Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur.

I meditate briefly before sleeping.

Breakdown of Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur.

• saya: I
• sebelum: before
• tidur: to sleep
• singkat: briefly
• meditasi: to meditate

Questions & Answers about Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur.

In Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur, is meditasi a verb or a noun? Why can it appear right after Saya without another verb?

Literally, meditasi is a noun (meditation), but Indonesian often uses certain nouns directly after a subject to mean “do that activity”, so they function like verbs in practice.

Examples:

• Saya meditasi. = I meditate.
• Saya sarapan. = I eat breakfast. (from noun sarapan)
• Saya mandi. = I take a shower / I bathe. (from noun mandi)

So Saya meditasi naturally means “I meditate” without needing an extra verb like do or make.

You can also use explicit verb forms:

• Saya bermeditasi.
• Saya melakukan meditasi.

These are also correct, but Saya meditasi is short and common in everyday language.

Would Saya bermeditasi singkat sebelum tidur be more correct than Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur?

Both are correct. The difference is mainly style:

• Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur.

  • Shorter, more casual/neutral.
  • Very natural in speech.

• Saya bermeditasi singkat sebelum tidur.

  • Sounds a bit more formal or “bookish”.
  • You might see it in writing, articles, or more careful speech.

So it’s not about correctness; it’s about tone. For everyday conversation, Saya meditasi singkat… is perfectly fine.

Why is it meditasi singkat and not singkat meditasi? Where does singkat usually go?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they modify.

• meditasi singkat = short meditation
  (noun meditasi
  • adjective singkat)
• rumah besar = big house
• waktu lama = long time

Putting the adjective first (singkat meditasi) is not natural Indonesian. So the order meditasi singkat is the normal, correct pattern.

What is the difference between singkat and sebentar here? Could I say Saya meditasi sebentar sebelum tidur?

Yes, you can say:

• Saya meditasi sebentar sebelum tidur.

Both are correct, but with slightly different feel:

• singkat

  • Literally short.
  • Typically modifies nouns: meditasi singkat, pidato singkat (short speech), liburan singkat (short vacation).
  • Feels a bit more “descriptive” or slightly formal.

• sebentar

  • Means for a short while / for a moment.
  • Used more as an adverb (modifies the action).
  • Very common in speech, feels natural and informal/neutral:
    • Tunggu sebentar. = Wait a moment.
    • Saya meditasi sebentar. = I meditate for a short while.

So:

• meditasi singkat = a short meditation (emphasizing the type of session)
• meditasi sebentar = meditating for a short while (emphasizing how long you do it)

In everyday conversation, sebentar is extremely common.

Why is it sebelum tidur and not sebelum saya tidur?

Both are possible:

• sebelum tidur
• sebelum saya tidur

Differences:

• sebelum tidur

  • Very common fixed pattern.
  • The subject (I / you / we) is understood from context.
  • Sounds natural and concise: sebelum makan, sebelum berangkat, sebelum mandi, etc.

• sebelum saya tidur

  • Explicitly says I am the one who sleeps.
  • Slightly more emphatic or formal.
  • Used when you need to be clear about who is doing the action, e.g. if there might be confusion.

In your sentence, Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur is already clearly about you, so repeating saya before tidur is not necessary.

Is sebelum tidur more like “before sleeping” or “before bed”? Can it also mean “before going to bed”?

Sebelum tidur is flexible; it can cover all of these ideas depending on context:

• before sleeping
• before I go to sleep
• before bed

It refers to the time before you actually fall asleep, and in natural English it’s often translated as “before bed”.

If you really want to emphasize “going to bed (to the bed itself)” as a physical place, you could say:

• sebelum ke tempat tidur = before going to bed (literally, to the bed)

But in practice, sebelum tidur is what people normally say for night routines.

Can I drop Saya and just say Meditasi singkat sebelum tidur?

Yes, you can.

• Meditasi singkat sebelum tidur.

Without Saya, it usually sounds like:

• a general instruction or tip: (Do) a short meditation before bed.
• a heading or title
• a caption or note in a list of habits

With Saya:

• Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur. = I meditate briefly before bed.
  This clearly describes your routine.

So dropping Saya is fine, but it changes the feel from personal statement to more general advice or a label.

Is this sentence talking about a habit (something I usually do) or just something I did once?

By itself, Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur is neutral about time and frequency. Indonesian doesn’t mark tense the way English does, so it could mean:

• a habit / routine:
  Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur setiap malam.
  I do a short meditation before bed every night.
• something in the past:
  Tadi malam saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur.
  Last night I meditated briefly before bed.
• something you will do:
  Nanti malam saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur.
  Tonight I will meditate briefly before bed.

The time expression (tadi malam, setiap malam, nanti malam, etc.) gives the tense/aspect information.

How would I say “Every night I meditate briefly before bed”?

You can say:

• Setiap malam saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur.
  or (slightly more casual)
• Setiap malam saya meditasi sebentar sebelum tidur.

Setiap malam = every night.
Everything else stays the same.

Is Saya lakukan meditasi singkat sebelum tidur correct, like using do in English?

You need melakukan, not lakukan, in that position:

• Saya melakukan meditasi singkat sebelum tidur. ✅ (correct)
• Saya lakukan meditasi singkat sebelum tidur. ❌ (wrong in standard Indonesian)

Explanation:

• melakukan = to do / to carry out (used as a main verb)
• lakukan = the imperative form (used for commands):
  Lakukan meditasi singkat sebelum tidur! = Do a short meditation before bed!

So:

• Statement: Saya melakukan meditasi singkat…
• Command: Lakukan meditasi singkat…

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would I say it the same way to friends?

Saya meditasi singkat sebelum tidur is neutral and polite; you can use it in most situations.

With friends, people often make it more casual:

• Aku meditasi bentar sebelum tidur.
  • aku instead of saya (more intimate/informal)
  • bentar (colloquial form of sebentar)

So:

• Neutral/polite: Saya meditasi singkat/sebentar sebelum tidur.
• Casual with friends: Aku meditasi bentar sebelum tidur.

Could I say Saya meditasi dulu sebelum tidur? What does dulu add?

Yes, you can say:

• Saya meditasi dulu sebelum tidur.

Here dulu adds the idea of “first / beforehand”.
It suggests you do the meditation as a step before the next action:

• Saya meditasi dulu sebelum tidur.
  = I’ll meditate first before sleeping.
  (Meditation is the thing you do before proceeding to sleep.)

It’s a very natural way to describe the order of actions in Indonesian.