Dia mengatakan kereta berikutnya terlambat.

He/She says the next train is late.

Breakdown of Dia mengatakan kereta berikutnya terlambat.

• adalah: to be
• dia: he/she
• kereta: the train
• terlambat: late
• berikut: next
• mengatakan: to say

Questions & Answers about Dia mengatakan kereta berikutnya terlambat.

What does dia mean and does it indicate gender?

Dia is the third-person singular pronoun in Indonesian. It can mean “he,” “she,” or even “it,” depending on context. It does not specify gender, so you rely on additional context to know whether dia refers to a male or female.

Why is there no word for “that” (as in “he said that…”)?

In Indonesian, the conjunction bahwa (“that”) can introduce reported speech but is optional. You can include it for emphasis or formality—Dia mengatakan bahwa kereta berikutnya terlambat—or omit it, which is more natural in everyday conversation: Dia mengatakan kereta berikutnya terlambat.

What’s the difference between mengatakan and bilang?

Mengatakan is the more formal verb “to say,” built from the root kata (“word”) + affixes meng-…-kan. Bilang is colloquial and widely used in spoken Indonesian. Both mean “to say,” so you could equally say Dia bilang kereta berikutnya terlambat in informal contexts.

How does kereta berikutnya mean “the next train”?

Kereta means “train.” Berikutnya comes from berikut (“following”) + the suffix -nya, which here makes it definite (“the following one”). Together, kereta berikutnya literally means “the following train,” i.e. “the next train.”

Can I say kereta selanjutnya instead of kereta berikutnya?

Yes. Selanjutnya also means “next” or “following,” so kereta selanjutnya is a perfect synonym of kereta berikutnya and equally common.

Why isn’t there an “is” before terlambat?

Indonesian does not use a copula like “is.” Adjectives (or adjectival verbs) can directly act as predicates. So kereta berikutnya terlambat reads literally “the next train late,” which conveys “the next train is late.”

Is terlambat an adjective or a verb?

It’s an adjective formed with the ter- prefix on lambat (“slow”). In sentences, it functions as a stative predicate, describing the condition of the train.

How do we know if this refers to past, present, or future?

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. You infer time from context or add time words—sudah for past, sedang for ongoing, akan for future. Without extra markers, terlambat simply states the fact, often understood as happening now.