Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Sidang sekolah dimulai pukul delapan. - The school hearing starts at eight o’clock.

Common uses:
- sidang pengadilan – court hearing
- sidang umum – general assembly
In sidang sekolah, it suggests something like a formal school session, a disciplinary hearing, or an official school meeting, not just an everyday chat.

For a more neutral “meeting” in a school context, Indonesians often say rapat sekolah or pertemuan sekolah.

Why is it sidang sekolah and not sidang di sekolah if the English is “school meeting”?

In sidang sekolah, sekolah is modifying sidang, forming a noun–noun phrase:

sidang sekolah ≈ “school session / school meeting” (a meeting of or belonging to the school)
sidang di sekolah = “a session at the school” (location emphasis, could be any kind of session held there)

So:

sidang sekolah focuses on the institution: a meeting that is part of the school’s official activities.
sidang di sekolah focuses on the place: a session held in the school building, not necessarily organised by the school itself.

Where is the English word “the” in this sentence? Why isn’t there something like “the school meeting”?

Indonesian normally has no articles like “a” or “the”.

So sidang sekolah can mean:

a school meeting
the school meeting
depending on context.

If you really want to emphasise definiteness, you might see:

sidang sekolah itu – that/the (particular) school meeting
sidang sekolahnya – the school’s meeting / that (already known) school meeting

But in most cases, sidang sekolah dimulai pukul delapan is naturally understood as “The school meeting starts at eight.”

What is the grammatical role of sidang sekolah in this sentence?

Sidang sekolah is the subject of the sentence.

The structure is:

Sidang sekolah – subject (“the school meeting”)
dimulai – predicate/verb (“is started / begins”)
pukul delapan – time expression (“at eight o’clock”)

So it’s literally:
“(The) school meeting is-started at eight.”

What exactly does dimulai mean, and why not just use mulai?

Both dimulai and mulai can be used, but they differ slightly:

mulai – base verb “to start, to begin”
- Sidang sekolah mulai pukul delapan.
  “The school meeting starts at eight.”
dimulai – passive form of memulai (“to start [something]”), so literally “is started”
- Sidang sekolah dimulai pukul delapan.
  “The school meeting is started at eight” / “The school meeting begins at eight.”

Nuance:

mulai sounds a bit more active/intransitive: the event starts.
dimulai hints that someone starts it (even if the doer isn’t mentioned), and is more typical in announcements and formal language.

In everyday speech, both are common:

Film mulai jam delapan.
Film dimulai jam delapan.

Is dimulai always passive? Who is the “doer” in this sentence?

Yes, dimulai is a passive form (di‑).

If you expanded it, you could say:

Sidang sekolah dimulai oleh kepala sekolah pukul delapan.
“The school meeting is started by the principal at eight.”

In the original sentence, the agent (doer) is simply left out, which is very normal in Indonesian. The focus is on when the meeting begins, not on who begins it.

What does pukul mean here, and how is it different from jam?

Pukul has two main meanings:

to hit, to strike
In time expressions: “o’clock / at (a clock time)”

In pukul delapan, it means “eight o’clock” or “at eight”.

Difference from jam:

jam delapan – very common, neutral: “eight o’clock”
pukul delapan – a bit more formal or announcement-like

Examples:

Everyday: Kita mulai jam delapan. – We start at eight.
Announcement: Acara akan dimulai pukul delapan. – The event will start at eight.

Do we need a word for “at” before pukul delapan, like pada pukul delapan?

You can add pada, but it’s not required.

Sidang sekolah dimulai pukul delapan. – completely natural.
Sidang sekolah dimulai pada pukul delapan. – a bit more explicit/formal.

In time expressions, pada (“at/on”) is often omitted in speech and even in writing when it’s clear you are talking about time.

Does pukul delapan mean 8 a.m. or 8 p.m.?

By itself, pukul delapan just means “eight o’clock”; it does not specify a.m. or p.m.

To be clear, Indonesians usually add a time-of-day word:

pukul delapan pagi – 8 a.m.
pukul delapan malam – 8 p.m.
pukul delapan sore – around 5–6 p.m. (late afternoon/evening)

In context with sekolah, people will usually assume morning (pagi) unless otherwise specified.

How would I say this in a more casual, everyday way?

More casual, natural versions might be:

Rapat sekolah mulai jam delapan.
Rapat sekolah mulai jam delapan pagi.
Rapat sekolahnya mulai jam delapan. (informal, with ‑nya referring to “that meeting we’re talking about”)

Changes:

sidang → rapat (more common word for “meeting”)
dimulai → mulai (simpler verb)
pukul → jam (neutral/everyday for clock time)

Why is there no tense marking like “will start” or “started”? How do we know the time reference?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense (past / present / future). Dimulai is the same form for:

“is started”
“was started”
“will be started”

Time is shown by:

Time adverbs (tadi, kemarin, besok, nanti, akan, sudah, etc.)
Context

Examples:

Sidang sekolah tadi dimulai pukul delapan.
The school meeting was started at eight (earlier today).
Sidang sekolah akan dimulai pukul delapan.
The school meeting will start at eight.
Sidang sekolah dimulai pukul delapan setiap hari.
The school meeting starts at eight every day. (habitual)

Is this sentence formal, neutral, or informal in tone?

Sidang sekolah dimulai pukul delapan. sounds quite formal:

sidang – formal-sounding word (often used for official sessions)
dimulai – passive, typical of announcements
pukul – slightly formal for telling time

It’s the kind of sentence you might see in:

a written announcement
a schedule/program
a formal notice from a school

In casual conversation, people are more likely to say something like:

Rapat sekolah mulai jam delapan.