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I have a meeting that I think should be moved to an earlier time. What is the best way to say it?

E.g. if I wanted to move it to a later time, I can use the word "delay":

"I would like to delay the meeting"

How do I say the oposite?

"I would like to __ the meeting" (to advance? to precede? none of them sound right)

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10 Answers 10

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How about "I would like to bring the meeting forward to...". This is based on an accepted antonym of delay "bring forward".

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  • +1, since this would have been my answer too! Nov 19, 2010 at 4:20
  • English is a great language, but if moving something forward in time is delaying, why just "moving it forward" is the opposite? But I can't argue with facts, I assume native speakers won't be confused when I'll tell them to move the meeting forward, however non native speakers might be, as I would have with the axis of time in their mind :)
    – Eran Medan
    Apr 3, 2011 at 2:30
  • @Ehrann I see your point. Perhaps if you think of the timeline as a physical distance. I push something back to make it be further away, I pull something forward to make it closer.
    – Gary
    Apr 3, 2011 at 7:24
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Advance fits the bill all right:

[ trans. ] cause (an event) to occur at an earlier date than planned: I advanced the date of the meeting by several weeks.

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  • Can you add link and attribution, please? Nov 1, 2023 at 12:00
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My few cents: In actual practice I would probably just say or write:

"Can we move our meeting on April 23rd on 7 p.m. up to 5 p.m.? I'm unable to make it at 7 p.m." or "Can we move our meeting on April 23rd from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m.?"

If this was a much higher boss (or one that required a lot of deference) I would write:

Would it be convenient for you to move/reschedule our meeting on April 23rd from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m.? I am unable to make a 7 p.m. appointment on that date.

To reschedule for an earlier time (or "moving the meeting up) brings up the possibility of changing the date as well as the time, in my mind.

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  • 1
    In my mind, "move it to an earlier time" doesn't require that it occur on the same day.
    – Marthaª
    Nov 16, 2010 at 21:20
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The best answer has got to be prepone

I would like to prepone the meeting

or

The meeting has been preponed

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  • 2
    Except that "prepone" is not a real English word, at least not outside India.
    – Marthaª
    Apr 4, 2011 at 16:22
  • 4
    But how words were added to English? isn't Language human invented after all? Just like prepend is not "real" english but one day it will... isn't it?
    – Eran Medan
    Apr 5, 2011 at 2:19
  • ELU deals with standard usage at the time of answering. Nov 1, 2023 at 12:01
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Expedite.
verb (used with object), expedited, expediting.
1. to speed up the progress of; hasten:

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I would prefer to have the meeting a little earlier.

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Simple English works fine

just say "I am moving the meeting time from .... to.... or " the meeting time have been change to instead of

hope this helps

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We typically say "push out" dates to mean a delay in date or time and we "pull in" dates to mean advance or "prepone" a meeting. "prepone" is meaningless in English outside of India."push out" and "pull in" are accepted terms when speaking to schedulers who use any tool that creates Gantt Charts.The tool automatically shows an item being pushed out to the right or pulled in to the left if you change the due dates.

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Someone told me that one can also say

I would like to move the meeting up a little

(but I don't know if it's correct English)

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  • I would prefer to have the meeting a little earlier. Apr 3, 2011 at 0:03
  • Thanks, that sounds great, I was just looking for the exact mirror of "I would like/prefer to delay the meeting" but your suggestion sounds better. But please put it as an answer so I can accept it
    – Eran Medan
    Apr 3, 2011 at 2:24
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Yes, although, prepone is quite commonly used in India, it is rarely done so outside.

With Indian background, I was taught 'Advance a meeting" i.e. schedule a meeting earlier than the original time/date slot is the correct usage and was discouraged the use of 'prepone'.

However, I think prepone (before/earlier + put = Put it before/earlier) is self explanatory, rhymes with postpone (after + put = put it later) and the words (pre and Post) are well recognised antonym prefixes. It is about time, it (prepone) becomes part of the global English lexicon. Importantly, it is crisp and concise.

Every other iterations/solutions are relatively cumbersome.

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