Ayah berkata, “Yang penting kalian pulang tepat waktu,” lalu menutup telepon.

Father said, “What matters is that you come home on time,” then hung up the phone.

Breakdown of Ayah berkata, “Yang penting kalian pulang tepat waktu,” lalu menutup telepon.

• adalah: to be
• penting: important
• pulang: to go home
• yang: that

Questions & Answers about Ayah berkata, “Yang penting kalian pulang tepat waktu,” lalu menutup telepon.

What does Ayah mean here, and why is it capitalized?

Ayah literally means father, but in this sentence it works more like Dad as a way to refer to one’s own father.

In Indonesian:

• ayah (lowercase) = the common noun father
• Ayah (capitalized) = can function as a name / title, like saying Dad

So Ayah berkata = Dad said. It is capitalized because it is being used as a form of address/title, not just as a generic noun.

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What is the difference between berkata, mengatakan, and bilang? Why use berkata here?