Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Teman saya belajar bahasa Jepang di perpustakaan. - My friend studies Japanese at the library.

Putting saya first ( saya teman ) is not how possession is expressed. Saya teman on its own sounds incomplete or wrong; you’d need something like saya teman dia (I am his/her friend), where saya is the subject, teman is a predicate noun, and dia is the possessor.

Where is the subject in this sentence? There is no he/she or they.

The subject here is the noun phrase teman saya (my friend). Indonesian often doesn’t use separate subject pronouns when the subject is already expressed as a noun (or clear from context).

So the structure is:

Teman saya (my friend) → subject
belajar (studies / is studying) → verb
bahasa Jepang (Japanese [language]) → object
di perpustakaan (at the library) → place phrase

Why isn’t there any word for is / am / are in this sentence?

Indonesian usually does not use a separate verb like to be (is/am/are) the way English does.

When a verb is used (belajar = to study), you just use the verb directly after the subject:
Teman saya belajar… = My friend studies / is studying…
Even with adjectives or nouns, Indonesian can omit to be:
- Dia guru. = He/She is a teacher.
- Makanan ini enak. = This food is delicious.

So in Teman saya belajar bahasa Jepang di perpustakaan, there is simply no need for is.

Does belajar mean studies or is studying? Where is the tense?

Belajar by itself is neutral for tense. It just means to study / study / studying. Indonesian verbs don’t change form for past, present, or future. Tense is usually understood from context or added time words.

Depending on context, Teman saya belajar bahasa Jepang di perpustakaan can mean:

My friend studies Japanese at the library (habitually).
My friend is studying Japanese at the library (right now).

If you want to be explicit, you can add time markers:

Kemarin teman saya belajar… = Yesterday my friend studied…
Sekarang teman saya sedang belajar… = Right now my friend is studying…
Besok teman saya akan belajar… = Tomorrow my friend will study…

Why do we say bahasa Jepang instead of just Jepang?

Jepang by itself means Japan (the country) or Japanese (as an adjective) depending on context.

To clearly mean the Japanese language, Indonesian uses:

bahasa Jepang = Japanese (language)
- bahasa = language
- Jepang = Japan/Japanese

Similarly:

bahasa Indonesia = Indonesian (language)
bahasa Inggris = English (language)
bahasa Cina = Chinese (language)

So Teman saya belajar bahasa Jepang is specifically about the language, not about “studying Japan” as a country.

Why is Jepang capitalized, but bahasa and perpustakaan are not?

Indonesian capitalization rules (simplified):

Names of languages and countries: only the proper noun is capitalized.
- bahasa Jepang (Japanese language)
- bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language)
bahasa is a common noun (language), so it is not capitalized. Jepang is a proper noun (Japan), so it is capitalized.
perpustakaan (library) is also a common noun, not a specific name, so no capital letter.

If it were the name of a specific library, you’d capitalize the name, e.g. Perpustakaan Nasional (National Library).

Why is it di perpustakaan and not ke perpustakaan?

Di and ke are different prepositions:

di = in / at / on (location)
ke = to (direction, movement towards a place)

In your sentence:

di perpustakaan = at the library (location of the action)

If you wanted to emphasize movement to the library, you’d use ke:

Teman saya pergi ke perpustakaan.
= My friend goes to the library.

But because the focus is on where the studying happens (location, not movement), di is correct.

Where is the or a in perpustakaan? How do articles work?

Indonesian does not have definite or indefinite articles like the or a/an. The bare noun can cover these meanings, depending on context.

perpustakaan can mean a library or the library.
Teman saya belajar bahasa Jepang di perpustakaan.
= My friend studies Japanese at a library / at the library.

If you really need to specify, you rely on context or add extra description:

di perpustakaan itu = at that library
di sebuah perpustakaan = at a (certain) library (somewhat formal / written style)

Why is the word order Teman saya belajar bahasa Jepang di perpustakaan? Can I move parts around?

The default, most natural order in Indonesian is:

Subject – Verb – Object – (Adverbials like place/time)

So your sentence follows:

Teman saya (subject)
belajar (verb)
bahasa Jepang (object)
di perpustakaan (place phrase)

You can sometimes move adverbials (like place or time) to the front for emphasis:

Di perpustakaan, teman saya belajar bahasa Jepang.
= At the library, my friend studies Japanese.

But you generally don’t separate the verb and its object in unnatural ways. For learners, sticking to:

Subject + Verb + Object + (Place/Time)

is the safest pattern.

Could I say Saya punya teman yang belajar bahasa Jepang di perpustakaan instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that’s also correct, but the nuance changes:

Teman saya belajar bahasa Jepang di perpustakaan.
= My friend studies Japanese at the library.
(You are talking about a specific friend of yours.)
Saya punya teman yang belajar bahasa Jepang di perpustakaan.
= I have a friend who studies Japanese at the library.
(You’re introducing the existence of some friend with that characteristic; it feels a bit more like “I happen to have such a friend”.)

So the original sentence is more direct and simple description of what your friend does.

Can I drop saya and just say Teman belajar bahasa Jepang di perpustakaan?

If you just say Teman belajar bahasa Jepang di perpustakaan, it sounds incomplete or odd, because teman without any modifier (like saya, dia, or a name) usually needs more context. It would feel like:

“(The) friend studies Japanese at the library.” (Which friend?)

Normally you’d either:

Keep saya: Teman saya belajar… (my friend)
Use a name: Teman Dika belajar… (Dika’s friend studies…)
Or specify: Seorang teman saya belajar… (one of my friends studies…)

So in most contexts, you should keep saya here.

How do you pronounce bahasa Jepang and perpustakaan?

Rough approximations for English speakers (Indonesian is pronounced very regularly):

bahasa
- ba – like ba in bar (shorter)
- ha – like ha in harmony
- sa – like sa in salsa
  Stress usually on the second syllable: ba-HA-sa
Jepang
- Je – like je in jet (but shorter, no diphthong)
- pang – like pung in sung but with a as in father
  - ng
    Stress on the first syllable: JE-pang
perpustakaan
- per – like per in person (but short)
- pu – like poo in pool, but shorter (no long vowel)
- sta – sta like in stark (without the r)
- ka – ka like car (short)
- an – un as in sun (but with a as in father
  - n)
    Roughly: per-pus-ta-KA-an (stress often on ka)

All vowels are pure:

a as in father
e as in bed or a schwa, depending on the word
i as in machine
o as in more
u as in rule

Indonesian is syllable-timed and fairly flat in intonation compared to English.