Murid meminta buku sejarah di perpustakaan.

The student asks for a history book in the library.

Breakdown of Murid meminta buku sejarah di perpustakaan.

• di: in
• murid: the student
• perpustakaan: the library
• meminta: to ask for
• buku sejarah: the history book

Questions & Answers about Murid meminta buku sejarah di perpustakaan.

What does meminta mean and how is it different from bertanya?

Meminta means “to request or ask for something” (an object, a favor, permission, etc.).
Bertanya means “to ask a question” (seeking information).

• Use meminta when you want someone to give you or do something for you (e.g. meminta buku, “ask for a book”).
• Use bertanya when you want to get information (e.g. bertanya arah, “ask for directions”).

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” (articles) in Murid meminta buku sejarah di perpustakaan?

Indonesian does not use definite or indefinite articles like “the” or “a.”

• If you need to emphasize “a” (indefinite), you can add seorang for people or sebuah for things: seorang murid, sebuah buku.
• If you need to emphasize “the” (definite), you can add itu or yang: murid itu, buku sejarah itu.

Is murid singular or plural? How do you indicate number?

Murid can be either singular (“student”) or plural (“students”).

• Context tells you if it’s one or many.
• To explicitly mark plural, you can say para murid (“the students”) or repeat the word: murid-murid.
• To mark singular and indefinite, you can say seorang murid (“a student”).

Why is it buku sejarah instead of sejarah buku?

In Indonesian noun–noun compounds, the head noun comes first, followed by its modifier.

• buku = head noun (“book”)
• sejarah = modifier (“history”)
  So buku sejarah literally means “book of history.” Reversing the order would be ungrammatical.

What does di perpustakaan mean, and what role does di play here?

di perpustakaan means “in/at the library.”

• di is the locative preposition for “in/at.”
• perpustakaan = “library.”
  Together, they indicate the location where the action (requesting the book) takes place.

What’s the difference between di perpustakaan and ke perpustakaan?

• di perpustakaan = at/in the library (location where something happens).
• ke perpustakaan = to the library (direction or destination).
  Example:
  • Murid belajar di perpustakaan. (“The student studies in the library.”)
  • Murid pergi ke perpustakaan. (“The student goes to the library.”)

Why isn’t there a kepada before the implicit person from whom the student is requesting the book?

In this sentence, meminta directly takes buku sejarah as its object. The giver (e.g. librarian, teacher) is not mentioned. If you want to specify “from whom” you ask, you add kepada plus the person:
• Murid meminta buku sejarah kepada pustakawan di perpustakaan.
Here, kepada pustakawan makes “librarian” the indirect object.

Why is the verb meminta prefixed with me-, and can it be shortened to minta?

• minta is the root form.
• To form the active verb, you add the meN- prefix, giving meminta.
  In colloquial or informal speech, people often drop the prefix and say minta (e.g. Dia minta buku itu), but the standard written form is meminta.