Saya datang lebih awal ke pesta ulang tahun teman saya.

I arrive early at my friend’s birthday party.

Breakdown of Saya datang lebih awal ke pesta ulang tahun teman saya.

• saya: I
• teman: the friend
• ke: to
• lebih awal: earlier
• datang: to arrive
• pesta ulang tahun: the birthday party

Questions & Answers about Saya datang lebih awal ke pesta ulang tahun teman saya.

What does lebih awal mean in this sentence, and how is it formed?

lebih awal literally means “more early” and functions as the comparative adverb earlier. It’s formed by combining lebih (more) with awal (early), so you use it to say you arrived before the usual time or before someone else.

Why is lebih awal placed after datang instead of before it?

In Indonesian the typical order for a verb plus its adverbial modifier is Verb + Adverb. So you say datang lebih awal (“arrive earlier”), not lebih awal datang. Placing the time word after the verb feels most natural. (You can front a time phrase for emphasis—e.g. Lebih awal, saya datang…—but that’s less common.)

Why do we use the preposition ke before pesta ulang tahun, rather than di or no preposition at all?

The verb datang implies motion toward a place or event, so it normally takes ke (“to”) when naming the destination: datang ke pesta (“come to the party”). Using di would mark location (“at the party”) rather than direction of movement. If you wanted to say “I’m at the party,” you’d use di with a verb like berada or hadir.

How does possession work in pesta ulang tahun teman saya? Why isn’t it saya teman or temanku?

In Indonesian the thing owned or described comes first, then the possessor. So teman saya is “my friend” (literally “friend of mine”). For “my friend’s birthday party,” you start with pesta ulang tahun (“birthday party”) and then add teman saya to show whose party it is. You could alternatively say temanku (more colloquial) instead of teman saya, but the structure stays Head Noun + Possessor.

Why is it pesta ulang tahun instead of ulang tahun pesta or hyphenated as pesta-ulang-tahun?

Indonesian noun–modifier phrases put the head noun first (pesta = party) followed by its modifier (ulang tahun = birthday). That’s why it’s pesta ulang tahun (“birthday party”). Most such compounds are written as separate words rather than hyphenated.

Could we use tiba or hadir instead of datang, and would the prepositions change?

Yes.
• datang (come) uses ke: datang ke pesta. Emphasizes the act of coming.
• tiba (arrive) uses di: tiba di pesta. Often feels a bit more formal and highlights the moment of arrival.
• hadir (attend/be present) takes di or pada: hadir di pesta / hadir pada pesta. Focuses on participation rather than the movement.