Choosing the highest-impact task | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. J’ai quatre tâches, et elles semblent toutes importantes.

   I have four tasks, and they all feel important.

   J’ai

   I have

   quatre

   four

   tâches

   tasks

   elles

   they

   semblent

   seem

   toutes

   all

   importantes

   important

   More detail

   J’ai is the first-person singular present form of avoir, “to have.” It is written as je + ai, with elision before a vowel: je ai becomes j’ai. Here it expresses possession or having something. Example: J’ai un livre. — “I have a book.” quatre is the number “four.” French number words such as quatre do not change for masculine or feminine nouns. Example: quatre idées — “four ideas.” tâches means “tasks.” Its singular base form is tâche; the final -s marks the plural in writing: une tâche, quatre tâches. The noun is feminine, which matters for forms that agree with it. Example: Cette tâche est simple. — “This task is simple.” elles is the feminine plural subject pronoun, “they.” In this utterance, it refers to the four tasks, as confirmed by the translation. French uses elles for an all-feminine plural group; a mixed-gender or all-masculine group generally uses ils. The pronoun is the subject of semblent. semblent is the third-person plural present form of sembler, “to seem.” The ending matches the plural subject elles: elle semble but elles semblent. In this sentence, sembler presents the assessment as an appearance or impression rather than as an absolute statement. Example: Elles semblent prêtes. — “They seem ready.” toutes means “all” here and is the feminine plural form agreeing with elles and the feminine noun tâches. It emphasizes the whole group: every one of the four tasks is included. Compare tous, the masculine plural form, in a suitable context. Example: Elles sont toutes là. — “They are all there.” importantes is the feminine plural form of the adjective important, “important.” The adjective agrees with the feminine plural subject represented by elles: important (masculine singular), importante (feminine singular), importants (masculine plural), importantes (feminine plural). Here it describes the tasks as important. Example: Ces questions sont importantes. — “These questions are important.” Together, J’ai quatre tâches says “I have four tasks.” After et, elles refers back to those tasks, semblent means “seem,” toutes means “all,” and importantes describes them. The complete utterance therefore means: “I have four tasks, and they all feel important.”

2. Distingue l’urgence de l’impact avant de choisir l’ordre.

   Separate urgency from impact before you choose the order.

   Distingue

   separate; distinguish

   l’urgence

   urgency

   l’impact

   impact

   avant de

   before doing something

   choisir

   choose

   l’ordre

   the order

   More detail

   Distingue is the imperative of distinguer for one person addressed with tu. Here it means “separate” or “distinguish”: treat urgency and impact as different criteria. The infinitive is distinguer; a reusable example is Distingue les faits des opinions. — “Distinguish facts from opinions.” l’urgence means “urgency” here. The noun is feminine: une urgence, and l’ is the elided form of the feminine singular article la before a vowel sound. The related adjective is urgent (“urgent”), as in Cette tâche est urgente. — “This task is urgent.” The adjective, not the noun, carries the feminine agreement in urgente. l’impact means “impact” or “effect” here. Its base noun form is impact, normally masculine: un impact; l’ is the elided form of le before a vowel sound. For example, L’impact sera important. means “The impact will be significant.” Together, l’urgence and l’impact are the two things being distinguished. The preposition de in distinguer X de Y introduces the thing from which X is distinguished: distinguer le nécessaire de l’utile means “distinguish what is necessary from what is useful.” avant de introduces an action that happens later than the main action and is followed by an infinitive. The pattern is avant de + infinitive, as in Réfléchis avant de répondre. — “Think before answering.” Here, avant de leads into choisir, not into a finite verb with an expressed subject. choisir is the infinitive “to choose.” Its present-tense forms include je choisis, tu choisis, and il/elle choisit; the final letters differ even though the pronunciation is often similar. In this sentence, the infinitive follows avant de, so avant de choisir means “before choosing.” l’ordre means “the order” here: the sequence in which the tasks are arranged or handled. The noun is masculine: un ordre, with l’ as the elided form of le. For example, Nous devons changer l’ordre. means “We need to change the order.” The whole utterance is an instruction addressed to one person: Distingue l’urgence de l’impact says to separate urgency from impact, and avant de choisir l’ordre places choosing the order afterward. Together: “Separate urgency from impact before you choose the order.”

3. L’e-mail est urgent, mais le rapport aura un impact sur la réunion de demain avec le client.

   The email is urgent, but the report affects tomorrow's client meeting.

   L’e-mail

   the email

   urgent

   urgent

   rapport

   report

   aura

   will have

   impact

   impact

   réunion

   meeting

   demain

   tomorrow

   client

   client

   More detail

   L’e-mail means “the email” here. e-mail is a masculine noun; l’ is the definite article le, shortened before a vowel sound. The definite article presents the email as an identifiable item in this context, but it does not by itself establish how many emails there are. urgent describes the email as requiring prompt attention. This masculine singular adjective agrees with a masculine singular noun. Its useful forms include masculine singular urgent, feminine singular urgente, masculine plural urgents, and feminine plural urgentes. Example: Une réponse urgente. — “An urgent reply.” rapport means “report.” It is a masculine noun, so le rapport means “the report.” Its plural is les rapports. aura is the third-person singular future form of avoir (“to have”): avoir → present a → future aura. In aura un impact, it presents the report’s impact as future in relation to the utterance. Example: Le changement aura un effet important. — “The change will have an important effect.” impact means “impact” or “effect.” Here it appears in the reusable construction avoir un impact sur + noun, “to have an impact on + noun.” The article un is indefinite; it introduces an impact but does not by itself assert a numerical count. Example: Cette décision a un impact sur le travail. — “This decision has an impact on the work.” réunion means “meeting.” It is a feminine noun: une réunion; its plural is des réunions. In la réunion, the feminine singular article agrees with this noun, and the phrase identifies the meeting intended in the sentence. demain means “tomorrow.” It is an adverb of time and does not change form. la réunion de demain means “tomorrow’s meeting,” literally “the meeting of tomorrow.” client means “client.” The masculine noun is un client; the corresponding feminine noun is une cliente. In avec le client, le client is masculine singular, but this form alone does not establish the client’s personal gender; it may simply be the masculine grammatical form used for the person in question. The first clause, L’e-mail est urgent, says that the email is urgent. Mais (“but”) contrasts it with le rapport aura un impact sur la réunion de demain avec le client, “the report will have an impact on tomorrow’s meeting with the client.” Together, the utterance contrasts the email’s urgency with the report’s future impact on that meeting.

4. Le rapport a plus d’impact, surtout si d’autres personnes en dépendent.

   The report has higher impact, especially if others depend on it.

   rapport

   report

   plus

   more

   impact

   impact

   surtout

   especially

   si

   if

   d’autres

   other

   personnes

   people

   dépendent

   depend

   More detail

   rapport means “report” here. The noun is masculine: le rapport. Its plural is les rapports; the final -s is not normally pronounced. In this sentence, the report is the thing being evaluated for its impact. plus marks a higher degree. In plus d’impact, it forms a comparative expression: plus de + noun means “more” or “greater” of that noun. The comparison is with an understood earlier or alternative level of impact; the sentence does not state a precise numerical amount. For example, Ce plan a plus d’effet means “This plan has a greater effect.” impact is a masculine noun meaning “impact” or “effect.” After plus, the noun phrase uses d’ rather than de because the following word begins with a vowel sound: plus d’impact. The noun remains singular here because the sentence refers to impact as a general result, not to several separate impacts. surtout means “especially” and highlights the condition that follows. It modifies the whole conditional relationship rather than being part of the noun phrase d’autres personnes. si introduces a condition: si + a clause corresponds to “if” + a clause. In this sentence, it introduces a possible situation rather than asserting that the condition is true. For example, Je viens si tu m’appelles means “I’ll come if you call me.” d’autres means “other” in the plural expression d’autres personnes. It is formed from de + autres, with elision before the vowel: d’autres. Here it indicates people additional to people already understood from the context; it does not itself specify how many. The singular forms are un autre and une autre, chosen according to the noun. personnes means “people” or “persons.” It is the plural of personne; the singular noun is feminine: une personne. In this sentence, it is the subject of dépendent, so the verb is in a third-person plural form. dépendent means “depend” here. It is the present-tense third-person plural form of dépendre: ils/elles dépendent. The ending agrees with the plural subject d’autres personnes. Dépendre de means “to depend on.” In this sentence, en is a pronoun replacing the complement introduced by de; with the intended meaning here, en dépendent means “depend on it,” referring to the report. For example, Ils en dépendent means “They depend on it.” Together, Le rapport a plus d’impact says “The report has greater impact.” surtout si d’autres personnes en dépendent adds the condition “especially if other people depend on it.” The full utterance therefore means: “The report has higher impact, especially if others depend on it.”

5. La revue du design bloque aussi un autre collègue.

   The design review also blocks another teammate.

   revue

   review

   design

   design

   bloque

   blocks

   aussi

   also

   autre

   another

   collègue

   colleague

   More detail

   revue means “review” here: a feminine noun. Its useful base form is the noun itself; the article shows the form used in this sentence: la revue (“the review”). For example, La revue commence. means “The review starts.” design is a noun used here for the subject or area of the review. In la revue du design, du is the contraction of de + le, meaning “of the” before masculine singular design. This makes the phrase “the design review” or, more literally, “the review of the design.” bloque is the present-tense form of bloquer, “to block.” It is third-person singular, agreeing with la revue: la revue bloque (“the review blocks”). The same form can also mean “is blocking” in English, depending on context. For example, Ce problème bloque le travail. means “This problem is blocking the work.” aussi means “also” in this sentence. It adds this blocking effect to another relevant case; it does not itself identify what that other case is. Here it follows the verb: bloque aussi (“also blocks”). autre means “another” before the singular noun collègue. The pattern un autre + singular noun introduces a different additional individual, without stating a numeric count by itself. un autre projet means “another project.” collègue means “colleague” or “teammate.” The noun has the same spelling in masculine and feminine forms; the article and related forms show the grammatical gender: un collègue is the masculine form, while une collègue is the feminine form. The fixed sentence uses un collègue, but the translation does not establish the person’s personal gender. For example, Je parle à une collègue. means “I am speaking to a female colleague.” Together, La revue du design is “the design review,” and bloque aussi un autre collègue is “also blocks another teammate.” The subject is the review, and un autre collègue is the additional person affected by its blocking. The complete utterance is therefore: “The design review also blocks another teammate.”

6. Alors, occupe-toi d’abord de la revue qui bloque ton collègue si elle peut être faite rapidement.

   Then handle the review that is blocking your teammate first if it will be quick.

   Alors

   then

   occupe-toi … de

   take care of

   d’abord

   first

   revue

   review

   bloque

   blocks

   collègue

   teammate

   si

   if

   peut être faite

   can be done

   rapidement

   quickly

   More detail

   Alors means “then” here and can connect this instruction to what has just been said. It is also commonly used to introduce a consequence or move the conversation forward. occupe-toi de is the informal singular imperative construction meaning “take care of” or “deal with.” The verb is s’occuper de; in the imperative, the reflexive pronoun follows the verb and changes from te to toi: Occupe-toi de ce dossier. — “Take care of this file.” The preposition de belongs to the construction, so the thing being handled follows it. d’abord means “first” or “to begin with.” It marks the order of this task relative to other tasks; it does not by itself state how many tasks there are. la revue means “the review.” Revue is a feminine singular noun here, which is why the article is la. The same word can refer to a review or, in other contexts, a magazine, so the present meaning comes from the work-related context. Example: La revue est terminée. — “The review is finished.” bloque is the third-person singular present form of bloquer, “to block” or “to hold up.” Its subject here is qui, referring to la revue; the review is what is blocking the teammate. The present tense presents this as the current situation. Example: Ce problème bloque le projet. — “This problem is holding up the project.” ton collègue means “your teammate” or “your colleague.” Collègue is a noun that can refer to a person of any gender, while the possessive determiner shows the grammatical gender used here: ton is masculine singular, and ta collègue uses the feminine singular determiner with the same noun form. The noun itself does not change form between collègue and collègue; the determiner changes. The possessive form does not by itself establish the person’s real-world gender. In this sentence, the colleague is the person affected by the blocking. si introduces the condition “if.” Here it links the instruction to the condition that the review can be completed quickly. This si is conditional, not the separate French word si meaning “yes” in response to a negative question. peut être faite means “can be done.” Peut is the third-person singular present form of pouvoir, “to be able to” or “can.” Être faite is a passive infinitive: être plus the past participle faite of faire. The passive makes the review the thing completed, rather than naming who completes it. Faite is feminine singular because it agrees with elle, which refers here to the review; the feminine marking is on faite, not on peut. Compare Le rapport peut être fait rapidement. — “The report can be done quickly,” where fait is masculine singular. rapidement means “quickly.” It is an adverb formed from the adjective rapide and describes how the review can be done. Example: Elle répond rapidement. — “She replies quickly.” Together, occupe-toi d’abord de la revue gives the main instruction: “handle the review first.” The relative clause qui bloque ton collègue identifies which review: it is the review that is currently blocking the teammate. The conditional clause si elle peut être faite rapidement adds the condition “if it can be done quickly,” with elle referring to the review. The whole utterance therefore means: “Then handle the review that is blocking your teammate first if it can be done quickly.”

7. Après cela, je peux me concentrer sur le rapport sans interrompre personne.

   After that, I can focus on the report without interrupting anyone.

   Après cela

   after that

   je peux

   I can

   me concentrer

   focus

   rapport

   report

   interrompre

   interrupt

   personne

   anyone

   More detail

   Après cela places the action after an event already mentioned: après means “after,” and cela means “that.” This sequence marker is reusable: Après cela, nous partons. — “After that, we leave.” je peux means “I can.” peux is the first-person singular present form of pouvoir (“to be able to,” “can”), used with the subject je. Pouvoir is followed by an infinitive: Je peux attendre. — “I can wait.” me concentrer is the infinitive of the pronominal verb se concentrer, “to focus.” me is the first-person form matching je. With sur, se concentrer sur means “to focus on”: Je me concentre sur le texte. — “I am focusing on the text.” rapport means “report.” Here, le rapport means “the report”: le is the masculine singular definite article agreeing with rapport, and the definite phrase presents the report as identifiable in the context. The noun rapport is not a form of the verb rapporter. interrompre means “to interrupt.” After sans, it forms the reusable pattern sans + infinitive, meaning “without doing something”: Il écoute sans interrompre. — “He listens without interrupting.” personne means “anyone” in sans interrompre personne. In this construction, it is the object of interrompre and has the non-specific meaning “anyone.” In other contexts, the singular noun personne can mean “person”; its meaning here comes from the construction. The plural personnes means “people” or “persons,” so personne itself does not mean “people.” Together, Après cela sets the time sequence. je peux me concentrer sur le rapport says that the speaker is able to focus on the report, and sans interrompre personne adds that this happens without interrupting anyone. The whole utterance means: “After that, I can focus on the report without interrupting anyone.”

8. Les dépendances peuvent changer la tâche qui doit passer en premier.

   Dependencies can change which task should come first.

   dépendances

   dependencies

   peuvent

   can

   changer

   change

   tâche

   task

   doit

   should

   passer

   come

   en premier

   first

   More detail

   dépendances means “dependencies” here. Its singular base form is dépendance; the plural ending -s shows that there is more than one. In this sentence, it is the subject: the dependencies are the things that can produce the change. peuvent is the present-tense third-person plural form of pouvoir (“can” or “be able to”). The plural subject Les dépendances requires peuvent. A useful contrast is peut, the third-person singular form: La dépendance peut changer la tâche. — “The dependency can change the task.” changer is the infinitive “to change.” It follows the conjugated modal peuvent, so only pouvoir carries the person-and-number marking in this verb group. The same pattern is reusable in Les règles peuvent changer le résultat. — “The rules can change the result.” la tâche means “the task.” Tâche is a feminine singular noun, so it appears with the feminine singular definite article la. The plural is les tâches: Les tâches changent. — “The tasks change.” qui introduces a relative clause and is the subject of that clause. Here, it refers to la tâche, the task that is expected to come first. French qui is used for a relative-clause subject; for example, la tâche qui commence means “the task that begins.” doit is the present-tense third-person singular form of devoir. In this sentence, devoir expresses what the task is required or expected to do, giving the intended meaning “should.” Its infinitive is devoir; compare plural doivent: Les tâches doivent commencer. — “The tasks should begin.” passer is the infinitive “to go” or “to come” in the expression passer en premier. It is not marked for person here because doit is the conjugated verb. In this context, the expression describes the task’s position in the order: it is the one that comes first. en premier is an adverbial expression meaning “first” or “in first place.” Together with passer, passer en premier means “come first” or “go first,” rather than simply describing a first item as a noun phrase. Taken together, Les dépendances peuvent changer says that the dependencies can alter something. The relative clause qui doit passer en premier identifies which task is affected: it is the task that should come first. The whole utterance therefore means: “Dependencies can change which task should come first.”

9. L’e-mail urgent peut attendre après le brouillon du rapport.

   The urgent email can wait until after the report draft.

   e-mail

   email

   urgent

   urgent

   peut

   can

   attendre

   wait

   après

   after

   brouillon

   draft

   rapport

   report

   More detail

   e-mail is the noun meaning “email” here. In French, un e-mail and un courriel are both used; courriel is a French alternative. The initial L’ in the sentence is the elided form of le before a vowel sound: l’e-mail means “the email.” urgent describes the email as urgent. It is the masculine singular form of urgent; the feminine singular is urgente, and the plural forms are urgents and urgentes. The adjective agrees with the noun it describes. peut is the third-person singular present form of pouvoir (“to be able to,” or “can”). In this sentence, peut attendre presents waiting as possible or acceptable for the email. The infinitive after pouvoir is attendre, as in Il peut venir (“He can come”). attendre is the infinitive meaning “to wait.” Its useful present-tense forms include j’attends, tu attends, and il/elle attend; the final consonant is not pronounced in these forms. For example, Nous attendons ici means “We are waiting here.” après is the preposition “after.” It places the following event or point later in time. Here it introduces the point after which the email can wait; the fixed translation expresses this as “until after.” brouillon is the noun “draft,” meaning an unfinished version of a text or document. It is masculine: un brouillon. The sentence uses du, a contraction of de and le, in du brouillon. rapport is the noun “report.” It is also masculine: un rapport; therefore le rapport becomes du rapport after de. In le brouillon du rapport, du rapport identifies what the draft is a draft of: the report. Together, L’e-mail urgent means “the urgent email,” and peut attendre says that it can wait. après le brouillon du rapport places that waiting in relation to the report draft: the email can wait until after the report draft. The complete meaning is “The urgent email can wait until after the report draft.”

10. Établir les priorités, c’est penser aux conséquences, pas seulement à la pression.

    Prioritizing is about consequences, not just pressure.

    Établir

    to establish; to set

    priorités

    priorities

    c’est

    is

    penser

    to think

    conséquences

    consequences

    pas seulement

    not only; not just

    pression

    pressure

    More detail

    Établir is the infinitive “to establish” or “to set.” Here it acts as the subject of the sentence: “Setting priorities…” Infinitives can name an activity without marking a person or number. Example: Établir un plan aide. — “Setting a plan helps.” les priorités means “the priorities.” priorités is the plural of priorité (“priority”); the final -s is written but not normally pronounced. les is the definite article used with a plural noun. Together, Établir les priorités means “setting the priorities,” while the natural English translation is “prioritizing.” c’est is the contraction of ce and est (“this/that” + “is”). In the pattern X, c’est Y, French presents Y as an explanation or characterization of X. Here, the intended meaning is that prioritizing consists in thinking about consequences. The fixed translation supports this “is about” reading. penser means “to think.” In this sentence it is another infinitive in the characterization after c’est: c’est penser .... The useful pattern is penser à (“to think about” or “to consider”), so the preposition belongs to the construction rather than being an optional extra. conséquences is the plural of conséquence (“consequence”). With aux, it appears in penser aux conséquences, meaning “to think about the consequences.” aux is the contraction of à and les. Example: Il pense aux conséquences. — “He thinks about the consequences.” pas seulement means “not just” or “not only.” With à la pression, it introduces a contrast: consequences are considered, but pressure is not the only consideration. The usual negative pattern is ne ... pas, but this fixed sentence uses pas seulement as a contrast expression without a preceding ne. pression is a feminine singular noun meaning “pressure”; la is its definite article. In penser à la pression, à la means “about the” in this context, and the whole expression means “about pressure.” The article does not state a numerical amount. Taken together, Établir les priorités names the activity, and c’est penser aux conséquences explains it as considering consequences. pas seulement à la pression adds the contrast “not just pressure.” The complete meaning is: “Prioritizing is about consequences, not just pressure.”