Rapat keuangan dimulai pukul delapan.

The finance meeting starts at eight o’clock.

Breakdown of Rapat keuangan dimulai pukul delapan.

• pukul delapan: eight o'clock
• dimulai: to start
• rapat keuangan: the finance meeting

Questions & Answers about Rapat keuangan dimulai pukul delapan.

Why is it dimulai and not just mulai or memulai?

• dimulai is the passive form of mulai. It focuses on the event being started, not on who starts it: Rapat dimulai... (The meeting is started...).
• mulai can be used intransitively to mean “start”: Rapat mulai pukul delapan.
• memulai is active and needs an agent and an object: Panitia memulai rapat pukul delapan. (The committee starts the meeting at eight.)
• All three are correct; choose based on whether you want passive, intransitive, or active voice and how formal you want to sound (passive sounds more formal).

Do I need the preposition pada before the time?

No. Both are correct:

• Neutral/formulaic: dimulai pukul delapan
• More formal/explicit: dimulai pada pukul delapan

What’s the difference between pukul and jam?

• Both can introduce clock time: pukul delapan = jam delapan.
• pukul sounds more formal or announcement-like (schedules, notices).
• jam is very common in speech.
• For durations, use only jam: dua jam (two hours), not ❌ dua pukul.

Does the sentence tell me 8 a.m. or 8 p.m.?

No. Indonesian needs a time-of-day word to disambiguate:

• pukul delapan pagi (8 a.m.)
• pukul delapan malam (8 p.m.) Other options: siang (~11–3), sore (~3–6).

How do I say “exactly at eight,” “after eight,” or “before eight”?

• Exactly: pukul delapan tepat or pukul delapan pas
• After/past: pukul delapan lewat lima (menit) = 8:05
• To/before: pukul delapan kurang lima (menit) = 7:55
• 8:30: pukul delapan tiga puluh or the very common setengah sembilan (literally “half to nine”).

Is the word order for the noun phrase correct? Why rapat keuangan and not keuangan rapat?

Yes, it’s correct. In Indonesian, the head noun comes first and its modifier follows:

• rapat keuangan = financial meeting (meeting about finance)
• You can be more specific with a longer modifier: rapat bagian keuangan (the Finance Department’s meeting).

Is keuangan acting like an adjective here?

It’s a noun used attributively (a very common pattern in Indonesian). keuangan (finance/finances) modifies rapat (meeting), functioning like “financial.”

How do I make it clearly “the” financial meeting?

Indonesian has no articles. Use context or add a determiner:

• rapat keuangan itu (that/the financial meeting already known in context)
• rapat keuangan ini (this financial meeting)

Could I put the time at the beginning?

Yes, for emphasis or as a style choice:

• Pukul delapan, rapat keuangan dimulai.
• Pada pukul delapan, rapat keuangan dimulai.

Is “di mulai” ever correct, with a space?

No. The passive prefix di- attaches to the verb with no space: dimulai. The spaced di is only the preposition “at/in/on,” used with nouns: di kantor, di Jakarta.

If I want to say it in the future or past, how do I mark tense?

Indonesian doesn’t inflect for tense; add particles/adverbs:

• Future: Rapat keuangan akan dimulai pukul delapan.
• Already/past: Rapat keuangan sudah dimulai pukul delapan.
• Habitual: Biasanya rapat keuangan dimulai pukul delapan.

What’s the nuance difference between rapat and pertemuan?

• rapat: a formal/business meeting (often internal, agenda-driven).
• pertemuan: any meeting/encounter; broader and less tied to corporate context. So rapat keuangan sounds like an official finance-related meeting.

Can I mention who starts the meeting in the passive sentence?

You can, but it’s more natural to switch to active:

• Passive (possible but a bit stiff): Rapat dimulai oleh ketua.
• Active (more direct): Ketua memulai rapat pukul delapan.

Any quick pronunciation tips for this sentence?

• rapat: RA-pat (short, crisp vowels)
• keuangan: ke-u-ang-an (four syllables; pronounce the u and a separately; uang = oo-ahng)
• dimulai: di-mu-lai (final ai as in “eye”)
• pukul: POO-kool
• delapan: de-LA-pan (first e is a schwa)