Dia minum setengah gelas kopi.

he/she

Breakdown of Dia minum setengah gelas kopi.

• minum: to drink
• kopi: the coffee
• gelas: the glass

Questions & Answers about Dia minum setengah gelas kopi.

Does the verb minum show past, present, or future in this sentence?

Indonesian verbs don’t inflect for tense, so Dia minum setengah gelas kopi can mean past, present, or future. Time/aspect words add clarity:

• Present/progressive: Dia sedang/lagi minum setengah gelas kopi. (is drinking)
• Past/completed: Dia sudah/telah minum setengah gelas kopi. (has already drank)
• Recent past: Dia baru (saja) minum setengah gelas kopi. (just drank)
• Future: Dia akan/segera minum setengah gelas kopi. (will/is about to drink)

What’s the difference between minum, meminum, and minumin?

• minum: the everyday form; can be intransitive or take an object. Example: Dia minum setengah gelas kopi.
• meminum: a more formal/literary transitive form emphasizing the object. Example: Dia meminum setengah gelas kopi.
• minumin (colloquial with suffix -in): usually means “to give someone something to drink,” not “to drink.” Example: Dia minumin adiknya susu. (He/She gave the younger sibling milk to drink)

Does dia mean he or she? What about ia and beliau?