densya ga okureta keredo, kaigi ni girigiri maniaimasita.

が marks 電車 as the subject of 遅れた: the train was delayed.

Using は would also be possible in some contexts, but it would give 電車 more of a topic/contrastive feeling, like as for the train, it was delayed. In this sentence, 電車が遅れた sounds like a straightforward statement of what happened.

遅れた is the past plain form of 遅れる, which means to be late or to be delayed.

So 電車が遅れた means the train itself was delayed. This is intransitive: the train became late/delayed. It is not saying someone delayed the train.

けれど means but, although, or though. It connects two ideas that contrast with each other:

• 電車が遅れた = the train was delayed
• 会議にぎりぎり間に合いました = I still made it to the meeting just in time

So けれど shows the contrast: even though there was a delay, the speaker still managed to arrive in time.

It is slightly softer than a very direct でも in many cases.

This is very common in Japanese. In a sentence with a connector like けれど, the verb before the connector is often in the plain form, while the sentence ends in the polite form if the speaker wants to sound polite overall.

So:

• 遅れたけれど
• 間に合いました

is perfectly natural.

If the whole sentence were casual, you might say:

• 電車が遅れたけれど、会議にぎりぎり間に合った。

With 間に合う, the thing you make it to is marked with に.

So:

• 会議に間に合う = to make it to the meeting in time
• 電車に間に合う = to catch the train in time
• 締め切りに間に合う = to meet the deadline in time

Here, に marks the target point or event that you manage to reach in time.

ぎりぎり means just barely, at the very last moment, or by a hair.

So ぎりぎり間に合いました means the speaker made it in time, but only barely.

It adds a strong sense that there was almost not enough time.

ぎりぎり functions adverbially here, so it modifies the verb 間に合いました.

Japanese adverbs often come right before the verb they modify, so:

• ぎりぎり間に合いました = barely made it in time

This placement is very natural.

間に合いました is the polite past form of 間に合う, which means to be in time, to make it in time, or to meet the deadline/time requirement.

So 会議にぎりぎり間に合いました means I made it to the meeting just in time.

The past tense is used because the meeting event is being talked about as something that already happened.

The subject is omitted because Japanese often leaves out information that is clear from context.

Here, the natural interpretation is that the speaker means:

• I made it to the meeting just in time

Depending on context, it could also mean we or someone else, but without extra context, I is the most likely reading.

Yes. You could say:

• 電車が遅れたが、会議にぎりぎり間に合いました。

This is grammatical, but が can sound a bit stiffer or more written in this kind of sentence. けれど feels a little more conversational and softer.

Japanese often leaves meanings like still, even so, or nevertheless to be understood from the contrast itself.

The combination of:

• 電車が遅れた
• けれど
• ぎりぎり間に合いました

already naturally gives the sense of the train was delayed, but I still made it just in time.

So Japanese does not always need a separate word for still when the contrast makes it obvious.

It could, but the nuance changes.

• 電車が遅れたけれど、会議にぎりぎり間に合いました。 = The train was delayed, but I made it just in time.

• 電車が遅れたのに、会議にぎりぎり間に合いました。 = Even though the train was delayed, I somehow made it just in time.

のに often sounds a little more emotional, surprising, or emphatic. けれど is more neutral.

The sentence order is flexible to some extent, but the given order is very natural.

For example, you could also say:

• 電車が遅れたけれど、ぎりぎり会議に間に合いました。

This is also correct. The main meaning does not change much.

However, 会議にぎりぎり間に合いました sounds very smooth because ぎりぎり directly modifies 間に合いました, and 会議に stays attached to 間に合う, which is a common pattern.