商談

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 商談(しょうだん) combines 商, commerce, with 談, discussion.
• Basic usage: It denotes business negotiations or discussions of a transaction, including prices and terms.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• More specific than 話し合い
  • 話し合い(はなしあい) covers discussions generally. 商談 has a commercial purpose and does not mean every meeting or conversation.
• まとまる and まとめる
  • 商談がまとまる describes negotiations reaching agreement. 商談をまとめる focuses on someone bringing them to agreement.