Profesor membaca buku itu.

The sentence follows the very common Indonesian pattern:

Subject + Verb + Object

• Profesor = subject
• membaca = verb
• buku itu = object

So the structure is directly comparable to English Professor reads/is reading that book.

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

So:

• profesor can mean professor, a professor, or the professor
• buku can mean book, a book, or the book

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

In this sentence, buku itu helps make the object definite, so it often corresponds to that book or sometimes the book.

Here, itu is a demonstrative, usually meaning that.

In Indonesian, demonstratives typically come after the noun:

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

This is different from English, where that comes before the noun.

Depending on context, buku itu can also feel like the book, not only that book.

Baca is the base form, meaning read.

membaca is the active verb form built with the prefix meN-. In this case:

• baca → membaca

This is a very common pattern in Indonesian. The meN- prefix often forms active verbs, especially in standard Indonesian.

So:

• baca = read (root/base)
• membaca = to read / reads / is reading

In full sentences with an active subject, membaca is usually the expected form in standard language.

No. Indonesian verbs generally do not change for tense.

So membaca can mean:

• reads
• is reading
• sometimes will read, if the context makes that clear

Time is usually shown by context or extra words such as:

• sekarang = now
• sedang = in the middle of doing something
• kemarin = yesterday
• besok = tomorrow
• sudah = already
• akan = will

For example:

• Profesor sedang membaca buku itu. = The professor is reading that book.
• Profesor akan membaca buku itu. = The professor will read that book.

No. Indonesian verbs do not conjugate for person the way English verbs do.

So the verb stays the same:

• Saya membaca = I read / I am reading
• Dia membaca = He/she reads / is reading
• Mereka membaca = They read / are reading

That means membaca does not change the way English read/reads does.

Not always. Profesor specifically means professor, usually an academic rank.

Depending on the situation, Indonesian might use:

• guru = school teacher
• dosen = lecturer / university instructor
• profesor = professor

So Profesor membaca buku itu is fine if you really mean a professor. But if you mean a university teacher in general, dosen is often more natural.

Yes. In many contexts, noun + itu can work like that ... but also like a definite noun phrase similar to the ....

So buku itu may be understood as:

• that book
• the book

The exact nuance depends on context, tone, and what has already been mentioned.

This is one reason Indonesian-to-English translation is often flexible.

A simple English-friendly guide is:

pro-FE-sor mem-BA-cha BOO-koo EE-too

A few helpful notes:

• c in Indonesian is pronounced like ch in church
  • so membaca sounds like mem-ba-cha
• u is usually like oo in food
  • buku = boo-koo
• stress is not as strong or dramatic as in English, but this guide is close enough for a learner

Not if you want to say that book in the same way.

For a noun phrase, Indonesian normally uses:

• buku itu = that book

Itu buku usually means something more like:

• That is a book
• That is the book

So the word order changes the function.

Compare:

• buku itu = that book
• Itu buku = that is a book / that is the book

To negate the verb, use tidak before it:

• Profesor tidak membaca buku itu.

This means:

• The professor does not read that book.
• The professor is not reading that book.

A useful rule:

• tidak negates verbs and adjectives
• bukan is usually used for nouns or identification

So here, because membaca is a verb, tidak is the correct choice.

A simple way is to use question intonation:

• Profesor membaca buku itu?

In conversation, that can mean:

• Is the professor reading that book?
• Does the professor read that book?

You can also use question words or particles in other contexts, but for a basic yes/no question, intonation is often enough.

Another possible form is:

• Apakah profesor membaca buku itu?

This is a more explicit yes/no question, similar to starting with Does/Is in English.