Saya menaruh pakaian di jemuran.

I put clothes on the clothesline.

Breakdown of Saya menaruh pakaian di jemuran.

• saya: I
• di: on
• pakaian: the clothing
• menaruh: to put
• jemuran: the clothesline

Questions & Answers about Saya menaruh pakaian di jemuran.

Is menaruh the best verb here? How is it different from meletakkan, menjemur, or menggantung(kan)?

• menaruh = to put/place (neutral, everyday). Works, especially if you’re placing clothes on a rack.
• meletakkan = to set/lay something down (often onto a surface; a bit more formal).
• menjemur = to put out to dry (in the sun or air). This is the most idiomatic if the goal is drying: Saya menjemur pakaian.
• menggantung(kan) = to hang (up). If you hang clothes on a line/hanger: Saya menggantungkan baju di jemuran. In short: your sentence is fine, but for drying, menjemur is often the most natural verb.

Why is it di and not ke?

Use:

• di + place to express the final location after a placement: menaruh pakaian di jemuran (put clothes on the rack).
• ke + place to express movement toward a destination, usually with motion verbs: membawa pakaian ke jemuran (bring the clothes to the rack).
  With verbs that perform the placement (taruh/letakkan), Indonesian uses di for the resulting location.

Should it be di jemuran or di atas jemuran?

• di jemuran is the natural choice and already means on/at the drying rack/line.
• di atas jemuran literally means above/on top of the rack (not attached to it), and sounds odd unless you really mean “on top of” (e.g., balancing something on the frame).

What exactly does jemuran refer to?

• The device/structure for drying clothes: a clothesline, drying rack, or drying pole.
• It can also mean the laundry that’s been hung out: Jemuran sudah kering (the laundry on the line is dry).
• Word formation: jemur (to dry in the sun) + suffix -an → jemuran (place/result of drying).
• More specific terms: tali jemuran (clothesline), rak jemuran (drying rack), tiang jemuran (drying pole).

What’s the difference between pakaian and baju?

• pakaian = clothing/clothes (general/collective; a bit more formal/neutral).
• baju = commonly “clothes” in everyday speech, though it literally can mean “shirt/top” in some contexts.
  In casual conversation you’ll often hear: Aku taruh baju di jemuran.

How do I express quantity or plural for clothes?

• Plural is usually understood from context; you can add quantifiers:
  • beberapa baju (several clothes/shirts)
  • banyak pakaian (a lot of clothes)
• Classifiers you’ll hear:
  • helai or potong for garments: tiga helai baju, dua potong baju
  • pasang for items that come in pairs: sepasang kaus kaki (a pair of socks)
• Reduplication (pakaian-pakaian) is possible but uncommon with mass nouns like clothing.

How do I show tense/aspect (past, ongoing, future)?

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. Use particles/time words:

• Completed: sudah (already), baru saja (just), tadi (earlier)
  • Saya sudah menaruh pakaian di jemuran.
• Ongoing: sedang, lagi (informal)
  • Saya sedang menaruh pakaian di jemuran.
• Future/intent: akan, mau
  • Saya akan menaruh pakaian di jemuran.

Can I drop Saya or use Aku instead?

Yes.

• Saya = neutral/polite; Aku = informal/intimate.
• In casual speech, the subject can be omitted if clear from context:
  • (Saya) taruh baju di jemuran dulu, ya.
• Jakarta-style informal: Gue (I), lo (you).

Why does taruh become menaruh (what happened to the T)?

It’s the meN- prefix rule. With roots starting in t, the initial t drops and meN- becomes men-:

• meN- + taruh → menaruh This is a regular sound change: t → ∅ after meN-, yielding men-
  • root-without-t.

Is there a more colloquial way to say the sentence?

Yes, very common in speech:

• Aku taruh baju di jemuran.
• Saya naruh baju di jemuran.
  Here naruh (or just taruh) is informal; stick to menaruh in careful writing.

How can I say this in the passive or with different word orders?

• Passive: Pakaian ditaruh di jemuran (oleh saya).
• Object-fronting (topic first): Pakaiannya saya taruh di jemuran.
• With the 1st-person prefix ku-: Bajunya kutaruh di jemuran. These are all natural depending on what you want to emphasize.

Why is di separate in di jemuran but attached in words like ditaruh?

• di (separate) = preposition meaning at/on/in: di jemuran.
• di- (attached) = passive voice prefix on verbs: ditaruh, dijemur.
  So write the preposition separately, but attach the passive prefix.

How do I say “the clothesline/this clothesline” or “the clothes”?

Indonesian has no articles, so use demonstratives or -nya:

• jemuran itu (that clothesline), jemuran ini (this clothesline), jemurannya (the/that clothesline, context-known)
• pakaiannya (the clothes, context-known)