Questions & Answers about Bulan lalu, saya berlibur di Bandung.
Do I need the comma after Bulan lalu?
It’s optional. Indonesian often puts a comma after a fronted time phrase for clarity.
- With comma: Bulan lalu, saya berlibur di Bandung.
- Without comma: Bulan lalu saya berlibur di Bandung.
Why isn’t there a past tense marker? Should I add sudah/telah?
Indonesian verbs don’t inflect for tense. The time word bulan lalu already shows it’s past. You can add sudah (already) for emphasis or in answers, and telah in formal writing:
- Saya sudah berlibur di Bandung.
- Saya telah berlibur di Bandung. (formal) With bulan lalu, adding them is often unnecessary.
Should it be di Bandung or ke Bandung?
- di = at/in (location): Saya berlibur di Bandung. (the vacation took place there)
- ke = to (destination): Saya berlibur ke Bandung. (I went there for vacation) Both are natural with a slight focus difference.
Why use berlibur instead of pergi?