Badai datang tiba-tiba malam ini.

A storm comes suddenly tonight.

Breakdown of Badai datang tiba-tiba malam ini.

• datang: to come
• tiba-tiba: suddenly
• malam ini: tonight
• badai: the storm

Questions & Answers about Badai datang tiba-tiba malam ini.

Which word is the subject and which is the verb?

Subject: Badai (storm). Verb: datang (to come). tiba-tiba is an adverb (“suddenly”), and malam ini is a time expression (“tonight”).

How is tense shown? Does datang mean came/comes/will come?

Indonesian verbs don’t inflect for tense. Time comes from context. Here, malam ini anchors it to “tonight.” For past: Badai datang tadi malam (the storm came last night). For future: Badai akan datang malam ini (the storm will come tonight).

Should there be an article like “a” or “the” before badai?

No. Indonesian has no articles. Badai can mean “a storm” or “the storm.” To be explicit: sebuah badai (a storm), badai itu (that/the storm), badai ini (this storm).

Can I move malam ini to another position?

Yes. Common options:

• Malam ini, badai datang tiba-tiba.
• Badai datang malam ini. End placement (as in the original) is very natural.

Must tiba-tiba come after the verb?

No. It’s flexible:

• Badai tiba-tiba datang malam ini.
• Tiba-tiba, badai datang malam ini.
• Badai datang tiba-tiba malam ini.

Is the hyphen in tiba-tiba necessary?

Yes in standard writing. You’ll see it without a hyphen informally, but tiba-tiba is the recommended form.

Is tiba-tiba related to tiba (“arrive”)? Am I saying “come arrive-arrive”?

tiba means “to arrive,” but tiba-tiba is a fixed adverb meaning “suddenly.” It doesn’t mean “arrive-arrive,” so datang tiba-tiba is not redundant.

Could I use tiba instead of datang?

You can: Badai tiba malam ini (a bit more formal/literary). In everyday speech, datang is more common. To express impact, you can also use verbs like menerjang or melanda (“to strike/lash”).

Do I need pada before the time, like pada malam ini?

Optional. Pada malam ini sounds more formal; malam ini is perfectly natural in most contexts.

What’s the difference between malam ini, tadi malam, and nanti malam?

• malam ini = tonight (the current night).
• tadi malam = last night (the night before now).
• nanti malam = later tonight (used earlier in the day).

Can I say this with “there is/was,” using ada?

Yes: Malam ini tiba-tiba ada badai. or Tiba-tiba, malam ini ada badai. Both mean “There is/was suddenly a storm tonight.”

How about using terjadi (“to occur”)?

Use it impersonal: Tiba-tiba terjadi badai malam ini. or Malam ini terjadi badai secara tiba-tiba. This is often more natural than Badai terjadi….

Is badai singular or plural here?

Unmarked; it could be singular or plural. To be explicit: sebuah badai (one storm), beberapa badai (several storms), badai-badai (storms; grammatical but less common than beberapa badai).

Should I put a comma after clause-initial tiba-tiba?

Preferably yes in careful writing: Tiba-tiba, badai datang malam ini. In casual writing the comma is sometimes dropped.

How do I pronounce it?

Approx.: bah-dye dah-tahng tee-bah-TEE-bah mah-lahm EE-nee. Note ng in datang is like the final sound in “sing.”

Can the sentence refer to a forecast (future)?

If you want it clearly future, add akan or a modal: Malam ini badai akan datang tiba-tiba. Without akan, context still usually makes it “tonight” but not strictly future.