Mañana quiero asistir a la reunión en la biblioteca.

Breakdown of Mañana quiero asistir a la reunión en la biblioteca.

yo
I
querer
to want
en
at
a
to
la biblioteca
the library
mañana
tomorrow
la reunión
the meeting
asistir
to attend
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Questions & Answers about Mañana quiero asistir a la reunión en la biblioteca.

Why is it asistir a la reunión and not just asistir la reunión?

In Spanish, asistir (meaning to attend in this context) is normally intransitive and is used with the preposition a:

  • asistir a algo = to attend something
    • asistir a la reunión – to attend the meeting
    • asistir a clase – to attend class
    • asistir al concierto – to attend the concert

Saying asistir la reunión (without a) sounds incorrect to native speakers in standard Spanish. The preposition a is required.


Does asistir mean to assist in English?

No. This is a classic false friend.

  • In this sentence, asistir means “to attend” (a meeting, class, event, etc.).
  • To say “to assist (help)” in Spanish, you’d normally use ayudar or asistir a alguien in a medical/social context (to give care):

    • Voy a asistir a la reunión. – I’m going to attend the meeting.
    • Voy a ayudar a mi amigo. – I’m going to assist/help my friend.

So when you see asistir a la reunión, understand it as “attend the meeting,” not “assist the meeting.”


Why do we say a la reunión but en la biblioteca? Why two different prepositions?

The prepositions match different ideas:

  • asistir a la reunión

    • a introduces the event you are attending.
    • Pattern: asistir a
      • event.
  • en la biblioteca

    • en means “in / at” (a location).
    • It tells us where the meeting takes place.

So the structure is:

  • asistir a (what event?) → la reunión
  • (where?) → en la biblioteca

You can think: attend *to the meeting in the library (even though English doesn’t say *to there, Spanish does).


Why are there articles: la reunión, la biblioteca? In English I might say “attend meeting at the library” without the.

Spanish uses definite articles much more consistently than English.

  • la reunión = the meeting
  • la biblioteca = the library

In most normal contexts, you need the article:

  • asistir a reunión – sounds incomplete or foreign.
  • en biblioteca – only works in very restricted, telegraphic, or special phrases.

The article is dropped in a few set cases (e.g. en clase, en casa) but reunión and biblioteca are not usually in that group. So a la reunión, en la biblioteca are the natural forms.


Could I also say Mañana quiero ir a la reunión instead of asistir a la reunión?

Yes, and it’s common.

  • ir a la reunión – literally go to the meeting
  • asistir a la reuniónattend the meeting, slightly more formal/precise.

In everyday speech in Spain:

  • Mañana quiero ir a la reunión en la biblioteca – very natural, neutral.
  • Mañana quiero asistir a la reunión en la biblioteca – also correct, a bit more formal or “careful”.

Both are fine; asistir emphasizes the idea of being present as a participant, not just physically going there.


Why is Mañana at the beginning? Could I say Quiero asistir mañana a la reunión?

Yes, you can move mañana around. All of these are correct, with slight emphasis differences:

  • Mañana quiero asistir a la reunión en la biblioteca.
    → Emphasis on tomorrow: as for tomorrow, I want to attend…

  • Quiero asistir mañana a la reunión en la biblioteca.
    → Emphasis more on the wanting to attend, with mañana modifying the verb “attend”.

  • Quiero asistir a la reunión mañana en la biblioteca.
    → Also possible, but less smooth; sometimes used to clarify which day if there are several meetings.

Spanish allows adverbs of time like mañana, hoy, luego to appear at the beginning, before the verb, or after the verb. The beginning position is very common for “time setting” in conversation.


Why is it quiero asistir and not something like the future tense asistiré?

Quiero asistir literally means “I want to attend” and expresses intention or desire about the future.

Alternatives:

  • Mañana asistiré a la reunión.Tomorrow I will attend the meeting.
    • More neutral, factual statement about the future.
  • Mañana voy a asistir a la reunión.Tomorrow I’m going to attend…
    • Very common for future plans, similar to English “going to”.

So:

  • Quiero asistir focuses on what you want.
  • Asistiré / voy a asistir focus more on what will happen / your plan.

All can refer to tomorrow; the nuance is in desire vs plan vs simple future.


Why is there no “yo” before quiero? How do we know it means “I want”?

In Spanish, the verb ending tells you the subject:

  • quiero → 1st person singular (I)
  • quieres → you (singular, informal)
  • quiere → he/she/you (formal)

So quiero asistir already contains the idea of “I want to attend”. Adding yo is optional:

  • Yo quiero asistir a la reunión.
    • Correct; used for emphasis or contrast (e.g., Yo quiero, pero él noI want to, but he doesn’t).
  • Quiero asistir a la reunión.
    • Normal, unmarked version.

Dropping subject pronouns when they are clear from the verb form is standard in Spanish.


Does mañana mean “tomorrow” or “morning”? How do I know?

mañana has two common meanings:

  1. tomorrow – an adverb of time

    • Mañana quiero asistir…Tomorrow I want to attend…
  2. morning – as a noun, usually with an article or preposition

    • la mañana – the morning
    • por la mañana – in the morning

In your sentence:

  • There’s no article (la) and it’s at the beginning as a time adverb → it clearly means tomorrow.

To say “in the morning I want to attend…” you’d say:

  • Por la mañana quiero asistir a la reunión en la biblioteca.

How do you pronounce reunión and where is the stress?

reunión is pronounced approximately:

  • [reh-oo-NYON] (with Spanish r at the start, and ny like in canyon)

Details:

  • It has three syllables: re-u-nión (often smoothed as “reu-” in speech).
  • The accent mark (´) on ó shows that the stress is on the last syllable: re-u-NIÓN.
  • The -ión ending is like in información, nación – always stressed.

So: Mañana quiero asistir a la reuNIÓN en la biblioteca.


Could I leave out en la biblioteca and just say Mañana quiero asistir a la reunión?

Yes. The phrase en la biblioteca is just extra information about where the meeting is.

  • Mañana quiero asistir a la reunión.
    • Tomorrow I want to attend the meeting.
  • Mañana quiero asistir a la reunión en la biblioteca.
    • …the meeting that takes place in the library.

Both are grammatical. You include en la biblioteca only if the location is relevant or needs to be specified.


Is reunión used for any kind of meeting in Spain, or only formal ones?

In Spain, reunión is quite general and can be:

  • Formal / work meetings
    • reunión de trabajo, reunión con el jefe
  • School / club / association meetings
    • reunión de padres, reunión del club de lectura
  • Less formal group meetings
    • reunión de amigos (a get-together of friends) – though here people might also say quedada or just quedar.

So in your sentence, reunión would usually be understood as a somewhat organized meeting (work, study, association, etc.), not just casually hanging out.