Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya berusaha melindungi badan dari hujan dengan jas hujan tebal. - I try to protect my body from the rain with a thick raincoat.

Saya (subject)
berusaha (main verb: try / make an effort)
melindungi (second verb: to protect)
badan (object of melindungi: body)
dari hujan (prepositional phrase: from the rain)
dengan jas hujan tebal (prepositional phrase: with a thick raincoat)

So we can see it as:

Saya = I
berusaha = try / make an effort
melindungi badan = to protect (my) body
dari hujan = from the rain
dengan jas hujan tebal = with/by using a thick raincoat

Indonesian allows a verb (berusaha) to be directly followed by another verb in the me- form (melindungi) without any linking word like “to”.

What is the difference between berusaha and mencoba? Both seem to mean “to try”.

Both berusaha and mencoba can be translated as “to try”, but they have different nuances:

berusaha
- Literally related to usaha = effort.
- Emphasizes making an effort, trying hard, struggling to achieve something.
- Often used for more serious, ongoing, or deliberate efforts.
- Example: Saya berusaha menghemat uang. – I’m making an effort to save money.
mencoba
- More neutral: to try / to attempt.
- Can be used for trying an action or trying something out.
- Example: Saya mencoba jas itu. – I’m trying on that coat.
- Example: Saya mencoba melindungi badan saya. – I try to protect my body.

In your sentence, berusaha suggests you are really making an effort to protect your body from the rain, not just casually trying.

Why is it melindungi and not melindung or something like perlindungan?

This is about Indonesian word formation:

lindung – the root, meaning roughly protect / shelter.
melindungi – meN- + lindung + -i, an active transitive verb: to protect (something/someone).
- Saya melindungi badan. – I protect (my) body.
perlindungan – per- + lindung + -an, a noun: protection.
- Saya butuh perlindungan. – I need protection.

melindung by itself is not a standard active verb form. To say to protect, you need melindungi.

So Saya berusaha melindungi badan… literally means: I make an effort to protect (my) body…

Can you break down the words berusaha and melindungi morphologically?

Yes:

berusaha
- Root: usaha = effort, attempt, business.
- Prefix: ber-, which often:
  - Turns a noun into a verb meaning to have / to do / to be engaged in that noun.
- So berusaha literally = to make an effort / to try (by exerting effort).
melindungi
- Root: lindung = protect / shelter.
- Prefix: meN- (here realized as me- before l), making an active verb.
- Suffix: -i, which typically:
  - Marks a verb that takes an object (often the thing being affected).
- So melindungi = to protect (someone/something), with a direct object:
  - melindungi badan – to protect (the) body.

Together: berusaha melindungi literally means to make an effort to protect.

Why does the sentence say badan? Could I say tubuh or diri instead?

All three exist, but with slightly different usage:

badan
- Common, everyday word.
- Means body physically.
- Very natural in this sentence: melindungi badan dari hujan.
tubuh
- Also means body, a bit more formal or literary.
- Often used in written language or more poetic contexts.
- melindungi tubuh dari hujan is correct but feels slightly more formal.
diri
- Means self / oneself.
- Used when you talk about protecting yourself in a more general sense, not just the physical body.
- Example: Saya berusaha melindungi diri dari bahaya. – I try to protect myself from danger.

In your sentence, badan is natural because you are talking about physical rain on your physical body.

Why is it dari hujan and not something like terhadap hujan?

In Indonesian, you typically use dari (from) after verbs like melindungi to show what you’re protecting someone/something from:

melindungi X dari Y = to protect X from Y
- melindungi badan dari hujan – protect the body from the rain
- melindungi anak-anak dari bahaya – protect the children from danger

terhadap means towards / with regard to / against and is not used in this construction. For example:

sikap terhadap masalah itu – attitude toward that issue
kekerasan terhadap anak – violence against children

So: melindungi … dari hujan is the correct pattern; melindungi … terhadap hujan would sound wrong.

What does dengan mean here? Is it “with” or “using”? Could I use pakai instead?

In this sentence:

dengan jas hujan tebal can be understood as:
- with a thick raincoat or
- by using a thick raincoat.

dengan is very flexible. Here, it marks the means/tool you use to do something.

You can replace it with pakai (or menggunakan) in casual speech:

Saya berusaha melindungi badan dari hujan pakai jas hujan tebal.
Saya berusaha melindungi badan dari hujan menggunakan jas hujan tebal.

Nuances:

dengan – neutral, works in both spoken and written Indonesian.
pakai – informal/colloquial; very common in speech.
menggunakan – more formal, often in writing or careful speech.

Why is the adjective tebal placed after jas hujan? Could I say tebal jas hujan or must I add yang?

In Indonesian, adjectives normally come after the noun:

jas hujan tebal = a thick raincoat
- jas hujan – raincoat
- tebal – thick

So jas hujan tebal is the natural word order.

tebal jas hujan is not normal; it sounds wrong as a noun phrase. It could only appear in special structures (for example, after a copula: Jas hujan itu tebal. – That raincoat is thick.), but not as a modifier in front of the noun like in English.

You can insert yang:

jas hujan yang tebal

This is also correct and can add a slight emphasis or make it sound a bit more descriptive. But in a simple sentence like this, jas hujan tebal is perfectly natural and common.

How is tense expressed here? How do I know if it means “I am trying”, “I tried”, or “I will try”?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. berusaha and melindungi stay the same in present, past, or future. The exact time is inferred from context or added time words.

Your sentence could mean:

I am trying to protect my body from the rain with a thick raincoat.
I tried to protect my body from the rain with a thick raincoat.
I will try to protect my body from the rain with a thick raincoat.

To be more explicit, you can add markers:

sedang (ongoing now, present continuous):
- Saya sedang berusaha melindungi badan dari hujan dengan jas hujan tebal.
tadi / barusan / kemarin (past):
- Tadi saya berusaha melindungi badan dari hujan dengan jas hujan tebal.
akan (future):
- Saya akan berusaha melindungi badan dari hujan dengan jas hujan tebal.

The verb forms themselves do not change.

Why use Saya here? Could I drop it or replace it with aku?

Saya is the standard polite first-person pronoun. It’s appropriate in most situations, especially with people you’re not close to, or in formal contexts.
aku is more informal/intimate, used with friends, family, or people at the same level who you’re close to.

You could say:

Aku berusaha melindungi badan dari hujan dengan jas hujan tebal.

This is grammatically fine and sounds more casual.

Regarding dropping the subject:

In Indonesian, the subject can sometimes be dropped if it is very clear from context.
However, in a standalone sentence like this, you normally keep Saya or Aku.

So the original Saya is a safe, neutral choice.

Could I say Saya berusaha untuk melindungi badan dari hujan…? Is untuk necessary or wrong?

You can say:

Saya berusaha untuk melindungi badan dari hujan dengan jas hujan tebal.

This is grammatically correct. The untuk here works like “to / in order to” in English.

However:

With verbs like berusaha, adding untuk before another verb (melindungi) is optional, not required.
In everyday Indonesian, it is very common to omit untuk:
- Saya berusaha melindungi badan…

So:

Without untuk – slightly more natural, simpler, very common.
With untuk – also correct, can sound a bit more explicit or slightly more formal.