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During the Meeting vs In the Meeting

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Priscilla86
Posted:
Monday, July 4, 2016 3:52:00 AM

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Hi!

May I know the difference of meaning between ‘during the meeting’ and ‘in the meeting’?

Thank you.

Shivanand
Posted:
Monday, July 4, 2016 6:30:52 AM

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Hi

Priscilla86

,

Generally speaking, I do not find any change in the meanings. However, the correct usage depends on what you intend to communicate.

You discuss many points in the meeting as per the agenda. You take decisions in the meeting. You are not expected to deviate from the agenda during the meeting. You are not expected to disturb the attendees during the meeting. Hope you are clear.

Cheers!

Drag0nspeaker
Posted:
Monday, July 4, 2016 7:02:54 PM

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Hello

Priscilla

and

shivanand

!

I agree that there is little difference a lot of the time, but there are occasions.

A husband and wife talking – he has just spent all morning in a meeting, she was looking after the children.

– “What came up in the meeting?”
– “It was all pretty boring, we didn’t get to the important stuff. What did you do during the meeting?”
– “I took the kids swimming.”

The first quote could be

“What came up during the meeting?”

– it means the same.

However, the second question could not be

“What did you do in the meeting?”

– as she was not in the meeting, she was with the kids.

Priscilla86
Posted:
Tuesday, July 5, 2016 7:01:14 AM

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Hi Shivanand and Drag0nspeaker!

Thanks for the explanation. I think I get the gist but I have one follow-up question:

Do ‘we made the decision in the meeting’ and ‘we made the decision during the meeting’ mean the same? Or are there subtle differences between them?

Drag0nspeaker
Posted:
Tuesday, July 5, 2016 10:35:20 AM

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I see a difference.

It depends what the meeting was about, and what the decision was. . .

Situation 1

John and I are discussing where to go for lunch. He says “How about MacDonald’s?”
Before I answer, the meeting starts and he goes in (I am not in the meeting).
I decide (during the meeting, but not in it) that I like the idea of MacDonald’s.
You would not say that we made the decision in the meeting.
However, since he suggested it, and I decided during the meeting, you could say that we made the decision during the meeting.

Situation 2

John and I are in a meeting about the future plans for buying a new van for the business.
While the boss is rambling on about nothing important, John and I have a whispered conversation;
“Lunch?” – “MacDonald’s?” – “OK!”
I would be more likely to say “We made the decision during the meeting” – but it would also be correct to say ‘in the meeting’.

Situation 3

John and I are in a meeting about the future plans for buying a new van for the business.
It is decided that we will buy one next week.
I would be more likely to say “We made the decision in the meeting” – but it would also be correct to say ‘during the meeting’.

**********
“In” seems to have more of an implication that it is part of the meeting.
“During” only says that the time period is the same. A decision about invading Korea was made in China during the meeting about the van in New York. But also the committee made the decision to buy the van during the meeting.

The difference can be huge, or minimal, or non-existent.

Priscilla86
Posted:
Wednesday, July 6, 2016 10:33:41 PM

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Hi, Drag0nspeaker!

Thank you for the different scenarios, make it that much easier for me to understand the subtle differences.

Now, let’s say I precede my sentence with ‘at some point’, i.e.:

“The meeting ran unbelievably long yesterday but at some point during the meeting we managed to make a decision”

I’m more likely to use during because I’m referring to a point in a duration of time. But will in work, too?

Drag0nspeaker
Posted:
Thursday, July 7, 2016 5:21:33 AM

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Hi!

To me, they both work perfectly. I assume the decision was something to do with the reason the meeting was called.

“At some point in . . .” is probably more common than “at some point during . . .” from my observation, though I haven’t checked.

At some point in time, everyone on the planet will learn English as a second language at infant school.

At some point in the proceedings, the minister will say “Dearly beloved . . .”

ashscot50
Posted:
Tuesday, July 12, 2016 9:03:30 AM

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As a newbie I hesitate to contradict long standing members (especially a fellow Scot!) but as someone who attends a lot of meetings I don’t entirely agree with the answers given here.

In my humble opinion as Shivanand suggests “in a meeting” probably would refer to agenda items whilst “during a meeting” is more likely to refer to something else that happened whilst the meeting was taking place; but I think it is wrong to use it for something extraneous to the meeting.

Thus “In the meeting on 10 July 2016, we made the decision to buy a van; but during the meeting we also decided to buy a motor bike.”

In terms of Drag0nspeaker’s scenarios:

Situation 1

John and I are discussing where to go for lunch. He says “How about MacDonald’s?”
Before I answer, the meeting starts and he goes in (I am not in the meeting).
I decide (during the meeting, but not in it) that I like the idea of MacDonald’s.
You would not say that we made the decision in the meeting.
However, since he suggested it, and I decided during the meeting, you could say that we made the decision during the meeting.

I think it would be misleading to say this because “during” implies participation throughout or at some point of; therefore saying the decision about lunch was made during the meeting implies it was taken at the meeting not at the same time the meeting was taking place. In any event “we” didn’t make the decision because he made the suggestion and I agreed at a later point in time.

Situation 2

John and I are in a meeting about the future plans for buying a new van for the business.
While the boss is rambling on about nothing important, John and I have a whispered conversation;
“Lunch?” – “MacDonald’s?” – “OK!”
I would be more likely to say “We made the decision during the meeting” – but it would also be correct to say ‘in the meeting’.

I don’t agree that “in the meeting” would be correct here because the discussion about lunch was not an agenda item in the meeting.

Situation 3

John and I are in a meeting about the future plans for buying a new van for the business.
It is decided that we will buy one next week.
I would be more likely to say “We made the decision in the meeting” – but it would also be correct to say ‘during the meeting’.

I don’t agree with that either because “during the meeting” implies that it was not an agenda item.

Drag0nspeaker
Posted:
Tuesday, July 12, 2016 9:10:06 AM

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Well, that’s OK – the more opinions the better (so long as they’re reasonably sensible!)

You have a ‘stronger’ differentiation between the two than I do.

PS – don’t tell anyone, but I’m not a Scot. I’m an immigrant from Lancashire.

ashscot50
Posted:
Tuesday, July 12, 2016 9:18:37 AM

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Drag0nspeaker wrote:

Well, that’s OK – the more opinions the better (so long as they’re reasonably sensible!)

You have a ‘stronger’ differentiation between the two than I do.

PS – don’t tell anyone, but I’m not a Scot. I’m an immigrant from Lancashire.

I promise not to tell.

I promise not to tell.

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