Saya menanyakan nilai ujian kepada guru di perpustakaan.

I ask the teacher about the exam score in the library.

Breakdown of Saya menanyakan nilai ujian kepada guru di perpustakaan.

• saya: I
• di: in
• guru: the teacher
• perpustakaan: the library
• kepada: to
• nilai ujian: the exam score
• menanyakan: to ask about

Questions & Answers about Saya menanyakan nilai ujian kepada guru di perpustakaan.

What does the verb form menanyakan mean, and how is it different from tanya/bertanya?

• tanya is the bare verb (often used as a colloquial active: Saya tanya…).
• bertanya is intransitive: you typically add the person with kepada/pada/ke and the topic with tentang. Example: Saya bertanya kepada guru tentang nilai ujian.
• menanyakan is transitive and focuses on the thing being asked about; that thing becomes the direct object. The person you ask is added with kepada. Example: Saya menanyakan nilai ujian kepada guru.
• Rough guide:
  • Focus on topic: menanyakan X kepada Y
  • Focus on person: menanyai Y tentang X
  • Neutral/intransitive: bertanya kepada Y tentang X

Why is kepada used before guru, not ke or dengan?

• kepada is the standard preposition for the recipient (a person) of speech/requests: “to (someone).”
• ke marks movement to a place and is informal when used for recipients in many regions, though you will hear it: Aku nanya ke guru.
• dengan means “with,” not “to,” so it’s not correct here.
• Colloquial alternative: sama (“to/with” someone): Aku nanya nilai ujian sama guru.

Does di perpustakaan describe where the asking happened, or which teacher it was?

It’s ambiguous in this form. It can mean:

• Location of the action: “I asked … at the library.”
• Which teacher: “I asked the teacher who is at the library.”

To disambiguate:

• Location: Di perpustakaan, saya menanyakan nilai ujian kepada guru.
• Which teacher: … kepada guru yang di perpustakaan.

Can I drop Saya? What’s the difference between saya and aku?

• Yes, subject pronouns are often dropped if context is clear: Menanyakan nilai ujian kepada guru di perpustakaan.
• saya is neutral/formal; aku is informal/intimate. Choose based on setting and relationship.

How would I say “I asked the teacher for my exam grade” (i.e., I requested it)?

Use meminta (“to request/ask for”):

• Saya meminta nilai ujian saya kepada guru.
• More natural word order: Saya meminta kepada guru nilai ujian saya. If you just asked about it (not necessarily requesting it to be given), keep menanyakan:
• Saya menanyakan nilai ujian saya kepada guru.

Do I need tentang after menanyakan?

No. menanyakan already encodes “ask about,” so menanyakan tentang is often considered redundant in careful writing. Both forms appear in real usage, but the concise version is preferred:

• Preferred: menanyakan nilai ujian
• Also heard: menanyakan tentang nilai ujian

Why would Saya bertanya nilai ujian kepada guru sound off?

Because bertanya is intransitive and typically takes the topic with tentang:

• Natural: Saya bertanya kepada guru tentang nilai ujian. Or switch to menanyakan:
• Saya menanyakan nilai ujian kepada guru.

What’s the difference between menanyakan and menanyai?

• menanyakan makes the topic the direct object; the person asked is marked with kepada:
  Saya menanyakan nilai ujian kepada guru.
• menanyai makes the person the direct object; the topic is marked with tentang:
  Saya menanyai guru tentang nilai ujian. Both are correct; choose the one that matches what you want to highlight.

Is guru definite (“the teacher”) or indefinite (“a teacher”)?

Indonesian has no articles, so guru can be either. To be explicit:

• Definite: guru itu (“that/the teacher”), or specify: guru Bahasa Inggris
• Indefinite: seorang guru (“a/one teacher”)
• Plural people: para guru (“the teachers”)

How do I express plural “grades”?

Indonesian often leaves plurality unmarked. nilai ujian can mean “grade(s).” If you need to be explicit:

• nilai-nilai ujian (reduplication)
• beberapa semua banyak nilai ujian (quantifiers)

How do I mark past, present, or future? Does menanyakan imply past?

Verbs aren’t tense-marked. Time is shown with adverbs:

• Past: tadi, kemarin — Kemarin saya menanyakan …
• Progressive: sedang — Saya sedang menanyakan …
• Future: akan, nanti — Nanti saya akan menanyakan …

Why is it di for the library and not ke?

• di = at/in (location): di perpustakaan
• ke = to/toward (movement): ke perpustakaan Your sentence states where the asking took place, not movement to it.

Is there a more casual way to say the whole sentence?

Yes. For everyday speech:

• Aku nanya nilai ujian ke/sama guru di perpustakaan. Casual features: aku, base verb nanya/tanya, and ke/sama for the recipient.

Can I change the phrase order?

Yes. Common, natural variations:

• Di perpustakaan, saya menanyakan nilai ujian kepada guru. (fronted place)
• Saya menanyakan kepada guru nilai ujian di perpustakaan. (focus on recipient) Avoid splitting the object awkwardly; keep chunks together for clarity.

Any spelling gotchas with di here?

Yes: di as a preposition is a separate word. Write di perpustakaan, not “diperpustakaan.”
(When di- is a passive prefix, it attaches to a verb, e.g., ditanyakan.)

What are the passive and imperative versions?

• Passive (di-): Nilai ujian ditanyakan (oleh saya) kepada guru di perpustakaan.
• Object-fronted active (formal): Nilai ujian itu saya tanyakan kepada guru di perpustakaan.
• Imperative: Tanyakan nilai ujian kepada guru di perpustakaan.

How do I say “my exam grade” clearly?

Add a possessor:

• nilai ujian saya (my exam grade)
• nilai ujian Bahasa Indonesia saya (my Indonesian exam grade)

Pronunciation tips for tricky parts?

• menanyakan: the ny is like the “ny” in “canyon.” Syllables: me-na-ny a-kan.
• ujian: the j is like English “j” in “judge.”
• nilai: ai sounds like “eye.”
• perpustakaan: per-pus-ta-ka-an (5 syllables).

Is nilai the same as skor?

Not exactly:

• nilai = grade/mark (often includes qualitative grading, letters, or normalized scores)
• skor = numeric score (tests/games).
  You could say skor ujian if you mean the raw score.

Can I use pada instead of kepada with people?

In careful formal writing, pada can occur with people, but the standard choice for recipients is kepada. So prefer:

• bertanya/menanyakan … kepada guru Overly formal or less common with people:
• … pada guru (acceptable in some formal styles)

Why not say nilai ujian guru to mean “to the teacher”?

Because nilai ujian guru means “the teacher’s exam grade(s)” (genitive), not “to the teacher.” To mark the recipient, you need kepada guru.