הפגישה הולכת להיות קצרה, אבל חשובה.

The ה־ is the Hebrew definite article, meaning the.

• פגישה = meeting
• הפגישה = the meeting

Unlike English, Hebrew attaches the directly to the noun as a prefix instead of writing it as a separate word.

Because הפגישה is a feminine singular noun, and the verb has to agree with it.

• הולך = masculine singular
• הולכת = feminine singular

Since פגישה is feminine, Hebrew uses הולכת.

This is very common in Hebrew: verbs and adjectives often match the noun’s gender and number.

הולכת להיות is a very common way to say is going to be.

Literally, הולכת comes from the verb to go, so it may look strange at first to an English speaker. But in modern Hebrew, הולך/הולכת + infinitive often works like English going to for the near future.

So:

• הפגישה הולכת להיות קצרה = The meeting is going to be short

This is a natural everyday structure.

להיות means to be.

In this sentence, it is needed because the structure is:

• הולכת להיות = is going to be

So להיות completes the future expression.

Compare:

• הפגישה קצרה = The meeting is short
• הפגישה הולכת להיות קצרה = The meeting is going to be short

Without להיות, the sentence would not express going to be correctly.

Because קצרה is the feminine singular form of the adjective short, and it must agree with הפגישה.

• masculine singular: קצר
• feminine singular: קצרה

Since פגישה is feminine singular, the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• פגישה קצרה = a short meeting

For the same reason: adjective agreement.

• חשוב = important, masculine singular
• חשובה = important, feminine singular

Because הפגישה is feminine singular, both adjectives must match it:

• קצרה
• חשובה

So the sentence keeps full agreement all the way through.

In Hebrew, the present-tense form of to be is usually not stated in simple sentences.

So Hebrew says:

• הפגישה קצרה
  literally: the meeting short

But it means:

• The meeting is short

This is normal Hebrew grammar. In the present tense, Hebrew usually leaves out is / are / am.

However, when you say is going to be, you use a different structure, which is why you do see הולכת להיות.

Because Hebrew, like English, can use one subject for two adjectives.

So:

• הפגישה הולכת להיות קצרה, אבל חשובה

means:

• The meeting is going to be short, but important

Hebrew does not need to repeat הפגישה before חשובה, because it is already understood that both adjectives describe the same noun.

אבל means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• קצרה = short
• חשובה = important

So the speaker is saying that even though the meeting will be short, it still matters.

This works very much like English but.

Its meaning is future.

Even though הולכת looks like a present-tense form, the whole expression הולכת להיות functions like is going to be, which refers to the future.

So the sentence is talking about what the meeting will be like, not what it is like right now.

Yes. Hebrew could also express the idea with a future form, depending on style and nuance.

For example, a speaker might use another future phrasing to say that the meeting will be short but important. But הולכת להיות is very natural in spoken Hebrew and often sounds a bit like English going to be—something expected or planned.

So this sentence is perfectly normal and conversational.

A simple pronunciation guide would be:

ha-pgi-SHA ho-LE-khet lih-YOT ktsa-RA, a-VAL kha-shu-VA

A few notes:

• הפגישה = ha-pgi-SHA
• הולכת = ho-LE-khet
• להיות = lih-YOT
• קצרה = ktsa-RA
• אבל = a-VAL
• חשובה = kha-shu-VA

The ח sound in חשובה is a throaty Hebrew sound that English does not really have.