Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya membaca tiga buku setiap bulan.

Saya means I (first-person singular pronoun). It marks the subject of the sentence. In Indonesian you can omit the pronoun if the meaning is clear, so you might also hear just Membaca tiga buku setiap bulan. Including saya makes the sentence explicit and a bit more polite.

How is membaca formed from baca?

The root verb is baca meaning to read. To create an active verb, Indonesian adds the prefix meN-. Because b is a consonant, meN- becomes mem-, yielding membaca, which functions like “reads” or “reading” in English.

Why doesn’t membaca change for past or future tense?

Indonesian verbs do not inflect for tense. Time is shown by context or time words. Here, setiap bulan indicates a habitual action (every month). For past events, you’d add kemarin (yesterday) or sudah (already); for future, nanti (later) or akan (will).

Why is tiga buku ordered this way?

In Indonesian, numerals precede nouns. So tiga buku = three books. Saying buku tiga would normally mean “the third book,” not “three books.”

What does setiap bulan mean, and why is it at the end?

Setiap means every, bulan means month. Together setiap bulan = every month. Indonesian allows time expressions either at the beginning or end of a sentence. Both
• Saya membaca tiga buku setiap bulan
• Setiap bulan saya membaca tiga buku
are grammatically correct.

Can I replace setiap with tiap?

Yes. Tiap is an informal or shortened variant of setiap, so tiap bulan also means every month and is common in casual speech.

Why are there no articles like the or a before buku?

Indonesian does not use articles. Tiga buku simply means three books. To specify, add a demonstrative: tiga buku ini (these three books) or tiga buku itu (those three books).

Is Saya baca tiga buku setiap bulan acceptable instead of using membaca?

In informal spoken Indonesian, yes: dropping meN- gives Saya baca…, which is very common. In formal writing or speech, however, the full form membaca is preferred.