Setiap minggu, saya mencatat pengeluaran dan pendapatan di buku kecil.

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Questions & Answers about Setiap minggu, saya mencatat pengeluaran dan pendapatan di buku kecil.

What nuance does the verb bolded here have? Is mencatat just “to write”?
  • Mencatat is to record, note down, or log information systematically (like in a ledger or notes).
  • Menulis is to write in general (compose text, write a letter, etc.).
  • In this sentence, mencatat is the natural choice because it’s about keeping records of money in/out.
Why is it mencatat and not something like menyatat? What’s going on with the prefix?
  • Root: catat (note).
  • Prefix: meN- forms an active transitive verb.
  • Assimilation: with roots starting with c, the prefix surfaces as men- and the c stays, giving men
    • catat = mencatat (spelled together).
  • So the correct form is mencatat.
Do I need to say pengeluaran dan pendapatan saya to mean “my expenses and income”?
  • Not strictly, but adding saya removes ambiguity.
  • Options:
    • Neutral/general: saya mencatat pengeluaran dan pendapatan (likely mine from context).
    • Explicitly mine: saya mencatat pengeluaran dan pendapatan saya.
    • Very explicit: saya mencatat semua pengeluaran dan pendapatan saya.
Are pendapatan, penghasilan, and pemasukan the same?
  • Pendapatan: income/revenue in general (business or personal); neutral-register.
  • Penghasilan: income you earn from work/activities; often personal.
  • Pemasukan: money coming in; everyday colloquial counterpart of pendapatan.
  • All can work here; choose based on register and nuance.
Could I pair pemasukan with pengeluaran instead?
  • Yes. Pemasukan dan pengeluaran is a very common, balanced pair in daily speech for money in/out.
  • The sentence would be: Setiap minggu, saya mencatat pemasukan dan pengeluaran di buku kecil.
Is buku kecil the natural way to say “notebook”?
  • It’s understandable (a small book), but more idiomatic are:
    • buku catatan (notebook; very common)
    • buku tulis (exercise book/school notebook)
  • If you want size and type: buku catatan kecil.
How do I say “in a small notebook” vs “in the small notebook” vs “in my small notebook”?
  • A small notebook: di sebuah buku kecil or di sebuah buku catatan kecil.
  • The small notebook (already known/shared): di buku kecil itu.
  • My small notebook: di buku kecil saya or colloquial di buku kecilku.
Why is it di and not ke before buku kecil?
  • Di marks location (at/in/on). You record something in/on the notebook.
  • Ke marks movement/direction (to/toward), so it would be wrong here.
Can I use dalam or di dalam instead of di?
  • Yes, with nuance:
    • di buku kecil = in/on the notebook (neutral, most common).
    • dalam buku kecil or di dalam buku kecil emphasizes inside/within the contents; slightly more formal.
Where can I put the time phrase? Does it have to be at the beginning?
  • Flexible:
    • Setiap minggu, saya mencatat … (fronted for emphasis; comma optional).
    • Saya mencatat … setiap minggu. (end position; very natural).
  • Alternatives:
    • Tiap minggu (colloquial for setiap).
    • Seminggu sekali (once a week).
Is the comma after Setiap minggu required?
  • No. It’s optional and used for readability when a time/focus phrase is fronted.
  • Both are acceptable: Setiap minggu, … and Setiap minggu …
What’s the difference between minggu and Minggu?
  • minggu (lowercase) = week. Setiap minggu = every week.
  • Minggu (capitalized) = Sunday. Setiap Minggu = every Sunday.
  • Your sentence uses the lowercase meaning.
Do I need to mark plurals (like “expenses”)?
  • Indonesian doesn’t grammatically mark plural by default. Context handles it.
  • pengeluaran already implies multiple outflows/expenses.
  • You can reduplicate for emphasis or variety (e.g., catatan-catatan), but it’s unnecessary here.
Can I drop the subject saya?
  • In conversation, if context is crystal clear, you can omit it: Setiap minggu mencatat ….
  • However, Indonesian commonly keeps the subject for clarity, especially in writing. Saya is safe and natural.
How would this sound in casual Jakarta speech?
  • Tiap minggu gue catat pemasukan sama pengeluaran di buku kecil gue.
  • Notes: gue (I/me), sama (and/with in colloquial), catat (bare verb is common in speech).
How about a more formal/business-like version?
  • Setiap minggu, saya memperbarui pembukuan dan mencatat pemasukan serta pengeluaran pada buku catatan.
  • Notes: pembukuan (bookkeeping), serta (formal “and”), pada (formal “at/in”).
What’s the passive version?
  • Pengeluaran dan pendapatan saya dicatat di buku kecil setiap minggu.
  • Focus moves to the records themselves; di- here is the passive prefix attached to the verb (dicatat).
I see di used two ways. How do I tell them apart?
  • di
    • noun (separate word) = preposition of place: di buku kecil (in the notebook).
  • di-
    • verb (attached) = passive verb prefix: dicatat (is/are recorded).
  • Spacing is the giveaway.
Could I use mencatatkan here?
  • Mencatatkan is more formal/causative, often in official contexts (to register/enter something on behalf of a record).
  • For personal note-taking, stick with mencatat.
What are the word-formation patterns in pengeluaran and pendapatan?
  • pengeluaran = peN- + keluar
    • -an → expenditure/outflow (k drops; peN- becomes peng-).
  • pendapatan = peN- + dapat
    • -an → income/revenue (before d, peN- surfaces as pend-).
  • The peN- … -an pattern makes abstract nouns from verbs/roots.
Does pengeluaran have other meanings I should know?
  • Yes: besides expenses, it can mean output, discharge, emission, or the act of releasing/issuing something. In money contexts, it’s expenses/outflows. Context disambiguates.