Saya memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.

I check the device before the meeting starts.

Breakdown of Saya memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.

• saya: I
• sebelum: before
• rapat: the meeting
• dimulai: to start
• memeriksa: to check
• perangkat: the device

Questions & Answers about Saya memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.

Does the sentence express present or past? How do I say “I checked” or “I will check”?

Indonesian verbs don’t inflect for tense, so it can be present, past, or habitual depending on context. To be explicit:

• Past/completed: Saya sudah memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai. / Tadi saya memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.
• Future: Saya akan memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.
• Habitual: Saya biasanya memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.
• Ongoing right now: Saya sedang memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.

Why is it dimulai and not mulai? What’s the nuance?

• mulai = “start/begin” (intransitive): Rapat mulai jam tiga.
• memulai = “to start (something)” (transitive): Kami memulai rapat jam tiga.
• dimulai = passive “(is) started/begun”: Rapat dimulai jam tiga. In your clause, both are fine:
• sebelum rapat dimulai (slightly more formal/neutral)
• sebelum rapat mulai (more colloquial)

Can I say Sebelum memulai rapat, saya memeriksa perangkat?

Yes. This version makes you the agent of starting the meeting. Use it when you (or your team) are the ones starting it. Sebelum rapat dimulai is neutral about who starts it.

What exactly does perangkat mean? “Device” or “equipment”?

Both, depending on context:

• Device: perangkat seluler, perangkat IoT.
• Equipment/gear: perangkat keamanan, perangkat kantor. It also appears in set/suite terms: perangkat lunak (software), perangkat keras (hardware), and in institutional terms like perangkat desa (village apparatus).

Is perangkat singular or plural here?

Indonesian doesn’t normally mark plural. Perangkat can mean one or many. To be specific:

• Singular: satu perangkat, perangkat itu/tersebut, perangkatnya.
• Plural: beberapa perangkat, semua perangkat, or emphatic perangkat-perangkat (less common in everyday speech).

How does memeriksa work morphologically? Why not memperiksa?

The base is periksa (“check/examine”). Add the active prefix meN-:

• meN- + periksa → memeriksa (with p assimilating to mem- and the initial p of the root dropping). Similar patterns:
• pakai → memakai
• pukul → memukul
• tulis → menulis (t drops)
• kirim → mengirim (k drops) Use memeriksa, not memperiksa.

Can I use mengecek, ngecek, or cek instead of memeriksa?

Yes; they differ in register:

• memeriksa: neutral–formal; also “examine” (doctor, police).
• mengecek: standard but more casual.
• ngecek: colloquial.
• cek: very casual or as an imperative: Cek dulu perangkatnya. Example: Saya mengecek perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.

Is the word order flexible?

Yes. Both are natural:

• Saya memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.
• Sebelum rapat dimulai, saya memeriksa perangkat. (Use a comma when the time clause comes first.) Choose based on what you want to emphasize.

How do I make “the equipment” explicit?

Add determiners:

• perangkatnya (the equipment; “its/their equipment”)
• perangkat itu (that/the equipment)
• perangkat tersebut (the aforementioned equipment; formal)

Is di in dimulai the same as di meaning “at/in/on”?

No.

• di- as a prefix forms the passive verb and is attached: dimulai, dibuat, dimasak.
• di as a preposition is separate: di kantor, di meja. Don’t write di mulai when you mean dimulai.

What’s the difference between sebelum and sebelumnya?

• sebelum = “before” (introduces a phrase/clause): sebelum rapat dimulai.
• sebelumnya = “previously/before that” (adverb): Sebelumnya, saya memeriksa perangkat. / Saya memeriksa perangkat sebelumnya.

Any register tweaks to make it more casual or more formal?

• Casual: Aku ngecek perangkat sebelum rapat mulai.
• Neutral: Saya mengecek perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.
• Formal/completed: Saya telah memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai.
• With time: Saya memeriksa perangkat sebelum rapat dimulai pukul tiga.