Saya belajar menawar dengan tenang; ternyata itu membantu mengurangi pengeluaran.

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Breakdown of Saya belajar menawar dengan tenang; ternyata itu membantu mengurangi pengeluaran.

• belajar: to learn
• dengan: with
• tenang: calm

Questions & Answers about Saya belajar menawar dengan tenang; ternyata itu membantu mengurangi pengeluaran.

What exactly does the word menawar mean here?

Menawar means to bargain or haggle over a price (typically in markets). It can also mean to make an offer on something. The noun for the bargaining process is tawar-menawar. For more formal “negotiate,” Indonesian often uses bernegosiasi or menegosiasikan (when there’s a specific thing being negotiated).

Why is it belajar menawar and not belajar untuk menawar?

Belajar can be followed directly by a verb to mean “learn how to [do something],” so belajar menawar is the most natural choice. Belajar untuk menawar would mean “study in order to bargain” (stating purpose), which sounds odd here. Use untuk after belajar when you’re giving a purpose, not the skill being learned.

Does dengan tenang modify belajar or menawar? How would I change it if I want the other meaning?

In Saya belajar menawar dengan tenang, the phrase dengan tenang most naturally modifies menawar (bargaining calmly). To make it modify belajar (studying/learning calmly), you’d say: Saya belajar dengan tenang untuk menawar or Dengan tenang saya belajar menawar (the second is grammatical but can sound stylistically marked).

Can I drop dengan and just say menawar tenang? What about secara tenang?

• Menawar dengan tenang is the safest and most natural.
• Menawar tenang can appear in headlines or certain styles, but is less common in everyday speech.
• Secara tenang is grammatical, but less idiomatic than dengan tenang.
• Don’t confuse tenang (calm) with santai (relaxed/casual); santai changes the nuance.