Mereka menonton televisi di malam hari.

a

Breakdown of Mereka menonton televisi di malam hari.

• mereka: they
• di: at
• malam hari: the night
• televisi: the television
• menonton: to watch

Questions & Answers about Mereka menonton televisi di malam hari.

What does Mereka mean in this sentence?

Mereka is the third-person plural pronoun meaning “they.” In Indonesian, it refers to a group of people without indicating any gender.

How is the verb menonton formed and what does it imply?

Menonton is formed by adding the prefix men- to the root (from tonton/nonton), which collectively means “to watch.” Unlike English, Indonesian verbs do not change form according to the subject or tense; the context and additional words specify the timing.

Since Indonesian verbs don’t conjugate for tense, how do we know when the action takes place?

Indonesian uses time expressions to clarify when an action occurs. In this sentence, di malam hari tells us that the watching happens “in the evening.” The verb remains unchanged, so context is key for understanding the time.

What role does the phrase di malam hari play, and how is it structured?

The phrase di malam hari acts as an adverbial time expression indicating that the action occurs “in the evening.” Here, di functions as a preposition (similar to “in” or “at” in English), and malam hari means “night” or “evening.”

Is it necessary for menonton to have an explicit object, and what is that object in this sentence?

Yes, menonton is a transitive verb, meaning it requires an object to complete its meaning. In this sentence, televisi is the object that receives the action, indicating what is being watched.

Can the time expression di malam hari be placed in other parts of the sentence?

Yes, Indonesian allows for some flexibility in word order. Although standard structure places time expressions at the end, you can also begin the sentence with di malam hari to emphasize the timing, and the overall meaning will remain clear.