Word
Telepon itu diperbaiki kemarin.
Meaning
That telephone was repaired yesterday.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Telepon itu diperbaiki kemarin.
itu
that
kemarin
yesterday
telepon
the telephone
diperbaiki
to be repaired
Questions & Answers about Telepon itu diperbaiki kemarin.
What does the word itu mean here—“that” or “the”?
In Indonesian, itu after a noun often marks definiteness and can mean either that or the, depending on context. So Telepon itu can be understood as either that phone (deictic, pointing to a specific one) or the phone (a known, specific phone). If you want “this,” use ini: telepon ini.
Is this sentence in the passive voice? How would I say it in the active voice?
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.
How is diperbaiki formed?
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.
Why is it -i (diperbaiki) and not -kan (diperbaikan or diperbaikkan)?