Breakdown of Pegawai perpustakaan menutup pintu perpustakaan sebelum pulang.
sebelum
before
pulang
to go home
pegawai perpustakaan
the library staff
menutup
to close
Questions & Answers about Pegawai perpustakaan menutup pintu perpustakaan sebelum pulang.
Why isn't there an article like the or a before pegawai perpustakaan?
Indonesian does not use articles such as the or a. Nouns stand on their own, and context (or additional words) tells you whether something is definite or indefinite.
Why does perpustakaan appear twice in the sentence?
The first perpustakaan modifies pegawai, giving library employee. The second modifies pintu, giving library door. In Indonesian, you put the head noun first (pegawai, pintu) and then the modifier (perpustakaan) without any connecting word.
What does pegawai mean, and how is it formed?
Pegawai means employee. It’s formed by adding the agentive prefix pe- and suffix -i to a root (here gawai, an older word for “task”), creating a noun for someone who performs that task. Other examples: penulis (writer), penerjemah (translator).
How does menutup form from tutup, and why is the prefix men- used instead of me-?