Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Guru kami memimpin rapat singkat di perpustakaan. - Our teacher leads a brief meeting in the library.

Kami guru would sound like "we (are) teachers", not "our teacher." So you put the person/thing first (guru) and the owner/possessor after it (kami).

What is the difference between kami and kita? Could we say guru kita here?

Both mean we / us / our, but:

kami = we (but not including the listener)
kita = we (including the listener)

So:

guru kami = our teacher, but the listener is not included in "our"
guru kita = our teacher, and the listener is included

In a textbook sentence with no context, guru kami is fine. If the speaker and listener share the same teacher, guru kita would be more natural.

Why is rapat singkat (meeting short) and not singkat rapat like in English?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun:

rapat singkat = short meeting
buku baru = new book
mobil merah = red car

So the pattern is:

noun + adjective

Putting the adjective before the noun (singkat rapat) is ungrammatical.

Could we say pertemuan singkat instead of rapat singkat? What’s the difference between rapat and pertemuan?

Both can be translated as meeting, but:

rapat: usually a more formal or structured meeting (work, school, organization, committee)
pertemuan: more general – any gathering, meet-up, encounter, formal or informal

So:

rapat guru, rapat komite, rapat kerja = teachers’ meeting, committee meeting, work meeting
pertemuan keluarga, pertemuan pertama = family gathering, first meeting (with someone)

In a school or office context, rapat singkat sounds very natural.

What is the root of memimpin, and why does it look like that?

The root verb is pimpin (to lead).

Indonesian often forms active verbs with the prefix meN-:

meN- + pimpin → memimpin

The p disappears and the meN- becomes mem-, following sound rules.

Other examples:

meN- + pukul → memukul (to hit)
meN- + pakai → memakai (to use)

So memimpin literally means "to lead" in an active sense: to lead something / someone.

How can memimpin mean “led” if there is no past tense marker in the sentence?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense (past, present, future). Memimpin itself is neutral:

Guru kami memimpin rapat singkat di perpustakaan.
→ Our teacher leads / is leading / led a short meeting in the library.

The tense is understood from context or from time words like:

tadi (a moment ago)
kemarin (yesterday)
besok (tomorrow)

For example:

Tadi guru kami memimpin rapat singkat di perpustakaan.
→ Earlier, our teacher led a short meeting in the library.

Why is the preposition di used with perpustakaan? What is the difference between di and ke?

di = at / in / on (location, where something happens)
ke = to / toward (movement to a place)

In the sentence:

di perpustakaan = in/at the library (location of the meeting)

If you want to express movement:

Guru kami pergi ke perpustakaan.
Our teacher went to the library.

So use:

di for where something is / happens
ke for where something goes

Can we move di perpustakaan to another position in the sentence?

Yes. Indonesian word order is flexible for adverbs of place (and time). All of these are grammatical:

Guru kami memimpin rapat singkat di perpustakaan.
Guru kami di perpustakaan memimpin rapat singkat. (less common, but possible)
Di perpustakaan, guru kami memimpin rapat singkat.

The most neutral and natural version is the original: place phrase at the end.

Can we drop kami and just say Guru memimpin rapat singkat di perpustakaan?

Yes, grammatically you can, but the meaning changes slightly:

Guru kami memimpin… = Our teacher led…
Guru memimpin… = The / A teacher led…

Dropping kami removes the idea of possession or connection between the speaker and the teacher. In a context where it’s already clear whose teacher it is, people might omit kami/kita, but the nuance is less personal.

Should guru or perpustakaan be capitalized in Indonesian?

In standard Indonesian:

Common nouns are not capitalized: guru, perpustakaan, rapat.
Proper nouns (names) are capitalized:
- Perpustakaan Kota Bandung (Bandung City Library)
- Guru Besar Ahmad (Professor Ahmad – here Guru Besar is a title)

So in this sentence, the capitalization as written is correct: Guru kami memimpin rapat singkat di perpustakaan. (Only the first letter of the sentence and any proper names are capitalized.)

Could we say sebuah rapat singkat instead of rapat singkat? When do we use sebuah?

Sebuah is a general classifier similar to “a / one (unit of something)”.

rapat singkat = a short meeting (general; “a” is just understood)
sebuah rapat singkat = one short meeting / a particular meeting (slightly more specific, a bit more formal or explicit)

In everyday Indonesian, you often omit classifiers like sebuah when it’s clear from context:

Saya ikut rapat singkat. = I attended a short meeting.

So rapat singkat is already natural and correct.

Is rapat a noun or a verb? Can rapat also mean “to close tightly”?

In this sentence, rapat is a noun meaning “meeting”.

However, Indonesian rapat also exists as a verb/adjective meaning tight, closed, compact:

Pintu itu belum rapat. = That door is not fully closed.
Mereka duduk rapat-rapat. = They sat very close together.

So the meaning depends on context and position in the sentence.
Here, because it follows a verb (memimpin) and is followed by an adjective (singkat), it clearly functions as a noun (“meeting”).