Saya suka melihat bintang di malam hari.

I like looking at the stars at night.

Breakdown of Saya suka melihat bintang di malam hari.

• saya: I
• suka: to like
• di: at
• malam hari: the night
• bintang: the star
• melihat: to look at

Questions & Answers about Saya suka melihat bintang di malam hari.

What does saya mean and how is it different from aku?

saya is the first‐person singular pronoun “I” in Indonesian, used in formal or neutral contexts. aku also means “I,” but it’s informal and typically used among close friends or family.

• saya: polite, neutral, safe to use in almost any situation
• aku: casual, intimate, often used in speech among peers

What does suka mean in this sentence?

Here suka is a verb meaning “to like” or “to enjoy.” It expresses preference or habit and can be followed directly by:

• a noun (e.g. saya suka kopi – I like coffee)
• another verb in its base form (e.g. saya suka berenang – I like to swim)

You don’t need a separate “to” as in English.

Why is the verb melihat used instead of the root lihat, and what does the prefix meN- do?

melihat is the active, transitive form of the root lihat (see/watch). The prefix meN- attaches to a verb root to indicate an active action.
• lihat (root) → meN- + lihat → melihat (“to see” or “to watch”)
In casual speech you might drop the prefix and say suka lihat, but in standard Indonesian you use melihat.

Does bintang mean “star” or “stars”? How do you indicate plural?

Indonesian nouns don’t change form for singular vs. plural. bintang can mean “star” or “stars” depending on context. To explicitly mark plural you can:

• Reduplicate: bintang-bintang (“stars”)
• Add a number or quantifier: tiga bintang (“three stars”)

Here it means “stars” in general.

Why isn’t there an article before bintang? How do you say “a star” or “the stars”?

Indonesian has no direct equivalents of “a” or “the.” Context usually tells you whether something is definite or indefinite.

• To say “a star,” you can use sebuah bintang or seekor bintang (less common).
• To say “the stars,” you might say bintang-bintang itu or rely on context: bintang.

What does di malam hari mean, and why do we need both di and hari?

• di is a preposition meaning “at” or “in” when talking about time or place.
• malam means “night,” and hari literally means “day,” but malam hari is a fixed phrase meaning “nighttime.”

You can also use pada malam hari in more formal contexts. Saying just di malam is uncommon—Indonesians say di malam hari to mean “at night.”

Does this sentence describe a one-time action or a habit?

It describes a general preference or habit: “I like to watch stars at night.” If you want to say you’re doing it right now, you’d add the continuous aspect marker sedang:
“Saya sedang melihat bintang.”

Is the word order the same as in English, and can you move the time expression?

Yes. The basic order is Subject–Verb–Object, then Time:
“Saya (S) suka (V) melihat bintang (O) di malam hari (Time).”
You can also front the time phrase:
“Di malam hari, saya suka melihat bintang.”