Jika lampu dibiarkan menyala, tagihan bisa kena biaya tambahan.

the light

Breakdown of Jika lampu dibiarkan menyala, tagihan bisa kena biaya tambahan.

• jika: if
• bisa: can
• tambahan: extra

Questions & Answers about Jika lampu dibiarkan menyala, tagihan bisa kena biaya tambahan.

Why is the passive dibiarkan used instead of an active form like membiarkan?

Indonesian often uses passive voice to highlight the affected thing and downplay the doer. Here, lampu is the focus, so lampu dibiarkan puts it first and omits the agent. The active version would be Jika kamu/Anda membiarkan lampu menyala…, which explicitly mentions the person doing it.

What does dibiarkan break down to morphologically?

dibiarkan = di- (passive prefix) + biar (root “let/allow”) + -kan (causative/applicative). So it literally means “to be allowed/left (to do something).”

Why menyala and not menyalakan?

menyala is intransitive: “to be on/to be lit.” menyalakan is transitive: “to turn something on.” So:

• lampu menyala = the light is on.
• menyalakan lampu = to turn on the light. In the sentence, the light is in the state of being on, so menyala fits.

Could I say tetap menyala or terus menyala?

Yes. dibiarkan tetap menyala or dibiarkan terus menyala emphasizes the continuity (“kept left on”). The original without tetap/terus is already fine and idiomatic.