Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami sedang membangun rumah baru di depan kantor. - We are building a new house in front of the office.

In Indonesian, sedang marks the progressive aspect (similar to English “–ing”). It tells you the action is happening right now: kami sedang membangun means “we are building.”

Could we omit sedang? If so, how does the meaning change?

Yes. Without sedang (“Kami membangun rumah baru di depan kantor”), you still say “we build a new house in front of the office,” but it reads more like a general statement or simple present, without the explicit “right now” nuance.

What’s the root of membangun, and why the mem- prefix?

The root verb is bangun (“to wake up” or, in this context, “to build”). Indonesian uses the active-transitive prefix mem- to turn bangun into membangun, meaning “to build (something).” The prefix changes form slightly for phonological reasons, resulting in membangun.

Why do we use kami instead of kita for “we”?

kami is the exclusive “we” (speaker and others, but not you), whereas kita is the inclusive “we” (speaker plus you and others). Here, kami signals that the listener is not part of the building team.

Why is the adjective baru placed after rumah? In English it comes before the noun.

Indonesian adjectives follow the noun they modify. So rumah baru literally means “house new,” which you translate as “new house.”

How would I say “a new house” or “the new house”? Do I need an article?

Indonesian has no direct equivalents of “a” or “the.” To express indefiniteness (“a”), you can add sebuah: sebuah rumah baru (“a new house”). Specificity (“the”) is usually clear from context, so rumah baru can mean “the new house” if the situation makes it obvious.

Why is di depan kantor two separate words, and how does di function here?

di is a preposition meaning “at/in/on,” and depan means “front.” Together they form “in front of.” As a location preposition, di stays separate from the noun, so it’s di depan kantor (“in front of the office”).

Can I move di depan kantor to the start of the sentence?

Yes. Placing the locative phrase first for emphasis is perfectly fine:
Di depan kantor, kami sedang membangun rumah baru.

How do I say “in front of my office” instead of “the office”?

Add a possessive pronoun after kantor:
di depan kantor saya (formal) or di depan kantorku (colloquial) – both mean “in front of my office.”

What’s the difference between sedang and sekarang?

sedang is a verb-aspect marker that makes an action progressive (“is/are doing”), while sekarang is an adverb meaning “now.”

Kami sedang membangun. (“We are building.”)
Kami membangun sekarang. (“We build now” or “We’re building now,” but it focuses on the time adverb rather than grammatical aspect.)