Kemarin, saya pergi ke pasar.

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Breakdown of Kemarin, saya pergi ke pasar.

• saya: I
• pergi: to go
• ke: to
• pasar: the market
• kemarin: yesterday

Questions & Answers about Kemarin, saya pergi ke pasar.

What does kemarin mean, and why is it placed at the beginning of the sentence?

Kemarin means yesterday. In Indonesian, placing a time indicator like kemarin at the beginning of the sentence helps immediately establish when the action occurred.

Why is the verb pergi not altered to indicate the past tense?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Instead, time adverbs like kemarin provide the temporal context, so pergi remains in its base form regardless of whether it refers to the past, present, or future.

What role does the preposition ke play in the phrase ke pasar?

The preposition ke indicates direction or destination. In ke pasar, it functions similarly to the English to, showing that the subject is headed towards the market.

Is saya the only pronoun for “I” in Indonesian, or are there alternatives?

Saya is the formal or neutral pronoun for I in Indonesian. In more informal settings, aku may be used. The choice depends on the level of formality and the context in which you’re speaking.

What is the overall structure of the sentence Kemarin, saya pergi ke pasar?

The sentence follows a time-statement structure: it starts with a time indicator (kemarin), followed by the subject (saya), the verb (pergi), and finally the destination phrase (ke pasar). This ordering clearly establishes when the action happened, who performed it, what happened, and where.

Why is there a comma after kemarin in this sentence?

The comma after kemarin is used to separate the introductory time phrase from the rest of the sentence. This punctuation helps clarify that kemarin is setting the temporal context, similar to its function in English when beginning a sentence with a time-related word or phrase.