Lo siento, pero me ha salido otra reunión.

Lo siento is the standard way to say I’m sorry in Spanish.

The lo does not mean it in a very concrete, literal way here, even though historically that is where it comes from. The verb sentir means to feel, so lo siento is literally something like I feel it, but in modern Spanish you should learn it as a fixed expression meaning I’m sorry.

So in this sentence, Lo siento, pero... is a polite way to soften what comes next.

Pero means but.

It links the apology to the reason:

• Lo siento = apology
• pero = introduces the explanation

So the speaker is basically saying: I’m sorry, but...

This is very common in polite cancellations or refusals.

Literally, it is something like:

• me = to me / for me
• ha salido = has come up / has appeared / has arisen
• otra reunión = another meeting

So the idea is: another meeting has come up for me.

In natural English, you would usually translate it as another meeting has come up rather than keeping the literal structure.

The me shows that the meeting has come up for the speaker or to the speaker.

This is a very common Spanish way of expressing that something happened in your circumstances, often unexpectedly:

• Me ha surgido un problema = a problem has come up for me
• Me salió un imprevisto = something unexpected came up for me
• Me ha salido otra reunión = another meeting has come up for me

It does not mean the speaker actively created the meeting. It makes it sound like the meeting appeared as a circumstance affecting them.

Yes, salir often means to go out, to leave, or to come out, but it has several common extensions in meaning.

In expressions like this, salir can mean:

• to come up
• to arise
• to turn up
• to appear unexpectedly

So me ha salido otra reunión is a very natural Spanish way of saying that a meeting has unexpectedly appeared in the speaker’s schedule.

This use is especially common in everyday speech.

In Spanish, compound tenses are formed with haber, not with ser.

So:

• ha salido = has come up / has arisen

Even though salir is often an intransitive verb, Spanish still uses haber for the present perfect:

• He salido
• Has salido
• Ha salido

Learners sometimes expect something like French or Italian patterns, but in Spanish the auxiliary here is always haber.

Because when a past participle is used with haber, it does not agree in gender or number with the noun.

So you say:

• ha salido una reunión
• han salido dos reuniones

The participle stays salido, not salida/salidas.

Agreement happens in other structures, for example with adjectives or sometimes with estar, but not in the perfect tense with haber.

In Spain Spanish, the present perfect is very commonly used for recent events that still feel connected to the present moment.

So me ha salido otra reunión suggests:

• this happened recently
• it affects the current situation now

That fits perfectly if the speaker is cancelling or changing plans right now.

In many parts of Latin America, people might more often say:

• me salió otra reunión

Both are correct, but me ha salido sounds especially natural in Spain.

Because otro / otra already works as a determiner here, so you normally do not say una otra reunión.

Correct:

• otra reunión
• otro problema
• otra vez

Not natural in standard Spanish:

• una otra reunión

So otra already carries the idea of another by itself.

Usually it means another meeting in the sense of one more meeting that has appeared.

Depending on context, otra can mean:

• another
• a different one
• one more

Here, the most natural reading is that an additional meeting has come up, not necessarily that it replaced a previous one.

Spanish often places new or important information after the verb, especially in sentences where something appears, happens, or comes up.

So:

• Me ha salido otra reunión

sounds very natural because the sentence first sets up the event and the person affected, then gives the thing that appeared.

You could reorder parts in some contexts, but this version is the most natural everyday phrasing.

Not exactly.

• Tengo otra reunión = I have another meeting
• Me ha salido otra reunión = another meeting has come up for me

The second one suggests something more unexpected or newly arranged. It often sounds a bit softer and less blunt, especially when explaining why you can’t do something.

So if you are cancelling plans, me ha salido otra reunión can sound more like:

• this wasn’t planned
• it’s an unfortunate development

Yes, very much.

Lo siento, pero me ha salido otra reunión is a natural, polite, everyday sentence in Spain if you need to cancel or explain a conflict in your schedule.

It sounds:

• apologetic because of Lo siento
• natural because of me ha salido
• not overly formal, but perfectly appropriate in normal conversation

If you wanted to sound more formal, you might say something like:

• Lo siento, pero me ha surgido otra reunión
• Lo siento, pero me ha surgido un compromiso

But the original sentence is already very natural and useful.