Chinese for Meetings — Confirm Ownership and Deadlines

Most of the damage done by a half-understood meeting is not linguistic — it is a task with no owner and no date. Your Chinese in a meeting only has to do three things reliably: get you a turn to speak, let you check what was decided, and let you name who does what by when. Everything else can be handled afterwards in writing.

If you are still building the underlying request-and-follow-up phrases, work basics comes first; this page is what you say once the meeting is already running.

Getting a turn to speak

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
我可以说一下吗？	Wǒ kěyǐ shuō yíxià ma?	May I say something?
我有一个问题。	Wǒ yǒu yí ge wèntí.	I have a question.
我想补充一点。	Wǒ xiǎng bǔchōng yìdiǎn.	I would like to add one thing.
我先说到这里。	Wǒ xiān shuō dào zhèlǐ.	I will stop there for now.

一下 (yíxià) after a verb makes the action sound brief and unassuming, which is why it appears in almost every polite meeting phrase: 说一下 (shuō yíxià), 确认一下 (quèrèn yíxià), 看一下 (kàn yíxià). Dropping it is not rude, but keeping it makes an interruption sound like a small contribution rather than a challenge.

补充 (bǔchōng) literally means “supplement”, and 我想补充一点 (Wǒ xiǎng bǔchōng yìdiǎn) is the standard way to add something to a point someone else has already made — useful when you want to speak without appearing to reopen a settled item.

Checking what was decided

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
我这样理解对吗？	Wǒ zhèyàng lǐjiě duì ma?	Is this the correct understanding?
不好意思，我没听清楚。	Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ méi tīng qīngchu.	Sorry, I did not catch that.
可以再说一遍吗？	Kěyǐ zài shuō yí biàn ma?	Could you say that again?
也就是说…	Yě jiù shì shuō…	In other words, …

Repeating a decision in your own words is not impolite; it prevents avoidable errors, and in a second language it is far more reliable than nodding. 也就是说 (yě jiù shì shuō) is the natural way to introduce your restatement before you check it with 对吗？ (duì ma?).

没听清楚 (méi tīng qīngchu) says you did not hear the words clearly, which is a different problem from not understanding them. If the issue is meaning rather than volume, say 我不太明白 (wǒ bú tài míngbai) instead — the answer you get back will be more useful.

Naming the owner and the date

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
这个部分由我负责。	Zhège bùfen yóu wǒ fùzé.	I am responsible for this part.
谁负责这个？	Shéi fùzé zhège?	Who is responsible for this?
截止日期是什么时候？	Jiézhǐ rìqī shì shénme shíhou?	When is the deadline?
我会发邮件确认。	Wǒ huì fā yóujiàn quèrèn.	I will confirm by email.

由…负责 (yóu … fùzé) is the compact pattern for assigning responsibility: 由我负责 (yóu wǒ fùzé), 由市场部负责 (yóu shìchǎng bù fùzé, “marketing owns it”). Because it names a person or team explicitly, it removes the ambiguity that “we will look at it” leaves behind in any language.

Conversation: confirm ownership and a deadline

Learner: 我这样理解对吗？这个部分由我负责，周五前发给您。
(Wǒ zhèyàng lǐjiě duì ma? Zhège bùfen yóu wǒ fùzé, zhōuwǔ qián fā gěi nín.)
Colleague: 对，没问题。
(Duì, méi wèntí.)
Learner: 好的，我会发邮件确认。
(Hǎo de, wǒ huì fā yóujiàn quèrèn.)

周五前 (zhōuwǔ qián) means “before Friday” — the time word comes first and 前 (qián) follows it, the reverse of the English order. The same shape gives you 月底前 (yuèdǐ qián, “before the end of the month”) and 下班前 (xiàbān qián, “before the end of the working day”).

Raising a risk without blocking the meeting

Learner: 我想补充一点，这个时间可能有点紧。
(Wǒ xiǎng bǔchōng yìdiǎn, zhège shíjiān kěnéng yǒudiǎn jǐn.)
Colleague: 你建议怎么安排？
(Nǐ jiànyì zěnme ānpái?)
Learner: 我们先完成第一部分，明天再确认后面的内容。
(Wǒmen xiān wánchéng dì yī bùfen, míngtiān zài quèrèn hòumiàn de nèiróng.)

时间有点紧 (shíjiān yǒudiǎn jǐn) — “the timing is a bit tight” — states a constraint without accusing anyone. 有点 (yǒudiǎn) before an adjective almost always signals something mildly negative, so it is the right register for a warning you want heard but not dramatized.

The 先…再… (xiān … zài …) pattern, “first … then …”, is the most useful sentence shape in a meeting: it converts an objection into a sequence. Compare 我们先完成第一部分，明天再确认后面的内容 (Wǒmen xiān wánchéng dì yī bùfen, míngtiān zài quèrèn hòumiàn de nèiróng) with a flat “that is too fast” — the first proposes a plan, the second only stops one. Disagreeing with the substance itself is covered in giving opinions, and declining a deadline outright in polite refusal.

Online meetings

Chinese	Pinyin	Meaning
声音有点小。	Shēngyīn yǒudiǎn xiǎo.	Your audio is a bit quiet.
我这边听不到。	Wǒ zhèbiān tīng bu dào.	I cannot hear on my end.
网络不太好。	Wǎngluò bú tài hǎo.	The connection is not great.
我重新进一下。	Wǒ chóngxīn jìn yíxià.	I will rejoin.

我这边 (wǒ zhèbiān), “on my side”, is the phrase that keeps a technical problem neutral — it reports where the fault appears rather than whose fault it is. 听不到 (tīng bu dào) is the potential form: “listen, but cannot arrive at hearing”. The positive counterpart is 听得到 (tīng de dào), so 你听得到吗？ (Nǐ tīng de dào ma?) is “can you hear me?”.

Closing the loop afterwards

A meeting held in your second language should end in writing. Send a short message that repeats the owner, the date and the next action — the same three items you confirmed aloud — so that anything you mis-heard is corrected cheaply. Work chat and email has the written formulas, including how much formality a message to a manager needs.

Takeaway

Confirm owner, deadline and next action, then repeat them in a follow-up message.
一下 (yíxià) and 有点 (yǒudiǎn) do most of the softening work; you rarely need longer polite formulas.
Turn an objection into 先…再… (xiān … zài …) so you leave a plan behind, not just a problem.
Say 我没听清楚 (wǒ méi tīng qīngchu) for volume and 我不太明白 (wǒ bú tài míngbai) for meaning — they get different answers.

Related: work basics for requests and follow-up, presentations for speaking at length in one, and clarification when you need to slow a speaker down.

By the end of this chapter, you can say

这个部分由我负责，周五前发给您。 (Zhège bùfen yóu wǒ fùzé, zhōuwǔ qián fā gěi nín.)

Practical note for this chapter

Coordinate with classmates, colleagues and customers with clear, dependable Mandarin. In this chapter, practice giving a short response and then checking what matters.

Use it in context

A: 这个任务你准备怎么安排？ (Zhège rènwu nǐ zhǔnbèi zěnme ānpái?)
B: 这个部分由我负责，周五前发给您。 (Zhège bùfen yóu wǒ fùzé, zhōuwǔ qián fā gěi nín.)

Phrase map for this chapter

Question or situation: 这个任务你准备怎么安排？ (Zhège rènwu nǐ zhǔnbèi zěnme ānpái?)
Central response: 这个部分由我负责，周五前发给您。 (Zhège bùfen yóu wǒ fùzé, zhōuwǔ qián fā gěi nín.)
Another natural way to say it: 这个部分由我负责，周五前发给您。 (Zhège bùfen yóu wǒ fùzé, Zhōuwǔ qián fā gěi nín.); Use this variation in a situation you genuinely expect to handle.
How to use it: Listen to the model once, then say it again with one detail from your own situation.

Turn the model into three conversation turns

1. Open the situation这个任务你准备怎么安排？ (Zhège rènwu nǐ zhǔnbèi zěnme ānpái?)
2. Say the central response这个部分由我负责，周五前发给您。 (Zhège bùfen yóu wǒ fùzé, zhōuwǔ qián fā gěi nín.)
3. Add an alternative这个部分由我负责，周五前发给您。 (Zhège bùfen yóu wǒ fùzé, Zhōuwǔ qián fā gěi nín.)

Before acting, check the point most likely to cause a misunderstanding. This dialogue is for practice. For important decisions, confirm official guidance as well.

A useful variation

Keep the same purpose, then change the person, time or place to make it your own.

这个部分由我负责，周五前发给您。 (Zhège bùfen yóu wǒ fùzé, Zhōuwǔ qián fā gěi nín.)

Use this variation in a situation you genuinely expect to handle.

Listen to the model once, then say it again with one detail from your own situation.

A common trap

For important details, do not decide from what you think you heard; check written information when needed.

不要只说“我来做”；要说负责人和期限。 (Bú yào zhǐ shuō “wǒ lái zuò”; yào shuō fùzérén hé qīxiàn.)

This dialogue is for practice. For important decisions, confirm official guidance as well.

Three-step practice

Open the situation in one short phrase
Say the central response
Add one detail of your own