Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya mencetak dokumen penting di kantor. - I print important documents at the office.

meN- is the active-verb prefix in Indonesian. It turns the root cetak (“print”) into the verb “to print.” The nasal sound in meN- assimilates to the first consonant of the root:

With c (as in cetak), meN- becomes men-, yielding mencetak.
(As a side note, with t or k you’d see meng-, and with s you’d see meny-, each following similar assimilation rules.)

Why are there no words for “a” or “the” in Saya mencetak dokumen penting di kantor?

Indonesian does not use articles. Nouns stand alone, and definiteness or indefiniteness is inferred from context. If you really need “a,” you can add sebuah or satu, and for “the” you can sometimes follow a noun with itu (“that”).

How do I express past or progressive aspects? For example, “I printed” or “I am printing.”

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Instead, you add aspect words or time markers:

Ongoing action (“I am printing”): add sedang → Saya sedang mencetak dokumen penting di kantor.
Completed action (“I printed”): add sudah → Saya sudah mencetak dokumen penting di kantor.
Future action (“I will print”): add akan → Saya akan mencetak dokumen penting di kantor.

Why is penting placed after dokumen instead of before?

In Indonesian, adjectives generally follow the nouns they modify. So it’s dokumen penting (“important document”), not penting dokumen.

How do you indicate a plural noun like “documents”?

Most Indonesian nouns don’t change for number. You can rely on context, or explicitly add words such as:

beberapa dokumen (“several documents”)
banyak dokumen (“many documents”)
Reduplication dokumen-dokumen (more formal/emphatic plural)

Why is di in di kantor written separately, while in dicetak it’s attached?

As a preposition meaning “at/in/on,” di is a separate word: di kantor (“at the office”).
As a passive-voice verb prefix, di- attaches directly to the verb: dicetak (“is/was printed”).

Can I swap the word order, for instance put di kantor at the beginning?

Yes, you can topicalize or emphasize location:
Di kantor, saya mencetak dokumen penting.
This shifts emphasis to “at the office,” but the neutral/default order is Subject–Verb–Object–Adverbial (Saya + mencetak + dokumen penting + di kantor).

What’s the difference between saya and aku for “I”?

Saya is neutral to formal and polite, common in workplaces or with strangers.
Aku is informal and used among close friends or family. In an office context, Saya mencetak… is the safer choice.

How would I make this sentence passive, like “The important document was printed by me at the office”?

Swap subject and object, use the passive di- prefix on the verb, and optionally add oleh (“by”):
Dokumen penting dicetak oleh saya di kantor.
You can also omit oleh saya if the agent is obvious.