Breakdown of Kami duduk di baris paling depan saat rapat.
Questions & Answers about Kami duduk di baris paling depan saat rapat.
Indonesian has two words for we:
- kami = we (exclusive) → does NOT include the person you are talking to.
- kita = we (inclusive) → does include the person you are talking to.
In Kami duduk di baris paling depan saat rapat, kami suggests that the group sitting in the front row does not include the listener.
If the speaker and the listener were both in that group, you would normally say:
- Kita duduk di baris paling depan saat rapat.
→ We (you and I, and maybe others) sat in the front row during the meeting.
Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Duduk is just “sit / to sit / sitting / sat”; the exact time is understood from context or from extra words:
- Tadi kami duduk di baris paling depan saat rapat.
→ Earlier we sat in the front row during the meeting. - Sekarang kami duduk di baris paling depan saat rapat.
→ Right now we are sitting in the front row during the meeting. - Nanti kami (akan) duduk di baris paling depan saat rapat.
→ Later we will sit in the front row during the meeting.
Without any time words, the sentence is neutral; context decides whether it’s past, present, or future.
You can add sedang to emphasize that the action is in progress:
- Kami sedang duduk di baris paling depan saat rapat.
→ We are (in the middle of) sitting in the front row during the meeting.
But sedang is optional.
Without sedang, the sentence can still describe an action in progress if the context makes that clear.
di is the normal preposition for a physical location: “in / at / on”.
- di baris paling depan → in/at the very front row.
pada is more formal and is used more with time or abstract locations:
- pada saat rapat → at the time of the meeting / during the meeting.
You could say pada baris paling depan, but it sounds overly formal or unnatural in everyday speech.
For a seat/row in a room, di baris paling depan is the natural choice.
Baris basically means a line or row of people or things, arranged one behind or next to another.
In seating context (like in a meeting room), baris is naturally understood as a row:
- baris paling depan → the (very) front row.
Other words you might hear:
- deret – a row/series (can be used for seats too).
- jejer – colloquial in some regions, also “row / line”.
But in standard, neutral Indonesian for “front row (of seats)”, baris is very common and natural.
- paling = most, the -est (superlative marker).
- depan = front.
So:
- paling depan → the most front / the very front → the front‑most.
baris paling depan is “the row that is furthest to the front”, i.e. the very first/front row among all rows.
If you say only di depan:
- Kami duduk di depan.
→ We sit in front / at the front (somewhere at the front area, not necessarily in the first row).
So:
- di depan → in the front area.
- paling depan → in the single first/front‑most position.
In saat rapat, saat literally means “time / moment”. The phrase is understood as:
- saat rapat → at the time of the meeting → during the meeting / while the meeting is taking place.
As conjunctions meaning “when”:
saat, ketika, and waktu can often be used interchangeably:
- Kami duduk di baris paling depan saat rapat berlangsung.
- Kami duduk di baris paling depan ketika rapat berlangsung.
- Kami duduk di baris paling depan waktu rapat berlangsung.
Differences in feel:
- saat – neutral, slightly more formal than waktu.
- ketika – also neutral, often a bit literary/formal.
- waktu – common in everyday, informal speech.
In the original sentence, saat rapat is functioning more like “during the meeting” than “at a meeting (place)”.
Here, rapat is a noun meaning “meeting” (a formal gathering, like an office meeting).
Examples as a noun:
- Rapat itu mulai jam dua.
→ The meeting starts at two. - Ada rapat besok pagi.
→ There is a meeting tomorrow morning.
However, rapat is also used verbally in contexts like:
- Kami sedang rapat.
→ We are (in) a meeting / We are having a meeting.
But to say “to meet (someone)” in general, Indonesian more often uses:
- bertemu – to meet.
- mengadakan rapat / menggelar rapat – to hold a meeting.
So in saat rapat, you should understand rapat as the event (noun), not as a plain verb “to meet”.
You might hear sentences without an explicit verb in informal Indonesian, especially in speech:
- Kami di baris paling depan saat rapat.
Listeners will usually understand it as “[we are] in the front row during the meeting”.
However:
- Grammatically and stylistically, Kami duduk di baris paling depan saat rapat is clearer and more complete.
- Without duduk, the sentence feels more like a shortened, spoken form.
For learners and in writing, it’s better to keep duduk.
Indonesian has no articles like “a / an / the”.
- baris paling depan can mean “a front row” or “the front row” depending on context.
- rapat can be “a meeting” or “the meeting”.
If you want to make something clearly definite, you can use ‑nya:
- baris paling depannya → the (specific) front row / that front row.
- rapatnya → the meeting / that meeting.
But even without -nya, context usually makes the meaning clear. In this sentence, most listeners will naturally understand it as “the front row” and “the meeting”.
In Indonesian, the basic order is:
- Noun + modifiers (adjectives, phrases, etc.)
So:
- baris (noun) + paling depan (modifier)
→ baris paling depan (the very front row).
Putting paling depan before baris (paling depan baris) does not follow normal Indonesian grammar and sounds incorrect.