example: ¿Qué necesitas? — “What do you need?” debo comes from deber, “to owe; must/should.” Here it is the first-person singular present form, so the subject is “I”: yo debo. With an infinitive, deber + infinitive expresses an action the speaker considers necessary or advisable. Example: Debo estudiar. — “I should study.” The form changes with the subject: debo, debes, debe. hacer is the infinitive “to do” or “to make.” In this sentence it names the action that is the object of debo. Its useful present-tense first-person form is irregular: hago — “I do/make.” Example: Quiero hacer una pausa. — “I want to take a break.” afterwards/next. Here después is a temporal adverb asking about the action that comes later. It can also occur in the pattern después de + noun or infinitive, meaning “after ...”: Después de comer, descanso. — “After eating, I rest.” Together, ¿Qué asks which action, debo hacer expresses “I should do,” and después places that action later in sequence. The complete utterance therefore means “What should I do next?” It is a direct, neutral way to ask for the speaker’s next action.

6. Actualiza las notas y comparte el archivo.

   Update the notes and share the file.

   Actualiza

   update

   las notas

   the notes

   comparte

   share

   el archivo

   the file

   More detail

   Actualiza is the affirmative command form of actualizar for one familiar addressee (tú). It means “update” here. The same verb can appear as actualizo (“I update”), actualizas (“you update”), or actualiza (“he/she updates”); in this sentence, the form is identified as a command by its use at the start of the instruction. For a formal singular command, Spanish uses actualice, not actualiza. las notas means “the notes.” Notas is the plural of the feminine noun nota; the article agrees with it: la nota / las notas. The plural marks more than one note or a set of notes, while la nota refers to one. Example: Lee las notas. — “Read the notes.” comparte is the affirmative command form of compartir for one familiar addressee (tú), meaning “share.” It is separate from actualiza, so the same listener is understood for the second command. In other uses, comparto means “I share,” and compartes means “you share”; for a formal singular command, use comparta. el archivo means “the file.” Archivo is a masculine singular noun, so it combines with el: el archivo. Its plural is los archivos. Example: Abre el archivo. — “Open the file.” The conjunction y links the two commands. Spanish therefore presents two coordinated actions directed to the same familiar singular listener: Actualiza las notas (“Update the notes”) + comparte el archivo (“share the file”). Together, the utterance means “Update the notes and share the file.”

7. Enviaré la actualización al equipo.

   I will send the update to the team.

   Enviaré

   I will send

   actualización

   update

   equipo

   team

   More detail

   Enviaré comes from enviar, “to send.” The ending -é marks the first-person singular simple future: enviaré = “I will send.” This form expresses a future action by the speaker. Example: Enviaré el informe mañana. — “I will send the report tomorrow.” actualización is a feminine noun meaning “update” here. With the article, la actualización means “the update.” Its plural is actualizaciones: las actualizaciones = “the updates.” Example: La actualización está lista. — “The update is ready.” equipo is a masculine noun meaning “team” here. In al equipo, al combines a + el; the phrase identifies the team as the recipient or destination of the sending. Example: El equipo revisa el informe. — “The team reviews the report.” Together, Enviaré + la actualización + al equipo produces “I will send the update to the team”: the speaker will send one specific update, and the team is the recipient. The future verb agrees with the speaker, while the noun phrases identify what will be sent and to whom.

8. Entonces todos tendrán la última versión.

   Then everyone will have the latest version.

   Entonces

   then

   todos

   everyone; all

   tendrán

   will have

   última

   latest

   versión

   version

   More detail

   Entonces means “then” here, linking this result to the preceding event: the update will be sent, and after that everyone will have the latest version. It can also mean “so” in other contexts, but “then” is the relevant meaning here. todos means “everyone” or “all” in this sentence and functions as the subject. It is a plural form; todas is the feminine plural counterpart when the relevant group is feminine. The masculine plural form can also be used for a mixed group, but the sentence itself does not identify the group’s composition. tendrán is the third-person plural future form of tener, “to have”: tener → tendrán. The future form places the having after the reference point established by Entonces. For example, Mañana tendrán tiempo means “Tomorrow they will have time.” última means “latest” here and describes versión. It is the feminine singular form of último, agreeing with the feminine singular noun versión. In this context, última versión refers to the most recent version; último can also mean “last” in a different context. For example, la última edición means “the latest edition.” versión means “version.” It is a feminine singular noun, as shown by la and by the form última. Its plural is versiones: las versiones means “the versions.” Together, todos tendrán states that everyone will have something in the future. la última versión identifies that thing as the most recent version, and Entonces connects this future result with the preceding sending of the update. The whole utterance means: “Then everyone will have the latest version.”