Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami berlari di pantai ketika matahari terbit.

Kami is the exclusive “we,” meaning the speaker and others but not the person being spoken to. Kita is the inclusive “we,” meaning the speaker, others, and the listener(s). In Kami berlari di pantai..., you’re saying “we (but not you) ran on the beach.”

Why isn’t there a past-tense marker in berlari?

Indonesian verbs do not conjugate for tense. You keep the base form (berlari) regardless of past, present, or future. Time is shown by context or adverbs. Here, ketika matahari terbit (when the sun rose) implies a past action. If you want to stress completion, you could add sudah: Kami sudah berlari di pantai... (We have already run on the beach…)

Why is di pantai used instead of ke pantai?

Di indicates location (“at/in/on”), whereas ke indicates movement toward a destination (“to”). Since the sentence describes running at the beach, you use di pantai. If you were saying “We ran to the beach,” that would be Kami berlari ke pantai.

What role does ketika play in the sentence? Can it be replaced?

Ketika is a temporal conjunction meaning “when.” It links the two actions: running and sunrise. You can often replace it with saat or waktu (e.g., Saat matahari terbit), with little change in meaning. Ketika can sound slightly more formal or literary.

Why does berlari stay in its base form—why no subject agreement or tense change?

Indonesian verbs are uninflected: they don’t change form for subject person, number, or tense. The subject is shown by the pronoun (kami), and time is shown by context or time words. Whether it’s “I run,” “you run,” or “they ran,” the verb stays berlari.

What exactly does matahari terbit mean?

Matahari means “sun,” and terbit means “to rise” or “to emerge.” Together matahari terbit literally means “(when) the sun rises” or simply “sunrise.” It’s an intransitive verb phrase, not a noun.

Can I rearrange the sentence to start with the time clause?

Yes. Indonesian word order is flexible with adverbial phrases. You can say Ketika matahari terbit, kami berlari di pantai. The meaning remains “When the sun rose, we ran on the beach.”

Why are there no words for “the” or “a” before pantai or matahari?

Indonesian does not have articles like “the” or “a.” Context usually tells you whether something is definite or indefinite. If you really want to mark definiteness, you can add itu after the noun (e.g., pantai itu = “that beach”), but it’s optional.