Teman laki-laki saya mengira saya tidak hadir, ternyata saya duduk di belakang.

My male friend assumed I was absent; it turned out I was sitting in the back.

Breakdown of Teman laki-laki saya mengira saya tidak hadir, ternyata saya duduk di belakang.

• adalah: to be
• saya: I
• teman: the friend
• tidak: not

Questions & Answers about Teman laki-laki saya mengira saya tidak hadir, ternyata saya duduk di belakang.

Does the phrase Teman laki-laki saya mean “my boyfriend” or “my male friend”?

It means “my male friend.” If you mean “boyfriend,” use pacar (gender-neutral for “boyfriend/girlfriend”) or kekasih (more literary). In casual speech, Indonesians often just say teman saya and let context show the gender, or they might say teman cowok saya (slang) if they really want to emphasize “male friend.”

Can I say Teman saya laki-laki or Teman saya yang laki-laki instead? What’s the difference?

• Teman laki-laki saya = a noun phrase: “my male friend” (used as the subject/object).
• Teman saya laki-laki = a full clause: “my friend is male,” describing the friend.
• Teman saya yang laki-laki = “my friend who is male,” used when you’re distinguishing that friend from others (e.g., among several friends of different genders).

Why is laki-laki hyphenated?

Because it’s a reduplicated form. Standard spelling is laki-laki (with a hyphen). A common single-word synonym is lelaki. Writing “laki laki” (with a space) is nonstandard; “laki²” is texting shorthand only.

What’s the nuance of mengira compared with berpikir, menyangka, saya kira, and kira-kira?