Dia membuang sampah.

Yes. Dia can mean either he or she. Indonesian third-person singular pronouns do not usually mark gender.

So Dia membuang sampah could mean:

• He is throwing away the trash
• She is throwing away the trash

You know which one is meant from context.

Buang is the base word, and it means to throw away, to discard, or to get rid of.

Membuang is the active verb form built from the prefix meN- + buang.

Here is what happens:

• base word: buang
• prefix: meN-
• result: membuang

With words beginning with b, the prefix usually becomes mem-, so:

• meN- + buang → membuang

In a full sentence, membuang sounds more complete and natural as the main verb.

Sampah means trash, garbage, or rubbish.

It is a general noun for waste. Depending on context, English translations can vary:

• trash
• garbage
• rubbish
• sometimes waste

So membuang sampah is a very common expression meaning to throw away the trash or to take out the garbage, depending on the situation.

Indonesian does not have articles like a, an, or the in the same way English does.

So sampah can mean:

• trash
• the trash
• some trash

The exact meaning comes from context.

That means Dia membuang sampah can naturally be translated as:

• He/She throws away trash
• He/She is throwing away the trash
• He/She throws away the garbage

You usually do not know from the verb form alone, because Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So membuang does not itself mean specifically:

• throws away
• is throwing away
• threw away
• will throw away

All of those are possible depending on context.

If the speaker wants to make time clearer, they can add words such as:

• sedang = currently
• sudah = already
• akan = will

Examples:

• Dia sedang membuang sampah = He/She is throwing away the trash.
• Dia sudah membuang sampah = He/She has already thrown away the trash.
• Dia akan membuang sampah = He/She will throw away the trash.

Yes, this sentence uses the very common Subject–Verb–Object order:

• Dia = subject
• membuang = verb
• sampah = object

So it matches English quite closely:

• He/She
  • throws away
    • trash

That makes this a very straightforward sentence for English speakers.

Yes, you may hear Dia buang sampah, especially in casual speech. But Dia membuang sampah is more standard and grammatically complete in formal Indonesian.

A simple way to think about it:

• membuang = more standard/written/formal
• buang = often heard in casual speech

Both can be understood, but learners should usually learn membuang sampah first.

Sometimes, yes. Indonesian often omits subjects when they are already clear from context.

So in conversation, someone might simply say:

• Membuang sampah.

This can mean something like:

• (He/She is) throwing away the trash
• (I’m) throwing away the trash
• (Someone is) taking out the garbage

But without context, it is less specific. The full sentence Dia membuang sampah is clearer.

By itself, membuang sampah usually just means to throw away trash or to dispose of garbage. It is often neutral.

Whether it means proper disposal or littering depends on context.

For example:

• Dia membuang sampah di tempat sampah.
  He/She throws the trash into the trash can.

• Dia membuang sampah sembarangan.
  He/She litters.
  Literally: He/She throws trash carelessly.

So the basic phrase is neutral, and extra words tell you whether it is done properly or not.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• dia → dee-ah
• membuang → mem-boo-ang
• sampah → sam-pah

A few notes:

• dia has two clear vowel sounds: di-a
• membuang ends with -ang, like ahng
• sampah ends with h, which is usually lightly pronounced in careful speech

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

dee-ah mem-boo-ang sam-pah

Yes. Both can mean he or she, but they are used a little differently.

• dia is more common in everyday speech
• ia is more formal and is used more often in writing

So in normal conversation, Dia membuang sampah is the more natural choice.

Also, ia is less flexible in some sentence positions, while dia works more broadly in everyday use. For a learner, dia is usually the safest one to use first.