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Teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak malam ini.

Teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak malam ini.
My friend tells me about the sudden meeting tonight.

Breakdown of Teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak malam ini.

teman
the friend
tentang
about
rapat
the meeting
saya
my
saya
me
malam ini
tonight
mendadak
sudden
memberi tahu
to tell
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Questions & Answers about Teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak malam ini.

Why is it Teman saya and not saya teman for my friend?

In Indonesian, the possessive pronoun normally comes after the noun:

  • teman saya = my friend
  • rumah saya = my house
  • ibu saya = my mother

Putting saya before the noun (like saya teman) is not correct for possession in standard Indonesian.

You can also say:

  • temanku (more informal, with the suffix -ku meaning my)

So the natural options are teman saya or temanku, not saya teman.

Why is saya repeated? Could we say Teman saya memberi tahu tentang rapat mendadak malam ini without the second saya?

The original sentence:

  • Teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak malam ini.

has saya as both the possessor (teman saya = my friend) and the object (memberi tahu saya = told me).

You can drop the second saya:

  • Teman saya memberi tahu tentang rapat mendadak malam ini.

This is grammatically fine, and in context people will usually understand that I am the one who was told. However:

  • With saya: it is completely clear who received the information.
  • Without saya: it’s slightly more context‑dependent; it could in theory mean “My friend informed (someone) about the sudden meeting tonight.”

So the version with both saya is more explicit; dropping the second saya is possible and quite natural in conversation when the context is clear.

Is memberi tahu one word or two? What about memberitahu and ngasih tahu?

You will see several forms:

  1. memberitahu – one word

    • This is the “dictionary form” (prefix meN-
      • beritahu).
    • Common in formal writing.

  2. memberi tahu – two words

    • Very common in everyday writing.
    • Treated as a verb phrase: memberi (to give) + tahu (know) → to inform / to tell.

  3. ngasih tahu or kasih tahu – colloquial

    • kasih or ngasih = to give (informal).
    • Very common in casual speech:
      • Teman saya ngasih tahu saya…

All three convey basically the same meaning (“to tell / inform”). In neutral/formal contexts, memberitahu or memberi tahu are best. In relaxed conversation, kasih tahu / ngasih tahu is extremely common.

Can I say memberi saya tahu instead of memberi tahu saya?

No, memberi saya tahu is not natural Indonesian.

The pattern is:

  • memberi tahu [object] (tentang …)

So:

  • Teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat… ✅
  • Teman saya memberi tahu mereka tentang rapat… ✅

You shouldn’t put the pronoun between memberi and tahu like English “give me knowledge”. Keep memberi tahu together, then add the object:

  • memberi tahu saya, memberi tahu dia, memberi tahu kami, etc.
What does tentang mean here? Can it be replaced, or left out?

tentang means about / regarding / concerning.

In this sentence:

  • memberi tahu saya tentang rapat…
    = told me about the meeting…

You have some alternatives:

  • mengenai rapat mendadak malam ini (a bit more formal)
  • soal rapat mendadak malam ini (colloquial)
  • perihal rapat mendadak malam ini (formal/literary)

Usually you cannot just drop tentang (or its equivalent) if you want the meaning about:

  • Teman saya memberi tahu saya rapat mendadak malam ini. ⭢ sounds off/unnatural.

So normally you need tentang / mengenai / soal to connect the verb memberi tahu with the topic of the information.

What exactly does rapat mean? Is it the same as meeting in English?

rapat means meeting in the sense of a formal or semi‑formal gathering:

  • office meeting
  • committee meeting
  • organizational meeting

Examples:

  • rapat kerja = work meeting
  • rapat guru = teachers’ meeting

There is also pertemuan (a meeting, encounter) and the loanword miting/meeting in very informal speech, but rapat is the standard, neutral word for a meeting, especially in work or organizational contexts.

Why is it rapat mendadak and not mendadak rapat?

In Indonesian, adjectives (and many descriptive words) normally come after the noun:

  • rumah besar = big house
  • kopi panas = hot coffee
  • rapat mendadak = sudden meeting

So rapat mendadak = “a meeting that is sudden / last‑minute”.

Putting mendadak before rapat (mendadak rapat) is not standard Indonesian. The normal order is noun + description.

What is the nuance of mendadak here? How is it different from tiba‑tiba or dadakan?

  • mendadak can function as an adjective or adverb:

    • rapat mendadak = a sudden meeting
    • Dia datang mendadak. = He/She came suddenly.

  • tiba‑tiba is typically an adverb (“suddenly”) used for actions/events:

    • Tiba‑tiba dia datang. = Suddenly he/she came.
    • You don’t normally say rapat tiba‑tiba; you’d say rapat yang diadakan tiba‑tiba, which is longer.

  • dadakan is colloquial and often means “last‑minute / improvised / made on the spot”:

    • rapat dadakan = last‑minute / impromptu meeting (very informal feel).

In your sentence, rapat mendadak is neutral and natural: a meeting that was arranged suddenly, not planned in advance.

Why do we say malam ini and not ini malam?

The normal pattern for this [time] in Indonesian is:

  • [time word] + ini

Examples:

  • hari ini = today
  • pagi ini = this morning
  • malam ini = tonight / this evening

ini malam is not the standard way to say tonight. You may occasionally see ini malam in very specific contexts or dialects, but the natural, standard form is malam ini.

Where can malam ini go in the sentence? Is the word order flexible?

Time expressions are fairly flexible in Indonesian. All of these are acceptable:

  1. Teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak malam ini.
  2. Malam ini, teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak.
  3. Teman saya malam ini memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak. (possible, but less common/natural than 1 and 2)

Most natural patterns:

  • [Subject] [Verb] [Object] [Time]
    • Teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak malam ini.
  • or [Time], [Subject] [Verb] [Object]
    • Malam ini, teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak.

So the position at the end or beginning is most common.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would people actually say it like this?

Teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak malam ini. is neutral Indonesian. It’s perfectly acceptable in both spoken and written language, and would be understood everywhere.

Possible variations by register:

  • More casual:
    • Teman aku ngasih tahu aku soal rapat dadakan malam ini.
  • More formal:
    • Teman saya memberitahu saya mengenai rapat mendadak malam ini.

So the original sentence sits comfortably in the middle: polite, natural, and not too formal.

How would I say A friend of mine told me… instead of My friend told me…?

To express a friend of mine (not a specific, known friend), you can say:

  • Seorang teman saya memberi tahu saya tentang rapat mendadak malam ini.

Breakdown:

  • seorang = one (person) / a (for people)
  • teman saya = my friend

So seorang teman saya ≈ a friend of mine.

Compare:

  • Teman saya memberi tahu saya…
    = My friend told me… (a specific friend, already known in the context)
  • Seorang teman saya memberi tahu saya…
    = A friend of mine told me… (one of my friends, not necessarily previously mentioned).