Saya menarik napas dalam-dalam sebelum presentasi sehingga suara saya lebih tenang.

I take a deep breath before the presentation so that my voice is calmer.

Breakdown of Saya menarik napas dalam-dalam sebelum presentasi sehingga suara saya lebih tenang.

• adalah: to be
• saya: I
• sebelum: before
• lebih: more
• tenang: calm
• saya: my
• suara: the voice
• presentasi: the presentation
• sehingga: so that
• menarik napas: to take a breath
• dalam-dalam: deeply

Questions & Answers about Saya menarik napas dalam-dalam sebelum presentasi sehingga suara saya lebih tenang.

What does menarik napas literally mean, and is it the usual way to say “take a breath” in Indonesian?

Literally, menarik napas means “to pull breath.”
Idiomatic meaning: “to take a breath / inhale.”

This is a very natural expression in Indonesian. You’ll often hear:

• menarik napas = to take a breath / inhale
• menarik napas dalam-dalam = to take a deep breath

You may also see mengambil napas (literally “to take breath”), which is also correct and common. In everyday speech:

• menarik napas and mengambil napas are largely interchangeable.
• menarik napas dalam-dalam is especially common in contexts like calming down, preparing to speak, etc.—exactly like in the sentence you’re studying.

Why is napas sometimes spelled nafas? Which one should I use?

Both napas and nafas refer to “breath” (noun) in everyday Indonesian.

• napas is the standard modern spelling recommended in contemporary Indonesian.
• nafas is influenced by Arabic spelling and is still seen in older texts, religious contexts, song lyrics, or informal writing.

For learners, it’s best to use napas in your own writing, but be aware that nafas is the same word in practice.

Why is dalam repeated as dalam-dalam? Can I just say napas dalam?

Reduplication (dalam → dalam-dalam) often intensifies or changes a meaning.

Here:

• dalam = deep (adjective)
• dalam-dalam = deeply (adverb: “in a deep way”)

So:

• napas dalam literally sounds like “a deep breath” (adjective + noun).
• menarik napas dalam-dalam sounds like “to breathe deeply / to take a deep breath” (verb + noun + adverb).

You could say menarik napas dalam, and people would still understand you, but:

• menarik napas dalam-dalam is the most natural and idiomatic way to say “take a deep breath” in standard Indonesian.

What is the function of sebelum presentasi here? Why isn’t there an article like “the” or “my”?

sebelum presentasi literally means “before presentation.” Indonesian generally does not use articles like “a / an / the”:

• There’s no “before the presentation” vs “before a presentation” distinction in the grammar.
• Context tells you whether it’s the presentation, my presentation, etc.

If you really wanted to mark possession, you could say:

• sebelum presentasi saya = before my presentation

But in typical Indonesian, sebelum presentasi by itself is usually enough and sounds natural, especially if it’s already clear from context whose presentation it is.

What’s the nuance of sehingga here? How is it different from jadi, agar, or supaya?

In the sentence, sehingga connects cause and result:

• Saya menarik napas dalam-dalam sebelum presentasi sehingga suara saya lebih tenang.
  → I took a deep breath before the presentation, so (that) my voice was calmer.

Nuance:

• sehingga = “so that / as a result,” focusing on the result. It sounds relatively neutral/formal.
• jadi = also “so,” but more informal/conversational.
  You could say: ...sebelum presentasi, jadi suara saya lebih tenang. (more casual)
• agar / supaya = “so that / in order that,” focusing on purpose/intention.
  If you rewrite with agar/supaya, the meaning shifts slightly to your intention:
  • Saya menarik napas dalam-dalam sebelum presentasi agar/supaya suara saya lebih tenang.
    = I took a deep breath before the presentation so that my voice would be calmer.

So:

• sehingga → emphasizes the result that happened.
• agar / supaya → emphasizes the purpose or goal.
• jadi → informal “so.”

Why is it suara saya lebih tenang and not just suara saya tenang?

lebih means “more” or “-er” (comparative).

• suara saya tenang = “my voice is calm”
• suara saya lebih tenang = “my voice is calmer / more calm”

In context, the idea is that because of the deep breath, there’s an improvement compared to before: the voice becomes calmer than it would have been. Using lebih makes that comparison or improvement clear.

You could say suara saya tenang, but then you’re simply describing the voice as calm, without emphasizing the change or result.

Does tenang mean “calm” or “quiet”? Could this sentence also mean my voice was quieter (lower volume)?

tenang mainly means “calm, steady, not agitated.”

When used with suara (voice), lebih tenang suggests things like:

• not shaky
• not trembling
• more controlled and composed
• sounding more relaxed and confident

It does not primarily mean “lower volume” (for that, Indonesians more often say pelan, pelan-pelan, or lebih pelan).

So the sentence is about the quality and stability of the voice, not just how loud it is.

There’s no past tense marker. How do we know this happened in the past?

Indonesian usually doesn’t change the verb form for tense. Time is understood from context and time words.

In this sentence:

• sebelum presentasi = before the presentation

This tells us the action happened in the past relative to the presentation, so in natural English we translate:

• Saya menarik napas... → “I took a deep breath...”

If you really want to emphasize the timing, you can add time markers like:

• tadi (earlier)
• kemarin (yesterday)
• tadi pagi (this morning)

But the base verb menarik itself never changes form for tense.

Why is saya used twice? Could we avoid repeating it or replace the second one with -nya?

In the sentence, we have:

• Saya menarik napas...
• ...sehingga suara saya lebih tenang.

You have a few options in Indonesian:

1. Repeat “saya” (as in the original)

   • Clear and perfectly natural: suara saya = my voice.

2. Use -nya to refer back in a vague/neutral way

   • ...sehingga suaranya lebih tenang.
     This often means “the voice was calmer.” Depending on context, -nya might refer to me, him/her, or just “the voice” in general. It’s less explicit than suara saya.

3. Omit the second pronoun only if context is very clear

   • ...sehingga suara lebih tenang.
     This is grammatically possible, but feels less complete; it can sound like “the voice (in general) was calmer.”

In a learner-friendly, clear sentence, suara saya is a good choice: explicit and natural.

Is Saya menarik napas dalam-dalam sebelum presentasi the only natural word order, or can it be rearranged?

The original order is the most natural and typical:

• Saya menarik napas dalam-dalam sebelum presentasi
  (subject – verb – object – adverb)

You can move sebelum presentasi to the front for emphasis:

• Sebelum presentasi, saya menarik napas dalam-dalam sehingga suara saya lebih tenang.

This sounds very natural too, especially in storytelling.

Other, more unusual orders are possible but can sound awkward or poetic. For everyday speech:

• Keep “Saya menarik napas dalam-dalam” together.
• Place sebelum presentasi either at the beginning or before sehingga at the end, as shown above.

What’s the difference between Saya menarik napas dalam-dalam... and Saya bernapas dalam-dalam...?

Both use the root napas / nafas (“breath”), but:

• menarik napas = to take a (specific) breath / inhale once or a few times
• bernapas = to breathe (general, ongoing process)

So:

• Saya menarik napas dalam-dalam
  = I took a deep breath (one deliberate action, often for a purpose like calming down).

• Saya bernapas dalam-dalam
  = I breathe deeply / I was breathing deeply (more like a style or pattern of breathing, possibly over a longer period).

In this sentence, menarik napas dalam-dalam is better because it describes a single intentional action done before the presentation.