Breakdown of Saya membaca buku selama perjalanan.
sebuah
a
buku
the book
saya
I
membaca
to read
perjalanan
the trip
selama
during
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Questions & Answers about Saya membaca buku selama perjalanan.
What does selama mean in selama perjalanan? Does it translate as “for” or “during”?
Selama marks a duration, meaning “during” or “for the entire time of.” In selama perjalanan, it means “during the trip” or “while traveling.” You can also pair it with specific lengths of time: selama tiga jam (“for three hours”).
Could I say ketika perjalanan instead of selama perjalanan?
No—ketika means “when” and normally introduces a clause, e.g. ketika saya sedang bepergian (“when I was traveling”). Without a verb, ketika perjalanan is incomplete. To express “during the trip” with just a noun phrase, use selama.
Why is the verb membaca not just baca? What’s the mem- prefix for?
Indonesian uses affixes on verb roots to show voice and transitivity. The root is baca (“read”). Adding mem- (which assimilates to membaca) creates an active transitive verb: someone reads something.
Is Saya membaca buku selama perjalanan past tense?
Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. The time frame comes from context or time words. Here, selama perjalanan implies a past trip, so you interpret it as past. To stress completion, add sudah: Saya sudah membaca buku selama perjalanan (“I have read a book during the trip”).
Why is there no article like “a” before buku?
Indonesian has no articles (a, an, the). A bare noun like buku can mean “a book,” “the book,” or “books,” depending on context. If you really need “a,” you can add sebuah: Saya membaca sebuah buku….
Can I move selama perjalanan to the front: Selama perjalanan saya membaca buku?
Yes. Time phrases are flexible. Leading with selama perjalanan simply emphasizes when the action happened: “During the trip, I read a book.”
What about using di perjalanan? Why not di perjalanan instead of selama perjalanan?
Di marks a place (“in/on/at”). Perjalanan is an event or period, not a location. While you might hear di perjalanan in casual speech to mean “on the trip,” the standard way to express “during the trip” is selama perjalanan.
Can saya be dropped from the sentence?
Yes. Indonesian often omits pronouns when the subject is clear. Membaca buku selama perjalanan still implies “I read a book while traveling” if it’s your own statement.