Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya lebih suka berjalan di trotoar sambil mendengar musik daripada mendengar klakson di jalan. - I prefer walking on the sidewalk while listening to music rather than hearing horns on the road.

“Saya” is the standard, polite form of “I” in Indonesian. It’s neutral and safe in almost any situation: with strangers, in writing, in class, etc.

You could say:

Aku lebih suka berjalan di trotoar sambil mendengar musik…

“Aku” is more informal and usually used with friends, family, or people your own age. Grammatically both are correct; the choice mainly reflects formality and social distance.

What exactly does “lebih suka” mean, and why not just “suka”?

suka = to like
lebih = more
So lebih suka literally means “to like more” = “to prefer.”

You use lebih suka when you compare two things:

Saya suka berjalan di trotoar.
I like walking on the sidewalk. (no comparison)
Saya lebih suka berjalan di trotoar daripada mendengar klakson di jalan.
I prefer walking on the sidewalk to hearing car horns in the street.

If there’s a than / rather than idea in English, Indonesian typically uses lebih … daripada.

How does “lebih … daripada …” work in this sentence?

The pattern is:

lebih + [adjective/verb] + daripada + [comparison]

In your sentence:

lebih suka = prefer / like more
daripada = than / rather than
The thing in the second part: mendengar klakson di jalan

So structurally:

Saya lebih suka [A] daripada [B].
I prefer [A] to [B].

Where:

A = berjalan di trotoar sambil mendengar musik
B = mendengar klakson di jalan

What does “sambil” mean, and how is it different from words like “sementara” or “ketika”?

sambil means “while (doing something else at the same time)” and is used when one subject is doing two actions simultaneously.

Saya berjalan di trotoar sambil mendengar musik.
I walk on the sidewalk while (at the same time) listening to music.
(One subject: Saya is walking and listening.)

sementara and ketika are more like “while / when” for events in time and don’t always require the same subject:

Sementara saya berjalan, mobil-mobil lewat.
While I walked, cars passed by.
(Two different subjects: saya and mobil-mobil.)

In your sentence, sambil is perfect because you are doing both walking and listening.

Why is it “berjalan” and not just “jalan” here? What’s the difference?

Both relate to “walking,” but with slightly different flavors:

berjalan = to walk (verb, more standard/formal)
- Saya lebih suka berjalan di trotoar.
jalan can be:
- a noun: road/street
- a verb (colloquial): to walk / to go

Spoken Indonesian often says:

Saya lebih suka jalan di trotoar sambil dengar musik.
(more casual, dropping the ber- and men- prefixes)

In a textbook or formal sentence, berjalan is more standard and clearly verbal.

Why is it “di trotoar” and not “di atas trotoar”? Don’t we stand on the sidewalk?

Literally, di atas trotoar = on top of the sidewalk, and it’s not wrong.
But in everyday Indonesian, di trotoar is enough and very natural.

Indonesian often doesn’t need “atas” for places you’re physically “on”:

di kursi = on the chair
di lantai = on the floor
di ranjang = on/in bed

So:

berjalan di trotoar = walking on the sidewalk
No need to say di atas trotoar unless you want to emphasize something about being on top.

What is “trotoar”, and is it the same as “pavement / sidewalk”?

Yes. trotoar = sidewalk / pavement (the part next to the road where people walk).

Usage:

Jangan parkir di trotoar.
Don’t park on the sidewalk.

Indonesia often uses trotoar in cities where there are actual sidewalks; in small towns or villages, people might just say jalan (road) because there’s no clear sidewalk.

Why is “mendengar musik” used and not “mendengarkan musik”? What’s the difference?

Both are correct and common:

mendengar = to hear / to listen
mendengarkan = to listen to (more explicitly “to listen to something”)

In practice:

Saya suka mendengar musik.
Saya suka mendengarkan musik.

Both mean I like listening to music.

Subtle nuance (often ignored in casual speech):

mendengar can be more neutral: your ears receive the sound.
mendengarkan often implies a more intentional, focused listening.

In your sentence, either works:

… sambil mendengar musik …
… sambil mendengarkan musik …

No change in basic meaning.

Can we drop the second “mendengar” and just say “daripada klakson di jalan”?

You can, and Indonesian often omits repeated words if the meaning is clear:

Saya lebih suka berjalan di trotoar sambil mendengar musik daripada klakson di jalan.

This would be understood as:

I prefer walking on the sidewalk while listening to music rather than (hearing) horns in the street.

However, including mendengar again:

… daripada mendengar klakson di jalan.

makes the comparison clearer and more parallel:

(mendengar) musik vs (mendengar) klakson

Both versions are acceptable; the original is slightly more explicit and textbook-friendly.

What exactly is “klakson”?

klakson = car horn / vehicle horn.

Some notes:

It refers to the device that honks and also, in context, the sound itself.
Indonesian doesn’t mark plural with -s, so klakson here can mean horns / honking sounds in general.

Examples:

Suara klakson di jalan sangat bising.
The sound of car horns on the street is very noisy.

Why is there no past tense here? How do we know if this is about now or in general?

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. Time is understood from context or added time words.

Saya lebih suka berjalan di trotoar…
can mean:
- I like / I prefer (in general)
- I would rather (right now, in this situation)

If you want to be explicit:

Dulu saya lebih suka… = I used to prefer…
Sekarang saya lebih suka… = Now I prefer…
Tadi saya lebih suka… = Earlier I preferred…

But in most preference statements, the simple form is enough and usually interpreted as a general preference.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move parts around?

Some flexibility is possible, but the original order is the most natural. For example:

Saya lebih suka, daripada mendengar klakson di jalan, berjalan di trotoar sambil mendengar musik.
This is grammatical but sounds awkward and overly formal.

You could shorten slightly:

Saya lebih suka berjalan di trotoar sambil mendengar musik daripada mendengar klakson.
(dropping di jalan—context usually implies it’s on the street)

But you generally keep:

Subject + lebih suka + [option A] + daripada + [option B]

The given sentence follows a very standard and natural pattern.

How would this sentence sound in a more casual, everyday style?

A more colloquial version might:

drop some prefixes,
use aku instead of saya,
use jalan instead of berjalan,
maybe dengar instead of mendengar.

For example:

Aku lebih suka jalan di trotoar sambil dengar musik daripada dengar klakson di jalan.

Even more relaxed speech might shorten further in fast conversation, but the version above is everyday, natural informal Indonesian.