Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di musim panas, penulis itu suka bekerja di taman sambil menggambar tokoh untuk bukunya. - In summer, that writer likes to work in the park while drawing characters for his/her book.

di musim panas – very common in everyday speech; di is literally “in/at,” and is increasingly used with times in modern Indonesian, especially informal.
pada musim panas – more formal/standard in writing and careful speech. pada is the “official” preposition for time expressions.

You can also just say musim panas, … (dropping the preposition) in a narrative or headline style.

So all of these can work:

Di musim panas, penulis itu … (neutral, natural)
Pada musim panas, penulis itu … (a bit more formal)
Musim panas, penulis itu … (more literary/shortcut style)

What exactly does “penulis itu” mean? Is it “that writer” or “the writer”?

Literally, penulis = “writer” and itu = “that.”

But in Indonesian:

penulis itu often means “the writer” (a specific writer already known in the conversation/story), not necessarily “that (over there) writer.”
It can also mean “that writer” in a more pointing/contrastive way, depending on context.

Compare:

penulis itu suka bekerja di taman – the/that particular writer likes to work in the park.
penulis suka bekerja di taman – writers like working in the park / a writer likes working in the park (more general or ambiguous).

So itu works somewhat like a definite article (“the”) plus a demonstrative (“that”), depending on context.

Why is there no “dia” (he/she) in the sentence? Can I say “Dia suka bekerja…” instead?

Indonesian often uses a noun phrase instead of a pronoun, especially to keep referring to the same person clearly.

Penulis itu suka bekerja di taman… – natural and clear: That/the writer likes to work in the park…

You can say:

Dia suka bekerja di taman sambil menggambar tokoh untuk bukunya.

That’s grammatically fine, but:

It only works if it’s already clear who dia refers to.
Using penulis itu emphasizes or re-identifies that particular writer in the narrative.

Both are correct; which is better depends on context and style.

What’s the difference between “suka” and “senang” here? Could we say “penulis itu senang bekerja di taman”?

Both exist, but they’re not the same:

suka = to like, to enjoy (a preference / habit)
- Penulis itu suka bekerja di taman.
  → That writer likes working in the park (it’s his/her preference).
senang = happy, pleased (emotional state)
- Penulis itu senang bekerja di taman.
  → That writer feels happy when working in the park.

In many cases they overlap, but:

For general likes/habits, suka is the default.
For emotional reaction (“is happy when …”), senang is better.

In your sentence, suka is the most natural choice.

Why is it “bekerja” and not just “kerja”? What’s the difference?

Both are used, but with different levels of formality:

bekerja – more standard/formal verb “to work.”
kerja – originally a noun (“work, job”), but commonly used as a verb in informal speech (dia kerja di bank).

In a neutral or written sentence like this, bekerja is more appropriate:

Penulis itu suka bekerja di taman… – natural, standard Indonesian.

Informal conversation:

Penulis itu suka kerja di taman… – also understandable, but sounds more casual/colloquial.

What does “taman” mean exactly? Is it “park” or “garden”? What about “kebun”?

taman usually means:
- park (public park)
- or a decorative garden, like taman rumah (house garden / yard, often landscaped).
kebun is more like:
- garden in the sense of a place where you grow plants, vegetables, fruit, etc. (more functional than decorative)
- kebun apel (apple orchard), kebun sayur (vegetable garden).

In context, di taman here is best translated as “in the park” (or a nicely arranged garden-like place).

What is the function of “sambil” in “sambil menggambar tokoh”? How is it different from “sementara” or “ketika”?

sambil means “while (at the same time), doing two actions simultaneously by the same subject.”

Penulis itu suka bekerja di taman sambil menggambar tokoh.
→ The writer likes working in the park while also drawing characters.
(Same subject: penulis itu is both working and drawing.)

Comparisons:

sementara = while/whereas (often with two different subjects or contrasting situations):
- Saya membaca, sementara dia menulis.
  → I read, while he writes.
ketika / saat = when (time point or period):
- Ketika saya di taman, saya menggambar.
  → When I’m in the park, I draw.

So here sambil is correct because it’s one person doing two actions at the same time.

Does “tokoh” always mean “character”? And why not “karakter”?

tokoh has a few related meanings:

A character in a story, novel, film, etc.
- tokoh utama – main character
- tokoh antagonis – antagonist
A figure / important person in real life:
- tokoh masyarakat – community leader
- tokoh sejarah – historical figure

karakter in Indonesian is used more for:

personality / character traits:
- karakternya keras – he/she has a tough character
sometimes also for fictional characters (influenced by English), but tokoh is more standard for story characters.

In the sentence, menggambar tokoh is best taken as drawing (story) characters for the book, so tokoh is the right word.

In English we say “characters” (plural). Why isn’t it “tokoh-tokoh” in Indonesian?

Indonesian does not require a plural marker like English does. Nouns are usually neutral for number; context tells you if it’s singular or plural.

tokoh can mean “character / characters” depending on context.
tokoh-tokoh (reduplication) explicitly emphasizes plurality: “characters (many).”

In this sentence:

menggambar tokoh untuk bukunya already naturally suggests more than one character; it’s not necessary to mark it as plural.
You could say menggambar tokoh-tokoh to stress “many characters,” but it’s not required.

What does “bukunya” mean exactly? Is it “his book,” “her book,” “their book,” or “the book”?

The suffix -nya has several possible functions:

Possessive pronoun: his/her/their/its
- bukunya → his book / her book / their book.
Definite “the …” (when referring to a specific known thing):
- bukunya sudah selesai. → The book is finished. (the particular book previously mentioned)

In menggambar tokoh untuk bukunya, likely readings are:

drawing characters for his/her book
possibly for the book (a specific book everyone already knows about)

Indonesian doesn’t mark gender, so context decides whether it’s “his” or “her.”

If I want to emphasize that it’s his own book, can I say something clearer than “bukunya”?

Yes, there are a few ways to be clearer:

bukunya sendiri – his/her own book
- Penulis itu suka bekerja di taman sambil menggambar tokoh untuk bukunya sendiri.
You can specify the person:
- … untuk buku penulis itu sendiri – for that writer’s own book.
- … untuk buku dia sendiri – for his/her own book (more explicit but slightly less formal).

-nya sendiri is the most common way to emphasize “his/her own.”

Why is the word order “menggambar tokoh untuk bukunya” and not something like “menggambar untuk bukunya tokoh”?

Indonesian tends to follow a straightforward order:

Verb + Object + (Prepositional phrase)

Here:

menggambar – verb (draw)
tokoh – object (characters)
untuk bukunya – prepositional phrase (“for his/her book”)

So:

menggambar tokoh untuk bukunya is the natural order.

Forms like menggambar untuk bukunya tokoh would sound unnatural or confusing. You generally:

keep the direct object (tokoh) close to the verb,
then add extra information like untuk bukunya afterwards.

How do we know if this sentence is talking about the present, past, or future? There’s no tense marking like in English.

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. suka bekerja could mean:

He/she likes (generally) to work in the park – habitual, present.
In the right context, it could also refer to past habits:
- With dulu:
  Dulu, di musim panas, penulis itu suka bekerja di taman…
  → In the past, in summer, the writer used to like working in the park…

To show time more clearly, Indonesian uses time expressions:

kemarin (yesterday), tadi (earlier), sekarang (now), besok (tomorrow), nanti (later), dulu (used to), akan (will), etc.

Without extra words, suka bekerja is usually taken as a general, current habit.