We have been having meeting for the past five days

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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1

The context:
We continually are having meetings since Feb 3rd. I want to say that it is very regular, kind of continual meetings.

Is it grammatically correct to say:
“We have been having meetings for the past 5 days”.

Thanks!

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2

I would suggest:

“We have been holding meetings for the last 5 days”. The use of the present perfect progressive is fine here.

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3

You might want to add a word or two to emphasize “very regular”.

“We have been holding meetings every day for the last 5 days”.

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4

Sure, thanks Torsten!

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5

Sure, thanks Arinker!

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6

“holding” - is this casual word in the given context ? I am not Native English speaker, so have this kind of question. Is this too bookish?

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7

Holding a meeting is more formal and also implies that you organized and led the meeting, rather than just attended it.

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Thanks Torsten!
I have not organized them. I attended the meeting, but my role is not just listening, we are trying to understand the cause of a Defect (in the application), and resolving (via code changes) and testing.
I am a Tester, so I always speak about what I did, and what is my preception abut the root cause.
Not sure “holding” really explains my involvement.

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9

It sounds like your group has some of the responsibility for calling the meeting and managing the discussion, such as in a negotiation. In this case “holding “ is fine.
If the meetings are more like a symposium where the members of your group are just members of the audience, then “attending” or “having” would be better.

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10

The usual collocational verbs with meeting are: call, hold, convene etc.
But we also use have to mean conduct, organize etc.

So, the following should be acceptable.
We had a meeting. (We have had a meeting/We have been having a meeting)
We had a discussion. (We have had a discussion/We have been having a discussion)

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11

I’m curious what you people think of:

In a meeting
vs
At a meeting

I hear both. “In a meeting” has a more formal tone. Whereas “at a meeting” is more casual.

Receptionist: I’m sorry sir, he is in a meeting until 3:00. If you’d like, you can leave your name and number and I can have him call you back.

Between coworkers:

Joe: Where’s Fred?
John: He’s at a meeting.
Joe: OK thanks.

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To me, ‘in a meeting’ sounds more natural as in ‘in a converstion’ or ‘in a dialogue’ or ‘in a session’, ‘in a lesson’, etc.

13

Would you say?

in/at a symposium
in/at a convention
in/at a retreat
in/at a fair

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14

I would use all of these terms with “at” because they describe a larger event, not just a meeting.

15

I think we would use “at a convention/retreat/fair/symposium” because they are someplace else, rather than because of their size. Even if they are located next door, their nature is that they are all encompassing and you’re at the convention rather than at the office.

Normally I would use “in a meeting” when it’s down the hall, but “at a meeting in Cleveland.”

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yes, this is the practical way of saying.
“at a convention” etc - used when they happen somewhere else and they r like a gathering.

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17

To me, at is BrE and in AmE.
Further, if it is a general (unidentified) meeting, we may say ‘in a meeting’ and if it is a particular one (specifiable), at a meeting.
A: I didn’t see Fred yesterday afternoon. When asked, he said he was in a meeting.
B: Yes, he was at the meeting of the heads of departments.

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18

Continuing the discussion from We have been having meeting for the past five days:

“We have been having meetings for the past 5 days.” This isn’t grammatically incorrect but, “we have been simultaneously holding meetings for the past five days” or “we have been holding meetings/discussions for the past five days” sounds better.

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