Learn Hardcore German: Außer mir kam niemand pünktlich zur Besprechung. - Except for me, nobody came to the meeting on time.

Because außer is a preposition that governs the dative case. The personal pronoun for “I” in the dative is mir (ich = nominative, mich = accusative, mir = dative). So: außer mir = “except for me.”

Can I say Außer ich instead of Außer mir?

In standard German after the preposition außer, you should use the dative: außer mir. You will hear sentences like “Alle kamen, außer ich” in colloquial speech (an elliptical “except I [came]”), but in your sentence, starting the clause with “Außer ich kam …” is widely viewed as nonstandard. Prefer:

Außer mir kam niemand …
Niemand außer mir kam …
Nur ich kam …

Why does the verb come before niemand (Außer mir kam niemand …)?

German main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position. When you front something (here, the prepositional phrase Außer mir) into the first slot, the verb (kam) takes the second slot, and the subject (niemand) follows it.

Why is it kam (singular) and not kamen (plural)?

Because niemand (“nobody”) is grammatically singular. The verb must therefore be singular: niemand kam, not “kamen.”

Can I place außer mir somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes. Common, natural options include:

Außer mir kam niemand pünktlich zur Besprechung. (fronted exception; strong focus on the exception)
Niemand außer mir kam pünktlich zur Besprechung. (exception is part of the subject)
Niemand kam pünktlich zur Besprechung außer mir. (exception added at the end) All are acceptable; the choice slightly shifts emphasis/prosody.

What exactly is zur?

It’s the contraction of zu der. You use it here because Besprechung is feminine: die Besprechung → dative singular der. So: zu der Besprechung = zur Besprechung. For masculine/neuter nouns, you’d get zum (= zu dem).

Which case does zu take? Why is zur Besprechung in the dative?

The preposition zu always takes the dative, regardless of motion or location. Hence: zum Arzt (m.), zur Schule (f.), zum Museum (n.). Therefore zur Besprechung is dative.

Why zu(r) Besprechung and not in die Besprechung?

zu
- dative focuses on going/coming “to” an event or person: zur Besprechung kommen = “come to the meeting (attend).”
in
- accusative focuses on entering a space: in die Besprechung kommen = “come into the meeting (room), join it.” Both are possible depending on what you want to emphasize, but “zur Besprechung” is the idiomatic choice for “to the meeting.”

What’s the difference between pünktlich and rechtzeitig?

pünktlich = on time, at the scheduled time (neither early nor late).
rechtzeitig = in time, early enough (before the deadline/critical point). You can be rechtzeitig even if you are a bit early; pünktlich implies hitting the exact agreed time.

Is kam the best tense here? Could I use Perfekt?

Both are fine. Kam is Präteritum (simple past), common in written narrative/reporting. In everyday spoken German, many prefer the Perfekt:

Außer mir ist niemand pünktlich zur Besprechung gekommen.

Can I use keiner instead of niemand?

Yes. Keiner also means “no one,” and it’s common in speech:

Außer mir kam keiner pünktlich zur Besprechung. Style-wise, niemand is a bit more neutral/formal, keiner a bit more colloquial. When used attributively with a noun, kein- inflects for gender/case; niemand does not.

Why isn’t there a comma after Außer mir?

Because Außer mir is just a fronted prepositional phrase, not a clause. German does not require a comma after such fronted adverbials. So no comma is correct here.

Is Besprechung the same as Sitzung or Meeting?

Besprechung: general “meeting/discussion,” neutral in tone.
Sitzung: a formal session/meeting (committees, councils, boards).
Meeting: English loanword, widely used in business; informal to neutral. All can be appropriate depending on context; here Besprechung is a safe, neutral choice.

Any spelling tips? außer vs ausser, pünktlich, capitalization?

außer uses ß in Germany/Austria; in Switzerland it’s spelled ausser.
pünktlich has an umlaut (ü).
Nouns are capitalized: die Besprechung. Niemand is lowercase; Außer is capitalized here only because it starts the sentence.

Is the order pünktlich zur Besprechung important?

It’s natural. pünktlich (a temporal adverb) typically precedes the place/direction phrase zur Besprechung. You could say “kam zur Besprechung pünktlich” for emphasis, but the neutral flow is “kam pünktlich zur Besprechung.”