Saya gemar mendengar musik lembut sebelum tidur.

I like listening to soft music before sleeping.

Breakdown of Saya gemar mendengar musik lembut sebelum tidur.

• saya: I
• mendengar: to listen
• musik: the music
• lembut: soft
• sebelum: before
• tidur: to sleep
• gemar: to like

Questions & Answers about Saya gemar mendengar musik lembut sebelum tidur.

Why is gemar used here instead of suka or senang?

gemar implies a habitual or long-standing fondness, often used when talking about hobbies or repeated activities.

• suka is more general and can refer to liking something in the moment or in general.
• senang means “happy” or “pleased” and focuses more on one’s emotional state than a steady preference.

Why is gemar followed by mendengar instead of taking a direct object like gemar musik?

Indonesian often uses gemar + verb to express “fond of doing something.” Saying gemar mendengar musik (“fond of listening to music”) is more natural than gemar musik. If you do want a noun directly, you’d typically add terhadap (e.g. gemar terhadap musik), but that’s less common.

What’s the difference between mendengar and mendengarkan?

Both derive from dengar (“hear”).

• mendengar is intransitive: it means “to hear” or “to listen,” focusing on the act itself.
• mendengarkan is transitive: it means “to cause (someone) to hear” or “to play something for someone to listen to.”
  In casual speech you’ll sometimes hear them used interchangeably, but that’s the formal distinction.

Why does lembut come after musik, instead of before as in English (“soft music”)?

In Indonesian, adjectives generally follow the noun they modify. So you say musik lembut (literally “music soft”) rather than lembut musik.

Why is there no article (like “a” or “the”) before musik?

Indonesian does not have articles. Context tells you whether you mean something specific or general. If you need to be specific you can add demonstratives (e.g. musik ini for “this music”) or quantifiers (e.g. beberapa musik for “some music”).

Why is sebelum used without a pronoun or explicit subject, as in sebelum tidur instead of sebelum saya tidur?

When the subject of the subordinate clause is the same as the main clause, Indonesian lets you omit it. So sebelum tidur implies “before I sleep.” You can include the pronoun (sebelum saya tidur) for clarity or emphasis, but it’s not required.

Why is Saya capitalized here, and what’s the difference between saya and aku?

Saya is capitalized because it’s the first word of the sentence. In Indonesian, pronouns aren’t normally capitalized mid-sentence. As for meaning:

• saya is polite or formal.
• aku is informal and used among close friends or family.