Tense - is starting or has started.

Hi,

When someone has just entered a meeting room and asks a question about the commencement of the meeting, how should he or she say?

" Is the meeting starting?" or " has the meeting started"?

Thanks.

'Has the meeting started?'

You would use "Is the meeting starting ...?" before the meeting.

Is the meeting starting at 10am or 11am?
Is the meeting starting on time?

For the first, it's probably a little more natural to say "Does the meeting start at 10 or 11?" and for the second, it's more natural to say "Will the meeting start on time?" We don't use the present continuous as often as learners seem to think we do.

As Rover said, "Has the meeting started?" is appropriate in the context you provided. You could also say "Has the meeting already started?" although that is perhaps tautologous.

emsr2d2 said:

You could also say "Has the meeting already started?" although that is perhaps tautologous.

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I am not a teacher.

But appropriate if you are surprised that it has started earlier than expected.