‘Meeting’ is widely used in English, for example as a verb describing a process of coming together, as compromise (meeting in the middle), as a noun e.g. a business meeting, or in sport as a competition such as a race meeting. People can meet, roads can meet, meetings can take place but the common feature is being together or doing something together.

So this chapter’s focus is on the vocabulary surrounding meetings in their various forms and words relating to the concept of ‘togetherness’ such as ‘with’, ‘jointly’, ‘together’, etc. A related topic covered in the section is things you might ‘do’ together, including but beyond meetings, in academic, business and leisure contexts.

Vocabulary

junto – together

solo – alone

todos juntos – all together

junto con – together with

junto a – next to

un equipo – a team

compañero – teammate (m/f)

colega – colleague (m/f)

jefe/jefa – boss, head, manager

comisión / comité – committee

Hacer – to do, make

yo hago ; tú haces él/ella/usted hace nosotros hacimos vosotros hacéis ellos/~as/Vds hacen

imperative: haz / no hagas (tú) hagamos (let’s …) haced / no hagáis (vosotros) [note that a ‘don’t’ imperative changes form.

past participle: hecho

preterite: yo hice ; tú hiciste él/ella/usted hizo nosotros hicimos vosotros hicistéis ellos/~as/Vds hicieron

Meetings – many faces

Although in English we use the same word ‘meeting’ to describe many things, Spanish is quite specific as you’ll see below:

A (chance) meeting – un encuentro

A (formal) meeting between individuals – un entrevista (also means ‘interview’)

A group meeting, e.g. a committee – una reunión

A prearranged meeting (appointment) – una cita

A meeting of shareholders – una junta

A (sports) meeting/match – un encuentro

A meeting of roads/rivers – una confluencia

Special Meetings

Specific meetings and events that in English have their own names include the following, many of which are similar to the English:

Ceremony – una ceremonia

Concert – un concierto

Conference – una conferencia

Demonstration/protest (political)- una manifestación

Funeral – un entierro (burial) or los funerales (ceremony)

Gig – una actuación

Lecture – una conferencia

(note la lectura is a ‘false friend’ meaning the activity of ‘reading’).

Mass (church) – la misa

Party – una fiesta

Reunion – un reencuentro

Seminar – un seminario

Tutorial – una tutoría or un seminario

Wedding – una boda

Meeting activities

Argue – discutir Discuss /debate – debatir /deliberar Negotiate – negociar

Compete ( business/sport) – competir Compete for … – competir por … Collaborate / cooperate – colaborar

Present (a proposal) – exponer Present ( a person) presenter Present oneself – presentarse

Propose, suggest – Proponer , sugerir ; un propuesto / una proposición / una sugerencia

Decide – decidir (final) or determiner (a decision between alternatives) Plan – planear

Change one’s mind – cambiar de idea

To devise / think up – idear

Agree – acordar ; a decision – una acordada In agreement – de acuerdo An agreement – un acuerdo

Conclude (end/close a meeting) – terminar, acabar, or concluir ; Conclude (a contract or subject) concluir

Making meetings

The simplest way to talk about arranging or having a meeting is to use the verb hacer (to do/make), apart from the fact that hacer is a very irregular verb. For example:

Hacen una reunion – They are having a meeting.

¿Puedo hacer una cita? – Can I make an appointment?

Alternatively, reflexive verbs can be used for things like meeting someone by chance (i.e. to ‘bump into’ or encounter) is encontrarse con… or just encontrar ….

To meet to discuss something with someone in a formally arranged meeting could be described as entrevistarse con… : me entrevisto con X – I’m meeting with X.

In a less formal setting you’d expect to use reunirse, e.g nos reunimos (we meet or we met)