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Questions & Answers about Saya bekerja di lantai dua.
What does bekerja mean, and how does it relate to kerja?
Bekerja means “to work.” It’s the formal verb derived from the root kerja (“work”) with the active prefix be-. In everyday spoken Indonesian, people often drop the prefix and say kerja, as in Saya kerja di lantai dua, but in formal writing and speech bekerja is preferred.
What is the function of di in this sentence?
Di is a locative preposition meaning “at,” “on,” or “in.” It marks the location of the action. In Saya bekerja di lantai dua, di tells us that the working happens on the second floor.
Why is it lantai dua instead of dua lantai?
Lantai dua specifies the second floor (ordinal use), whereas dua lantai means “two floors” (quantity). Indonesian places the noun before the number when referring to a particular level.
Can I use kedua instead of dua, as in lantai kedua?
Yes. Lantai kedua is also correct and slightly more formal, using the ordinal adjective kedua (“second”). Lantai dua uses the cardinal number but is perfectly common in conversation.
Is it necessary to include saya before bekerja, or can it be omitted?
You can omit saya if context makes the subject clear. Bekerja di lantai dua still means “I work on the second floor.” Including saya simply makes the subject explicit.
What other pronouns might replace saya here?
Common alternatives are aku (informal) and gue or gua (very informal, Jakarta slang). Saya is neutral and polite; aku is casual among friends; gue/gua is slang—avoid it in formal settings.
How would I say “I work on the third floor” or “I work on the first floor”?
Replace dua with the appropriate number:
- Third floor: Saya bekerja di lantai tiga (or lantai ketiga).
- First floor: Saya bekerja di lantai satu (or lantai pertama).
What’s the difference between lantai and tingkat when talking about building levels?
Lantai specifically refers to building floors. Tingkat also means “level,” but is more general (e.g., tingkat kesulitan = difficulty level). For floors in a building, lantai is the standard term.
Why doesn’t Indonesian use an article like “the” before lantai dua, unlike English?
Indonesian has no definite or indefinite articles. Nouns stand alone without “the” or “a.” Lantai dua inherently means “the second floor.” If you need extra emphasis, you can add demonstratives like ini (“this”) or itu (“that”) after the noun.
How do I say “ground floor” in Indonesian?
The usual term is lantai dasar. In some buildings the ground floor might be called lobi (“lobby”) informally or simply counted as lantai satu, but lantai dasar is the standard translation for “ground floor.”