会议

• Pinyin: huì yì
• Hanzi breakdown: 会 = 亼 (gather) + 曰 (speak) — people gathering to speak; 议 = 讠(speech) + 义 (righteousness/meaning) — deliberate speech

Meaning

Meeting; conference. A formal or semi-formal gathering of people to discuss matters together.

Used for both small internal team meetings and large-scale conferences. Common collocations include 开会议 or 举行会议 (to hold a meeting), 参加会议 (to attend a meeting), and 会议室 (meeting room). More formal than 聚会 (get-together) and distinct from 见面 (meet up informally).

Examples

1. 下午三点我们有一个重要的会议。 We have an important meeting at three o'clock this afternoon.
2. 她在会议上提出了一个好建议。 She put forward a good suggestion at the meeting.
3. 这次国际会议吸引了很多专家参加。 This international conference attracted many experts to attend.

Usage Guide

Context: work, business, everyday

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 我们明天要开一个会议。(We have a meeting tomorrow.)
• 会议将在大会议室举行。(The conference will be held in the large meeting room.)

Don't Say

• 我去了一个会议的聚会。(Don't combine 会议 and 聚会 — they both convey 'meeting' but in different registers. Say 我参加了一个会议 for a formal meeting or 我去了一个聚会 for a social gathering.)

Origin & History

Compound of 会 (to meet/gather) and 议 (to discuss/deliberate). Together they denote a gathering for the purpose of discussion.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal