Meeting minutes
Meeting minutes in English: format, phrases and an example
Trippi Notes team · facts checked on 2026-10-01
Your boss wants the minutes in English. The meeting was in Spanish, or half in German, or you just do not write English every day. Good minutes are short and plain, which is good news: you do not need fancy English. You need the right order and about twenty phrases.
The format
- 1Header. Meeting name, date, who was there and who was absent.
- 2Decisions. One line each, starting with a verb in the past: Agreed to, Decided to, Approved.
- 3Action items. Task, owner, due date. One task, one owner.
- 4Open questions. What nobody could answer yet, and who will find out.
- 5Next meeting. Date and goal.
You do not write who said what, unless it matters. Minutes record results, not the conversation. If you need a ready page to fill in, start from the meeting minutes template.
Grammar you actually need
- Past tense for what happened. The team agreed. Ana presented the numbers. We decided to wait.
- Future for tasks. Bruno will send the plan by 8 October. Or the short form used in many teams: Bruno to send the plan by 8 October.
- Names, not pronouns. He will check it means nothing a week later. Write the name every time.
- Dates with the month as a word. 8 October or Oct 8. 08/10 is August in the US and October in Europe.
- Short sentences. One idea per line. If a line has two and, split it.
Phrases that sound natural
Twenty pairs. The left column is what we see most often from people whose first language is Spanish, Portuguese, German, Japanese or Russian. None of these are stupid mistakes: each one is correct in your own language, word for word.
| Instead of | Write | Why |
|---|---|---|
| We have discussed about the budget. | The team discussed the budget. | Discuss takes no about. Spanish discutir sobre, Portuguese discutir sobre, Russian обсудить о push it in. |
| It was decided that we will make a new plan. | We agreed to make a new plan. | Shorter, active, past tense. Minutes record what happened. |
| Maria will do the report until Friday. | Maria will send the report by Friday. | By is a deadline. Until is how long something lasts. Spanish hasta, German bis, Portuguese até, Russian до cover both. |
| There is a doubt about the price. | Open question: the final price. | A doubt in English sounds like distrust. Spanish duda and Portuguese dúvida just mean a question. |
| Pedro informed that the client is agree. | Pedro said the client agreed. | Agree is a verb, so no is. Inform needs a person: informed us that. Spanish está de acuerdo, Portuguese está de acordo. |
| To check with legal. | Action: Anna to check with legal by 12 May. | A task without an owner and a date is a wish. Add both. |
| The actual version of the plan is attached. | The current version of the plan is attached. | Actual means real. Spanish actual, Portuguese atual, German aktuell, Russian актуальный mean current. |
| Eventually we will need more budget. | We may need more budget. | Eventually means in the end, for sure. Spanish eventualmente, Portuguese eventualmente, German eventuell mean maybe. |
| Actually the team works on the migration. | The team is currently working on the migration. | Actually means in fact. For now, write currently. Spanish actualmente, German aktuell. |
| Lea assisted to the meeting. | Lea attended the meeting. | Spanish asistir a and French assister à mean attend. In English assist means help. |
| The meeting was realized online. | The meeting was held online. | Spanish and Portuguese realizar means to hold or carry out. English realize means to understand. |
| Kenji will control the numbers. | Kenji will check the numbers. | English control means to be in charge of. German kontrollieren, Spanish controlar, Russian контролировать often mean check. |
| Please confirm the schedule and tell us. | Please check the schedule and let us know. | Confirm means say yes to something already agreed. Japanese kakunin covers both check and confirm. |
| Bruno will become the data on Monday. | Bruno will get the data on Monday. | German bekommen means get. English become means turn into. |
| We will consider about the new tool. | We will look into the new tool. | Consider takes no about. Japanese ni tsuite kangaeru carries it over. |
| Ana explained us the plan. | Ana explained the plan to us. | Explain needs to before the person. Spanish nos explicó, Portuguese nos explicou, Russian объяснила нам. |
| Ana gave some informations about hiring. | Ana gave an update on hiring. | Information has no plural. An update on sounds natural in minutes. |
| Responsible: Ivan. | Owner: Ivan. | Russian ответственный and German verantwortlich become owner in a task list. |
| We will discuss it on the next meeting. | We will discuss it at the next meeting. | English says at a meeting. Russian на, Spanish and Portuguese en / na make it on or in. |
| Since Monday the team works on the test. | The team has been working on the test since Monday. | An action that started in the past and still goes on needs has been. German, Spanish and Russian use the present here. |
One more that is not a mistake: take a decision is normal British English, and make a decision is more common in the US. In minutes you rarely need either. We decided to is shorter than both.
Words that help
| You want to say | In minutes |
|---|---|
| Everyone said yes | Agreed / Approved |
| We will decide later | Postponed to [date] / Open question |
| Someone said no | Not approved / Rejected |
| We talked about it but nothing changed | Discussed, no change |
| Someone will tell us | Bruno to report back by [date] |
| Someone could not come | Absent: Lea / Apologies: Lea |
| We need more facts first | Pending: [what is missing] |
A full example
Weekly product meeting, 6 October 2026
Present: Ana, Bruno, Kenji. Absent: Lea.
Decisions
We agreed to move the launch to 20 October.
We decided to keep the old price for current customers.
Action items
Bruno to update the release plan by 8 Oct.
Kenji to email the three biggest clients by 9 Oct.
Open questions
Who writes the help article? Ana will ask support.
Next meeting
13 October, launch checklist.
That is the whole thing. It fits on one screen, a manager reads it in thirty seconds, and every line answers one of two questions: what did we decide, and who does what by when.
When the meeting was not in English
This is the hard case. You were in the meeting, it ran in Portuguese or German, and now you need English minutes. You have three options.
- 1Notes in your language, translated later. Take notes the way you think, then rewrite them in English in the evening. It works, but you write everything twice, and some details get lost between the meeting and the evening.
- 2Notes in English during the call. Possible if you only write decisions and tasks, not the conversation. Use the phrases above and fix the grammar after the call.
- 3Let the notes write themselves. A tool that hears the call writes the transcript and the summary. You only check and send.
Whatever you choose, keep the original words for names, product terms and numbers. A translated product name is a new product nobody knows. More on this: how to translate a meeting transcript.
Before you send it
- Every action item has one name and one date.
- Every decision is one line, past tense.
- Names of people, products and clients are spelled the same everywhere.
- No line says who was angry, who was late, or who was wrong.
- It fits on one screen. If it does not, you wrote the conversation. How to cut it down.
English minutes from a meeting in another language
Trippi Notes listens to the call in your browser tab, in 68 languages, and writes the minutes in the language you choose: the meeting in Portuguese, the minutes in English. The transcript keeps both lines, the original and the translation, so you can check any sentence against what was really said.
The summary uses the same five parts as above: overview, decisions, tasks with owners, open questions, and a glossary. You can change them with a template, and add the product names and terms your team uses so they come out right. It works on Google Meet, and on Zoom and Microsoft Teams in the browser, not in their desktop apps. Tell people you are taking notes, the same way you would say it with a pen in your hand. How to ask, and what to say.
FAQ
Asked about this.
Are “minutes” and “notes” the same?+
Minutes are the official record: decisions and tasks. Notes can be anything. Most teams say “notes” and mean minutes.
Past or present tense?+
Past for what happened (agreed, decided). Future for tasks (will send), or the short form “Bruno to send”.
How long should meeting minutes be?+
One screen. If it is longer, you are writing the conversation.
Do I need to write who said what?+
Only when it matters, for example who asked for a change or who objected to a decision. Otherwise write the result.
Can I write the minutes in English if the meeting was in another language?+
Yes, and it is common in international teams. Keep names, numbers and product terms in their original form, and check anything you are not sure about against the transcript.
Read next
Get English minutes from any meeting
Trippi Notes is in the Chrome Web Store. One click on the icon when the call begins, and nothing before that.