Learn Hardcore German: Künftig beginnen wir das Meeting früher. - In the future we will start the meeting earlier.

Künftig means from now on / in future / going forward. It focuses on how something will be done in the future, usually as a new rule or habit.

Comparison:

künftig – somewhat formal/neutral; often used in written or official language (Künftig gelten neue Regeln.).
in Zukunft – very common and neutral; works in almost all contexts.
von jetzt an – emphasizes the starting point right now, like “starting right now / from this moment on”.

In most everyday situations, you could replace künftig with in Zukunft without changing the meaning much:

In Zukunft beginnen wir das Meeting früher.

Why is it beginnen wir and not wir beginnen after künftig?

German main clauses are usually verb-second (V2). That means the conjugated verb must be the second element in the sentence.

Here, künftig is taken as the first element. Therefore, the verb (beginnen) must come next, and the subject (wir) moves after the verb:

Künftig (1st element) beginnen (2nd element: verb) wir (3rd) das Meeting früher.

If you start with the subject instead, the order changes:

Wir beginnen künftig das Meeting früher.

Both are correct; the difference is mainly what you put in first position for emphasis.

Can I also say Wir beginnen künftig das Meeting früher? Is there a difference in meaning?

Yes, Wir beginnen künftig das Meeting früher is correct.

The difference is mostly one of emphasis and style:

Künftig beginnen wir das Meeting früher.
– Emphasizes the change for the future (“From now on, we’ll start earlier…”).
Wir beginnen künftig das Meeting früher.
– Starts with wir, so it feels more neutral and conversational.

Both sentences describe the same situation.

Why is the verb in the present tense (beginnen) if we are talking about the future?

German often uses the present tense to talk about the near or planned future, especially for schedules, routines, or decisions:

Morgen fahren wir nach Berlin. – We’re going to Berlin tomorrow.
Nächste Woche habe ich Urlaub. – I’m on vacation next week.

So Künftig beginnen wir das Meeting früher means “We will (from now on) start the meeting earlier,” but German can express this with simple present because it’s a planned, regular future action.

Using werden beginnen here (Künftig werden wir das Meeting früher beginnen) is possible but sounds more formal and less natural in everyday speech.

What gender is Meeting, and why is it das Meeting here?

Meeting is usually neuter in German: das Meeting.

In this sentence, das Meeting is the direct object of beginnen, so it is in the accusative case. For neuter nouns, the nominative and accusative forms are the same: das.

So:

Nominative: Das Meeting beginnt.
Accusative: Wir beginnen das Meeting.

Is Meeting the normal word in German, or are there more “German” alternatives?

Meeting is very common in business and office contexts, especially in companies with international culture or in office slang.

More traditional or “German” alternatives:

die Besprechung – meeting/discussion, quite general.
die Sitzung – session/meeting, often formal (committee, council, etc.).
die Konferenz – conference (usually larger or more formal).

You could also say:

Künftig beginnen wir die Besprechung früher.
Künftig beginnt die Sitzung früher.

The choice depends on context and style.

What exactly does früher mean here, and how is it different from bald or eher?

In this sentence, früher is the comparative of früh (early) and means earlier (compared to before):

We used to start at 10:00, now we start at 9:30 → früher.

Differences:

früh – early
früher – earlier (comparative), or “in the past” (in other contexts)
bald – soon
eher – rather/sooner (often used for preferences: Ich würde eher später kommen.)

So früher refers specifically to earlier in time than before, not just “soon”.

I know früher can mean “earlier/in the past”. Does it mean that here too?

Here, früher means earlier (in the day/relative to the previous time), not “in the past”.

Two main uses of früher:

Comparative of früh (as in this sentence):
- Künftig beginnen wir das Meeting früher.
  → From now on, we start the meeting earlier (than before).
“In the past / back then”:
- Früher haben wir das Meeting später begonnen.
  → In the past, we used to start the meeting later.

So the meaning depends on position and context.

Could I say mehr früh instead of früher?

No. In German, comparatives of adjectives and adverbs are usually formed with -er, not with mehr:

früh → früher
schnell → schneller
laut → lauter

Mehr früh is incorrect in this sense. You must say früher for earlier.

Can I use anfangen instead of beginnen here?

Yes, you can.

Anfangen and beginnen are often interchangeable. In this context:

Künftig fangen wir das Meeting früher an.

Note that anfangen is a separable verb:

In main clauses: Wir fangen das Meeting früher an.
In infinitive/without conjugation: … das Meeting früher anzufangen.

Beginnen is slightly more formal and not separable:

Wir beginnen das Meeting früher.

Why is das Meeting before früher? Could I say früher das Meeting?

The usual neutral order is:

Verb (beginnen)
Subject (wir) – unless moved
Objects (das Meeting)
Adverbials of time/manner/place (früher, etc.)

So:

… beginnen wir das Meeting früher.

You generally would not say … beginnen wir früher das Meeting in this sentence. It’s grammatically possible but sounds unnatural and can change the focus. Keeping das Meeting next to beginnen is the normal, clear order.

How would this sentence look as a yes–no question?

For a yes–no question, put the verb first:

Beginnen wir künftig das Meeting früher?
→ “Are we going to start the meeting earlier from now on?”

You could also ask more neutrally:

Werden wir künftig das Meeting früher beginnen? (more formal)

Can I drop das and just say Künftig beginnen wir Meeting früher?

No. In German, countable singular nouns almost always need an article or determiner.

So you need:

das Meeting (the meeting)
ein Meeting (a meeting)
dieses/jedes/kein Meeting, etc.

Without das/ein/etc., Meeting sounds ungrammatical in this sentence.