Saya menjawab pertanyaan itu dengan tenang dan jelas.

that

Breakdown of Saya menjawab pertanyaan itu dengan tenang dan jelas.

• saya: I
• dan: and
• dengan: with
• tenang: calm
• pertanyaan: the question
• menjawab: to answer
• jelas: clear

Questions & Answers about Saya menjawab pertanyaan itu dengan tenang dan jelas.

What does the verb menjawab mean, and how is it formed in Indonesian?

The verb menjawab means "to answer". It is formed by attaching the prefix men- to the root jawab. This prefix is commonly used to create active verbs. Unlike in English, Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense; the context or additional time markers indicate when the action occurs.

Why is the preposition dengan used before tenang dan jelas, and can adjectives be directly used as adverbs in Indonesian?

The preposition dengan translates to "with" and is used here to transform adjectives into adverbial phrases. In this sentence, tenang (calm) and jelas (clear) describe the manner in which the action was performed. Indonesian typically requires dengan when using adjectives to modify verbs, because adjectives on their own usually function to describe nouns.

What is the role of the demonstrative itu in the phrase pertanyaan itu?

The word itu acts as a demonstrative adjective meaning "that". It comes after the noun pertanyaan (question) to specify which question is being referred to—implying that it is a particular, previously mentioned question. This post-nominal position is typical in Indonesian for demonstratives.

How does Indonesian indicate the manner of an action, as seen in dengan tenang dan jelas, compared to English adverb formation?

Indonesian uses prepositional phrases to express the manner in which an action is done. In this sentence, dengan tenang dan jelas literally means "with calm and clarity", serving the same purpose as the adverbs "calmly and clearly" in English. Instead of modifying the verb directly with a separate adverbial form, the language employs a construction beginning with dengan to convey the manner of the action.

How does Indonesian handle tense and subject-verb agreement in this sentence?

Indonesian is an isolating language, which means verbs do not inflect for tense or change form based on the subject. In Saya menjawab pertanyaan itu dengan tenang dan jelas, the subject saya explicitly identifies who is performing the action, and the verb menjawab remains unchanged regardless of when the action happens. The use of context or additional markers (if necessary) helps convey time, rather than altering the verb form.