Saya sering melihat foto teman-teman saya di media sosial sebelum tidur.

I often look at my friends’ photos on social media before sleeping.

Breakdown of Saya sering melihat foto teman-teman saya di media sosial sebelum tidur.

• saya: I
• teman: the friend
• sebelum: before
• tidur: to sleep
• di: on
• sering: often
• saya: my
• melihat: to look at
• foto: the photo
• media sosial: the social media

Questions & Answers about Saya sering melihat foto teman-teman saya di media sosial sebelum tidur.

Why is teman written as teman-teman with a hyphen?

In Indonesian, repeating a noun with a hyphen (reduplication) usually marks the plural.

• teman = friend
• teman-teman = friends

So teman-teman means more than one friend. The hyphen shows this repetition clearly in writing.

What is the function of saya in teman-teman saya? Why not just teman-teman?

Saya means I / me, but after a noun it works like my.

• teman-teman = friends (no owner specified)
• teman-teman saya = my friends

So teman-teman saya is friends of mine or my friends. Without saya, it could be any friends, not specifically yours.

Why is saya repeated? We have Saya at the start and teman-teman saya at the end.

The two saya have different grammatical roles:

• The first Saya is the subject: I often look at...
• The second saya shows possession: my friends.

So the sentence literally is: I often look at photos of my friends on social media before sleeping.
In Indonesian it is completely normal to repeat saya like this.

Could I drop the second saya and just say foto teman-teman di media sosial?

Yes, you can say:

• Saya sering melihat foto teman-teman di media sosial sebelum tidur.

This is still understandable and often said in casual speech.
However, teman-teman without saya is more general: friends (not clearly marked as my friends).
Adding saya makes it explicit that those are your friends.

Does foto here mean one photo or many photos?

In Indonesian, nouns are usually not marked for singular or plural. Foto by itself can mean photo or photos, depending on context.

If you really want to emphasize plural, you can say:

• foto-foto teman-teman saya = photos of my friends (clearly plural)

But in this sentence, foto teman-teman saya is naturally understood as photos in general.

Why is sering placed before melihat? Can I say Saya melihat sering foto...?

Sering (often) normally comes before the verb it modifies:

• Saya sering melihat... = I often see / look at...

Saya melihat sering foto... is ungrammatical in Indonesian.
The usual patterns are:

• Saya sering melihat foto...
• Saya tidak sering melihat foto... (I don’t often look at photos)

Can I leave out Saya at the beginning and just say Sering melihat foto teman-teman saya...?

In casual spoken Indonesian, people sometimes drop saya and say:

• Sering melihat foto teman-teman saya di media sosial sebelum tidur.

The subject saya is understood from context.
However, in neutral or written Indonesian, including Saya is clearer and more correct:
Saya sering melihat...

What does sebelum tidur literally mean? Can I also say sebelum saya tidur?

Literally:

• sebelum = before
• tidur = sleep / to sleep

So sebelum tidur = before sleeping / before (I) sleep.
The subject I is understood from the main clause.

You can also say:

• sebelum saya tidur = before I sleep

Both are correct. Sebelum tidur is shorter and very common in everyday speech.

Can sebelum tidur be moved to the front of the sentence?

Yes. Both are correct:

• Saya sering melihat foto teman-teman saya di media sosial sebelum tidur.
• Sebelum tidur, saya sering melihat foto teman-teman saya di media sosial.

Moving sebelum tidur to the front adds a small emphasis to the time: As for before sleeping, I often...
Grammatically, both word orders are fine.

What is the difference between melihat foto and melihat-lihat foto?

• melihat foto = to see / look at photos (neutral, just the action)
• melihat-lihat foto = to look around / browse through photos, often more leisurely

So Saya sering melihat-lihat foto teman-teman saya... suggests scrolling or browsing through many photos for a while, not just a quick look.

Why is there no word for the in foto teman-teman saya? How do you say the photos?

Indonesian has no direct equivalent of English the or a/an. Context tells you whether it means the photos, some photos, or just photos in general.

Saya sering melihat foto teman-teman saya... can be understood as:

• I often look at my friends’ photos...
• I often look at the photos of my friends...

To be more specific, you would usually add context, not an article. For example:

• foto teman-teman saya yang kemarin = the photos of my friends from yesterday

Is media sosial singular or plural? And why do we use di here?

Media sosial is a borrowed phrase meaning social media. It can refer to social media in general; you don’t need to mark it as singular or plural.

Di means in / at / on (location).
So di media sosial = on social media.

You generally use di for locations, including abstract ones like di internet, di TV, di media sosial.

Can I use slang like medsos or sosmed instead of media sosial?

Yes, in informal contexts.

• media sosial = neutral / formal
• medsos or sosmed = slang, casual speech or writing (chats, social media, etc.)

Your sentence in casual style could be:

• Saya sering melihat foto teman-teman saya di medsos sebelum tidur.

Avoid medsos / sosmed in very formal writing.

What is the difference between saya and aku in this sentence?

Both mean I / me, but they differ in formality and tone:

• saya = neutral, polite, works in almost any situation
• aku = more intimate / informal, used with friends, family, people close to you

So:

• Saya sering melihat foto teman-teman saya... = polite/neutral
• Aku sering melihat foto teman-teman aku... = casual, between close friends

You should match saya with saya, and aku with aku, for consistency.

Why is it di media sosial and not pada media sosial?

In modern Indonesian, di is the normal preposition for physical and many abstract locations:

• di rumah (at home)
• di sekolah (at school)
• di internet, di TV, di media sosial

Pada is more formal and often used with abstract objects in a different sense (like towards, to in a figurative way), for example percaya pada Tuhan (believe in God).

So di media sosial is the natural, standard choice here.