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Questions & Answers about Dia minum teh sekarang.
Why don’t we say Dia sedang minum instead of Dia minum?
In Indonesian, you can use the word sedang to emphasize that an action is happening right now (a continuous aspect), but it is not strictly required. Dia minum teh sekarang still implies that the action is happening at the present moment. If you want to emphasize the ongoing nature, you can add sedang (e.g., Dia sedang minum teh sekarang).
Does Dia mean specifically “he” or “she”?
In Indonesian, Dia is gender-neutral and can mean either “he” or “she” (and sometimes “they,” depending on context). If you want to specify gender, you would need additional words like pria (man), laki-laki (male), wanita (woman), or perempuan (female), or clarify through context.
Why is there no “is” in Indonesian here, as in “He is drinking tea”?
Indonesian doesn’t typically use a verb equivalent to the English “to be” for the present tense. Instead, the action (e.g., minum) stands alone to indicate “is drinking.” Time markers like sekarang help clarify that the action is happening in the present.
How can I say “He drank tea earlier” if Indonesian doesn’t have tenses like English?
Instead of changing the verb form, you add a time marker such as tadi for “earlier” or kemarin for “yesterday.” For example: Dia minum teh tadi (He drank tea earlier).
Where should I place time expressions like sekarang in an Indonesian sentence?
You can usually place them at the beginning or end of the sentence without changing the meaning. So, both Sekarang dia minum teh and Dia minum teh sekarang are acceptable. The slight difference is emphasis—putting sekarang first might give it a bit more prominence.
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