Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya lewat lorong sekolah sebelum rapat. - I pass through the school hallway before the meeting.

Saya melewati lorong sekolah... (transitive, slightly more neutral/formal)
Saya melalui lorong sekolah... (also transitive, often a bit formal or used for routes/methods) All three are correct; the differences are nuance and register more than meaning.

Is lewat a verb or a preposition in this sentence?

Functionally it behaves like a verb, with a path complement after it: lewat + place. Colloquially, lewat can feel preposition-like (“via”), but grammatically you can treat it as a verb.

Should I say lewat di lorong?

In standard Indonesian, no. Say lewat lorong or use the transitive melewati lorong. You might hear lewat di in some regions, but it’s better to avoid it in neutral/standard usage.

What’s the difference between lorong sekolah and lorong di sekolah? And can I use koridor?

lorong sekolah is a noun–noun phrase (“school corridor”), concise and very natural.
lorong di sekolah (“a corridor at the school”) emphasizes location; also fine.
koridor is a common loanword; koridor sekolah is also natural, slightly more formal/technical.

How do I say “the corridor” vs “a corridor”? Does Indonesian have articles?

Indonesian has no articles. lorong sekolah can be specific or general depending on context. To force specificity, use itu or -nya: lorong sekolah itu/lorong sekolahnya. To emphasize “a/one,” you can add sebuah: sebuah lorong, though often it’s simply omitted.

Does sebelum rapat need a verb like dimulai after it?

No. sebelum can be followed by a noun (rapat), a verb phrase, or a full clause. If you need to be explicit, you can say sebelum rapat dimulai or sebelum rapatnya dimulai.

Can I put the time phrase first: Sebelum rapat, ...?

Yes. Sebelum rapat, saya lewat lorong sekolah. is natural. Use a comma after the fronted time phrase; the end position (... sebelum rapat) is equally fine.

Does the sentence mark past/present/future? How do I add tense info?

Indonesian doesn’t mark tense morphologically. The clause only says it happened earlier than the meeting. To add time/aspect:

Past/recent: tadi, sudah
Future/planned: akan, nanti
Habitual: sering, biasanya Example: Saya tadi lewat... sebelum rapat.

Is rapat always “a meeting”? Could it mean something else?

As a noun, rapat is a formal meeting. It also functions as an adjective meaning “tight/close” (e.g., pintu rapat = the door is shut tight). Here, after sebelum, it’s clearly the noun. A near-synonym is pertemuan (broader, not necessarily formal).

Can I use aku instead of saya? What about dropping the subject?

saya is neutral/formal; aku is informal/intimate; gue (Jakarta) is very casual. You can drop the subject if context is clear: Lewat lorong sekolah sebelum rapat, but keeping saya is clearer and preferred in neutral style.

How would a passive or object-fronted version look?

Using transitive melewati:

Object fronted: Lorong sekolah saya lewati sebelum rapat.
Passive with agent: Lorong sekolah dilewati oleh saya sebelum rapat.
Agentless passive: Lorong sekolah dilewati sebelum rapat. These are grammatical but more formal/emphatic.

Can lewat also mean “late” or “past” in time?

Yes. lewat can mean “past/after” in time (e.g., jam dua lewat lima menit) or “overdue/late” (sudah lewat tenggat). In the target sentence, it’s the motion/route meaning “go via/through.”

Is lorong singular or plural here? How do I say “corridors”?

Number isn’t marked, so lorong can be singular or plural from context. To make it clearly plural, reduplicate: lorong-lorong sekolah.

Any pronunciation tips for these words?

r is a quick tap (like Spanish single r) in rapat.
ng in lorong is a single sound [ŋ], as in “song.”
e in sebelum/sekolah is a schwa-like [ə]; o in lorong is [o]/[ɔ].
Stress is light and even; Indonesian doesn’t have strong lexical stress.