Nenek saya minum teh di sore hari.

to drink

Breakdown of Nenek saya minum teh di sore hari.

• teh: the tea
• di: in
• sore hari: the afternoon

Questions & Answers about Nenek saya minum teh di sore hari.

Why is it Nenek saya and not Saya nenek?

In Indonesian the possessor follows the possessed noun.
• Nenek saya = “my grandmother.”
• If you swap them to Saya nenek, it literally reads “I grandmother” and is ungrammatical.
You can also use the suffix -ku: Nenekku means the same as nenek saya in colloquial speech.

What does minum mean, and how do you use it?

minum is a verb meaning “to drink.”
• Indonesian verbs are not conjugated for person or tense.
• You simply place the verb in front of the object: minum teh = “drink tea.”

Why isn’t there any tense marking on minum? How do you know when it happens?

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for past, present, or future.
• Time is shown by context or by adding words like sudah (already/past) or akan (will/future).
• In this sentence, di sore hari (“in the late afternoon”) tells you when the action takes place.

What does teh mean, and why is there no “the” or “a” before it?