Burung tidur di malam hari.

Birds sleep at night.

Breakdown of Burung tidur di malam hari.

• di: at
• malam hari: the night
• tidur: to sleep
• burung: the bird

Questions & Answers about Burung tidur di malam hari.

What does di mean in this sentence?

di is a preposition that can mean “in,” “at,” or “on.” Here it marks a time expression: di malam hari = “at night.”

Why isn’t there an article like “the” or “a” before burung?

Indonesian does not use definite or indefinite articles. A bare noun like burung can mean “a bird,” “the bird,” or “birds” depending on context.

What does malam hari mean? Can I just say malam?

Both are possible.

• malam simply means “night.”
• malam hari literally “night daytime,” is an emphatic way to say “nighttime” or “during the night.”
  In everyday speech people often shorten it to malam.

Does Indonesian show tenses? How do I know if it’s present, past, or habitual?

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. Time is inferred from context or added time words:

• Burung tidur di malam hari. often implies a habitual action (“Birds sleep at night”).
• If you wanted past: Burung tidur di malam hari kemarin. (“The bird slept at night yesterday.”)

Is burung singular or plural here? How do you express “birds” (plural)?

Here burung is generic and could be singular or plural. To explicitly mark plural you can:

1. Reduplicate: burung-burung (“birds”).
2. Use a numeral or quantifier: beberapa burung (“several birds”), dua burung (“two birds”).

What is the word order in Burung tidur di malam hari?

The order is Subject–Verb–Adverbial (time/place):
Subject: Burung
Verb: tidur
Adverbial phrase: di malam hari

Is tidur transitive? Why is there no object?

tidur is an intransitive verb meaning “to sleep.” It never takes a direct object, so “sleep” just stands alone.

What’s the difference between di malam hari and pada malam hari?

Both prepositions can mark time.

• di malam hari is more colloquial.
• pada malam hari is slightly more formal or literary.
  Their meanings are essentially the same: “at night.”

How would I say “the bird” or “that bird” to be specific?

You can add a demonstrative after the noun:

• burung itu = “that bird.”
• burung ini = “this bird.”
  For a definite tone you might also say burung tersebut in formal contexts.