Setiap kali saya stres, saya mengambil napas dalam-dalam.

Every time I am stressed, I take a deep breath.

Breakdown of Setiap kali saya stres, saya mengambil napas dalam-dalam.

• adalah: to be
• sebuah: a
• saya: I
• mengambil: to take
• stres: stressed
• napas: the breath
• dalam-dalam: deeply
• setiap kali: every time

Questions & Answers about Setiap kali saya stres, saya mengambil napas dalam-dalam.

What does setiap kali mean, and is it different from just setiap?

Setiap kali means every time / whenever and is followed by a clause (a full sentence):

• Setiap kali saya stres, ... = Every time I’m stressed, ...

Setiap by itself usually goes with a noun:

• setiap hari = every day
• setiap orang = every person

You generally don’t say ✗ setiap saya stres in standard Indonesian. For “whenever I’m stressed”, setiap kali is the natural choice.

Can I replace setiap kali with ketika or kalau?

You can, but the nuance changes:

• Ketika saya stres, ...
  = When I am stressed (more neutral, more like “when” in a specific situation).

• Kalau saya stres, ...
  = If/when I am stressed (colloquial, very common in speech).

• Setiap kali saya stres, ...
  = Every time / whenever I am stressed (emphasizes that it happens repeatedly, as a habit).

For a habitual action like in this sentence, setiap kali fits very well, but kalau is also very natural in everyday speech.

Why is stres spelled with one s, and is it the same as English stress?

Yes, stres is borrowed from English stress, but adapted to Indonesian spelling and pronunciation.

• Spelling: stres (one s at the end) is the correct Indonesian form.
• Meaning: It usually means feeling stressed / under mental pressure, like English “stressed”.

You can say:

• Saya stres. = I’m stressed.
• Pekerjaan membuat saya stres. = Work makes me stressed.

There’s also tekanan (pressure) and tertekan (feeling pressured/oppressed), but stres is the most direct and common equivalent of “stressed”.

Why is it saya stres, not something like saya sedang stres?

Indonesian often omits explicit tense/aspect markers like sedang when they’re clear from context.

• Saya stres.
  Literally: I (am) stressed.
  Natural meaning in context: I’m (currently) stressed.

• Saya sedang stres.
  Adds emphasis to the “right now” aspect: I am currently stressed.

In this sentence, because it’s a general pattern (every time I’m stressed), simple saya stres is enough; the time frame is implied by setiap kali.

Could I use aku instead of saya here?

Yes, grammatically you can:

• Setiap kali aku stres, aku mengambil napas dalam-dalam.

The difference is in formality and tone:

• saya – polite, neutral, more formal; safe in almost any situation.
• aku – more informal, intimate; used with friends, family, or in casual contexts.

In a textbook or neutral written Indonesian, saya is more typical.

What is the literal meaning of mengambil napas, and why not just a verb like “to breathe”?

Literally:

• mengambil = to take
• napas = breath

So mengambil napas = to take a breath.

Indonesian does have a verb bernapas (to breathe):

• Saya bernapas. = I breathe / I am breathing.

But in this sentence, we’re talking about a deliberate, single action: taking a deep breath to calm yourself. That’s why mengambil napas is used, not just bernapas, which is more about the general act of breathing.

What about menarik napas—is it different from mengambil napas?

Both are very common:

• menarik napas
  Literally: to pull breath in = to inhale, take a breath.
• mengambil napas
  Literally: to take a breath.

In everyday use they are practically interchangeable in many contexts:

• Setiap kali saya stres, saya menarik napas dalam-dalam.
• Setiap kali saya stres, saya mengambil napas dalam-dalam.

Both sound natural. Some speakers slightly prefer menarik napas for inhaling and menghela napas for exhaling (sighing), but mengambil napas is perfectly idiomatic here.

Why is napas spelled with p, not nafas with f?

Official modern Indonesian spelling (per the standard rules) uses napas with p.

• napas = breath (standard spelling)
• nafas = older / alternative spelling, still very common in informal writing and some literature.

You’ll see both, but in formal or textbook Indonesian, napas is the recommended form.

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

Dalam by itself means inside or deep.
When repeated as dalam-dalam, it functions as an adverb of manner: deeply.

Reduplication (repeating a word) is a common pattern in Indonesian. Here, it:

• Turns dalam into an adverb,
• Adds emphasis/intensity: very deep / deeply.

So:

• mengambil napas dalam-dalam ≈ to take a deep breath / to breathe in deeply.

The hyphen is just the standard way to write reduplication in Indonesian: word-word.

Could I say napas yang dalam instead of napas dalam-dalam?

Yes, that’s possible, but it shifts the structure a bit:

• mengambil napas dalam-dalam
  = take a breath deeply (adverb describing how you take the breath).

• mengambil napas yang dalam
  = take a deep breath (adjective describing the breath itself).

Both are understandable. In practice, for this calming action, napas dalam-dalam is extremely common and feels very natural. napas yang dalam sounds a bit more like a descriptive phrase (e.g., in narration).

Is the comma after stres necessary, and how does it affect the sentence?

In writing, the comma marks the boundary between the dependent clause and the main clause:

• Setiap kali saya stres, (dependent clause: when/whenever I’m stressed)
• saya mengambil napas dalam-dalam. (main clause: I take a deep breath)

In speech, you naturally make a short pause there.
In informal writing, some people might omit the comma, but the standard and clearest form keeps it:

• Setiap kali saya stres, saya mengambil napas dalam-dalam.

How does Indonesian show that this is something I do habitually, like “whenever I’m stressed, I take a deep breath”?

Indonesian doesn’t use verb tenses like English, but habit is shown by:

1. Time expression / connector

   • Setiap kali (“every time / whenever”) clearly signals a repeated pattern.

2. Simple present-style verbs

   • saya stres (I’m stressed)
   • saya mengambil napas (I take a breath)

Together, they give the meaning “Whenever I’m stressed, I (habitually) take a deep breath.” No extra word like “usually” is required, though you could add biasanya (usually) for extra emphasis:

• Setiap kali saya stres, saya biasanya mengambil napas dalam-dalam.