Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Pembicara datang tepat sebelum rapat dimulai. - The speaker arrives just before the meeting starts.

pembicara is a noun built from the root bicara (to speak) with the prefix per- and suffix -an, meaning speaker—the person who gives a talk or presentation.

Why is there no article like a or the before pembicara?

Indonesian does not use articles. Nouns stand alone, and whether you mean “a speaker” or “the speaker” is inferred from context. If you want to be explicit, you can add seorang (“a certain”) for “a speaker” or itu (“that”) for “the speaker.”

What role does tepat play in tepat sebelum?

tepat means exactly or precisely. When combined with sebelum (“before”), tepat sebelum conveys “just before” or “right before,” emphasizing that the action happened immediately prior.

Can you omit tepat and just say sebelum rapat dimulai?

Yes. sebelum rapat dimulai simply means “before the meeting started” at some unspecified time. Adding tepat specifies that the arrival was immediately before the meeting’s start.

Why is dimulai in the passive voice (with di-)? Could we say rapat mulai instead?

dimulai is the passive form of mulai (to start), so rapat dimulai literally means “the meeting was started,” without naming who did it. You can also say rapat mulai, which is an active/intransitive use meaning “the meeting starts/started.” Both are common; rapat mulai is slightly more colloquial.

In rapat dimulai, where is the subject? It seems like there’s no subject.

rapat (meeting) is the subject, and dimulai (was started) is the passive verb. Indonesian passive clauses often omit the agent (the person who starts the meeting), focusing instead on the subject and action.

What is the word order of the sentence and why?

The structure is Subject + Verb + Adverbial Time Clause:

Pembicara (subject)
datang (verb)
tepat sebelum rapat dimulai (adverbial clause of time)
Indonesian typically follows SVO but allows flexible placement of time expressions after the verb.

Could datang be replaced with tiba or hadir? What’s the nuance?

Yes.

tiba (to arrive) is a bit more formal than datang but shares the same basic meaning.
hadir (to attend/be present) shifts focus from the act of arriving to the state of being present.
Example: Pembicara hadir tepat sebelum rapat dimulai (“The speaker was present just before the meeting started”).

What’s the difference between tepat sebelum rapat dimulai and tepat ketika rapat dimulai?

tepat sebelum rapat dimulai = just before the meeting started (the action happened immediately prior to the start).
tepat ketika rapat dimulai = exactly when the meeting started (the actions occur at the same moment the meeting begins).