La reunión tuvo lugar el otro día.

Tuvo lugar is a set expression meaning took place or was held.

It comes from the idiom tener lugar, which literally looks like to have place, but that literal translation is not how English says it. It is best to learn tener lugar as one chunk:

• La reunión tuvo lugar el otro día. = The meeting took place the other day.

This expression is common and sounds a bit more formal than some simpler alternatives.

Tuvo is the preterite form of tener, and the preterite is used for a completed event in the past.

A meeting is usually seen as a finished event, so Spanish uses the preterite:

• tuvo lugar = took place

If you said tenía lugar, it would usually suggest an ongoing, repeated, or background action, which does not fit as well here unless the context specifically calls for it.

So in this sentence, tuvo is the normal choice because the meeting happened and finished.

Yes. It is widely understood and used throughout Latin America.

That said, it often sounds a little more formal or written than everyday conversation. In casual speech, people may also say:

• La reunión fue el otro día.
• La reunión se hizo el otro día.
• La reunión ocurrió el otro día.
• La reunión se llevó a cabo el otro día. (also fairly formal)

So tuvo lugar is correct and natural, but somewhat polished in tone.

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does.

Here, la reunión means the meeting, referring to a specific meeting that both speakers already know about or that has already been introduced in context.

English sometimes omits details or uses different article patterns, but in Spanish, la reunión is completely normal.

El otro día usually means the other day, referring to a recent day in the past, often without saying exactly which one.

It is a somewhat vague time expression. It usually suggests something like:

• a few days ago
• recently
• on some recent day

So it does not normally mean a specific calendar day unless the context makes that clear.

Usually, el otro día refers to the past, not the future.

If you want to say the next day, Spanish more naturally uses:

• al día siguiente
• al otro día (depending on context)

So:

• el otro día = usually the other day / a recent day in the past
• al día siguiente = the next day

That distinction is useful because English learners sometimes confuse them.

Yes, absolutely.

La reunión fue el otro día is very natural and often more conversational.

The difference is mostly tone:

• La reunión tuvo lugar el otro día. = a bit more formal, more like the meeting took place
• La reunión fue el otro día. = more everyday, more like the meeting was the other day

Both are correct. The original sentence just sounds a little more polished or official.

Not really. In this sentence, lugar is part of the fixed expression tener lugar.

By itself, lugar usually means place. But in tener lugar, the full expression means to take place.

So you should not analyze it word by word too literally. Think of it as an idiom:

• tener lugar = to happen / to take place

Yes, Spanish word order is flexible, though the original order is very natural.

You could also say:

• El otro día tuvo lugar la reunión.

This version puts more focus on the time expression el otro día.

Still, La reunión tuvo lugar el otro día is the most straightforward and neutral way to say it.

Reunión has a written accent because the stress falls on the last syllable: reu-nión.

In Spanish spelling, words that end in n, s, or a vowel are normally stressed on the second-to-last syllable unless they have an accent mark. Since reunión is stressed on the last syllable, it needs the accent.

So:

• reunión → stress on -ón

The accent mark shows the correct pronunciation.

Día has an accent mark to show that í and a are pronounced in separate syllables:

• dí-a

Without the accent, Spanish spelling rules would tend to encourage a different sound pattern. The accent helps mark the correct stress and syllable division.

So día is two syllables, not one.

A careful pronunciation would be roughly:

• La reu-NYON TOO-bo loo-GAR el O-tro DEE-a

A few helpful notes:

• reunión stresses the last syllable: -nión
• tuvo sounds like TOO-bo
• lugar stresses the second syllable: lu-GAR
• día has two syllables: DÍ-a

In much of Latin America, the v in tuvo sounds very similar to b.

Yes. Some common alternatives are:

• La reunión fue el otro día.
  Very common and conversational.

• La reunión se llevó a cabo el otro día.
  Formal; similar to was carried out / took place.

• La reunión ocurrió el otro día.
  Possible, though ocurrió is often more common for events than for meetings.

• La reunión se hizo el otro día.
  Common in everyday speech in some places.

So the original sentence is correct, but it is not the only natural option.