Breakdown of Приоритетные задачи надо своевременно делегировать коллегам.
задача
task
коллега
colleague
надо
must, need to
приоритетный
priority (adjective)
Questions & Answers about Приоритетные задачи надо своевременно делегировать коллегам.
How would we change this sentence to say the tasks must be delegated 'as timely as possible'?
To apply this lesson's grammar, use как можно followed by the comparative form of the adverb своевременно. The comparative is своевременнее, so you would adjust the sentence to say: Приоритетные задачи надо как можно своевременнее делегировать коллегам.
Is Приоритетные задачи the subject of this sentence? It looks like the nominative case.
It is actually the direct object, so it is in the accusative case. Because задачи is an inanimate noun, its accusative plural form is identical to its nominative plural. The sentence is impersonal, built around the word надо (it is necessary), so there is no formal subject.
Is the verb делегировать perfective or imperfective here?
It is a biaspectual verb, meaning the exact same word form is used for both the perfective and imperfective aspects. Because this sentence describes a general rule or repeated necessity rather than a single, one-time completed action, it is functioning as an imperfective verb here.
Why does the sentence start with the object (Приоритетные задачи) rather than надо?
Russian uses word order to establish the topic. Putting the priority tasks at the very beginning tells the listener that this is what the sentence is about, while the rest of the sentence provides the new or important information (the focus) regarding what must be done with them.