Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dia mengambil napas dalam-dalam sebelum ujian. - He/She takes a deep breath before the exam.

Dia is a third-person singular pronoun. It can mean he or she; Indonesian does not mark gender in pronouns. Context usually makes it clear, but if context doesn’t matter, you just translate it as he or she according to what sounds natural in English.

Why is the verb mengambil used with napas? Is it literally “to take a breath”?

Yes. Mengambil comes from ambil (take), and mengambil napas literally means to take a breath.

This is a very common collocation in Indonesian, similar to English take a breath/take a deep breath. You’ll also see:

mengambil napas dalam-dalam – to take a deep breath / to breathe deeply
menghela napas – to sigh
tarik napas – take a breath / inhale (more colloquial/imperative)

So although it’s literally take a breath, idiomatically it matches English quite well.

What exactly does napas mean, and why do I sometimes see nafas instead?

Napas is a noun meaning breath (also breathing in some contexts).

About spelling:

napas is the standard modern spelling (per KBBI, the official Indonesian dictionary).
nafas is an older or alternative spelling that you will still see in everyday writing, song lyrics, etc.

In formal/standard Indonesian, napas is preferred, but both are commonly understood.

What does dalam-dalam mean, and why is it repeated?

Dalam on its own is usually an adjective meaning deep or a preposition meaning in/inside.

When it is reduplicated as dalam-dalam, it becomes an adverb meaning deeply or very deep. This reduplication often emphasizes intensity, duration, or extent.

So:

napas dalam = a deep breath (deep as an adjective)
napas dalam-dalam = breath deeply / very deeply (deeply as an adverb)

Reduplication is a common way in Indonesian to create adverbs or intensify adjectives.

Why is there a hyphen in dalam-dalam?

The hyphen shows that dalam-dalam is a reduplicated word (the same word repeated). In standard Indonesian spelling, full reduplication is usually written with a hyphen:

pelan-pelan – slowly
baik-baik – properly, carefully
besar-besar – big ones / very big

So dalam-dalam follows the same rule.

Can you say napas dalam instead of napas dalam-dalam? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, and the nuance changes slightly:

Dia mengambil napas dalam sebelum ujian.
– More literally: He/She took a deep breath before the exam.
napas (noun) + dalam (adjective) → deep breath
Dia mengambil napas dalam-dalam sebelum ujian.
– More like: He/She took a deep breath / breathed in deeply before the exam.
Here dalam-dalam functions as an adverb meaning deeply.

In everyday usage, the meanings overlap a lot, and both are natural. Dalam-dalam just emphasizes the manner (deeply) a bit more.

What does sebelum ujian mean exactly, and is sebelum a preposition or a conjunction here?

Sebelum means before.

In sebelum ujian:

sebelum works like a preposition (before),
ujian is a noun (exam/test).

So sebelum ujian = before the exam.

If sebelum is followed by a full clause, it acts more like a conjunction:

Sebelum ujian dimulai, dia mengambil napas dalam-dalam.
Before the exam started, he/she took a deep breath.

Does ujian mean specifically “the exam” or “an exam”? There’s no article in Indonesian, so how should I think of it?

Indonesian has no articles (no a/an/the). Ujian just means exam/test in a general sense.

When translating, you choose an exam or the exam based on context:

If it’s a specific known exam (e.g., the final exam today), English will usually use the exam.
If it’s any exam in general, you can say an exam.

Indonesian leaves that unspecified; context or your English translation makes the choice.

Is this sentence in the past, present, or future tense? How do we know?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Mengambil is the same form for past, present, or future.

Dia mengambil napas dalam-dalam sebelum ujian. could be:

He/She took a deep breath before the exam. (past)
He/She takes a deep breath before the exam. (habitual)
He/She will take a deep breath before the exam. (future)

The actual tense is understood from context or from added time words like:

tadi – earlier
kemarin – yesterday
nanti – later
akan – (will)

For example:

Tadi dia mengambil napas dalam-dalam sebelum ujian. – clearly past.
Nanti dia akan mengambil napas dalam-dalam sebelum ujian. – clearly future.

Could we put sebelum ujian at the beginning? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can move it:

Dia mengambil napas dalam-dalam sebelum ujian.
Sebelum ujian, dia mengambil napas dalam-dalam.

Both mean the same thing: Before the exam, he/she took a deep breath.

Indonesian word order is relatively flexible for time phrases like sebelum ujian, kemarin, besok, etc. Moving them usually affects emphasis more than meaning. Placing Sebelum ujian first slightly emphasizes the timing.

Can I drop Dia and just say Mengambil napas dalam-dalam sebelum ujian?

If you drop dia, the sentence becomes subjectless and sounds more like:

an instruction: Take a deep breath before the exam
or a generic statement: [People] take a deep breath before the exam

Indonesian can omit subjects, especially in commands or when the subject is obvious from context. But if you want a neutral descriptive sentence with a clear subject, you keep dia.

Is mengambil napas dalam-dalam formal, informal, or neutral?

It’s neutral and fits both spoken and written Indonesian. You could use it:

in a narrative or story,
in everyday conversation,
in moderately formal texts.

For strictly informal speech, you might also hear shorter or more direct forms like tarik napas dalam (take a deep breath), especially as an instruction.

What’s the grammatical breakdown of mengambil?

Mengambil = meN- (prefix) + ambil (root verb).

ambil = take
meN- is a verb-forming prefix; it often turns a root into an active transitive verb.

So mengambil is an active verb meaning to take (something). In this sentence, the something is napas (breath).

Is there any difference between dia and ia in a sentence like this?

Both dia and ia can mean he/she, but their usage differs:

dia is the normal everyday pronoun, used in speech and writing, and can appear anywhere in the sentence.
ia is more formal/literary and usually appears only before verbs or adjectives, not after prepositions.

Here you could say:

Dia mengambil napas dalam-dalam sebelum ujian. – very natural.
Ia mengambil napas dalam-dalam sebelum ujian. – also correct, but feels a bit more written/formal.

In casual speech, dia is much more common.