Saya mengambil piring dari lemari.

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Breakdown of Saya mengambil piring dari lemari.

• saya: I
• lemari: the cupboard
• dari: from

Questions & Answers about Saya mengambil piring dari lemari.

What does the prefix meN- in mengambil do?

meN- forms an active transitive verb from the base ambil (take). It marks that the subject actively performs the action. Before a vowel (as in ambil), meN- surfaces as meng-, hence mengambil.

Can I say Saya ambil piring dari lemari instead of Saya mengambil…?

Yes. The bare verb ambil is common in speech, especially after modals or in imperatives. All are natural:

• Saya mengambil piring dari lemari. (more formal/neutral)
• Saya ambil piring dari lemari. (colloquial)
• Ambil piring dari lemari. (imperative)

How do I show past, present, or future? Indonesian has no verb tenses, right?

Correct—time is shown with adverbs/aspect markers:

• Past: Saya sudah mengambil piring… / Tadi saya mengambil piring…
• Progressive: Saya sedang mengambil piring…
• Future: Saya akan mengambil piring… / Saya mau ambil piring…

Why use dari here? Could I say di?

• dari = from (origin/source): Saya mengambil piring dari lemari.
• di = at/in (location): is common in speech and means “take the plate that’s in the cupboard,” but explicitly marks the movement “from.”