Estar a vs. estar en?

Question

I'm having trouble consistently distinguishing between using 'a' or 'en' when talking about being somewhere.

For instance, in the dialog, "... Alberto estará en la reunión...",

Would we say "estará en la reunión" to mean someone will be 'in' the meeting, while "estará a la reunión" has a connotation indicating a location 'at' the meeting?

Or is it always customary to use 'en' in cases like this?

Accepted Answer

Hola Don
Your understanding is quite close! In the context of physical location, the preposition "en" is generally used to indicate being 'in' a place. So, in the dialogue, you would correctly say "Alberto estará en la reunión" to convey that he will be 'in' the meeting.
Using "a" in this context is not customary for expressing physical location. However, it's worth noting that "a" is often used with verbs like "ir" (to go) to indicate the destination. For example, "Voy a la reunión" means "I'm going to the meeting."
So, in summary, for physical location, especially in your example with the meeting, it is more appropriate to use the preposition "en." "Estará en la reunión" means "He will be in the meeting."