Saya membeli ayam di pasar.

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Breakdown of Saya membeli ayam di pasar.

• di: at
• pasar: the market
• membeli: to buy

Questions & Answers about Saya membeli ayam di pasar.

Does this sentence show past tense? How do I mark past, present, or future in Indonesian?

Indonesian verbs don’t change for tense. Time is shown with time words or aspect markers.

• Past/completed: tadi (earlier today), kemarin (yesterday), sudah/telah (already)
  • Saya membeli ayam di pasar tadi.
  • Kemarin saya beli ayam di pasar.
  • Saya sudah membeli ayam di pasar.
• Present/habitual: often just the bare verb or add sedang (in the middle of)
  • Saya sedang membeli ayam di pasar. (right now)
• Future: akan, nanti, or a time word
  • Besok saya akan membeli ayam di pasar.

Why is it membeli and not beli? Are both correct? What does the prefix meN- do?

• beli is the base verb; membeli is the active transitive form with the meN- prefix (here realized as mem-), common in neutral/formal Indonesian.
• In everyday speech, people often say the base form: Saya beli ayam di pasar.
• The prefix meN- makes active verbs (often transitive). It changes shape depending on the first letter of the root:
  • mem- before b/p/f/v (p often drops): beli → membeli, pakai → memakai
  • men- before t/d/c/j/z (t often drops): tulis → menulis
  • meng- before k/g/h/a/e/i/o/u (k often drops): kirim → mengirim
  • meny- before s (s drops): sapu → menyapu

Do I need words for a/the before ayam or ?