Saya gemetar saat menonton siaran langsung pertandingan itu di kafe.

I tremble when watching the live broadcast of that match at the cafe.

Breakdown of Saya gemetar saat menonton siaran langsung pertandingan itu di kafe.

• itu: that
• saya: I
• di: at
• menonton: to watch
• saat: when
• pertandingan: the match
• kafe: the cafe
• siaran langsung: the live broadcast
• gemetar: to tremble

Questions & Answers about Saya gemetar saat menonton siaran langsung pertandingan itu di kafe.

In this sentence, what part of speech is gemetar? Is it a verb or an adjective?

In practical use here, gemetar behaves like an intransitive verb meaning to tremble / to shake.

• Saya gemetar ≈ I am trembling / I was trembling.
• There is no extra verb like to be in Indonesian, so gemetar directly plays the role of the predicate.

Grammatically, gemetar comes from the root getar (vibration; to vibrate) and is often classified as a stative verb (a verb that describes a state), which sits somewhere between verbs and adjectives in feel. But you can safely think of it as a verb meaning “to tremble.”

Why is it saya gemetar and not something like saya merasa gemetar?

Both are possible, but the nuance is slightly different:

• Saya gemetar.
  Direct, simple: I (am) trembling / I (was) trembling.
  This is the most natural and common way.

• Saya merasa gemetar.
  Literally: I feel (that I am) trembling.
  This emphasizes the feeling/awareness of trembling. It’s less common in this context unless you really want to highlight the subjective sensation.

In everyday speech, you usually just say Saya gemetar.

How should I understand saat menonton? Is saat like “when” or “while”? Why no subject after saat?

Saat is a conjunction here meaning roughly when / while / as (talking about time).

• saat menonton = when (I was) watching / while (I was) watching

In Indonesian, if the subject of the main clause and the subordinate clause is the same, you often omit the repeated subject:

• Full, explicit:
  Saya gemetar saat saya menonton siaran langsung…
• Natural, shortened:
  Saya gemetar saat menonton siaran langsung…

Both are correct. The shorter one sounds more natural and less repetitive.

What is the difference between saat, ketika, and waktu here? Could I say ketika menonton or waktu menonton instead?

All three can work here, with small tone differences:

• saat menonton
  Very common and neutral. Slightly formal-neutral.

• ketika menonton
  Also means when/while. Sounds a bit more formal / literary, but still normal in everyday speech.

• waktu menonton
  Literally at the time (of) watching. Feels a bit more colloquial / conversational.

Your sentence would still be fine as:

• Saya gemetar ketika menonton siaran langsung…
• Saya gemetar waktu menonton siaran langsung…

Meaning doesn’t really change in this context.

Why is it menonton and not nonton? What is the difference?

• menonton is the standard, full form of the verb: to watch (a show, TV, movie, etc.)
• nonton is the colloquial / shortened form used very often in speech and informal writing.

In your sentence:

• More formal / neutral:
  Saya gemetar saat menonton siaran langsung pertandingan itu di kafe.
• Casual / spoken:
  Saya gemetar waktu nonton siaran langsung pertandingan itu di kafe.

They mean the same thing; menonton simply sounds more standard.

How does the noun phrase siaran langsung pertandingan itu work? What exactly modifies what?

Break it down:

• siaran = broadcast
• langsung = live, direct
• siaran langsung = live broadcast
• pertandingan = match / game
• pertandingan itu = that match

The structure is:

• siaran langsung (live broadcast)
  of
• pertandingan itu (that match)

So siaran langsung pertandingan itu ≈ the live broadcast of that match.

Indonesian often stacks nouns like this without a preposition:

• siaran langsung pertandingan itu
• foto rumah saya = a photo (of) my house
• harga tiket konser itu = the price (of) that concert ticket

Could I say siaran langsung dari pertandingan itu instead? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can:

• siaran langsung pertandingan itu
• siaran langsung dari pertandingan itu

Both are grammatical and understandable.

Nuance:

• siaran langsung pertandingan itu
  More compact; very natural; felt as one tight noun phrase.

• siaran langsung dari pertandingan itu
  A bit more explicit and sometimes slightly more formal or explanatory, because dari clearly marks from / of.

In everyday speech about sports broadcasts, siaran langsung pertandingan itu is perfectly natural and common.

Why is it siaran langsung pertandingan itu, not pertandingan itu siaran langsung?

Pertandingan itu siaran langsung changes the structure and meaning:

• siaran langsung pertandingan itu = the live broadcast of that match
  (a broadcast is the main noun)

• pertandingan itu siaran langsung = that match is live
  (the match is the subject; siaran langsung describes its status)

So in your sentence:

• You are trembling while watching a broadcast, not necessarily at the stadium.
  → siaran langsung pertandingan itu

If you were at the stadium emphasizing the match itself being live (as it’s happening), you might say something like:

• Saya gemetar saat menonton pertandingan itu yang sedang berlangsung di stadion.
  (I was trembling while watching that match that was taking place in the stadium.)

Is siaran langsung always about watching on TV/online, or can it mean “watching the match live in the stadium”?

Siaran langsung specifically refers to the live broadcast (on TV, online, radio, etc.), not physically being present.

• menonton siaran langsung pertandingan itu
  → watching the live broadcast

To say you watched the match live in the stadium, you would normally not use siaran langsung. You’d say, for example:

• Saya menonton pertandingan itu langsung di stadion.
• Saya menonton pertandingan itu secara langsung di stadion.

Here langsung / secara langsung modifies how you watched it (directly / in person), rather than referring to a broadcast.

In English we say “I was trembling” (past tense). Indonesian just has Saya gemetar. How do we know it’s in the past?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense (no -ed, -s, etc.). Time is shown by:

• Context
• Time words (adverbs), such as:
  • tadi (a short while ago)
  • kemarin (yesterday)
  • tadi malam (last night), etc.

Your sentence is understood as past because of the situational context, not grammar alone. If you want to mark it clearly as past, you can add a time word:

• Tadi saya gemetar saat menonton siaran langsung pertandingan itu di kafe.
  Earlier I was trembling while watching the live broadcast of that match at the café.

But Saya gemetar saat menonton… by itself is already natural for a past event if the context is clear.

Could I say Saya sedang gemetar to mean “I am trembling (right now)”? How does sedang work here?

Yes:

• Saya gemetar.
  Can mean I am trembling (now) or I was trembling (in a story), depending on context.

• Saya sedang gemetar.
  Emphasizes that the action/state is in progress right now: I am currently trembling.

Sedang is a marker for an ongoing action, similar to English -ing or am/is/are …ing. You don’t need it in your original sentence, but you can use it if you really want to stress the “right now” feeling.

Why is it di kafe and not something like pada kafe? How do I choose prepositions for places?

For physical locations, you almost always use di:

• di kafe = at the café
• di rumah = at home
• di sekolah = at school

Pada is more abstract and formal, often used with time expressions, topics, or more abstract nouns, for example:

• pada hari Senin = on Monday
• pada kesempatan ini = on this occasion

So:

• di kafe is the natural and correct choice for a physical place.

What is the difference between di kafe, di sebuah kafe, and di kafe itu?

They all contain kafe but differ in definiteness and specificity:

1. di kafe

   • General: at a café / at the café
   • Context decides whether the listener already knows which café.

2. di sebuah kafe

   • Literally: at a café (one café, not specified which).
   • Emphasizes that it’s some café, not an already-known one.

3. di kafe itu

   • at that café (a specific café that both speaker and listener know or that was mentioned before).
   • itu = that.

Your original sentence di kafe is neutral and very natural; English could translate it either as at a café or at the café depending on context.

Why is the subject Saya used instead of Aku? Could I say Aku gemetar…?

Both are correct, but they differ in formality and who you’re talking to:

• Saya

  • Polite, neutral, standard.
  • Used in formal situations, with strangers, in writing, and safe in almost any context.

• Aku

  • More informal / intimate.
  • Used with close friends, family, in casual conversation, songs, etc.

So:

• Saya gemetar saat menonton… = neutral / polite
• Aku gemetar waktu nonton… = more casual, friendly tone

Choose based on how close you are to the listener and how formal the situation is.

Can Saya be omitted here, like just Gemetar saat menonton…?

You can omit Saya, but it changes the style:

• Saya gemetar saat menonton siaran langsung pertandingan itu di kafe.
  Clear that I was trembling.

• Gemetar saat menonton siaran langsung pertandingan itu di kafe.
  Grammatically possible, but feels fragment-like or diary-style, as if you are listing experiences or writing a caption. It sounds less like a complete, standard sentence.

In normal spoken or written Indonesian, you keep Saya (or Aku) here.