Saya mau menulis pikiran saya di buku harian.

I want to write my thoughts in the diary.

Breakdown of Saya mau menulis pikiran saya di buku harian.

• sebuah: a
• buku: the book
• saya: I
• di: in
• menulis: to write
• harian: daily
• saya: my
• mau: want
• pikiran: the thought

Questions & Answers about Saya mau menulis pikiran saya di buku harian.

Why does the sentence use mau? Is it really “want”, or can it also mean “going to / about to”?

In Indonesian, mau literally means want, but in everyday speech it often overlaps with “going to / about to”.

• Saya mau menulis pikiran saya di buku harian.
  Can mean:
  • I want to write my thoughts in my diary. (desire)
  • I’m going to write my thoughts in my diary. (near-future intention, very common in conversation)

So:

• mau = want / going to (informal–neutral, very common)
• akan = will / shall (more clearly future, a bit more formal or written)

Both are correct, but mau sounds more conversational and natural in daily speech.

What is the difference between mau and ingin in this sentence? Could I say Saya ingin menulis pikiran saya di buku harian?

Yes, you can say:

• Saya ingin menulis pikiran saya di buku harian.

The meaning is basically the same (I want to write my thoughts in my diary), but there is a nuance:

• mau

  • Very common in spoken Indonesian
  • Neutral, slightly more casual
  • Often used for both “want” and “going to”

• ingin

  • Slightly more formal, a touch more “polite” or “soft”
  • More often used in writing or polite speech
  • Focuses more on the feeling of desire, less on “about to”

In everyday conversation, mau is more frequent, but ingin is always correct and often sounds a bit more refined.

Is menulis here like the English “to write”? Why isn’t there a special “to” word?

Yes. In this sentence, menulis functions like the English infinitive “to write”.

Indonesian does not use a separate word like to before verbs in this way. After verbs like mau, ingin, bisa (can), harus (must), you just put the base verb (or its me- form):

• Saya mau menulis. → I want to write.
• Saya bisa menulis. → I can write.
• Saya harus menulis. → I must write.

So there is no “to” particle; menulis alone carries the meaning of to write in this context.

Why is it menulis and not tulis? What does the me- prefix do?

Tulis is the bare verb root (write). Menulis is the standard active verb form.

In Indonesian, many active verbs are formed with the meN- prefix:

• tulis → menulis (to write)
• baca → membaca (to read)
• lihat → melihat (to see)

In most standard sentences describing an action done by a subject, you use the me- form:

• Saya menulis. → I write / I am writing.
• Dia membaca. → He/She reads.

Bare roots like tulis, baca often appear in commands or in very informal speech:

• Tulis namamu di sini. → Write your name here.

So Saya mau menulis… is the normal, correct standard form.

Could I say Saya mau menuliskan pikiran saya di buku harian? What is the difference between menulis and menuliskan?

You can say:

• Saya mau menuliskan pikiran saya di buku harian.

Both menulis and menuliskan are grammatically correct here. The difference is subtle:

• menulis: neutral “to write”
• menuliskan: often emphasizes:
  • putting something into writing for someone / into something
  • the result or the target of the writing (what you write on / in)

In many everyday contexts, they are interchangeable, and people commonly say:

• Saya mau menulis pikiran saya di buku harian.

Using menuliskan here can sound slightly more formal or slightly more focused on the act of putting those thoughts into the diary. But there is no big change in meaning.

Why is it pikiran saya and not saya pikiran? How does possession work here?

In Indonesian, the usual pattern is:

Thing + possessor-pronoun

So you say:

• buku saya → my book
• rumah saya → my house
• teman saya → my friend
• pikiran saya → my thoughts

You do not reverse it as in English. Saya pikiran is incorrect.

For full nouns, it’s similar:

• buku adik saya → my younger sibling’s book
• rumah ibu saya → my mother’s house

So pikiran saya is simply my thoughts.

Why is saya used twice? Saya mau menulis pikiran saya… sounds like “I want to write I-thoughts…”. Is that normal?

Yes, it is completely normal and natural.

Each saya has a different grammatical role:

• First saya = subject (I)
  
  • Saya mau menulis… → I want to write…
• Second saya = possessive (my)
  
  • pikiran saya → my thoughts

Indonesian has no separate pronoun forms like I / me / my. The single form saya can mean I, me, my, depending on its position:

• Saya makan. → I eat.
• Dia melihat saya. → He/She sees me.
• buku saya → my book.

So Saya mau menulis pikiran saya… is exactly how Indonesian normally expresses this.

Why is it di buku harian, not ke buku harian?

• di generally means in / at / on (location or place).
• ke means to (movement towards a place).

Here, the diary is treated like a location or medium where the writing occurs:

• menulis di buku harian → write in the diary (location of the writing)

If you say ke buku harian, it sounds like moving to the diary as a destination, which is not how Indonesians normally express “write in a diary”.

So:

• Saya mau menulis di buku harian. → I want to write in (my) diary.

If you want to emphasize “inside” rather than just “at/on”, you can also say:

• di dalam buku harian → inside the diary

but di buku harian is already natural and sufficient.

What is exactly buku harian? Is it different from just buku?

• buku = book
• harian = daily / related to day-to-day things

Together, buku harian literally means daily book, which corresponds to a diary.

So:

• buku → book
• buku harian → diary

There is also a borrowed word diari (from diary), which you might see in some contexts, but buku harian is a very standard, clear term.

You could also say:

• buku harian saya → my diary

The sentence doesn’t say my diary, just buku harian. How do Indonesians know if it is “my diary” or just “a diary”?

Indonesian often leaves out possessives and articles when they are obvious from context.

• buku harian by itself can mean a diary, the diary, or my diary, depending on the situation and what is understood between speakers.

If you want to be explicit:

• buku harian saya → my diary
• buku harianmu → your diary (informal)
• buku harian dia → his/her diary

Your original sentence could be made more explicit as:

• Saya mau menulis pikiran saya di buku harian saya.
  → I want to write my thoughts in my diary.

It’s not wrong to repeat saya here; it just sounds a bit more specific and a bit longer. In many real conversations, speakers rely on context and say simply di buku harian.

Could I say di buku harian saya instead of di buku harian?

Yes, and that is very natural:

• Saya mau menulis pikiran saya di buku harian saya.

This clearly means I want to write my thoughts in my diary.

The choice is:

• di buku harian → in a diary / in the diary (context decides whose)
• di buku harian saya → clearly in my diary

Both are correct. Adding saya just makes the possessor explicit.

Is Saya mau… formal enough, or should I use something else in polite situations?

Saya mau… is acceptable in most polite, neutral situations. It’s quite normal.

If you want to sound a bit more formal or polite (for example, in writing or in a more official context), you might choose:

• Saya ingin menulis pikiran saya di buku harian.
• Saya akan menulis pikiran saya di buku harian. (focus on future action)

Rough scale in terms of “feel”:

• Most casual (also changes pronoun):
  
  • Aku mau nulis… / Gue mau nulis… (very colloquial)
• Neutral polite:
  
  • Saya mau menulis…
• More formal/polite:
  
  • Saya ingin menulis… / Saya akan menulis…

In everyday polite conversation, Saya mau menulis… is perfectly fine.

Could I move words around, like Saya mau menulis di buku harian pikiran saya?

That specific order, di buku harian pikiran saya, is unusual and sounds awkward; it’s not how Indonesians normally phrase this idea.

Natural variants include:

• Saya mau menulis pikiran saya di buku harian.
• Saya mau menulis pikiran saya di buku harian saya.
• Saya mau menulis di buku harian tentang pikiran saya.
  → I want to write in my diary about my thoughts.

Key points:

• Keep pikiran saya together.
• Keep di buku harian (saya) as the place where the writing happens.
• If you want to say “about my thoughts”, add tentang:
  • menulis tentang pikiran saya di buku harian.

What is the difference between Saya mau menulis pikiran saya di buku harian and Saya akan menulis pikiran saya di buku harian?

Both can be translated I will write my thoughts in my diary, but the nuance is:

• Saya mau menulis…

  • Emphasizes desire / intention.
  • Common in speech; can mean both I want to and I’m going to.

• Saya akan menulis…

  • Emphasizes future time (a planned action).
  • Slightly more formal / written style.
  • Feels closer to English I will write… or I am going to write….

In everyday conversation, mau is more frequent. akan sounds a bit more deliberate and “proper”, suitable for writing or formal speech.