Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami duduk di atas tikar di taman sambil berbagi cerita tentang keluarga. - We sit on the mat in the park while sharing stories about family.

kami = we (but not including the person you’re talking to) → exclusive we
kita = we (including the person you’re talking to) → inclusive we

The sentence:

Kami duduk di atas tikar di taman sambil berbagi cerita tentang keluarga.
We sat on a mat in the park while sharing stories about family.

uses kami, which implies that the speaker and some other people were sitting there, but not the listener.

If the speaker wanted to include the listener (for example, telling a story you both were in), they would use kita instead:
> Kita duduk di atas tikar di taman…

How can this sentence talk about a past action if there is no past tense marker like -ed or did?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense (past, present, future). The verb duduk is the same for sit, sat, and will sit.

The time is understood from:

context, or
time words (like kemarin = yesterday, tadi = earlier, besok = tomorrow)

So this sentence:

Kami duduk di atas tikar di taman sambil berbagi cerita tentang keluarga.

could mean:

We are sitting on a mat in the park while sharing stories about family.
We sat on a mat in the park while sharing stories about family.

If you want to make it clearly past, you can add a time word:

Kemarin kami duduk di atas tikar di taman…
Yesterday we sat on a mat in the park…

What does di atas mean literally, and why do we need both di and atas?

di = at / in / on (general location preposition)
atas = top / above / on top

Combined:

di atas = on (top of) / on (with the nuance of physically on top of something)

So: > di atas tikar = on the mat (literally: at the top of the mat)

You usually keep both words together to express “on (top of)”. Just atas alone is more like “top/upper part” as a noun or adjective, not a full preposition.

Could we just say di tikar instead of di atas tikar?

You can hear di tikar, but it sounds less precise and less natural in this context.

di atas tikar clearly means on the mat (physically on top of it)
di tikar could be understood, but feels less idiomatic; it might sound like “at the mat / by the mat”

Native speakers almost always say:

duduk di atas kursi = sit on a chair
duduk di atas lantai = sit on the floor
duduk di atas tikar = sit on a mat

So here di atas tikar is the natural, standard choice.

Why is it di taman and not something like pada taman?

For physical locations, di is the default preposition:

di taman = in/at the park
di rumah = at home
di sekolah = at school

pada is more formal and is not usually used for simple physical places in everyday speech. It’s more common with:

abstract objects: pada kesempatan ini (on this occasion)
pronouns: pada saya, pada mereka (to me, to them) in formal writing

So di taman is the correct, natural expression for in the park.

What does sambil mean, and how is it different from sementara or ketika?

sambil means while (doing something else at the same time), and it emphasizes two actions done simultaneously by the same subject.

In the sentence:

Kami duduk di atas tikar di taman sambil berbagi cerita tentang keluarga.
We sat on a mat in the park while sharing stories about family.

The same subject (kami) is:

sitting
sharing stories
at the same time.

Comparison:

sambil = while (same subject, simultaneous actions)
- Dia makan sambil menonton TV.
  He eats while watching TV.
sementara = while / whereas (can connect different subjects or contrast)
- Saya membaca sementara dia tidur.
  I read while he sleeps.
ketika = when (time point, not necessarily stressing simultaneity)
- Ketika saya kecil, saya sering bermain di taman.
  When I was a child, I often played in the park.

In this sentence sambil is perfect because kami is doing both actions at once.

Is berbagi cerita a fixed phrase, and why does berbagi not need dengan here?

berbagi = to share
cerita = story / stories

berbagi cerita literally = (to) share stories. It’s a very natural, common collocation.

You can use berbagi in two patterns:

berbagi + object
- berbagi cerita = share stories
- berbagi pengalaman = share experiences
berbagi + something + dengan + someone
- berbagi cerita dengan teman-teman = share stories with (our) friends

In the sentence: > …sambil berbagi cerita tentang keluarga.

The focus is on what is being shared (stories about family), not with whom. So dengan is not needed. If you want to say with whom, you could extend it:

…sambil berbagi cerita tentang keluarga dengan teman-teman.
…while sharing stories about family with (our) friends.

What is the difference between cerita and bercerita?

cerita (noun) = story, tale
bercerita (verb) = to tell a story / to narrate

Examples:

Saya suka cerita ini.
I like this story.
Nenek saya sering bercerita tentang masa kecilnya.
My grandmother often tells stories about her childhood.

In the given sentence we use: > berbagi cerita = share stories

If you used bercerita, the structure would change:

Kami duduk di atas tikar di taman sambil bercerita tentang keluarga.
We sat on a mat in the park while telling stories about family.

Both berbagi cerita and bercerita are correct here; they’re just slightly different stylistic choices:

berbagi cerita emphasizes the sharing aspect.
bercerita emphasizes the act of telling stories.

Is tentang keluarga always used like this to mean “about family”? Can I put tentang earlier in the sentence?

tentang = about / regarding
keluarga = family

tentang + noun is the usual way to say about X.

Position:

It normally comes right after the thing it describes:
- berbagi cerita tentang keluarga = share stories about family
- berbicara tentang pekerjaan = talk about work

You generally don’t move tentang keluarga earlier in the sentence like:

✗ Kami tentang keluarga duduk di atas tikar… (incorrect)

So the natural position is exactly as in the original sentence.

Can I leave out kami and just say Duduk di atas tikar di taman sambil berbagi cerita tentang keluarga?

Yes, you can drop the subject pronoun if it’s clear from context, similar to some informal English storytelling (“Sat on a mat in the park, sharing stories about family”).

Indonesian often omits pronouns when:

it’s obvious who the subject is
it’s casual or narrative speech

However:

Kami duduk… is still more complete and clear, especially in written or formal Indonesian.
In exercises or learner contexts, it’s better to keep kami so you know exactly who is doing the action.

In English we say “sat on a mat in the park”. Why does Indonesian repeat di in di atas tikar di taman?

Indonesian usually puts di before each separate location phrase:

di atas tikar = on the mat
di taman = in the park

So: > Kami duduk di atas tikar di taman…

literally:
We sat on top of a mat in a park…

English can compress prepositions:

“on a mat in the park” (one on, one in)

Indonesian keeps di for each:

di atas X di Y di Z is normal if there are several location details.

Is tikar a common word, and what kind of mat does it refer to?

Yes, tikar is a common word. It refers to a mat spread on the floor or ground, often for:

sitting together
eating
relaxing or having a picnic

Materials can be:

woven bamboo or pandan leaves
plastic
fabric

In the context of di taman (in the park), tikar suggests the kind of picnic or sitting mat people bring to sit on the grass.

Could I change the word order to Kami duduk di taman di atas tikar sambil berbagi cerita tentang keluarga? Would that still be correct?

Yes, that word order is also grammatically correct:

Kami duduk di taman di atas tikar sambil berbagi cerita tentang keluarga.

Meaning is still: > We sat in the park on a mat while sharing stories about family.

Both:

di atas tikar di taman
di taman di atas tikar

are acceptable. The difference is just a slight change in emphasis:

di atas tikar di taman
→ feels like: on a mat (which is) in the park
di taman di atas tikar
→ feels like: in the park, on a mat

In everyday speech, the original order (di atas tikar di taman) is very natural and maybe a bit more common, but both sound fine.