Review and handoff steps | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Terminé la tarea principal.

   I finished the main task.

   Terminé

   I finished

   tarea

   task

   principal

   main

   More detail

   Terminé is the first-person singular preterite of terminar (“to finish”): terminar → terminé. It states that the speaker completed the task in the past. The written accent is part of this verb form. Example: Terminé el informe. — “I finished the report.” tarea is a feminine singular noun meaning “task.” Its plural is tareas. In this sentence, the feminine singular article la agrees with it: la tarea. Example: La tarea es importante. — “The task is important.” principal means “main” here. It describes tarea, and the adjective follows the noun in tarea principal. Principal has the same singular form with masculine and feminine nouns, while its plural is principales: el objetivo principal, las tareas principales. Example: Esta es la idea principal. — “This is the main idea.” Together, Terminé la tarea principal means “I finished the main task.” The subject is understood as yo (“I”) from the verb ending, and la tarea principal is the completed item.

2. Haz que alguien la revise antes de compartirla.

   Have someone review it before you share it.

   Haz que

   have someone do it

   alguien

   someone

   revise

   review

   antes de

   before

   compartirla

   share it

   More detail

   Haz que uses haz, the affirmative command form of hacer for tú singular, followed by que and a subordinate clause. In this pattern, hacer que + subjunctive means to cause or arrange for someone to do something: Haz que María venga. — “Make sure María comes.” This is different from directly commanding the person: Ven. — “Come.” alguien means “someone,” an unspecified person. It is grammatically singular, so the verb in the following clause is singular: Alguien revisa el documento. — “Someone reviews the document.” revise is the present subjunctive form of revisar for a singular third-person subject. Here, the subjunctive is required in the hacer que construction. The clitic la before it is a feminine singular direct object; with the supplied context, it refers to la tarea principal, the task that was finished: Que alguien la revise — “That someone review it.” antes de introduces an action that must happen earlier. When the understood subject of the following action is the same as the relevant subject of the main situation, Spanish uses antes de + infinitive: Lee antes de responder. — “Read before answering.” compartirla consists of the infinitive compartir (“to share”) plus the attached feminine singular direct-object clitic la. The same clitic can appear before a conjugated verb (la comparte) or attached to an infinitive (compartirla); its gender and number still match the thing shared. Here it refers to the same feminine singular task: Voy a compartirla. — “I am going to share it.” Together, Haz que alguien la revise means “Have someone review it,” and antes de compartirla adds the time relation “before you share it.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Have someone review it before you share it.”

3. ¿Quién debería revisarla?

   Who should review it?

   ¿Quién

   who

   debería

   should

   revisarla

   review it

   More detail

   ¿Quién asks which person is intended as the subject of the review. The accent mark is part of the interrogative form. Compare quién (“who”) with qué (“what”): ¿Quién llama? means “Who is calling?”, while ¿Qué revisas? means “What are you reviewing?” debería is the third-person singular conditional form of deber. Here it expresses what someone ought to or should do, rather than stating that the action is certain. The useful chain is deber → debería; the conditional form presents the recommendation or expected action. Example: Deberías esperar. — “You should wait.” revisarla combines the infinitive revisar (“to review”) with the attached direct-object clitic la (“it” here). The clitic is feminine singular in form; it agrees with the noun that it replaces, even though the fixed translation does not identify that noun specifically. With a plural feminine object, use revisarlas, as in Debemos revisarlas. — “We should review them.” The clitic is attached after an infinitive, so revisar becomes revisarla. Together, ¿Quién + debería asks for the person who ought to perform the action, and revisarla supplies that action plus its direct object: “Who should review it?” The question leaves the responsible person open while treating the thing to be reviewed as already identifiable in context. This is a neutral, reusable way to ask who is the appropriate reviewer.

4. Pregúntale al líder del equipo porque el plan puede cambiar.

   Ask the team lead because the plan may change.

   Pregúntale

   Ask them

   líder

   leader

   equipo

   team

   porque

   because

   plan

   plan

   puede

   may/can

   cambiar

   change

   More detail

   Pregúntale is the affirmative command for tú singular: “ask.” The attached -le is an indirect-object clitic; in this sentence, the fixed translation identifies its referent as the team lead. Spanish le does not show the referent’s gender. The accent preserves the command’s stress when the clitic is attached. Compare Pregúntale a Ana. — “Ask Ana.” líder means “leader.” Its accent is part of the spelling. In líder del equipo, del is the contraction of de + el, meaning “of the”; equipo means “team.” Together, the noun phrase means “team leader.” porque introduces the reason for the request and means “because.” It is written as one word here. Example: Es importante porque puede cambiar. — “It is important because it may change.” plan means “plan.” In this sentence it is the subject of the clause introduced by porque. puede is the third-person singular present form of poder, “can” or “may.” Here it expresses possibility: the plan may change. poder is followed by an infinitive when it expresses ability or possibility, as in puede cambiar. cambiar is the infinitive “to change.” It follows puede; the finite verb carries the person and tense, while cambiar remains in the infinitive. Example: El horario puede cambiar. — “The schedule may change.” The utterance combines the command Pregúntale with its recipient, al líder del equipo (a + el gives al), and then gives the reason: porque el plan puede cambiar, “because the plan may change.” The complete meaning is: “Ask the team lead because the plan may change.”

5. ¿También debería preparar un mensaje corto?

   Should I prepare a short message too?

   También

   also; too

   debería

   should

   preparar

   prepare

   mensaje

   message

   corto

   short

   More detail

   También means “also” or “too.” It adds this action to something already under consideration; it does not replace the earlier action. Its position before debería makes the added idea prominent, but Spanish can place it elsewhere in some contexts. debería is the conditional form of deber. In this sentence, the fixed translation identifies the implied subject as yo, so it means “I should.” The same form can also correspond to él, ella, or usted in other contexts; the ending alone does not distinguish those subjects. Debería + infinitive is a reusable pattern for expressing what someone should do: Debería descansar means “I/he/she/you should rest,” with the subject determined by context. preparar is the infinitive “to prepare.” After debería, the following verb remains in the infinitive: debería preparar, not a finite form. Example: Deberíamos revisar el texto means “We should review the text.” mensaje is a masculine singular noun meaning “message.” Its plural is mensajes. The article un marks an indefinite noun phrase; here it does not by itself assert a numerical count as a teaching point. Example: Necesito un mensaje means “I need a message.” corto means “short” here, describing the message’s length. It is the masculine singular form of corto, agreeing with masculine singular mensaje. With a feminine singular noun, the form is corta; with plural nouns, use cortos or cortas according to the noun’s gender. Example: una nota corta means “a short note.” Together, También debería preparar un mensaje corto means “I should also prepare a short message,” and the question marks make it “Should I prepare a short message too?” The speaker asks whether this additional action is advisable.

6. Explica qué cambió y dónde encontrar el archivo.

   Explain what changed and where to find the file.

   Explica

   explain

   qué

   what

   cambió

   changed

   dónde

   where

   encontrar

   find

   archivo

   file

   More detail

   Explica is the affirmative command form of explicar for tú singular: “explain.” In this command use, it addresses one person informally; it is not the usted form (explique) or the plural ustedes form (expliquen). Example: Explica la idea. — “Explain the idea.” qué means “what” here and introduces the information being requested in qué cambió. Its accent marks it as an interrogative word. Compare que without an accent, which commonly introduces a statement rather than a question word: Sé que cambió. — “I know that it changed.” cambió means “changed” here. It is the third-person singular preterite of cambiar, describing a completed change. The form does not identify what changed by itself; qué supplies the unknown subject in this question. Example: El plan cambió. — “The plan changed.” dónde means “where” and introduces a question about place in dónde encontrar. Like qué, it has an accent when used as an interrogative word. Example: ¿Dónde está el archivo? — “Where is the file?” encontrar is the infinitive “to find.” The pattern dónde encontrar ... means “where to find ...”, expressing the location being requested without naming a separate subject for encontrar. Example: No sé dónde encontrar la información. — “I do not know where to find the information.” archivo means “file.” It is a masculine noun, as shown by el archivo in the full utterance; the noun itself names the item to be found. Example: El archivo está aquí. — “The file is here.” Together, Explica qué cambió asks the listener to explain the completed change. y connects that request with dónde encontrar el archivo, which asks where the file can be found. The whole utterance therefore means: “Explain what changed and where to find the file.”

7. Pediré la revisión y añadiré una nota corta.

   I will ask for the review and add a short note.

   Pediré

   I will ask for

   revisión

   review

   añadiré

   I will add

   nota

   note

   corta

   short

   More detail

   Pediré is the first-person singular future of pedir (“to ask for” or “to request”). The ending -é marks “I will …” in this form: pediré = “I will ask/request.” Example: Pediré ayuda. — “I will ask for help.” revisión is a feminine noun meaning “review” here. The article la agrees with it: la revisión. The written accent marks the stressed final syllable. Example: La revisión empieza mañana. — “The review starts tomorrow.” añadiré is the first-person singular future of añadir (“to add”). Like pediré, its -é ending expresses “I will …”: añadiré = “I will add.” Example: Añadiré un comentario. — “I will add a comment.” nota is a feminine noun meaning “note.” In una nota, una agrees with the noun in gender; here it introduces the note, without by itself asserting a particular numeric count. Example: Escribí una nota. — “I wrote a note.” corta is the feminine singular form of the adjective corto, meaning “short.” It agrees with the feminine singular noun nota: una nota corta. The masculine form is corto, and the contrasting adjective is largo/larga (“long”). Example: La explicación es corta. — “The explanation is short.” Together, Pediré la revisión means “I will ask for the review,” and añadiré una nota corta means “I will add a short note.” The conjunction y links these two future actions, with the same speaker as their subject: “I will ask for the review and add a short note.”

8. Eso debería hacer más claro el traspaso.

   That should make the handoff clearer.

   Eso

   That

   debería

   should

   hacer

   make

   más claro

   clearer

   traspaso

   handoff

   More detail

   Eso is a neutral demonstrative pronoun meaning “that.” It points to an already mentioned situation or action; with the supplied context, it can refer to the preceding plan to request a review and add a note. Its form is not marked for masculine or feminine agreement. debería is a form of deber. Here it expresses an expected result: “should.” The ending -ía is the conditional form for this third-person singular subject, eso. For example, La nota debería ayudar. = “The note should help.” hacer is the infinitive of “to make” or “to cause.” After debería, the infinitive remains unchanged: debería hacer. Spanish commonly uses hacer + adjective to describe the result caused in something: Esto hace útil la herramienta. = “This makes the tool useful.” más claro is the comparative expression “clearer” or literally “more clear.” Claro is the base adjective; más claro compares a resulting state with an earlier or alternative state. Claro is masculine singular here because it describes el traspaso, not because of más. el traspaso is a masculine singular noun meaning “the handoff” here. The article el identifies the noun's grammatical gender and number; it does not itself mean “one.” Traspaso can also refer to a transfer in other contexts, but “handoff” is the intended meaning in this sentence. Together, Eso debería hacer más claro el traspaso has the pattern subject + debería + hacer + comparative adjective + affected noun. The previously mentioned action is expected to cause the handoff to be clearer. Thus the whole utterance means: “That should make the handoff clearer.”