Kami melihat gua tua di kaki gunung.

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Breakdown of Kami melihat gua tua di kaki gunung.

• di: at
• kami: we
• melihat: to see

Questions & Answers about Kami melihat gua tua di kaki gunung.

What exactly does kami mean, and how is it different from kita or kami semua?

Kami means we / us (but not you). It excludes the person you are talking to.

• Kami melihat gua tua di kaki gunung.
  = We (not including you) saw an old cave at the foot of the mountain.

Compare with:

• Kita = we / us including the listener.
  
  • Kita melihat gua tua di kaki gunung.
    = You and I (and maybe others) saw an old cave at the foot of the mountain.

Kami semua literally means all of us (not including you) and just emphasizes that the whole group did it.

• Kami semua melihat gua tua di kaki gunung.
  = All of us (but not you) saw an old cave at the foot of the mountain.

How do we know that melihat means saw (past) here and not see (present)? Indonesian doesn’t show tense?

Indonesian verbs usually do not change form for tense. Melihat simply means to see / see / saw / seeing depending on context.

• Kami melihat gua tua di kaki gunung.
  Can be translated as:
  
  • We see an old cave at the foot of the mountain.
  • We are seeing an old cave at the foot of the mountain.
  • We saw an old cave at the foot of the mountain.

To make the time clear, Indonesians often add time words:

• Tadi kami melihat gua tua di kaki gunung. = Earlier we saw an old cave at the foot of the mountain.