Breakdown of Bukti dibutuhkan sebelum rapat dimulai.
sebelum
before
rapat
the meeting
dimulai
to start
bukti
the proof
Questions & Answers about Bukti dibutuhkan sebelum rapat dimulai.
Is this sentence in the passive voice? Who is doing the action?
Yes. It uses two passive verbs:
- dibutuhkan = is needed (passive of membutuhkan)
- dimulai = is started/starts (passive of memulai; here it reads naturally as “starts”)
The doer (agent) is omitted, which is normal in Indonesian. If you want to mention it:
- Passive with an agent: Bukti dibutuhkan oleh panitia sebelum rapat dimulai.
- Active: Panitia membutuhkan bukti sebelum rapat dimulai.
Can I use diperlukan instead of dibutuhkan?
Yes. diperlukan and dibutuhkan are near-synonyms (“required/needed”). diperlukan often sounds a touch more formal/neutral; dibutuhkan can feel a bit more colloquial, but both are very common:
- Bukti diperlukan sebelum rapat dimulai.
- Bukti dibutuhkan sebelum rapat dimulai.
Why dimulai and not mulai?
Both are possible; the nuance differs:
- Sebelum rapat dimulai (passive) = before the meeting starts (someone starts it, but the starter is not named).
- Sebelum rapat mulai (intransitive) = before the meeting begins (no agent implied at all).
Both are natural; dimulai is slightly more formal. If you want to name the starter, use active:
- Ketua memulai rapat (to start the meeting) or the very idiomatic Ketua membuka rapat (to open the meeting).