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”).