Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya mematikan notifikasi grup chat saat belajar supaya lebih tenang. - I turn off group chat notifications when studying so I can be calmer.

In this sentence, mematikan means to turn off / to switch off / to disable something.
So mematikan notifikasi = to turn off notifications.

Literally, it’s like “to cause (something) to be off/dead.”

You can use mematikan for many devices or features:

mematikan lampu – to turn off the light
mematikan TV – to turn off the TV
mematikan data seluler – to turn off mobile data

Why can’t I just say Saya mati notifikasi instead of Saya mematikan notifikasi?

In Indonesian, mati is normally an adjective or intransitive verb:

Lampu itu mati. – The light is off / The light went out.
Dia sudah mati. – He/She has died.

You don’t usually use mati directly with an object like English “I dead the notifications.”

To express an action that you do to something (turn it off), you use the transitive form mematikan:

Saya mematikan notifikasi. – I turn off the notifications.

Colloquially, people sometimes drop the prefix and say:

Saya matikan notifikasinya. – I turn off the notifications.

Here matikan is still understood as the verb mematikan, just shortened in speech, and -kan is kept.
But Saya mati notifikasi is ungrammatical.

What role does -kan play in mematikan?

The suffix -kan (combined with the prefix meN- → meN-…-kan) often has:

Causative meaning – “to cause something to become X”:
- mati (off/dead) → mematikan = to make something off / to turn something off
- besar (big) → membesarkan = to make something bigger / to raise
Transitive meaning – it makes the verb take a direct object.

So mematikan means:

You actively do something
To an object (here: notifikasi)
Causing that object to be in a mati (off) state

Is notifikasi singular or plural here? How do I know?

Indonesian normally does not mark plural with an ending like English -s.
So notifikasi can mean:

notification (one)
notifications (more than one)

The number is understood from context or can be made explicit, e.g.:

satu notifikasi – one notification
banyak notifikasi – many notifications
semua notifikasi – all notifications

In Saya mematikan notifikasi grup chat, it’s naturally understood as all or the notifications from the group chat, but grammatically it could be singular or plural.

Why is it grup chat and not chat grup? How do noun phrases like this work?

In Indonesian, when you combine two nouns, the main noun usually comes first, and the second noun specifies it.

So:

grup chat = a group (of) chat → a chat group
grup WhatsApp = a WhatsApp group
grup keluarga = a family group

If you said chat grup, it would sound wrong or at least very odd, like “chat of group” instead of “group chat.”

So the correct and natural order is grup chat.

Could I say something more Indonesian-sounding than grup chat, like grup obrolan?

Yes. Grup chat is a very common loan phrase from English, but you do have more “Indonesian” options:

grup obrolan – literally conversation group
grup percakapan – more formal, conversation group
grup WhatsApp / grup WA – if you want to specify the app

All of these can work:

Saya mematikan notifikasi grup obrolan saat belajar supaya lebih tenang.
Saya mematikan notifikasi grup WhatsApp saat belajar supaya lebih tenang.

Grup chat is informal but completely natural in everyday speech and writing.

What does saat belajar mean exactly, and how is it different from ketika belajar or waktu belajar?

Saat belajar literally means “when (I’m) studying” / “while studying.”

saat = at the time when / when
belajar = to study

In this sentence: saat belajar = when I study / while I’m studying.

You can replace saat with ketika almost freely:

ketika belajar – when (I’m) studying

Both saat and ketika are natural and fairly neutral.

Waktu is a bit more like “time” and in this pattern sounds slightly more spoken/informal:

waktu belajar – when (I’m) studying / at the time of studying

All three are understandable, but saat/ketika belajar are the most neutral choices here.

Why is it saat belajar and not saat saya belajar? Is the subject just omitted?

Yes, the subject saya is understood from context and can be omitted.

saat saya belajar – when I am studying
saat belajar – when (I am) studying

Because Saya is already the subject of the main clause (Saya mematikan…), Indonesian often leaves it out in the time clause if it’s the same person. This sounds very natural.

Both sentences are correct:

Saya mematikan notifikasi grup chat saat belajar supaya lebih tenang.
Saya mematikan notifikasi grup chat saat saya belajar supaya lebih tenang.

The first one is just a bit shorter and more typical in everyday speech.

What does supaya mean here, and how is it different from agar or untuk?

In this sentence, supaya means “so that / in order to.”

… saat belajar supaya lebih tenang.
→ … when I study so that I’m calmer / to be calmer.

Close equivalents:

agar – very similar to supaya, a bit more formal or written
biar – more informal / colloquial
supaya – neutral, widely used in speech and writing

You could say:

… saat belajar agar lebih tenang. (slightly more formal)
… saat belajar biar lebih tenang. (more casual)

Untuk usually means “for / to” and is more about purpose of a noun or activity, not result on the subject:

Saya belajar untuk ujian. – I study for the exam.

You sometimes see untuk lebih tenang, but supaya/agar lebih tenang is more natural in this exact sentence because it clearly shows a result/goal: becoming calmer.

What does lebih tenang literally mean? Why use lebih before an adjective?

lebih = more
tenang = calm

So lebih tenang = more calm / calmer.

Indonesian doesn’t change the adjective itself to make comparatives (no calmer vs calm form). Instead, it uses lebih + adjective:

lebih besar – bigger / larger
lebih cepat – faster
lebih tenang – calmer

If you want to say “more calm than X”, you add daripada:

lebih tenang daripada sebelumnya – calmer than before
lebih tenang daripada di rumah – calmer than at home

In this sentence, supaya lebih tenang just means “so that (I’m) calmer” (compared to if the notifications were on).

Can I change the word order? For example, can I start with Supaya lebih tenang?

Yes, Indonesian word order is flexible with clauses like this. These are all acceptable:

Saya mematikan notifikasi grup chat saat belajar supaya lebih tenang.
Supaya lebih tenang, saya mematikan notifikasi grup chat saat belajar.
Saat belajar, saya mematikan notifikasi grup chat supaya lebih tenang.

The meaning is the same; only the emphasis changes slightly:

Starting with Supaya lebih tenang emphasizes the goal (being calm).
Starting with Saat belajar emphasizes the time/situation.
Starting with Saya mematikan… is the most straightforward, neutral order.

How would I change this sentence to past or future time, like “I turned off” or “I will turn off”?

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. You add time words or aspect markers instead:

Present / habitual (as given):

Saya mematikan notifikasi grup chat saat belajar supaya lebih tenang.
– I turn off / I usually turn off / I’m turning off (when I study).

Past (I turned off):

Tadi saya mematikan notifikasi grup chat saat belajar supaya lebih tenang.
– Earlier I turned off…
Kemarin / tadi malam, etc. can also be used.

Future (I will turn off):

Nanti saya akan mematikan notifikasi grup chat saat belajar supaya lebih tenang.
– Later I will turn off…
Besok saya akan mematikan… – Tomorrow I will turn off…

You can use akan to make the future clear, but often nanti / besok / sebentar lagi etc. are enough by themselves.

How formal or informal is this sentence? Is there a more formal version?

The original sentence is neutral–informal:

Saya mematikan notifikasi grup chat saat belajar supaya lebih tenang.
Saya is neutral and polite.
grup chat and supaya are everyday, natural choices.

A more formal version could be:

Saya menonaktifkan notifikasi grup percakapan saat belajar agar lebih tenang.

Changes:

menonaktifkan instead of mematikan – “to deactivate” (more technical/formal)
grup percakapan instead of grup chat
agar instead of supaya – slightly more formal

All versions, however, are polite; you can safely use the original sentence in most situations.