Indonesian verbs do not change their form for past, present, or future time. Instead, lexical time words such as sekarang “now,” kemarin “yesterday,” and besok “tomorrow” carry much of the work that English assigns to tense. The unchanged clause Rina di kantor can be located by adding sekarang, kemarin, or besok.
These adverbs establish different reference points. Tadi reaches back within a recent conversational window; dulu creates an earlier background or means “first/before.” Nanti points forward relative to now or another planned point. This page develops those contrasts and flexible placement while leaving aspect markers and discourse particles to dedicated pages.
Core time words
| Word | Core reference | Typical English |
|---|---|---|
| sekarang | speech time/current period | now |
| tadi | recent point before now | earlier, just now |
| kemarin | calendar day before today | yesterday |
| besok | calendar day after today | tomorrow |
| nanti | later point expected after the reference time | later |
| dulu | former background or earlier sequence | formerly, before, first |
Sekarang saya bekerja dari rumah.
Now I work from home.
Kami bertemu kemarin di stasiun.
We met yesterday at the station.
Besok mereka berangkat ke Makassar.
Tomorrow they are leaving for Makassar.
No verb ending changes: bekerja, bertemu, and berangkat keep their citation forms. The time adverb and context locate the event.
Sekarang: now and the current period
Sekarang can mean this exact moment or a broader current phase.
Saya sedang di bus sekarang; telepon saya lima belas menit lagi.
I'm on the bus now; call me in fifteen minutes.
Sekarang banyak orang membayar dengan ponsel.
Nowadays many people pay by phone.
The first example points to the speech moment. The second means “in the current era,” not necessarily during the exact second of speaking. Context supplies the width of “now.” Full analysis of sedang and other aspect markers is left to their dedicated pages.
Tadi: a recent earlier point
Tadi refers to a recent time before now, often earlier the same day or within the current interaction.
Tadi saya melihat Pak Arif di lobi.
I saw Mr. Arif in the lobby earlier.
Tadi siapa yang berbicara dengan Bu Sari?
Who spoke with Ms. Sari earlier?
Pesan yang tadi kamu kirim belum masuk.
The message you sent earlier has not arrived.
The third sentence also shows tadi inside identifying descriptive material. Its determiner-like use is covered on the postnominal tadi page.
The precise distance is contextual. Tadi can be a few minutes ago or earlier in the day, but it normally keeps the event inside the active recent-time frame.
Kemarin and besok: calendar anchors
Kemarin and besok normally anchor events to the neighboring calendar day.
Kemarin hujan turun hampir sepanjang hari.
Yesterday it rained for almost the whole day.
Kami akan membahas anggarannya besok.
We will discuss the budget tomorrow.
Besok pagi saya ada janji dengan dokter.
Tomorrow morning I have an appointment with the doctor.
The explicit akan in the second example adds prospective meaning, but besok alone can locate a planned future event: Besok kami rapat. Indonesian does not require a future auxiliary merely because English uses will.
Nanti: later, not necessarily tomorrow
Nanti points to a later stage in the current plan or sequence. It does not name a fixed calendar day.
Saya kirim alamat lengkapnya nanti.
I'll send the full address later.
Nanti setelah makan siang kita periksa hasilnya bersama.
Later, after lunch, we'll check the results together.
Simpan pertanyaannya; nanti kita bahas di akhir sesi.
Save the question; we'll discuss it later at the end of the session.
The context may make nanti later today, tomorrow, or after some other event. Add a precise phrase when scheduling matters: nanti sore, nanti pukul tiga, or nanti setelah rapat.
Dulu: former background and “first”
Dulu has two closely related uses. It can place a state in an earlier background, or order one action before another.
Dulu kami tinggal di Padang, tetapi sekarang kami tinggal di Medan.
We used to live in Padang, but now we live in Medan.
Daerah ini dulu masih berupa sawah.
This area used to be rice fields.
Kita makan dulu, baru melanjutkan perjalanan.
Let's eat first, then continue the trip.
In the first two examples, dulu builds past background. In makan dulu, it means “eat first/before doing the next thing.” English uses different words, but both Indonesian uses place something earlier relative to a reference point.
A planning dialogue
A: Besok kita berangkat pukul berapa? B: Pukul tujuh pagi. Nanti saya kirim lokasi penjemputannya.
A: What time are we leaving tomorrow? B: At seven in the morning. I'll send the pickup location later.
A: Bisa bertemu sekarang? B: Sekarang belum bisa. Nanti sore bagaimana?
A: Can we meet now? B: I can't right now. How about later this afternoon?
The dialogue separates the calendar plan (besok), the current availability (sekarang), and a later planning step (nanti). Indonesian needs no tense conjugation to keep those points distinct.
A short narrative timeline
Kemarin Rina tiba di Bandung. Tadi pagi dia bertemu klien. Sekarang dia sedang menulis laporan. Nanti malam dia akan mengirimkannya, lalu besok dia pulang.
Yesterday Rina arrived in Bandung. Earlier this morning she met a client. Now she is writing a report. Later tonight she will send it, and tomorrow she will go home.
The sequence moves through five reference points:
- kemarin — preceding calendar day;
- tadi pagi — recent morning before the current moment;
- sekarang — current stage;
- nanti malam — later stage tonight;
- besok — following calendar day.
This lexical timeline remains clear even though the main verbs do not conjugate for tense.
Flexible placement and focus
Time adverbs commonly occur initially or finally, and some occur medially.
Kemarin kami makan di warung itu.
Yesterday we ate at that food stall.
Kami makan di warung itu kemarin.
We ate at that food stall yesterday.
Initial kemarin frames everything that follows. Final kemarin is more likely to supply or contrast the requested time. A medial form can stay close to the predicate: Kami nanti bertemu di lobi “We will meet in the lobby later,” though Nanti kami bertemu... and Kami bertemu...nanti may sound more natural depending on focus.
Do not put a comma after a short initial time adverb by default: Kemarin kami bertemu, not an automatic English-style Kemarin, kami bertemu.
Orthography
Write these adverbs as separate ordinary words. Preserve hyphens in lexical reduplications such as kadang-kadang and pelan-pelan. Normal Standard Indonesian uses no accent marks in the forms on this page.
Common Mistakes
1. Using dulu for something that happened just now
❌ Siapa yang menelepon dulu barusan?
Incorrect time anchoring — dulu creates an earlier background, while barusan means just now.
✅ Siapa yang menelepon barusan?
Who called just now?
2. Using tadi for a remote former situation
❌ Tadi saya tinggal di Padang waktu masih kecil.
Incorrect reference — a childhood background calls for dulu, not recent tadi.
✅ Dulu saya tinggal di Padang waktu masih kecil.
I used to live in Padang when I was little.
3. Treating nanti as a fixed word for tomorrow
❌ Saya datang nanti.
Insufficient for the intended promise to come specifically tomorrow; nanti only means later.
✅ Saya datang besok.
I will come tomorrow.
4. Combining conflicting calendar anchors
❌ Kami tiba kemarin besok pagi.
Incorrect — kemarin and besok establish conflicting days.
✅ Kami tiba besok pagi.
We arrive tomorrow morning.
5. Adding an automatic comma after a short time frame
❌ Besok, kami berangkat pukul tujuh.
Unnecessary English-style adverbial comma in a neutral short sentence.
✅ Besok kami berangkat pukul tujuh.
Tomorrow we leave at seven.
Key Takeaways
- Lexical time words perform much of the work English tense performs.
- Sekarang marks the current moment or period; kemarin/besok anchor neighboring calendar days.
- Tadi is recent past, while dulu builds an earlier background or means “first.”
- Nanti means a later stage and needs added detail for precise scheduling.
- Initial time adverbs frame the clause; final ones often carry time focus.
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