Breakdown of Telepon itu diperbaiki kemarin.
Questions & Answers about Telepon itu diperbaiki kemarin.
Yes, diperbaiki is passive. The active counterpart is:
- Teknisi memperbaiki telepon itu kemarin. = The technician repaired the phone yesterday. Passive focuses on the phone; active focuses on the agent.
diperbaiki = di- (passive prefix) + perbaiki (verb base).
The active verb is memperbaiki (to repair/fix/improve). Switching to passive replaces mem- with di- and keeps the same base: diperbaiki.
- The correct verb is memperbaiki / diperbaiki with -i.
- -kan is not used here; memperbaikkan / diperbaikkan is not standard.
- perbaikan (with -an) is a noun meaning repair/improvement. For example: Sedang dalam perbaikan = under repair. Don’t confuse the noun with the passive verb.
- Formal/neutral: Telepon itu diperbaiki oleh teknisi kemarin.
- Common informal: Telepon itu diperbaiki sama teknisi kemarin.
- Another very natural way (no di- passive): Telepon itu saya perbaiki kemarin. = I repaired that phone yesterday.
Indonesian is flexible with time words:
- Telepon itu diperbaiki kemarin. (neutral)
- Kemarin telepon itu diperbaiki. (emphasizes “yesterday”)
- Telepon itu kemarin diperbaiki. (also fine in speech)
All are grammatical; choose based on what you want to emphasize.
No. Indonesian doesn’t mark tense on the verb. Kemarin already places the action in the past. You can add sudah (neutral) or telah (formal) to emphasize completion:
- Telepon itu sudah diperbaiki (kemarin).
Yes, but it changes nuance:
- Telepon itu = that/the (specific) phone.
- Teleponnya can mean “the phone (we both know about)” or “his/her/their phone,” depending on context. It’s often topical and can imply possession.
Indonesian doesn’t require a plural marker, so context can do the job:
- Telepon itu diperbaiki kemarin. could mean one or more phones depending on context.
To be explicit: - Telepon-telepon itu diperbaiki kemarin.
- Semua telepon itu diperbaiki kemarin.
- telepon: tuh-LEH-pon (the first “e” is like a schwa)
- diperbaiki: dee-per-BAI-kee (the ai is like the “eye” sound)
- kemarin: ke-MA-rin (first “e” is a schwa)
Yes. Use sedang for an ongoing action:
- Kemarin telepon itu sedang diperbaiki. = Yesterday the phone was being repaired (in progress at that time).
Because di- here is a prefix forming the passive verb and must be attached: diperbaiki.
Write di separately only when it’s a preposition meaning “at/in/on,” e.g., di rumah (at home).
- Standard synonyms: dibetulkan (from membetulkan), sometimes diperbaiki and dibetulkan overlap.
- Casual Jakarta Indonesian: diperbaikin or dibenerin. Example: Teleponnya dibenerin kemarin.
Use the standard diperbaiki in formal or careful speech.