Kami menyelesaikan proyek tepat waktu.

we

Breakdown of Kami menyelesaikan proyek tepat waktu.

• tepat waktu: on time
• proyek: the project
• menyelesaikan: to complete

Questions & Answers about Kami menyelesaikan proyek tepat waktu.

What’s the difference between kami and kita?

• kami = we (excluding the listener). The listener is not part of the group.
• kita = we (including the listener). The listener is part of the group.
• In a report to your boss about your team’s work, kami is natural: Kami menyelesaikan proyek tepat waktu. If you tell your teammate who also worked on it, Kita menyelesaikan proyek tepat waktu is appropriate.

How is past tense shown here? There’s no “-ed” or past marker.

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

• Neutral (context supplies time): Kami menyelesaikan proyek tepat waktu.
• Emphasis on completion: Kami sudah/telah menyelesaikan proyek tepat waktu. (sudah = common; telah = formal)
• With a time word: Kemarin kami menyelesaikan proyek tepat waktu.

Why use menyelesaikan instead of selesai?

• menyelesaikan = to finish/complete something (transitive; needs an object): Kami menyelesaikan proyek…
• selesai = finished/done (intransitive; no object): Proyek itu selesai tepat waktu. / Kami selesai tepat waktu (“we were finished on time”).
  Avoid: ✗ Kami selesai proyek… (ungrammatical).

What’s inside the verb morphologically?