Dokter memeriksa tulang itu.

The basic word order is Subject – Verb – Object:

• Dokter = the subject
• memeriksa = the verb
• tulang itu = the object

So Indonesian is behaving like English here in a simple sentence: Doctor examines that bone / the bone.

Indonesian does not normally use articles like English a/an and the.

So:

• dokter can mean a doctor, the doctor, or just doctor
• tulang can mean a bone, the bone, or bone

You figure out which one is meant from:

• context
• word order
• extra words like itu
• the wider conversation

In this sentence, itu helps make tulang more definite, so tulang itu is often understood as that bone or sometimes the bone.

Itu usually means that.

In tulang itu, it comes after the noun, so literally it is bone that, but in natural English that becomes:

• that bone
• sometimes the bone, depending on context

This is very normal in Indonesian. Demonstratives usually come after the noun:

• rumah itu = that house
• orang itu = that person
• buku itu = that book

Because that is the normal Indonesian pattern.

English:

• that bone

Indonesian:

• tulang itu

So unlike English, demonstratives such as ini and itu usually follow the noun:

• buku ini = this book
• mobil itu = that car

This is one of the first word-order differences English speakers usually notice.

The base form is periksa, which is related to the idea of check / examine / inspect.

The form memeriksa uses the prefix meN-, which commonly makes an active verb. In a sentence like this, it shows that the subject is actively doing the action.

So:

• periksa = base/root
• memeriksa = to examine / examines / is examining

This is a very common Indonesian pattern:

• baca → membaca
• lihat → melihat
• periksa → memeriksa

No. Indonesian verbs usually do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So memeriksa by itself could mean different things depending on context, such as:

• examines
• is examining
• examined
• will examine

If the speaker wants to make time clearer, Indonesian often adds time words, for example:

• sedang = currently / in the middle of
• sudah = already
• akan = will

Examples:

• Dokter sedang memeriksa tulang itu. = The doctor is examining that bone.
• Dokter sudah memeriksa tulang itu. = The doctor has / had examined that bone.
• Dokter akan memeriksa tulang itu. = The doctor will examine that bone.

Yes.

Like many Indonesian nouns, dokter does not show definiteness by itself. It can mean:

• a doctor
• the doctor
• sometimes just doctor as a role or profession

The exact meaning depends on context.

For example:

• Dokter memeriksa pasien. could mean A doctor examined the patient or The doctor examined the patient.

If the context already makes the doctor identifiable, English will often translate it as the doctor.

By itself, tulang does not have to clearly mark singular vs. plural.

So depending on context, it can mean:

• bone
• a bone
• bones

However, in tulang itu, many learners will first understand it as that bone because the phrase sounds like one specific thing.

If Indonesian wants to clearly mark plural, it may use:

• repetition: tulang-tulang
• a number
• a quantifier
• context

But often Indonesian simply leaves number unstated unless it matters.

It is active.

The subject dokter is doing the action:

• Dokter memeriksa tulang itu. = The doctor examines/examined that bone.

A passive version would look different, for example:

• Tulang itu diperiksa dokter.
• Tulang itu diperiksa oleh dokter.

That means The bone was examined by the doctor.

So the verb form memeriksa helps show that this sentence is active.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide is:

• dokter → DOK-ter
• memeriksa → meh-meh-RIK-sah
• tulang → TOO-lahng
• itu → EE-too

A few helpful notes:

• Indonesian spelling is fairly regular.
• c is usually like ch, but there is no c in this sentence.
• ng in tulang is like the ng in sing.
• Stress in Indonesian is usually lighter and less dramatic than in English, so do not over-stress syllables.

In this sentence, dokter is most naturally understood as a noun meaning doctor.

Indonesian can use profession words as titles in some contexts, but here there is nothing special marking it as direct address or a name-like title. So the normal reading is simply:

• the doctor / a doctor

If you were directly addressing a doctor, the intonation and context would usually make that clear.

There is no English-style case marking like him/her/them, and there is no special object ending on tulang.

You know tulang itu is the object mainly because of:

1. word order
   • it comes after the verb
2. verb type
   • memeriksa is an active transitive verb, so it normally takes an object
3. meaning
   • the doctor is doing the examining, and the bone is what is being examined

So Indonesian often relies on structure and context rather than separate object markers.