Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Setelah pemeriksaan keamanan, kami menunggu di gerbang sambil membaca buku. - After the security check, we wait at the gate while reading a book.

Setelah means “after”. It’s a preposition/conjunction that introduces a time clause. Here it tells us that the action “menunggu di gerbang sambil membaca buku” happened after the security check. You can think of it as linking two events in chronological order.

Why is pemeriksaan keamanan phrased as a noun phrase and not a verb phrase like “memeriksa keamanan”?

In Indonesian you often turn verbs into nouns by using them as noun phrases. Pemeriksaan is the noun form of the verb periksa (to check), so pemeriksaan keamanan literally means “security inspection/check”. Using the noun phrase makes the structure cleaner when you’re talking about an event that happened, rather than describing who did the checking.

Why do we use kami and not kita here?

Both kami and kita mean “we”, but kami excludes the listener, while kita includes the listener. Since the speaker presumably isn’t including you (the listener) in the group that waited at the gate, they use kami.

What is the difference between di gerbang and ke gerbang?

Di gerbang means “at the gate”, describing location.
Ke gerbang means “to the gate”, indicating direction or movement toward it.
In this sentence, the group is already at the gate, so di is correct.

How does sambil work? Can you give more examples?

Sambil means “while” or “as”, showing two activities happening simultaneously. It’s followed by a verb phrase.
Examples:

Sambil mendengarkan musik, saya belajar. (While listening to music, I study.)
Dia memasak sambil menonton TV. (He cooks while watching TV.)

Why is the verb menunggu not conjugated for tense?

Indonesian verbs are not inflected for tense. Time is shown by context or time words (like setelah). Menunggu can mean “wait”, “waited”, or “will wait”, depending on the surrounding words. Here, setelah places it in the past.

Is it okay to rearrange the sentence to Kami menunggu di gerbang sambil membaca buku setelah pemeriksaan keamanan?

Yes, it’s grammatically correct. Indonesian has flexible word order. However, placing setelah pemeriksaan keamanan at the start emphasizes the sequence more clearly.

Could I say Setelah kami diperiksa oleh petugas keamanan, kami menunggu di gerbang sambil membaca buku?

Absolutely. That uses the passive verb phrase diperiksa oleh petugas keamanan (“were checked by security officers”). It’s a bit more formal and explicitly mentions the agent (petugas keamanan).