Kontraktor membaca denah.

This sentence follows the most basic Indonesian word order: Subject + Verb + Object.

• Kontraktor = the subject
• membaca = the verb
• denah = the object

So it works very much like English The contractor reads the plan.

Indonesian can change word order in some contexts, especially in passive sentences, but this is the standard active pattern.

Indonesian does not normally use articles like a, an, or the.

So:

• kontraktor can mean a contractor or the contractor
• denah can mean a plan, the plan, or even plans depending on context

The exact meaning is usually understood from the situation, previous conversation, or added words.

membaca is the active verb form built from the root baca (read).

• Root: baca
• Active verb form: membaca

The prefix meN- is very common in Indonesian and often marks an active verb, especially when someone is doing an action to something.

So:

• baca = the basic root
• membaca = to read / read(s) as a normal active verb in a sentence

In beginner Indonesian, it is helpful to think of membaca as the standard dictionary-style verb for to read in a sentence like this.

By itself, membaca does not mark tense the way English does.

So Kontraktor membaca denah could mean:

• The contractor reads the plan
• The contractor is reading the plan
• The contractor read the plan

The time is usually understood from context, or made clearer with time words such as:

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

If you specifically want is reading, Indonesian often adds sedang:

• Kontraktor sedang membaca denah. = The contractor is reading the plan.

By itself, kontraktor is usually understood as singular, but Indonesian nouns do not automatically change form for singular vs. plural.

So depending on context:

• kontraktor = contractor / contractors

If you want to make plurality explicit, Indonesian can use reduplication:

• kontraktor-kontraktor = contractors

But in natural speech, people often leave it unmarked if the context already makes it clear.

denah usually means a plan, layout, or floor plan, especially a drawing that shows the arrangement of rooms or spaces.

Depending on context, English translations could include:

• plan
• layout
• floor plan
• sometimes blueprint in a loose sense

So this sentence suggests the contractor is reading or looking over some kind of building or room layout.

In this sentence, denah comes after the verb, which is the normal place for the object in an active Indonesian sentence.

• Kontraktor = who does the action
• membaca = the action
• denah = what is being read

There is no special object marker like in some languages. Word order does most of the work here.

Yes. Indonesian has a very common passive pattern.

An active version is:

• Kontraktor membaca denah. = The contractor reads/is reading the plan.

A passive version could be:

• Denah dibaca kontraktor. = The plan is read by the contractor.

Here, dibaca is the passive form of baca.

In everyday Indonesian, active sentences are very common, but passive sentences are also used a lot, especially when the object is the main focus.

kontraktor is a loanword, ultimately from the same source as English contractor.

That is very common in Indonesian. Many professional or technical terms come from other languages but are fully normal Indonesian vocabulary now.

So even though it may look familiar to an English speaker, you should still treat it as an Indonesian noun in grammar:

• no article
• no plural ending like -s
• used in normal Indonesian sentence structure

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

• membaca ≈ məm-BA-cha

A few notes:

• the c in Indonesian is pronounced like ch in chair
• so baca sounds like BA-cha
• membaca has three syllables: mem-ba-ca

Also:

• kontraktor ≈ kon-TRAK-tor
• denah ≈ DE-nah

Indonesian pronunciation is generally more consistent than English spelling, so once you learn the sound of each letter, reading gets easier.