In English, we use the verb "to meet" and the nouns "meet" and "meeting" in a plethora of nuanced ways. Let's explore the various manners in which these different types of meetings are expressed in Spanish.
The English verb "to meet" can mean "to make acquaintance" with someone. Although the Spanish verb for "to meet" in this sense is conocer, remember that in the present and other tenses, this verb can also mean "to know" or "be familiar with":
Por ejemplo: Conozco a María.
For example: I know María.
Caption 11, Lecciones con Carolina Saber y conocer
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In the preterite tense, however, the meaning of the verb conocer typically changes to "meet" in the sense of having "met" someone for the first time:
Conocí a mi marido, Carlos, hace unos dieciocho años.
I met my husband, Carlos, about eighteen years ago.
Caption 9, Burgos María de los Ángeles
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To find out more similarly-evolving verbs, check out this lesson on verbs that change meaning in the preterite tense.
In other tenses, conocer can mean "to know," "to meet," or even to "have been" somewhere, and context will typically tell you which meaning is meant. But, since "meeting" is the topic at hand, let's take a look at a couple more examples where the verb conocer means just that:
Le gusta mucho conocer personas nuevas.
She likes very much to meet new people.
Caption 21, El Aula Azul Mis Primos
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Encantadísima de conocerte.
Very nice to meet you.
Caption 39, Yago 4 El secreto - Part 11
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There are several verbs that mean "to meet" as in "get together" with someone in terms of some outing, for coffee, or even a more formal "meeting" in Spanish. Let's take a look at some of them in action:
Reunirse (con)
y ahí nos reunimos varias personas
and several of us get together there
Caption 41, Cleer Entrevista con Jacky
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Espero que esta situación pase rápido para poder reunirme con mis amigos, familiares
I hope this situation gets over soon so I can meet with my friends, relatives,
Captions 34-35, El coronavirus La cuarentena en Coro, Venezuela - Part 2
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Encontrarse (con)
Nos vamos a encontrar a las cuatro. -Ajá.
We're going to meet at four. -Uh-huh.
Caption 53, Yago 12 Fianza - Part 6
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Sí, me voy a encontrar con una amiga.
Yes, I'm going to meet a friend.
Caption 4, Muñeca Brava 46 Recuperación - Part 4
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To see more uses of the verb encontrar(se), be sure to look at this lesson on The Many Facets of the Verb Encontrar.
Quedar
y quedamos en la escuela por la mañana.
and we met at the school in the morning.
Caption 25, El Aula Azul Dos historias
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In Spain, where they often use the present perfect more than in Latin America, the verb quedar is often heard in that tense to talk about "meeting" or "having made plans with" someone, as follows:
Hemos quedado a las ocho.
We've made plans for eight o'clock/We're meeting at eight o'clock.
He quedado con Juan para ir al cine.
I've made plans with Juan to go to the movies.
Verse (con)
¿Usted cree que pueda verse con usted y con Amalia?
Do you think that he can meet with you and with Amalia?
Caption 43, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 1 - Part 5
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Juntarse (con)
A ver si nos juntamos,
Let's see if we can get together,
Caption 31, Festivaliando Mono Núñez - Part 13
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If you want to ask a new (or old) friend, "Do you want to meet/hang out/get together"? you could use any of these verbs. Here are some examples of people asking other people to "meet" or get together:
¿Nos podemos encontrar ahora?
Can we meet now?
Caption 51, Cuatro Amigas Piloto - Part 5
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Pero ¿en dónde nos podemos ver?
But where can we meet?
Caption 41, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 3 - Part 13
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You can also use the verb salir to ask someone "to go out" with you, which, like in English, might often (but not always) have a romantic connotation:
¿Te gustaría salir conmigo alguna vez?
Would you like to go out with me sometime?
So, how do you say "meeting" in Spanish, for example, a business or some other type of meeting? Let's take a look:
La junta
si acaso tengo alguna junta,
if perhaps I have some meeting,
Caption 12, Yo estudio en el Tec de Monterrey
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La reunión
Yo sé pero entiéndame, tengo una reunión con mi jefe.
I know, but understand me, I have a meeting with my boss.
Caption 25, Tu Voz Estéreo Embalsamado - Part 6
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Note that when the noun la reunión means "the meeting" in Spanish, it can be thought of as a "false cognate," or word that sounds like an English word but actually means something different. However, along with el reencuentro and even el encuentro in some contexts, la reunión can also mean "reunion" as in "una reunión familiar" (a family reunion) or, alternatively, a social "meeting" or "gathering":
Usted me acaba de confirmar que ese tipo sí está aquí en esta reunión
You just confirmed to me that that guy really is here at this gathering,
Caption 30, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa Capítulo 5 - Part 10
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The noun el encuentro can additionally be used to talk about such a "gathering":
se crea un ambiente propicio para el encuentro familiar.
a favorable environment is created for family gatherings.
Caption 30, Coro, Venezuela La Zona Colonial
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Or, it might describe something on a larger scale, which might additionally be translated as something like a "conference":
vinimos a este encuentro nacional y...
we came to this national meeting and...
Caption 25, Encuentro Volkswagen en Adícora Escarabajos en la playa - Part 2
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Note that you can also use el encuentro to describe an incident of "running into" someone, as in a chance "meeting" or "encounter," or even an "encounter" in terms of a "meetup" or "hookup" with a friend or more than a friend:
Era Pablo Echarri, y luego de ese encuentro ya nada sería igual en la vida de ambos
It was Pablo Echarri, and after that encounter, nothing would be the same in their lives.
Captions 64-65, Biografía Natalia Oreiro - Part 6
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Bueno, yo creo que necesitaba un encuentro más personal.
Well, I think that I needed a more personal encounter.
Caption 3, Muñeca Brava 18 - La Apuesta - Part 12
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Note that the word "meeting" could be substituted for "encounter" in either one of these sentences.
Although there are many more ways in which the verb and noun forms of "meet" can be used in English with different Spanish equivalents, let's conclude with a few additional examples:
So, what if we are talking about a sports "meet"? This type of event is often referred to as una competencia (literally "a competition") or un campeonato (a championship), e.g. una competencia de atletismo (a track meet) or un campeonato de natación (a swim meet). And, although the noun el encuentro can sometimes refer to such events as well, in the context of sports, el encuentro might also be translated as "match" or "game":
el encuentro dura noventa minutos en total,
the game lasts for a total of ninety minutes,
Caption 17, Sergio El fútbol en España
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And, when two sports teams "meet" one another, the verb that is used is enfrentarse (literally "to face"), as in: Los dos equipos se enfrentaron (The two teams "met" or "faced off").
The verb used to talk about "meeting" or "fulfilling" a requirement or obligation is cumplir con:
El primer paso importante para ello es cumplir con todos los requisitos.
The first important step for it is to meet all of the requirements.
Caption 4, Raquel Abrir una cuenta bancaria
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Hence the noun for not fulfilling or "meeting" such duties, etc. is incumplimiento (nonfulfillment).
For our final example, the verbs that mean "to meet" in the sense of things "converging" or "coming together" include confluir and unirse. Let's look at an example with the latter (although the former could be substituted with the same meaning):
mucho movimiento, mucho tráfico porque se unen muchas calles importantes de la ciudad.
a lot of movement, a lot of traffic because many important streets of the city meet.
Captions 38-39, El Trip Madrid
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We hope that this lesson has taught you how to talk about the many forms of "meeting(s)" in Spanish. There are, of course, a lot more Spanish nouns and verbs that could be translated as "meet" or "meeting" in English in different contexts. Can you think of any more? Let us know with your suggestions and comments.
Si no or sino? That is the question of today's lesson. Do you know when to write one or the other? Both expressions seem very similar but they don’t necessarily mean the same thing. Although even native speakers make mistakes when writing these words, the truth is they are used in specific cases that are easily recognizable. Let's start this lesson with a little quiz:
Which one would you use in the following sentence?:
Amalia no ha llegado al apartamento; ____ ya me hubiera llamado.
Amalia hasn't arrived at the apartment; otherwise she would have called me already.
What about in this one?:
No solamente cubre la ciudad de Bogotá, ____ varios municipios alrededor de... de Bogotá.
It doesn't just cover the city of Bogota, but rather several municipalities around... Bogota.
We will unveil the answers at the end of this lesson. Now, let's dive into the difference between si no and sino.
Si no is made of two parts. The conditinal conjunction 'si' and the negation 'no'. We use si no to introduce a negative conditional sentence. In particular, we use si no when it works as "otherwise" to imply the idea of "on the contrary". Let's see a couple of examples:
Porque todos son amantes de los animales, si no, no vendrían a vernos.
Because they are all animal lovers, otherwise, they wouldn't come to see us.
Captions 45-46, Santuario para burros - Voluntarios
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¿Grabó esto sin su permiso?
Did you record this without her permission?
Claro que sí. Si no, no la habría descubierto.
Of course. Otherwise, I wouldn't have discovered it.
Captions 52-54, Los casos de Yabla - El perrito malcriado
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In Spanish, the word sino is a conjunction that usually works as the English equivalent "but" or "but rather". Generally speaking, we use it to create a contrast between and affirmative statement that is placed right after a negative one. Let's see a couple of examples:
Que no es una chica, sino un chico. -Oh...
That's it's not a girl, but rather a boy. -Oh...
Caption 40, Extr@: Extra en español - Ep. 1 - La llegada de Sam
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Por esta razón, no decimos "uno libro", sino "un libro".
For this reason, we don't say "uno libro," but rather "un libro" ["a book"].
Caption 39, Carlos explica - Los Números: Números Cardinales
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Sometimes, we also use sino when we want to state an exception:
Nadie lo sabe sino tu padre.
Nobody except your father knows it.
And finally, we use sino when we want to add more elements to a single statement, usually with the formula 'no solo... sino también' (not only... but also):
Unas de las bandas más importantes de Latinoamérica,
One the most important bands in Latin America,
este... no sólo por su trabajo musical,
um... not only because of their musical work,
sino también por su trabajo social y activismo ambiental.
but also because of their social work and environmental activism.
Captions 10-12, Doctor Krápula - Entrevista
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Considering all of the above, it is time to solve the questions we posed at the beginning of this lesson. Let's unveil the answers:
Amalia no ha llegado al apartamento; si no ya me hubiera llamado.
Amalia hasn't arrived at the apartment; otherwise she would have called me already.
Caption 19, Confidencial: El rey de la estafa - Capitulo 4
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No solamente cubre la ciudad de Bogotá, sino varios municipios alrededor de... de Bogotá.
It doesn't just cover the city of Bogota, but rather several municipalities around... Bogota.
Captions 57-58, Bogotá - Chorro de Quevedo
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That's it for today. We hope this lesson helped you to understand when to write sino and si no. And don't forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.
Too Fast? Blame the Sinalefas - Part 1
In our two previous lessons we have studied the interesting role sinalefas play in the way Spanish is spoken. In this third and last part of the series we will analyze cases where it's not possible to form sinalefas. Click if you'd like a refresher on Part 1 or Part 2 of this series.
In Part 2, we talked about certain conditions that must occur for speakers to form sinalefas and thus pronounce two contiguous words as a single one. It follows that when those conditions aren't met, the sinalefas aren't possible and the two words in question must be pronounced clearly apart from each other.
So, for example, sinalefas aren't supposed to be formed by combining one less open vowel surrounded by two open ones—combinations such as aoa, aia, aie, eie, eio, oio, etc. Since the Spanish conjunctions y (and), o (or), and u (or) are less open vowels, it follows that these combinations where sinalefas are not formed usually occur with phrases such as espero y obedezco (I wait and I obey), blanca y amarilla (white and yellow), sedienta y hambrienta (thirsty and hungry), esta o aquella (this one or that one), cinco u ocho (five or eight), etc. These combinations may also happen with words that start with a silent h, for example: ya he hablado (I've already spoken), hecho de hielo (made out of ice), no usa hiato (doesn't use a hiatus), está hueco (it's hollowed), etc. In each of these cases they words are supposed to be pronounced separately.
At this point, it's important to note that when we say a sinalefa can or can't occur, we are talking from a normative point of view, because we know that in real life speakers may and do break the rules. Let's see some examples. We said that a sinalefa should not be formed with the vocalic sounds oia because the i is less open than a and o, thus Yago is not pronouncing frío y hambre as a single word here:
Y yo nada más tengo frío y hambre y no sé qué hacer.
And I'm just cold and I'm hungry and I don't know what to do.
Caption 23, Yago - 6 Mentiras
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Or is he? Actually, he is not. Even though he's speaking quite fast, he's pronouncing each word separately. It's still difficult to tell, isn't it? But you can train your ear, and immersion is perfect for that purpose.
Here's another example:
Ahí tienen un pequeño huerto ecológico.
There you have a small ecological orchard.
Caption 33, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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Is the speaker pronouncing pequeño huerto as a single word? In theory, he shouldn't be because sinalefas aren't supposed to be formed by combining one less open vowel (u) surrounded by two open ones (o,e). If he does, as it seems, he is engaging in what some experts call a sinalefa violenta (violent synalepha), which is phonetically possible but not "proper."
In fact, the proper use also prohibits the use of sinalefas that are phonetically possible since they involve the gradual combination of vowels that go from open to less open vowels such as aei, oei, and eei (we learned about this in Part 2 of this lesson) when the middle e corresponds to the conjunction e (used when the following word starts with the sound i). For example, it's not "correct" to pronounce phrases such as España e Inglaterra (Spain and England), ansioso e inquieto (anxious and unquiet), or anda e investiga (go and investigate) altogether as single words. You can make the sinalefa and pronounce the words together only if the middle e is not a conjunction, for example, aei in ella trae higos (she brings figs), oei in héroe insigne (illustrious hero), eei in cree Ifigenia (Ifigenia believes), etc.
The rule is observed by the speaker in the following example, who pronounces febrero e incluso separately:
Sobre todo en los meses de diciembre, enero, febrero e incluso en mayo.
Especially in the months of December, January, February and even in May.
Caption 27, Mercado de San Miguel - Misael
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But the reporter in this example? Not so much. He pronounces tangibleeintangible as a single word:
...y con elementos de un patrimonio tangible e intangible.
...and with elements of a tangible and intangible legacy.
Caption 24, Ciudades - Coro Colonial
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If speakers break the rules all the time, is there any point to learning about when a sinalefa can and can't be formed? The answer is yes, because these rules were actually modeled to reflect the phonetic composition of speech. Most of the time, the way people speak does conform to rules (it's just easier to notice when it doesn't). For example, the reason there's a rule against sinalefas that join two open vowels surrounding a less open one (like oia) is because articulating such sounds together is actually not easy for a Spanish speaker given the articulatory settings of the Spanish language. In other words, phonetic realities reflect how speech is actually performed by speakers most of the time and not vice versa. If you see the big picture, historically speech has modeled textbook rules and not the other way around.
We leave you with an interesting example of a speaker making what seems a weird ayhie (basically aiie or even aie) sinalefa by pronouncing naranjayhielo as a single word.
Naranja y hielo solamente.
Orange and ice alone.
Caption 23, Fruteria "Los Mangos" - Vendiendo Frutas
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Let's continue reviewing examples of phrases that combine prepositions, articles and pronouns. In the previous lesson we talked about combining the preposition con (with) with the indefinite articles (el, la, los, las) and the pronoun que (that, which): con la que, con el que, con los que, con las que (with whom or with which). Let's see the examples, because in real context these phrases can be quite tricky.
Les preguntaron cómo debería ser la escuela
They were asked the question of what the school
con la que ellos sueñan.
that they dream of should be like.
Captions 6-7, Club de las ideas - La escuela que queremos
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We can try a more literal translation just to see how Spanish works: "what the school of/with which they dream should be like." Here's another example:
No me parecía el tipo de gente con el que yo me quería involucrar.
They didn't seem to be the kind of people I wanted to get involved with.
Caption 81, Arturo Vega - Entrevista - Part 2
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Do you want a literal translation? Here it is: "they didn't seem to be the kind of people with which I wanted to get involved."
It seems that Spanish and English are more parallel when using the plural forms:
Estos espacios recrean un capítulo histórico
These spaces recreate a historic chapter
con los que el coriano convive a diario.
with which the Corian resident coexists daily.
Caption 38, Coro, Venezuela - La Zona Colonial
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...y para beneficiar las comunidades con las que trabajamos.
...and to benefit those communities with whom we work.
Caption 48, De consumidor a persona - Short Film
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Now let's see how to combine el que, la que, los que, las que with two similar prepositions: por and para. Understanding the difference between these two is a constant challenge, even for advanced learners, so you can never study them too much!
...aquí están las puertas abiertas para el que quiera trabajar.
...here the doors are open for whomever wants to work.
Caption 38, Circo Infantil de Nicaragua - Learning the Trade
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...por el que transitan trece millones de clientes al año.
...through which thirteen million customers pass per year.
Caption 14, Los Reporteros - Crecen los robos en tiendas
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Esa es buena para la que fuma el puro.
That one is good for the one who smokes cigars.
Caption 44, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos
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Y ésta es la razón por la que cuando se piensa en un nombre
And this is the reason why when one thinks of a name
que contribuya a...
that contributes to...
Captions 22-23, El Instituto Cervantes - Director del Instituto
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Existe el metro y el autobús
There is the subway and the bus
para los que tienes que comprar billetes.
for which you have to buy tickets.
Captions 69-70, Blanca - Cómo moverse en Barcelona
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De las etapas por las que pasan los conjuntos...
Of the stages that groups go through...
Caption 74, Arturo Vega - Entrevista - Part 3
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