Choosing which task has the highest impact | Learn Spanish in English

Spanish lesson set in a contemporary Madrid everyday setting: At work, two adults prioritize an email, a report, and a design review by urgency, impact, and teammate dependencies..

EN → ES / Level: B1

About This Lesson

Use Choosing which task has the highest impact to practice Spanish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Tengo cuatro tareas y todas parecen importantes.

TEHN-goh KWAH-troh tah-REH-ahs ee TOH-dahs pah-REH-sehn eem-pohr-TAHN-tehs. I have four tasks, and they all feel important.
B

Separa la urgencia del impacto antes de elegir el orden.

seh-PAH-rah lah oor-HEN-syah dehl eem-PAHK-toh AHN-tehs deh eh-leh-HEER ehl OHR-dehn. Separate urgency from impact before you choose the order.
A

El correo es urgente, pero el informe afecta a la reunión con el cliente de mañana.

ehl koh-REH-oh ehs oor-HEN-teh PEH-roh ehl eem-FOHR-meh ah-FEHK-tah ah lah reh-oo-NYON kohn ehl klee-EHN-teh deh mah-NYAH-nah. The email is urgent, but the report affects tomorrow's client meeting.
B

El informe tiene un impacto mayor, sobre todo si otras personas dependen de él.

ehl eem-FOHR-meh TYEH-neh oon eem-PAHK-toh mah-YOR, SOH-breh TOH-doh see OH-trahs pehr-SOH-nahs deh-PEHN-dehn deh EHL. The report has higher impact, especially if others depend on it.
A

La revisión del diseño también bloquea a otro miembro del equipo.

lah reh-bee-SYON dehl dee-SEH-nyoh tahm-BYEHN bloh-KEH-ah ah OH-troh MYEM-broh dehl eh-KEE-poh. The design review also blocks another teammate.
B

Entonces, ocúpate primero de la revisión que está bloqueando a tu compañero si puedes terminarla rápido.

ehn-TOHN-sehs oh-KOO-pah-teh pree-MEH-roh deh lah reh-bee-SYON keh ehs-TAH bloh-keh-AHN-doh ah too kohm-pah-NYEH-roh see PWEH-dehs tehr-mee-NAHR-lah RAH-pee-doh. Then handle the review that is blocking your teammate first if it will be quick.
A

Después de eso, puedo concentrarme en el informe sin interrumpir a nadie.

dehs-PWEHS deh EH-soh PWEH-doh kohn-sehn-TRAHR-meh ehn ehl eem-FOHR-meh seen een-tehr-room-PEER ah NAH-dyeh. After that, I can focus on the report without interrupting anyone.
B

Las dependencias pueden cambiar qué tarea debe ir primero.

lahs deh-pehn-DEHN-syahs PWEH-dehn kahm-BYAR keh tah-REH-ah DEH-beh eer pree-MEH-roh. Dependencies can change which task should come first.
A

El correo urgente puede esperar hasta después del borrador del informe.

ehl koh-REH-oh oor-HEN-teh PWEH-deh ehs-peh-RAHR AHS-tah dehs-PWEHS dehl boh-rrah-DOHR dehl eem-FOHR-meh. The urgent email can wait until after the report draft.
B

Priorizar consiste en tener en cuenta las consecuencias, no solo la presión.

pree-oh-ree-SAHR kohn-SEES-teh ehn teh-NEHR ehn KWEHN-tah lahs kohn-seh-KWEHN-syahs, noh SOH-loh lah preh-SYON. Prioritizing is about consequences, not just pressure.

Word by Word

Tengo Tengo means I have here, referring to the speaker’s four tasks. It is used with an object, as in Tengo cuatro tareas, when stating what someone has or is responsible for.
tareas Tareas means tasks, the pieces of work being prioritized in the dialogue. It appears after cuatro, and a common reuse pattern is tener + number or quantity + tareas.
y Y connects Tengo cuatro tareas with todas parecen importantes, meaning and. It joins two related statements in the same sentence.
todas Todas means all of them and refers back to the feminine plural noun tareas. It is useful for describing every item in a group, as in todas parecen importantes.
parecen Parecen means seem here: all the tasks appear important to the speaker. It can be followed by an adjective, as in parecen importantes, to describe an impression.
importantes Importantes means important and describes the tasks in todas parecen importantes. The plural form matches the group of tasks, and it can follow parecer to express how something seems.
Separa Separa means separate or distinguish here, telling one person to distinguish urgency from impact. It is used directly before the things being distinguished, as in Separa la urgencia del impacto.
la La means the in la urgencia and La revisión, referring to a specific feminine singular noun. Its capitalization changes at the beginning of a sentence, but its function remains the same.
urgencia Urgencia means urgency, the pressure or need for something to be handled soon. In Separa la urgencia del impacto, it is one of the two criteria being compared.
del Del means of the or from the in del impacto, linking the idea of separating one criterion from another. It is used before a masculine singular noun in this expression.
impacto Impacto means impact, referring to the effect a task has on later work or people. It appears in Separa la urgencia del impacto and tiene un impacto mayor.
antes Antes means before here and places one action earlier than another. The reusable pattern antes de + infinitive appears in antes de elegir.
de De links antes with the action elegir, forming antes de elegir, before choosing. In this use, de is followed by an infinitive to name the action that has not happened yet.
elegir Elegir means to choose in antes de elegir el orden. After de, the infinitive names the action that should happen after the comparison.
el El means the in el orden, referring to a specific masculine singular noun. It also appears as El at the beginning of a sentence in El informe.
orden Orden means order here, specifically the sequence in which the tasks should be handled. It can follow elegir, as in elegir el orden, when deciding a sequence.
correo Correo means email in this work context. It appears with el in el correo and is later described as urgente.
es Es means is here, linking the email with the description urgente. It is used to identify or describe something, as in El correo es urgente.
urgente Urgente means urgent, describing the email as needing attention soon. It can follow es to give a direct description, as in El correo es urgente.
pero Pero means but and introduces a contrast between the email’s urgency and the report’s effect on tomorrow’s meeting. It is useful when the second statement limits or contrasts with the first.
informe Informe means report, one of the tasks being prioritized. It appears in el informe and in el borrador del informe, where it identifies the report’s draft.
afecta Afecta means affects here: the report has an effect on the client meeting. The pattern afecta a + noun identifies what is affected, as in afecta a la reunión.
a A introduces the thing affected in afecta a la reunión. In this dialogue, it links afecta with the meeting that the report influences.
reunión Reunión means meeting, specifically the client meeting affected by the report. It appears in la reunión con el cliente de mañana, a pattern that adds the participants and time of a meeting.
con Con means with and identifies the client connected to the meeting. The pattern reunión con + person describes a meeting involving that person.
cliente Cliente means client, the person or organization connected to the meeting. It appears after con in con el cliente.
mañana Mañana means tomorrow here and specifies when the client meeting will take place. In de mañana, it adds a future time reference to the meeting.
tiene Tiene means has here, stating that the report possesses or carries a greater impact. It is used with a subject and an object, as in El informe tiene un impacto mayor.
un Un means a or an in un impacto mayor, introducing one impact as a noun phrase. It appears before the masculine singular noun impacto.
mayor Mayor means higher or greater here, comparing the report’s impact with the impact of another task. It follows impacto in impacto mayor to describe the degree of impact.
sobre todo The full expression sobre todo means especially and emphasizes the condition si otras personas dependen de él. Sobre and todo work together in this expression, which can be placed before the condition it highlights.
si Si means if and introduces the condition that other people depend on the report. It is used before a clause, as in si otras personas dependen de él.
otras Otras means other here and describes people besides the speaker or the immediate group. It agrees with the feminine plural noun personas in otras personas.
personas Personas means people, referring to other people who may depend on the report. It appears after otras and can be the subject of dependen.
dependen Dependen means depend here, describing how other people rely on the report. The reusable pattern depender de + person or thing appears in dependen de él.
él Él means it here and refers back to the report in dependen de él. The accent marks this pronoun, and de él expresses dependence on that report.
revisión Revisión means review, specifically the design review that may be blocking a teammate. It appears in la revisión del diseño and in ocúpate primero de la revisión.
diseño Diseño means design in la revisión del diseño. The pattern revisión del diseño identifies a review concerning the design.
también También means also and adds the design review as another task with an important dependency. It appears before the verb in también bloquea.
bloquea Bloquea means blocks here: the design review prevents another teammate from progressing. It can take the affected person or task after it, as in bloquea a otro miembro del equipo.
otro Otro means another here and identifies one additional team member. It appears before the masculine singular noun miembro in otro miembro del equipo.
miembro Miembro means member, referring to a person who belongs to the team. The pattern miembro del equipo means team member in this dialogue.
equipo Equipo means team in miembro del equipo. It identifies the group to which the teammate belongs and follows de in that relationship.
Entonces Entonces means then here and introduces the recommended action that follows from the dependency just mentioned. It is useful for moving from a condition or conclusion to the next step.
ocúpate Ocúpate means handle it or take care of it here, referring to the review. The pattern ocuparse de + task appears in ocúpate primero de la revisión.
primero Primero means first and tells the listener to handle the review before the other tasks. It can follow the action, as in ocúpate primero de la revisión.
que Que means that or which here and introduces the clause describing the review. In la revisión que está bloqueando a tu compañero, it connects the noun revisión with its description.
está Está means is in está bloqueando and helps describe an action currently affecting the teammate. Together with bloqueando, it presents the blocking as an ongoing action.
bloqueando Bloqueando means blocking in está bloqueando a tu compañero. With está, it describes the review’s ongoing effect, and estar + this form is a reusable way to describe an action in progress.
tu Tu means your and identifies the teammate as belonging to the person being addressed. It appears directly before compañero in tu compañero.
compañero Compañero means teammate here, a colleague who works with the listener. It appears in tu compañero and is the person affected by the blocking.
puedes Puedes means you can or you are able to here. In si puedes terminarla rápido, it introduces the condition that the listener is able to finish the review quickly.
terminarla Terminarla means finish it, referring to the review. It combines the action of finishing with la attached to the infinitive, and the pattern puedes terminarla expresses ability to complete a specific task.
rápido Rápido means quickly here and describes how the review can be finished. It follows terminarla in terminarla rápido to indicate a short completion time.
Después Después means afterwards or after here and places the next action after the review has been completed. The pattern Después de eso means after that and refers back to the preceding action.
eso Eso means that and refers to handling the review first. In Después de eso, it points to the action just discussed rather than to a separate object.
puedo Puedo means I can here, expressing the speaker’s ability to focus on the report after the earlier task. It is followed by the infinitive concentrarme in puedo concentrarme.
concentrarme Concentrarme means focus or concentrate, with me attached to the infinitive. The pattern concentrarse en + topic appears in concentrarme en el informe.
en En means on in concentrarme en el informe and introduces the subject receiving the speaker’s attention. The reusable pattern concentrarse en + task or topic uses en before that focus.
sin Sin means without and introduces an action that will not happen while the speaker focuses on the report. Here it is followed by the action interrumpiendo in sin interrumpiendo a nadie.
interrumpiendo Interrumpiendo means interrupting in sin interrumpiendo a nadie. The pattern sin + this action form describes doing something without carrying out another action.
nadie Nadie means anyone in sin interrumpiendo a nadie, referring to no person being interrupted. It appears after a to identify the people who would otherwise be affected.
Las Las means the in Las dependencias, referring to specific feminine plural dependencies. Its capital letter is due to its position at the beginning of the sentence.
dependencias Dependencias means dependencies, the relationships that determine whether one task relies on another. In Las dependencias pueden cambiar, it is the subject that can change the task order.
pueden Pueden means can here and says that dependencies have the ability to change the order. It is followed by the infinitive cambiar in pueden cambiar.
cambiar Cambiar means change in pueden cambiar qué tarea debe ir primero. After pueden, the infinitive names the possible action performed by the dependencies.
qué Qué means which here and asks which task should come first inside the sentence. The pattern qué + noun appears in qué tarea.
tarea Tarea means task in qué tarea debe ir primero. It identifies the item whose position in the work order is being decided.
debe Debe means should here, expressing the recommended position of the task in the order. The pattern debe + infinitive appears in debe ir primero.
ir Ir means go here in the expression ir primero, which means come first in the task order. It follows debe and completes the recommendation about the task’s position.
puede Puede means can here, stating that the urgent email is able to wait. It is followed by the infinitive esperar in puede esperar.
esperar Esperar means wait in puede esperar hasta después del borrador del informe. The pattern puede esperar hasta + time or event describes something that does not need immediate action.
hasta Hasta means until and marks the point when the email no longer needs to wait. In hasta después del borrador del informe, it introduces the later stage that sets the limit.
borrador Borrador means draft, referring to the preliminary version of the report. It appears in el borrador del informe, a pattern that identifies a draft belonging to or concerning a report.
Priorizar Priorizar means prioritize and is used as the subject of the statement about what prioritizing involves. The infinitive can name an activity, as in Priorizar consiste en tener en cuenta las consecuencias.
consiste Consiste means consists here and explains what prioritizing involves. The pattern consiste en + action appears in consiste en tener en cuenta.
tener en cuenta The full expression tener en cuenta means take into account or consider, here referring to the consequences. Tener supplies the idea of having, en links it to cuenta, and cuenta contributes the idea of account; together they form the expression. It can be followed by the factor being considered, as in tener en cuenta las consecuencias.
consecuencias Consecuencias means consequences, the results that may follow from choosing one task before another. It is the object of tener en cuenta in tener en cuenta las consecuencias.
no No means not and rejects the idea that prioritizing is based only on pressure. It appears before solo in no solo la presión as part of the contrast.
solo Solo means just or only here and limits the factor presión. In no solo la presión, it helps contrast pressure with the broader consequences that should also be considered.
presión Presión means pressure, referring to the immediate feeling that a task demands attention. It appears after solo in no solo la presión, where it is contrasted with consequences.

Grammar Points

Imperativo afirmativo + pronombre reflexivo: ocúpate de

Ocúpate de la revisión.

oh-KOO-pah-teh deh lah reh-bee-SYON.

Take care of the review.

In affirmative tú commands, the reflexive pronoun attaches to the verb: ocuparse becomes ocúpate.

Infinitivo + pronombre de objeto: terminarla

Terminarla rápido.

tehr-mee-NAHR-lah RAH-pee-doh.

To finish it quickly.

In Spanish, an object pronoun can attach directly to an infinitive: terminar + la becomes terminarla.

Spanish Vocabulary

afectar verb
ah-fehk-TAHR to affect afecta
correo noun
koh-REH-oh email
elegir verb
eh-leh-HEER to choose
impacto noun
eem-PAHK-toh impact
importante adj
eem-pohr-TAHN-teh important importantes
informe noun
eem-FOHR-meh report
orden noun
OHR-dehn order
parecer verb
pah-reh-SEHR to seem parecen
separar verb
seh-pah-RAHR to separate separa
tarea noun
tah-REH-ah task tareas
urgencia noun
oor-HEN-syah urgency
urgente adj
oor-HEN-teh urgent

Quiz

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

order

Show Answerorden

urgency

Show Answerurgencia

to choose

Show Answerelegir

important

Show Answerimportantes