Meeting: conocer, encontrarse con, quedar, reunirse

Explication

English 'meet' hides several distinct ideas that Spanish keeps apart. Conocer (especially in the preterite) is meeting someone for the first time: nos conocimos en 2019 ('we met in 2019'). Encontrarse con is meeting up with — or running into — someone you already know: me encontré con Ana en el mercado (planned or by chance).

For arranging logistics, two verbs compete. Quedar (con) means 'to arrange to meet' in Spain (quedamos a las ocho); much of Latin America prefers quedar en + time/place, or simply ¿dónde nos encontramos? Reunirse is to hold a meeting in the formal sense: la junta se reúne el martes.

Watch the neighbours. Encontrar on its own just means 'to find': encontré las llaves. Una cita is an appointment (tengo cita con el médico) and, by context, also a romantic date. So 'I met him' is conocí; 'I met up with him' is me encontré con él / quedamos; 'I'm meeting with the team' is me reúno con el equipo.

Exemples

Règles liées

• Saber vs conocer: two kinds of knowing
• Appointments: quisiera sacar una cita