Breakdown of Jurnalis yang saya temui menulis artikel tentang kebiasaan membaca anak muda.
Questions & Answers about Jurnalis yang saya temui menulis artikel tentang kebiasaan membaca anak muda.
Yang introduces a relative clause, similar to who / that in English.
- jurnalis yang saya temui ≈ the journalist (who) I met
- yang links jurnalis to the clause saya temui.
Without yang, the phrase would be ungrammatical or confusing. It’s the standard way to say noun + who/that + clause in Indonesian.
In a normal sentence, you would say:
- Saya menemui jurnalis itu. = I met that journalist.
Here the pattern is: Subject + meN-verb + object
menemui = meN- + temu + -i
But in a relative clause where the verb’s object is being “pulled out” (the journalist), Indonesian normally:
- drops the meN- prefix
- keeps any suffix (-i, -kan, etc.)
So:
- base: Saya menemui jurnalis itu.
- relative: jurnalis yang saya temui
This is a very common pattern:
- buku yang saya beli (from Saya membeli buku.)
- film yang kami tonton (from Kami menonton film.)
No, that is not natural and is felt as wrong by native speakers.
Once the object (jurnalis) is placed in front and linked with yang, Indonesian grammar expects the meN- prefix to be removed:
- ✅ jurnalis yang saya temui
- ❌ jurnalis yang saya menemui
Think: yang + [subject + bare verb + suffix], not yang + [subject + meN-verb].
Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. temui, menulis, membaca are the same regardless of past, present, or future.
The time is understood from context or from time words:
- kemarin (yesterday)
- tadi (earlier today)
- sedang (in the process of)
- sudah / telah (already)
- akan (will)
For example, you could specify:
- Kemarin saya temui jurnalis yang menulis artikel itu. = Yesterday I met the journalist who wrote that article.
- Saya sedang menemui jurnalis yang menulis artikel… = I am meeting the journalist who is writing the article…
Indonesian has no articles like a / an / the. The bare noun can mean:
- a journalist / the journalist / journalists
- an article / the article / articles
The exact meaning is inferred from context. If you really want to make it specific, you can add:
- itu (that / the) → jurnalis itu, artikel itu
- seorang (one person, a/an for people) → seorang jurnalis
- sebuah (a/an for many non-people nouns) → sebuah artikel
So you could also say:
- Seorang jurnalis yang saya temui menulis sebuah artikel…
to strongly suggest a journalist and an article.
Tentang means about / regarding / concerning and introduces the topic of the article:
- menulis artikel tentang kebiasaan membaca anak muda
= write an article about young people’s reading habits
It’s followed by a noun phrase. You can often replace tentang with mengenai or perihal in more formal contexts:
- artikel mengenai kebiasaan membaca anak muda
kebiasaan membaca is a noun phrase:
- biasa = usual / used to
- kebiasaan = habit (ke- + biasa + -an → noun)
- membaca = to read / reading
So kebiasaan membaca literally is habit(s) of reading or reading habits.
Common similar patterns:
- kebiasaan makan = eating habits
- kebiasaan belajar = study habits
- kebiasaan tidur = sleeping habits
Anak muda is number-neutral; it can mean:
- a young person
- young people
The meaning depends on context. In your sentence, kebiasaan membaca anak muda is most naturally understood as young people’s reading habits (plural).
If you want to force singular or plural:
- singular-ish: seorang anak muda = a young person
- clear plural (emphasised): anak-anak muda, para anak muda, kaum muda = young people
All can refer to young people, but with nuances:
anak muda
- Very common, fairly broad: teenagers and people in their 20s, even early 30s.
- Slightly informal but widely used.
remaja
- More specific: teenagers, roughly 13–19.
- Often used in formal contexts, research, media: perilaku remaja, majalah remaja.
orang muda
- Literally young person/people.
- Sounds a bit more formal or demographic; less common than anak muda in everyday speech.
In your sentence, anak muda is perfect for young people in a general, everyday sense.
Yes, that is natural. itu after a noun phrase often acts like that / the and makes it more specific/definite:
- jurnalis yang saya temui = a journalist I met / the journalist I met (context decides)
- jurnalis yang saya temui itu = that journalist I met / the journalist I (already mentioned) met
So adding itu suggests both the speaker and listener already know which journalist is being referred to.
No, that would be wrong or at least very unnatural.
In yang saya temui, saya is the subject of temui. Indonesian normally requires an explicit subject in such clauses. You need something like:
- yang saya temui (I met)
- yang kami temui (we met)
- yang dia temui (he/she met)
So keep the pronoun: Jurnalis yang saya temui…
Yes, that’s another natural sentence, but the structure and focus are a bit different.
Original:
- Jurnalis yang saya temui menulis artikel…
→ Topic/subject is the journalist I met, then we say what they did.
Alternative:
- Saya menemui jurnalis yang menulis artikel…
→ Topic/subject is I. jurnalis yang menulis artikel… is now describing the journalist you met (the one who wrote the article).
Meaning-wise they both link the journalist and the article, but:
- original focuses on the journalist as the subject of menulis
- alternative focuses on me meeting that journalist
Both menulis artikel and menuliskan artikel are possible; menulis artikel is more common and neutral.
Very roughly:
- menulis artikel = to write an article (simple action)
- menuliskan artikel (untuk seseorang) = to write an article (for someone / for some purpose), often with more focus on the result being produced for someone.
In many everyday cases, menulis and menuliskan are interchangeable, but:
- If you’re unsure, menulis artikel is the safest and most natural choice here.