Dia berpura-pura tidur.

In Indonesian, dia is a third-person singular pronoun that does not mark gender. It can mean he, she, or sometimes even they in a very informal singular sense, depending on context.

So in Dia berpura-pura tidur, you only know whoever that person is was pretending to sleep. If you need gender, Indonesian usually adds it through context or extra words, not through the pronoun itself.

This is a fixed Indonesian expression. The base idea is pura-pura, which means to pretend / to act as if.

The repetition is just part of the word here; it is not something you should try to translate literally word by word. In this sentence, the form is berpura-pura, with the prefix ber- attached.

So it is best to learn berpura-pura as a set expression meaning to pretend.

The prefix ber- often forms intransitive verbs, especially verbs describing an action or state involving the subject.

In berpura-pura, it helps make the expression function as a verb: to pretend.

So:

• pura-pura = pretending / fake / pretending behavior, depending on context
• berpura-pura = to pretend

In this sentence, dia is the subject and berpura-pura tidur is what the person is doing.

Here, tidur is functioning as a verb, meaning sleep.

In berpura-pura tidur, the structure is basically:

• berpura-pura = to pretend
• tidur = to sleep

Together, it means to pretend to sleep.

Indonesian often allows this kind of direct verb-after-verb structure without adding a word like English to.

Indonesian does not need an equivalent of English infinitive to in this kind of sentence.

So:

• English: pretend to sleep
• Indonesian: berpura-pura tidur

This is very normal. After many Indonesian verbs, another verb can follow directly without any extra marker.

Yes. In natural English, pretended to sleep and pretended to be asleep are both possible translations of berpura-pura tidur, depending on context.

Indonesian does not always make that distinction as explicitly as English does. The sentence simply says the person was acting as if they were sleeping.

So if the context is someone lying still with their eyes closed, pretended to be asleep may sound more natural in English.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So Dia berpura-pura tidur by itself can mean different things depending on context:

• He/She pretends to sleep
• He/She pretended to sleep
• He/She was pretending to sleep

Time is usually understood from context or from time words such as:

• kemarin = yesterday
• tadi = earlier
• sekarang = now
• besok = tomorrow

If needed, Indonesian can also use aspect markers like sedang for ongoing action.

Yes. Dia sedang berpura-pura tidur means He/She is pretending to sleep or was in the middle of pretending to sleep, depending on context.

Adding sedang makes the action feel more clearly in progress.

Compare:

• Dia berpura-pura tidur. = neutral; context decides the time
• Dia sedang berpura-pura tidur. = emphasizes that the pretending is/was ongoing

Yes, in everyday Indonesian, pura-pura is very often used by itself, especially in informal speech.

For example:

• Dia pura-pura tidur.

This means the same thing as Dia berpura-pura tidur.

In general:

• berpura-pura = a bit more complete or formal
• pura-pura = very common in casual conversation

Both are widely understood.

The structure is:

• Dia = subject
• berpura-pura = main verb
• tidur = following verb/complement

So the pattern is roughly:

Subject + pretend + verb

This is a very useful pattern. For example:

• Dia berpura-pura membaca. = He/She pretended to read.
• Mereka berpura-pura tidak tahu. = They pretended not to know.

Yes. It can be followed by different kinds of complements, depending on what someone is pretending to be or do.

For example:

• berpura-pura sakit = pretend to be sick
• berpura-pura senang = pretend to be happy
• berpura-pura tidak tahu = pretend not to know
• berpura-pura tidur = pretend to sleep / pretend to be asleep

So it is a flexible expression.

Dia berpura-pura tidur is neutral and standard Indonesian. It is perfectly normal in both writing and speech.

A slightly more casual version is:

• Dia pura-pura tidur.

That version is especially common in conversation.

So if you want the safer standard form, berpura-pura is a good choice.

A simple approximation is:

ber-poo-ra poo-ra

More roughly by syllable:

• ber
• pu
• ra
• pu
• ra

A few notes:

• r in Indonesian is usually trilled or tapped more than in most English accents.
• u sounds like oo in food.
• The stress is usually not as strong as in English; Indonesian rhythm is generally more even.

So berpura-pura tidur sounds smooth and evenly paced rather than strongly stressed on one syllable.