Choosing the highest-impact task | Learn French in English

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

EN → FR / Level: B1

About This Lesson

Use Choosing the highest-impact task to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

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

zhay KATR TAHSH, ay ell SAHMBL TOOT an-por-TAHNT. I have four tasks, and they all feel important.
B

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

dees-TANG lur-ZHAHNS duh lan-PAKT ah-VAHN duh shwah-ZEER lor-DRUH. Separate urgency from impact before you choose the order.
A

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

ee-MAIL ay tur-ZHAHN, may luh rah-POR oh-RAH uhn an-PAKT syur lah ray-yoo-NYOHN duh duh-MAN ah-VEK luh klee-YAHN. The email is urgent, but the report affects tomorrow's client meeting.
B

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

luh rah-POR ah ploo-ZAN-PAKT, syur-TOO see doht ruh pair-SON ahn day-PAHND. The report has higher impact, especially if others depend on it.
A

La revue du design bloque aussi un autre collègue.

lah ruh-VOO dyu dee-ZINE blohk oh-SEE uhn OH-truh koh-LEG. The design review also blocks another teammate.
B

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

ah-LOR, oh-KOOP twah dah-BOR duh lah ruh-VOO kee BLOHK tohn koh-LEG see ell puh-ETR FEHT rah-peed-MAHN. Then handle the review that is blocking your teammate first if it will be quick.
A

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

ah-PRAY suh-LAH, zhuh puh muh kohn-sahn-TRAY syur luh rah-POR sahnz an-tay-ROMPR pair-SON. After that, I can focus on the report without interrupting anyone.
B

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

lay day-pahn-DAHNS puhV shahn-ZHAY lah TAHSH kee DWAH pah-SAY ahn pruh-MYAY. Dependencies can change which task should come first.
A

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

ee-MAIL yur-ZHAHN puh ah-TAHNDruh ah-PRAY luh broo-YOHN dyu rah-POR. The urgent email can wait until after the report draft.
B

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

ay-tah-BLEER lay pree-yor-ee-TAY, say pahn-SAY oh kohn-say-KAHNS, pah suhl-MAHN ah lah preh-SYOHN. Prioritizing is about consequences, not just pressure.

Word by Word

J’ai J’ai means “I have” and introduces the speaker’s four tasks. It is the dialogue form of avoir. The pattern J’ai + noun is useful when stating what you have or need to handle.
tâches Tâches means “tasks” in the dialogue. It is the plural form of tâche and names the pieces of work the speaker must handle. It commonly follows a number or another expression of quantity.
et Et means “and” and links the two parts of the sentence: having four tasks and their seeming important. It can join items or complete clauses in the same way.
elles Elles means “they” here and refers back to the feminine plural noun tâches. It is the plural form related to elle. Use it after a feminine plural noun when continuing to talk about the same group.
semblent Semblent means “seem” or “appear,” presenting the tasks as apparently important rather than stating this as an absolute fact. It is the form of sembler used with elles. The pattern sembler + adjective is useful for giving an assessment.
toutes Toutes means “all” and includes every task in the group. It is the feminine plural form related to tout, matching the feminine plural group referred to by elles. Here it appears in semblent toutes importantes to say that all of them seem important.
importantes Importantes means “important” and describes the tasks as a group. It is the feminine plural form of important used with tâches. It completes the assessment semblent toutes importantes.
Distingue Distingue means “separate” or “distinguish” and gives direct advice to keep urgency and impact apart when deciding. It is the dialogue form of distinguer. The pattern Distingue X de Y is useful when telling someone to distinguish two things.
l’urgence L’urgence means “urgency,” the first factor to separate from impact. It is formed from the article l’ and the noun urgence. In this work context, it names how quickly something needs attention.
de De means “from” in Distingue l’urgence de l’impact and marks the second element being distinguished from urgency. The pattern distinguer X de Y is reusable when comparing or separating two considerations.
l’impact L’impact means “the impact” and names the second factor to consider separately from urgency. It is the noun impact with the elided article l’. In the dialogue, impact refers to the effect a task has on later work or a meeting.
avant Avant means “before” and places the separation of urgency and impact earlier than choosing the order. It is used in the dialogue in avant de choisir. The pattern avant de + infinitive is useful for describing an action that must happen first.
choisir Choisir means “to choose” and refers to deciding the task order. It is already in its infinitive form. Here it follows avant de, and choisir + a noun can describe selecting something.
l’ordre L’ordre means “the order,” specifically the sequence in which the tasks will be handled. It is the noun ordre with the elided article l’. The phrase choisir l’ordre describes deciding that sequence.
L’e-mail L’e-mail means “the email” and is the subject of the statement about urgency. It is the noun e-mail with the elided article L’. In a work setting, it identifies one message as a task to prioritize.
est Est means “is” and links the email with the description urgent. It is the form of être used here. The pattern noun + est + description is useful for identifying a current quality or condition.
urgent Urgent means “urgent” and describes the email as requiring prompt attention. It is used here as the description after est. In workplace communication, it can identify a task or message that appears to need quick action.
mais Mais means “but” and contrasts the email’s urgency with the report’s effect on tomorrow’s meeting. It connects two opposing points. It is useful when acknowledging one consideration before presenting another.
le Le means “the” and comes before rapport to identify the report being discussed. It is the singular masculine definite article in this phrase. Articles such as le introduce a specific noun.
rapport Rapport means “report” and names the work document that affects the client meeting. It is the noun after le. In the dialogue, it is one of the tasks being compared for priority.
aura Aura means “will have” and describes the report’s future effect on tomorrow’s meeting. It is the future form of avoir. The reusable pattern aura un impact sur + something expresses a future effect on something.
un Un means “a” in un impact and introduces one impact as a singular noun. It is an indefinite article. Here it presents the effect that the report will have on the meeting.
impact Impact means “impact” or “effect” in un impact sur la réunion. It names what the report will have on the meeting. The pattern avoir un impact sur + something is useful for describing an effect on a person, task, or event.
sur Sur means “on” and introduces what is affected by the report’s impact: the meeting. It completes the pattern aura un impact sur. Use it after impact when identifying the person, task, or event affected.
la La means “the” and introduces réunion as a specific meeting. It is the singular feminine definite article in this phrase. It marks the meeting as known from the context.
réunion Réunion means “meeting” and refers to the event affected by the report. It appears in la réunion de demain avec le client. In a work setting, it can name a scheduled meeting that a task supports or prepares for.
demain Demain means “tomorrow” and specifies when the meeting will take place. It is a time expression placed next to the meeting phrase. It is useful for identifying an upcoming deadline or event.
avec Avec means “with” and introduces the client connected with the meeting. It identifies who will be involved in the meeting. The pattern réunion avec + person can specify the meeting participant.
client Client means “client” in avec le client. It identifies the person or organization involved in the meeting. In the dialogue, the client helps explain why the report has an important effect.
a A means “has” and states that the report possesses or carries a higher impact. It is the present form of avoir used with rapport. The phrase a plus d’impact compares the effect of the report with another task.
plus Plus means “more” or “higher” in the comparison plus d’impact. It shows that the report’s impact is greater. It is useful in comparisons when describing a greater amount or degree.
d’impact D’impact means “of impact” and completes plus d’impact, meaning “higher impact.” It is impact preceded by the elided form d’ after plus. The expression plus d’impact is useful when comparing the effects of tasks.
surtout Surtout means “especially” and highlights the condition that other people depend on the report. It draws attention to the most important part of the explanation. The pattern surtout si + clause is useful for emphasizing a condition.
si Si means “if” and introduces the condition d’autres personnes en dépendent. It shows that the report’s priority is higher under that condition. The pattern si + clause is useful for discussing circumstances that affect a decision.
d’autres D’autres means “other” or “others” and refers to people besides the speaker and listener. It appears before personnes in d’autres personnes. It is the form related to autre used with a plural noun after d’.
personnes Personnes means “people” and completes d’autres personnes. It is the plural form of personne. In the dialogue, it refers to people whose work may depend on the report.
en En means “on it” here and refers back to the report in en dépendent. It replaces the thing introduced after dépendre de, so the report does not need to be repeated. The pattern en dépendre is useful when saying that someone or something depends on a previously mentioned item.
dépendent Dépendent means “depend” and says that other people rely on the report. It is the form of dépendre used with d’autres personnes. The verb commonly connects with de a thing, or with en when that thing has already been mentioned.
revue Revue means “review” and refers to the design review that blocks a colleague. It is the noun in la revue du design. In this work context, it names an evaluation task that can affect another teammate’s progress.
du Du means “of the” and links revue with design in la revue du design. It is the contraction of de and le. The pattern noun + du + noun can show the subject or area connected with something.
design Design means “design” and specifies what the review concerns. It follows du in la revue du design. The full phrase identifies the particular review task in the workplace discussion.
bloque Bloque means “blocks” and says that the design review prevents another colleague from moving forward. It is the form of bloquer used with la revue. In work discussions, bloquer can describe a task or problem that holds up another person’s work.
aussi Aussi means “also” and adds blocking the colleague as another reason the design review matters. It appears after bloque in bloque aussi. It is useful when adding an additional fact or reason.
autre Autre means “another” in un autre collègue and identifies one colleague distinct from the speaker or other people mentioned. It appears after the indefinite article un. The pattern un autre + singular noun is useful for adding a different person or item.
collègue Collègue means “colleague” and identifies the teammate whose work is blocked. It appears in un autre collègue and is referred to again as ton collègue. In a workplace, it names someone who works with the speaker.
Alors Alors means “then” or “so” and introduces the recommendation that follows from the review blocking the colleague. It connects the previous information to a practical decision. It is useful at the start of advice or a conclusion.
occupe-toi Occupe-toi means “take care of” or “handle” and gives a direct instruction to deal with the review. It is the dialogue form related to s’occuper. The pattern s’occuper de + task or person is useful when assigning responsibility.
d’abord D’abord means “first” and places the review before the other tasks in the recommended sequence. It appears in d’abord de la revue. It is useful for stating the first action in a plan.
qui Qui means “that” or “which” and introduces the clause identifying the review that blocks the colleague. It links la revue with bloque. The pattern noun + qui + verb is useful for specifying which person or thing you mean.
ton Ton means “your” and shows that the colleague belongs to or is associated with the person being addressed. It comes before collègue in ton collègue. The pattern ton + singular noun is useful when referring to something connected with the listener.
elle Elle means “it” here and refers back to la revue, not to a person. It is the feminine singular pronoun corresponding to revue. It allows the speaker to continue discussing the review without repeating the noun.
peut Peut means “can” and expresses the possibility that the review can be completed quickly. It is the form of pouvoir used with elle. The pattern peut + infinitive is useful for expressing ability or possibility.
être Être means “be” and forms part of peut être faite, meaning that the review can be done. It is the infinitive used after peut. The pattern pouvoir + être + past participle can describe something that can be completed.
faite Faite means “done” in peut être faite rapidement and describes the review as something that can be completed. It is the feminine form related to faire used with revue. The expression être faite is useful for saying that a task or review is completed.
rapidement Rapidement means “quickly” and says that the review can be completed in a short time. It modifies the idea of being done in peut être faite rapidement. In the dialogue, speed helps determine whether the review should come first.
Après Après means “after” and marks the next stage of the work plan. It introduces the action that follows handling the review. The expression Après cela is useful for moving to the next step.
cela Cela means “that” and refers to the preceding action of handling the review. Together with Après, it means “after that.” It is useful when referring back to an action or situation without repeating it.
je Je means “I” and identifies the speaker as the person who can focus on the report. It is the subject of peux. It is used before the verb when the speaker describes their own action or ability.
me Me means “myself” or “me” in me concentrer and marks that the speaker is directing their own attention. It is part of the reflexive expression se concentrer. The pattern me concentrer sur + task or topic is useful when describing the speaker’s focus.
concentrer Concentrer means “focus” or “concentrate” in me concentrer sur le rapport. It is the infinitive used after peux. The expression se concentrer sur + something is useful for saying what receives your attention.
sans Sans means “without” and introduces the action that will not happen: interrupting anyone. It is followed here by the infinitive interrompre. The pattern sans + infinitive is useful for describing an action carried out in the absence of another action.
interrompre Interrompre means “interrupt” and refers to disturbing or stopping another person while working. It is the infinitive after sans. The phrase sans interrompre personne means carrying on without interrupting anyone.
personne Personne means “anyone” in sans interrompre personne. With sans, it indicates that no person will be interrupted. The pattern verb + personne after sans is useful when saying that nobody is affected by an action.
Les Les means “the” and introduces the plural noun dépendances. It is the plural definite article. Here it marks dependencies as the general factor being discussed.
dépendances Dépendances means “dependencies” and refers to relationships in which one task or person relies on another. It is the plural form of dépendance. In the dialogue, these dependencies can alter which task comes first.
peuvent Peuvent means “can” or “may” and expresses the possibility that dependencies change the order. It is the form of pouvoir used with les dépendances. The pattern peuvent + infinitive is useful for describing what circumstances can cause.
changer Changer means “change” and says that dependencies can alter the task order. It is the infinitive after peuvent. The pattern pouvoir + infinitive is useful for describing a possible effect.
tâche Tâche means “task” in la tâche qui doit passer en premier. It is the singular form of the plural noun tâches used earlier. Here it identifies the one task whose position in the sequence is being considered.
doit Doit means “must” or “should” and describes the task that is expected to come first. It is the form of devoir used with la tâche. The pattern doit + infinitive is useful for expressing what should happen.
passer Passer means “come” or “go” in passer en premier, where it refers to occupying the first position in the sequence. It is the infinitive after doit. The expression passer en premier is useful when deciding what should be handled first.
en premier En premier means “first” as a position in the sequence, in passer en premier. Together, en introduces the position and premier identifies the first place. The whole expression is useful when saying which task should be handled before the others.
attendre Attendre means “wait” and says that the urgent email can be postponed until after the report draft. It is the infinitive after peut. The pattern peut attendre is useful when saying that an action or task does not need to happen immediately.
brouillon Brouillon means “draft” and refers to the unfinished version of the report. It appears in le brouillon du rapport. In a work setting, it identifies an intermediate document that may need to be completed before another task.
Établir Établir means “set” or “establish” in Établir les priorités, which is the topic of the final statement. It is the infinitive form of the verb. The phrase Établir les priorités is useful when deciding what deserves attention first.
priorités Priorités means “priorities” and names the ranked areas of attention being established. It is the plural form of priorité. The expression Établir les priorités describes deciding what should come first.
c’est C’est means “it is” or “that is” and introduces the explanation of what setting priorities involves. It is the contraction of ce and est. The pattern X, c’est + description is useful for explaining or defining an idea.
penser Penser means “think” in penser aux conséquences, meaning to consider the consequences. It is the infinitive used after c’est. The pattern penser à + topic is useful when describing what someone should take into account.
aux Aux means “about the” in penser aux conséquences and introduces the consequences being considered. It is the contraction of à and les. The pattern penser aux + plural noun is useful when identifying several things someone should consider.
conséquences Conséquences means “consequences” and refers to the results of choosing one task over another. It is the plural form of conséquence. In the dialogue, consequences are presented as more important than pressure alone.
pas Pas means “not” in pas seulement à la pression. It helps reject the idea that pressure is the only factor to consider. The pattern pas seulement + idea is useful for saying that something is not the sole consideration.
seulement Seulement means “only” and limits the consideration to pressure in pas seulement à la pression. Together with pas, it means “not only.” The pattern pas seulement + noun or idea is useful when adding other relevant factors.
à À means “about” in à la pression and marks pressure as something being considered. It is the preposition used with penser à. The pattern penser à + topic is useful when describing what someone keeps in mind.
pression Pression means “pressure” and refers to the immediate feeling that may make a task seem urgent. It is the noun after à in à la pression. In the dialogue, pressure is contrasted with the broader consequences of prioritizing.

Grammar Points

Occupe-toi de + nom

Occupe-toi d’abord des tâches urgentes.

oh-KOOP twah dah-BOR day TAHSH yur-ZHAHNT.

Deal with the urgent tasks first.

This is the affirmative imperative of a pronominal verb. The pronoun toi follows the verb and is linked with a hyphen.

en dépendre

L’ordre des tâches en dépend.

lor-DRUH day TAHSH ahn day-PAHN.

The order of the tasks depends on it.

En replaces something introduced by de. It is placed before the conjugated verb.

French Vocabulary

avoir un impact sur phrase
ah-VWAHR uhn an-PAKT syur to have an impact on aura un impact sur
choisir verb
shwah-ZEER to choose
distinguer verb
dees-tan-GAY to distinguish; to separate Distingue
impact noun
an-PAKT impact l’impact
important adj
an-por-TAHN important importantes
ordre noun
OR-druh order; sequence l’ordre
rapport noun
rah-POR report le rapport
réunion noun
ray-yoo-NYOHN meeting la réunion
sembler verb
sahm-BLAY to seem semblent
tâche noun
TAHSH task tâches
urgence noun
yur-ZHAHNS urgency l’urgence
urgent adj
yur-ZHAHN urgent

Quiz

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

important

Show Answerimportantes

to choose

Show Answerchoisir

urgent

Show Answerurgent

task

Show Answertâches