Learn Hardcore Japanese: kare ha kinkyuu no renraku wo ukete, kaigi wo enkisimasita. - He received an urgent message and postponed the meeting.

It links two clauses and signals a cause/trigger or sequence: “upon receiving / in response to receiving” an urgent message, he postponed the meeting. The pattern X を受けて、Y is common in news/business writing and means “Following X, Y” or “In light of X, Y.”

Could I use から, ので, or ため instead of 受けて to show the reason?

Yes, with slight nuance differences:

…連絡を受けたので、… neutral/polite “because.”
…連絡を受けたから、… more casual “because.”
…連絡を受けたため、… more formal “due to.”
…連絡を受けて、… is concise and often reads like “in response to,” not as explicitly causal as ので/から but very natural, especially in written registers.

Why 彼は and not 彼が?

彼は marks the topic: “As for him, …” It’s neutral and sets the stage.
彼が marks the subject with focus/emphasis: “He (as opposed to someone else) postponed it.” If the point is simply to say what he did, 彼は is natural. Use 彼が when contrasting or highlighting who did it.

Can I omit 彼は?

Often yes. Japanese frequently drops subjects when clear from context: 緊急の連絡を受けて、会議を延期しました。 Without context, it reads as “(I/we/he) postponed…” In real conversations, speakers might use a name/title instead of pronouns, e.g., 田中さんは…

Why is it 緊急の連絡 and not 緊急な連絡?

緊急 is a noun. When a noun modifies another noun, の is the default: 緊急の連絡 (“urgent contact/message”). 緊急な exists but is less common and sounds off in this collocation. Stick with 緊急の連絡.

Is 緊急連絡 the same as 緊急の連絡? Does it mean “emergency contact (person)”?

緊急連絡 can work as a compound meaning “emergency/urgent communication,” but it often appears in set phrases like 緊急連絡先 (emergency contact info).
緊急の連絡 clearly means “an urgent message/notice.” If you mean “emergency contact (person/number),” say 緊急連絡先. In this sentence, 緊急の連絡 = an urgent message.

What’s the difference between 連絡を受ける and 連絡が来る／ある／もらう?

連絡を受ける: neutral/formal “to receive (be the recipient of) contact/notice.”
連絡が来る／ある: “a message/contact comes/arrives” (casual-natural).
連絡をもらう: “to get a message (from someone)” (casual; emphasizes receiving from a person). In business or written contexts, 連絡を受ける is very common.

Should it be 受ける or 受け取る with 連絡?

Use 連絡を受ける. 受け取る focuses on physically receiving or “accepting” something (e.g., a parcel, the content). With information/notifications, 受ける (or もらう, 来る) is idiomatic. 連絡を受け取る isn’t wrong but sounds less natural.

Why 会議を延期しました and not 会議が延期しました?

Because 延期する is a transitive action: someone postpones something. So the thing postponed takes を: 会議を延期する.
会議が延期しました sounds odd because it makes the meeting act on its own. For “The meeting was postponed,” use:

会議が延期されました (passive), or
会議は延期になりました (became postponed; intransitive result).

How do I say “was postponed” vs. “postponed (it)”?

“He postponed the meeting”: 彼は会議を延期しました。 (active)
“The meeting was postponed”: 会議が延期されました。 (passive) or 会議は延期になりました。 (state/result focus)

What’s the dictionary form and makeup of 延期しました?

Dictionary verb: 延期する (“to postpone”) — a noun-verb (サ変) built from the noun 延期
- する.
延期しました = polite past of 延期する (“postponed”).

How do you read the key words?

彼: かれ (kare)
緊急: きんきゅう (kinkyū)
連絡: れんらく (renraku)
受けて: うけて (ukete)
会議: かいぎ (kaigi)
延期: えんき (enki)
延期しました: えんきしました (enki shimashita)

Can I start with the reason clause?

Yes. 緊急の連絡を受けて、彼は会議を延期しました。 This is very natural: cause first, result second.

Is the comma 、 after 受けて necessary? Could I write 受け、 instead?

The comma is optional but helps readability: …受けて、会議を…
In more formal/written style you can use the continuative form without て: …連絡を受け、会議を延期しました。 Both are correct; 受け、 feels a bit more formal/literary.

What are good alternatives to 延期 and how do they differ?

中止: cancellation/termination (not happening anymore).
キャンセル: cancel (loanword; everyday/business).
先送り（にする）/ 先延ばし（にする）: to put off/postpone (often vaguely).
延ばす／遅らせる: to delay/postpone (verbs; more general).
順延: postponement to the next scheduled day (sports/events).

How formal/polite is this sentence? Any business upgrade?

延期しました is polite and fine. For more formal business tone:

緊急の連絡を受け、会議を延期いたしました。
Or explicitly causal: …受けたため、会議を延期いたしました。

Why are there spaces between the words?

They’re for learners. Standard Japanese writing doesn’t use spaces between words, only punctuation like 、 and 。

How do I specify who sent the urgent message?

Add a source with から:

上司から緊急の連絡を受けて、会議を延期しました。 “After receiving an urgent message from my boss, …” You can also say 上司より in formal writing.