Past progressive
Please look at the sentence below in the past progressive:
The teacher was meeting with the student's parents when the bell rang.
Is the construction "were meeting with" in this context correct? It sounds awkward to me because normally it is used to mean that you will see someone at a specific point, as in this example: I will meet her in the hallway.
but "meeting with" to mean "to have a discussion about something with someone", and in the present or past progressive, seems strange to me. Please enlighten me.
Top answer
"meet with" in the sense of "have a meeting with someone" is, or was, AmE. To me, as a BrE speaker, it feels alien, though I think it may have crept more into BrE usage by now. So, that is the first issue -- whether "meet with" is natural to one at all.
- "meet with" in the sense of "have a meeting with someone" is, or was, AmE.
- To me, as a BrE speaker, it feels alien, though I think it may have crept more into BrE usage by now.
- So, that is the first issue -- whether "meet with" is natural to one at all.
- The second issue, which is the one I believe you wish to focus on, is whether "meeting with" can refer to meeting in progress, or whether it only refers to initial contact.
- My feeling is that people who use "meet with" would largely accept the former, and would probably accept your sentence too, in that sense.
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"meet with" in the sense of "have a meeting with someone" is, or was, AmE. To me, as a BrE speaker, it feels alien, though I think it may have crept more into BrE usage by now. So, that is the first issue -- whether "meet with" is natural to one at all. The second issue, which is the one I believe you wish to focus on, is whether "meeting with" can refer to meeting in progress, or whether it o
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