Breakdown of Saya membeli sarung baru di pasar malam.
sebuah
a
saya
I
baru
new
di
at
membeli
to buy
pasar malam
the night market
sarung
the sarong
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Questions & Answers about Saya membeli sarung baru di pasar malam.
What does saya mean and how formal is it? Could I use aku instead?
- saya = I (1st person singular, polite/formal)
- aku = I (1st person singular, informal)
- You can say Aku membeli sarung baru di pasar malam, but it sounds more casual or friendly than Saya…
Why is membeli unchanged for past tense? How do I know it’s past?
- Indonesian verbs do not inflect for tense.
- membeli can mean buy, bought, or will buy depending on context.
- To mark past/completed action explicitly you can add words like sudah or telah:
- Saya sudah membeli sarung baru… = I have bought a new sarong…
What is the root of membeli, and what does the prefix mem- do?
- Root word: beli = buy
- Prefix mem- turns a root into an active transitive verb (the actor is doing the action to something).
- There are sound-adjustment rules (for example, mem-
- p → mem- with p dropped), but with beli it simply becomes membeli.
What does sarung mean? Is it the same as “sarong”?
- sarung = sarong (a length of fabric you wrap around your waist)
- Besides clothing, sarung can also mean a cover or case (e.g. sarung pensil = pencil case).
Why is there no plural marker on sarung? How do you say “sarongs” if you want more than one?
- Indonesian nouns are generally unmarked for number.
- Quantity is clear from context or by adding a numeral or reduplication:
- sarung-sarung (sarongs)
- dua sarung (two sarongs)
Why is baru placed after sarung? In English adjectives come before nouns.
- Indonesian adjectives follow the noun they modify: noun + adjective.
- sarung baru = new sarong (lit. “sarong new”).
What is the function of di before pasar malam? Is it a prefix or a preposition?
- Here di is a preposition meaning at/in/on (location marker).
- It tells us where the buying happened: at the night market.
- The prefix di- used for passive verbs attaches to verbs, not to place names.
What does pasar malam literally mean, and why this word order?
- pasar = market; malam = night → night market
- In Indonesian compound nouns, the main noun (pasar) comes first, followed by its modifier (malam).