The difference between MEET and GET TOGETHER in English
It's Friday and you have plans to see a movie with your friends.
What expression do we use in English
to explain that you will join with your friends at the cinema.
I will meet my friends at the cinema.
I will get together with my friends at the cinema.
I will meet up with my friends at the cinema.
Well, the correct answer is that we can use all three,
however there is a difference between the first sentence and the last two sentences.
MEET is normally used with the place or the time you are will be with another person or people
Let's meet at the library.
Library is the place.
Let's meet at 5 o'clock.
5 o'clock is the time.
In the first sentence:
I will meet my friends at the cinema,
you are talking about the location or place this will happen.
Notice how we frequently use the preposition AT
AT the cinema, AT the library, AT five o'clock.
With the other two sentences, both get together with and meet up with have the same meaning.
They express that you'll spend some time with your friends in person
either socially or for a specific reason.
Will you call your friends? No.
Will you chat with your friends online? No.
You will get together with your friends
or you will meet up with your friends.
Let's go into more details about the meaning of each one.
TO MEET means to be introduced to someone for the first time.
You meet a stranger.
That is why we say "nice to meet you" the first time you are presented to someone
The past tense of meet is met.
I met my wife in Santiago.
Yes, the first time I was introduced to the person, that would be my wife in the future,
was in Santiago.
I felt nervous the first time I met her parents.
Yes, that was the first time I was introduced to them.
I was very nervous.
They are the nicest people I have ever met.
That MET here is the past participle form of to meet.
Jack doesn't want us to meet his girlfriend
so we don't know if she's real or imaginary.
He doesn't want to introduce his girlfriend to us, or present his girlfriend to us, for the first time.
To meet means to come together at a specific place or at a specific time.
We met at the library after class.
I will meet you there in 20 minutes.
We have decided to meet him at the hotel.
I can't leave work early so I'll just meet you at the restaurant.
All of these are when you're meeting at a specific place like the library or hotel or restaurant,
or at a specific time, for example 20 minutes from now.
To meet with means to have a formal or planned meeting with someone,
usually in a business situation or other formal situation.
I'll meet with my boss tomorrow to talk about the new project.
We will meet with our investors next week.
They're going to meet with the Prime Minister on Friday.
If we look at this last sentence,
if you say they're going to meet the Prime Minister without using WITH,
That would imply that they are meeting the Prime Minister for the first time.
In this sentence we can assume that they have already met the Prime Minister,
and this is another meeting with him or her.
To meet up or to meet up with means to have an informal occasion with friends.
This is fun or social.
Meet up with is used more in American English.
and to meet up means to get together.
We usually meet up for a quick coffee before work.
I'm meeting up with some friends after class.
The three of us should meet up for dinner next week.
To get together means to make plans to be with someone and to spend time with them socially.
We should get together for a chat soon.
Olivia and Paul get together with their children every Thanksgiving.
I haven't seen you in months! Let's get together for a coffee.
There is also a noun form of to get together.
This is... get-together.
It's a noun.
This means a small informal meeting or social gathering.
Yes the hyphen (-) in the middle is important.
Look at this example sentence.
Let's have a get-together at my place tonight.
Notice the article A before the noun get-together.
A get-together
Look at this question.
What do you normally do on Sundays?
Some people respond: I meet my family.
but this is NOT correct. Why?
You're not meeting them for the first time as you already know them
and you're not specifying a place or a specific time.
You should respond: I get together with my family.
This is correct.
You use get together because you plan to spend time with them in a social or casual way.
Answer these questions in the comments section.
How often do you get together with your friends?
How did you meet your best friend?
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