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During a conversation,

It was a pleasure meeting you, thanks for chatting

and

It is a pleasure meeting you, thanks for chatting

Which one is grammatical?

Eddie Kal
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william007
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    Both are grammatical. The difference lies in the tense used. First one is in the past tense and would rather be used at the end of the conversation. Second one is in the present and would rather be used while still having the conversation. – None May 15 '16 at 08:37
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    Both are a little strange during a conversation. You'd say "It is a pleasure to meet you" when first introduced - before the conversation really gets started. You'd say "It was a pleasure to meet you" at the end of the conversation. – nnnnnn May 15 '16 at 09:05
  • There is nothing "wrong" with these sentences, but I'd probably use the infinitive to meet rather than the -ing form of meeting. So would plenty of other writers. Maybe it's just a bit more idiomatic that way? – J.R. May 15 '16 at 10:06
  • @J.R. Once one of my teachers told me we use "to meet" when we meet someone for the first time and "meeting" when we meet a person we have met before. Is it correct? –  May 15 '16 at 18:30
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    @sina - Interesting. I agree that "to meet" works well for a first-time meeting, but I think "It was a pleasure meeting you" would sound just fine at the end of a long flight, even if we only happened to get seated next to each other on the airplane and had never met before in our lives. More importantly, though, I wouldn't say, "It is/was a pleasure meeting you" to an old acquaintance, so I assumed the O.P.'s context was a first-time meeting. (However, I might say, "It was a pleasure seeing you again" to a friend, particularly if it had been awhile since we had seen each other.) – J.R. May 15 '16 at 18:47
  • @J.R. Thank you. It was my own question from the day my teacher told it. This question reminded me of that. And I thought as a nativer you can answer it. Now I understood it. Many thanks to you. –  May 15 '16 at 18:54
  • The results in COCA of is/was/been nice talking/to talk to/with you may be interesting: http://ell.stackexchange.com/a/44747/3281. – Damkerng T. May 16 '16 at 03:08
  • Both are grammatically correct. But, it still depends to the situation you are referring to. – Ivy Aug 03 '18 at 12:26

1 Answers1

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They're both grammatically correct. The situations in which they're used are different though.

I would use "It is a pleasure meeting you." or "It is a pleasure to meet you." at the beginning of when seeing someone for the first time.

And I use "It was a pleasure meeting you" or "It was a pleasure to meet you." when I'm about to leave.

When to use which of your example sentences is all up to what tense the verb is in. If the verb is in the present tense, it's not going to be used when the event is almost over or after it is finished. When the verb is in the past tense, it's not going to be used at the beginning of the event because you're not done with talking with that person. I personally think using either of them during the conversation might be a bit strange.

From the second time I see that same person, I would use the verb "see" rather than "meet" as in "(It was very) nice seeing you!" only at the end of the conversation, and a reply to this would be something like "(It was very nice seeing) you, too!".

Mikiko
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