Saya melihat swafoto teman saya di media sosial.

I see my friend's selfie on social media.

Breakdown of Saya melihat swafoto teman saya di media sosial.

• saya: I
• teman: the friend
• di: on
• melihat: to see
• media sosial: the social media
• swafoto: the selfie

Questions & Answers about Saya melihat swafoto teman saya di media sosial.

Why is it swafoto teman saya and not swafoto saya teman?

In Indonesian, possessive pronouns like saya usually come after the noun they possess, not before it.

The basic pattern is:

• teman saya = my friend
• rumah saya = my house

In swafoto teman saya:

• swafoto = selfie
• teman saya = my friend

So the structure is literally “selfie [of] my friend”, i.e. “my friend’s selfie.”

Swafoto saya teman is ungrammatical. You can’t separate saya from the noun it belongs to (teman) like that.

How do I know that saya belongs to teman and not to swafoto?

In Indonesian, a possessive pronoun almost always attaches to the closest preceding noun.

The chunking here is:

• Saya (subject)
• melihat (verb)
• swafoto teman saya (object noun phrase)
• di media sosial (prepositional phrase of place)

Inside the object phrase:

• swafoto = head noun 1
• teman saya = noun phrase modifying swafoto

So:

• teman saya = my friend
• swafoto teman saya = my friend’s selfie

If saya belonged to swafoto, we’d expect swafoto saya, like:

• Saya melihat swafoto saya. = I saw my selfie.

Because saya is right after teman, it’s naturally read as teman saya (“my friend”), not “my selfie”.

Does this sentence mean past tense (“I saw”) or present (“I see”)? How do I mark tense in Indonesian?

By itself, Saya melihat swafoto teman saya di media sosial. is tense-neutral. It can mean:

• I see my friend’s selfie on social media. (right now / generally)
• I saw my friend’s selfie on social media. (in the past)

Indonesian does not change the verb form for tense. You add time adverbs to make it clear:

• Kemarin saya melihat swafoto teman saya di media sosial.
  = I saw my friend’s selfie on social media yesterday.

• Tadi malam saya melihat swafoto teman saya di media sosial.
  = I saw my friend’s selfie on social media last night.

• Setiap hari saya melihat swafoto teman saya di media sosial.
  = Every day I see my friend’s selfie on social media.

Could this sentence mean “I saw my friends’ selfies” (plural)?

Yes, Indonesian is normally ambiguous about singular vs. plural unless you add something to clarify.

• teman saya can mean:

  • my friend (one)
  • my friends (more than one)

• swafoto can be:

  • a selfie (one)
  • selfies (more than one)

Context usually tells you whether it’s singular or plural. If you want to be explicit:

• Saya melihat beberapa swafoto teman-teman saya di media sosial.
  = I saw several selfies of my friends on social media.

Notes:

• beberapa = several
• teman-teman saya = my friends (plural marked by repetition)

What’s the difference between saya and aku? Could I say Aku melihat swafoto teman aku…?

Both mean “I / me”, but they differ in formality and relationship.

• saya

  • more formal / neutral
  • used with strangers, in work situations, in writing, polite speech
  • fits well with almost any context

• aku

  • informal / intimate
  • used with close friends, family, casual chats, songs

You can say, in informal speech or writing:

• Aku melihat swafoto temanku di media sosial.

Here:

• temanku = teman
  • -ku (my friend, informal)

That sounds more natural than teman aku in many regions, though teman aku is still understood and used colloquially.

Why is it melihat and not just lihat? What’s the difference between melihat, lihat, and menonton?

Base verb: lihat = see, look.

1. melihat

   • formally the standard transitive verb “to see”
   • used in careful/standard Indonesian:
     • Saya melihat swafoto teman saya.

2. lihat (without me-)

   • base form, often used in informal speech as if it were a verb:
     • Aku lihat swafoto temanku. (casual)
   • That’s fine in conversation, less so in formal writing.

3. menonton

   • “to watch” something with duration (video, film, show):
     • Saya menonton video di media sosial. = I watch a video…
   • You wouldn’t normally say menonton swafoto, because a selfie is a static image, not something you “watch.”

So melihat swafoto is the natural standard form for “see a selfie.”

Why do we use di in di media sosial? Could I use pada or something else?

di is the basic preposition of place: in / on / at.

• di media sosial ≈ on social media

You could technically use pada in very formal style, but for places and locations di is overwhelmingly more natural:

• Saya melihatnya pada media sosial.
  Sounds stiff / overly formal, not everyday speech.

In this sentence, di is a separate word, not the passive prefix di-. You can tell it is a preposition because:

• it is followed by a noun phrase of location (media sosial)
• it is not attached to a verb.

So:

• di media sosial = preposition + noun (location)
• dipakai, dibaca = di-
  • verb (passive voice prefixes)

Can I move di media sosial to another position, like at the beginning?

Yes, Indonesian word order is fairly flexible for adverbial phrases. All of these are grammatical:

1. Saya melihat swafoto teman saya di media sosial.
   (Neutral, very natural.)

2. Di media sosial, saya melihat swafoto teman saya.
   (Emphasizes the location: On social media, I saw…)

3. Saya di media sosial melihat swafoto teman saya.
   (Possible, but sounds less smooth / a bit clunky.)

The most natural options in everyday use are (1) and (2), with (1) probably the most typical.

Is swafoto really used, or do people just say selfie in Indonesian?

Both are used, but:

• swafoto

  • is the official Indonesian term (used in dictionaries, some media, formal writing)
  • formed from swa- (“self”) + foto (“photo”)

• selfie

  • is extremely common in informal, everyday speech, especially among younger people
  • feels more “modern / international”

Native speakers might actually say:

• Saya melihat selfie teman saya di media sosial.
• Saya melihat foto selfie teman saya di media sosial.

All are understandable. In a textbook or an exam, you’re more likely to see swafoto; in casual conversation, you’ll often hear selfie.

Can I drop saya after teman, and just say swafoto teman di media sosial?

You can, but the meaning becomes less specific:

• swafoto teman saya = my friend’s selfie
• swafoto teman ≈ a friend’s selfie / my friend’s selfie / a selfie of a friend

Without saya, you lose clear possession. It might be:

• a friend of mine
• a friend of someone we’re talking about
• or just “a friend” in general

swafoto teman saya makes it very clear: it’s the selfie of my friend.

If I want to mention a specific platform like Instagram, how do I change di media sosial?

You just replace media sosial with the name of the platform:

• Saya melihat swafoto teman saya di Instagram.
• Saya melihat swafoto teman saya di Facebook.
• Saya melihat swafoto teman saya di TikTok.

You can also keep both:

• Saya melihat swafoto teman saya di media sosial, di Instagram. = I saw my friend’s selfie on social media, on Instagram.

I often hear medsos or sosmed. Are those the same as media sosial?

Yes, they’re informal abbreviations:

• media sosial = social media (standard form)
• medsos (media sosial)
• sosmed (sosial media)

In casual speech or texting, people often say:

• Aku lihat swafoto temanku di medsos.

In formal writing or exams, stick with media sosial.

How would I say “I often see my friend’s selfies on social media” using this sentence as a base?

You can add a frequency adverb and optionally mark plural:

• Saya sering melihat swafoto teman saya di media sosial.
  = I often see my friend’s selfie/selfies on social media.

If you want to be explicitly plural for both selfies and friends:

• Saya sering melihat swafoto-swafoto teman-teman saya di media sosial.

Notes:

• sering = often
• swafoto-swafoto = selfies (reduplication to show plural, often used in writing)
• teman-teman saya = my friends (plural)