Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Setiap malam saya menulis rasa syukur di buku harian. - Every night I write down my gratitude in my diary.

Setiap malam saya menulis rasa syukur di buku harian.
Saya menulis rasa syukur di buku harian setiap malam.
Saya setiap malam menulis rasa syukur di buku harian. (slightly more marked/emphatic)

The most common are the first two (beginning or end of the sentence). Meaning doesn’t change; it’s just a matter of emphasis and rhythm.

Why is saya used? Could I say aku, or drop the pronoun?

Saya = I / me (neutral–polite, used in most situations including formal ones).
Aku = I / me (more informal/intimate, with friends, family, or children).

So you could say:

Setiap malam aku menulis rasa syukur di buku harian.

Dropping the subject pronoun completely (just Setiap malam menulis rasa syukur di buku harian) is not very natural in standard Indonesian unless the subject is very clear from context and very informal speech. Normally, you keep saya or aku.

What is the difference between menulis and menuliskan? Could I use menuliskan here?

Both come from the root tulis (write).

Menulis = to write (neutral, most common)
Menuliskan = to write (something) down, often with a bit more focus on the object being written or the act of recording.

In this sentence, both are possible:

Setiap malam saya menulis rasa syukur di buku harian.
Setiap malam saya menuliskan rasa syukur di buku harian.

Menulis is slightly simpler and feels perfectly natural here; menuliskan can sound a bit more deliberate or “I make a point of writing it down,” but the difference is subtle.

Why do we say rasa syukur and not just syukur? What does rasa add?

Syukur = gratitude, thankfulness.
Rasa = feeling, sense, or taste (depending on context).

So rasa syukur literally means the feeling of gratitude. It emphasizes that it’s an emotion or feeling you experience.

You can say:

Setiap malam saya menulis syukur di buku harian.

People will understand, but it sounds a bit unusual. More natural alternatives are:

Setiap malam saya menulis rasa syukur di buku harian. (as given)
Setiap malam saya menulis hal-hal yang saya syukuri di buku harian.
(“Every night I write the things I am grateful for in my diary.”)

So rasa syukur is a very common and natural collocation.

Is syukur the same as terima kasih? When do I use which?

They are related to gratitude but used differently:

Terima kasih = thank you (what you say to someone).
Syukur = gratitude / thankfulness (the feeling or concept of gratitude).

So:

You say to a person: Terima kasih.
You talk about your gratitude: Saya merasa bersyukur. / Saya punya rasa syukur.

In the sentence:

rasa syukur = (my) gratitude / feelings of gratitude, not “thank yous.”

I thought rasa means “taste.” Why is it used for “feeling” here?

Rasa has several related meanings: taste, feeling, sensation, sense.

In food context: rasa manis = sweet taste.
In emotion context: rasa sedih = feeling of sadness.
In this sentence: rasa syukur = feeling of gratitude.

So here it clearly means feeling, not taste. Context tells you which meaning applies.

Why is it di buku harian and not dalam buku harian? What’s the difference?

Both di and dalam can be translated as in, but they’re used differently:

Di = at / in / on (basic location preposition).
Dalam = inside, within (emphasizing the interior of something; a bit more formal or explicit).

In everyday language, di is normally used with things like books, diaries, papers:

Saya menulis di buku harian.
Tolong tulis di kertas ini.

Dalam buku harian is not wrong, but it sounds more formal or more like you’re emphasizing “inside the contents of the diary.” For a simple habitual sentence, di buku harian is the most natural choice.

What does buku harian literally mean, and is it the same as “diary” or “journal”?

Literally:

buku = book
harian = daily (from hari = day)

So buku harian is a daily book, i.e., a diary.

In practice:

buku harian = diary
diari (from English “diary”) also exists and is understood
jurnal = journal (can be more like a reflective or academic journal, depending on context)

For a personal diary where you write your daily thoughts and feelings, buku harian is standard and clear.

Why doesn’t the sentence say “my diary” (buku harian saya)? Is it implied?

Yes, Indonesian often leaves out possessives when context makes it obvious.

Di buku harian here is understood as in my diary because you’re talking about your own habit.

If you want to make it explicit, you can say:

Setiap malam saya menulis rasa syukur di buku harian saya.

Both versions are correct; the one with saya is just more explicit. In many natural sentences, Indonesians drop saya when possession is obvious.

How is tense expressed here? Why is there no word for “I write” vs “I am writing”?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Menulis can mean:

I write
I am writing
I wrote
I have written

Time is shown by context words like setiap malam (every night), kemarin (yesterday), besok (tomorrow), etc.

Here, setiap malam clearly tells us it’s a habitual action, which in English becomes “Every night I write…”.

Could I change the order to Setiap malam di buku harian saya menulis rasa syukur?

It’s grammatical, but it sounds unusual and a bit awkward.

A native speaker would almost always keep saya before the verb:

Setiap malam saya menulis rasa syukur di buku harian.
Setiap malam saya di buku harian menulis rasa syukur. (possible, but more marked)

Placing di buku harian directly after setiap malam and before saya is not natural word order in standard Indonesian.

How do you pronounce syukur, and is it different from sukur?

Syukur is pronounced roughly like:

syu as in “shoo” but shorter, and
kur like “koor” with a short u (as in “put”).

So: SYU-kur (2 syllables).

Spelling:

Syukur is the correct standard spelling.
You might see sukur informally or in older texts, but syukur is what you should use in modern standard Indonesian.