Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di bandara, saya mengantre untuk pemeriksaan keamanan. - At the airport, I queue for the security check.

mengantre (also often written mengantri) means “to queue” or “to stand in line.” The root verb is antre (or antri), and the prefix meN- turns it into an active verb “to do the queuing.” Both spellings appear in everyday Indonesian, though mengantri is slightly more common in standard dictionaries.

Why is di bandara used to mean “at the airport,” and could I say ke bandara here?

di is the preposition for a static location (“at/in/on”). So di bandara means “at the airport.”
By contrast, ke indicates direction or movement toward somewhere (“to”).
If you said ke bandara, you’d be focusing on going to the airport, not on queuing once you’re already there.

Can I move di bandara to the end of the sentence?

Yes. Indonesian word order is relatively flexible. You could say:
• Saya mengantre untuk pemeriksaan keamanan di bandara.
Putting di bandara first simply highlights the setting right away, but it’s equally grammatical at the end.

What is the function of untuk in untuk pemeriksaan keamanan?

untuk marks purpose (“for” or “in order to”). Here it introduces why you’re queuing:
• “I am queuing for a security check.”
Without untuk, you’d need a different structure—just placing pemeriksaan keamanan after the verb without untuk would sound awkward or ungrammatical.

How are the words pemeriksaan and keamanan formed?

They’re both derived from simple roots plus affixes:
• periksa (root “examine”) + -an → periksaan (“examination,” “inspection”).
• aman (root “safe”) with ke- … -an → keamanan (“security,” “safety”).

Why use saya instead of aku?

saya is the neutral or formal first-person pronoun, suitable for writing or polite speech (e.g., at an airport). aku is more casual and used among friends or family.

If I want to emphasize that it’s happening right now, do I need an extra word?

You can insert sedang before the verb to show progressive aspect:
• Saya sedang mengantre untuk pemeriksaan keamanan.
However, even without sedang, Saya mengantre… is understood as a current action.

Can I omit saya and just say Mengantre untuk pemeriksaan keamanan di bandara?

Yes. Indonesian often drops the subject when it’s clear from context:
• Mengantre untuk pemeriksaan keamanan di bandara.
In informal notes or headlines this is fine. In formal writing or speech, including saya keeps your sentence explicitly clear.