Sarapan bersama adalah kegiatan rutin keluarga kami.

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Questions & Answers about Sarapan bersama adalah kegiatan rutin keluarga kami.

What does sarapan mean here? Is it a noun (breakfast) or a verb (to have breakfast)?

In Indonesian, sarapan can function as both:

  • as a noun: sarapan = breakfast (the meal)
  • as a verb: sarapan = to have breakfast / to eat breakfast

In this sentence, Sarapan bersama is behaving like a noun phrase, the subject of the sentence. You can understand it as:

  • Sarapan bersamahaving breakfast together / breakfast together

Indonesian often turns a verb into a noun-like idea (similar to an English -ing form) just by using the plain verb without adding anything. So sarapan here is like an English gerund: breakfasting / having breakfast.

What does bersama add to the meaning, and can I replace it with dengan?

Bersama means together or together with (each other).

  • sarapan = to have breakfast
  • sarapan bersama = to have breakfast together

You can often replace bersama with dengan plus a person:

  • sarapan dengan keluarga = have breakfast with (the) family
  • sarapan bersama keluarga = have breakfast together with (the) family

Nuance:

  • bersama focuses on the sense of doing something together as a group.
  • dengan simply means with, and is more general.

In your sentence there’s no explicit person after bersama, so it just means together (with each other) in general: the family members have breakfast together.

So is sarapan bersama a verb phrase or a noun phrase in this sentence?

Grammatically, it functions as a noun phrase here — the subject of the sentence.

Compare:

  • Kami sarapan bersama setiap hari.
    sarapan bersama is part of the predicate (verb phrase): We have breakfast together every day.

  • Sarapan bersama adalah kegiatan rutin keluarga kami.
    Sarapan bersama is the thing being talked about (subject): Having breakfast together is our family’s routine activity.

Indonesian doesn’t change the form of the word to mark this shift from verb to “gerund-like” noun; the role is determined by its position in the sentence.

What is the role of adalah in this sentence, and can I leave it out?

Adalah functions like a linking verb “is/are” between two noun phrases:

  • Sarapan bersama (subject)
  • kegiatan rutin keluarga kami (complement)

So:

  • Sarapan bersama adalah kegiatan rutin keluarga kami.
    Having breakfast together is our family’s routine activity.

About omitting it:

  • In informal Indonesian, you can often drop adalah, especially in speech.
  • Many speakers would still prefer some kind of linker, often itu, for naturalness.

Possible variants:

  • Sarapan bersama adalah kegiatan rutin keluarga kami.
    (standard, neutral to formal)
  • Sarapan bersama itu kegiatan rutin keluarga kami.
    (very natural, slightly more conversational)
  • Sarapan bersama kegiatan rutin keluarga kami.
    (understandable, but tends to sound clipped or written/telegraphic)

So: yes, it can be omitted, but using adalah here is natural and slightly more formal/clear, especially in writing.

Can I use merupakan instead of adalah here?

Yes, you can:

  • Sarapan bersama merupakan kegiatan rutin keluarga kami.

Merupakan also links a subject to a complement, similar to adalah, but:

  • merupakan is more formal / written.
  • It literally comes from rupa (form) and has a nuance like “constitutes / represents”.

So:

  • adalah = neutral “is”
  • merupakan = formal “constitutes / is considered (as)”

Both are grammatically fine in this sentence.

How is the phrase kegiatan rutin keluarga kami structured word by word?

Breakdown:

  • kegiatan = activity
  • rutin = routine / regular (adjective)
  • keluarga = family
  • kami = we/us (here: our)

Structure (head + modifiers):

  1. kegiatan (head noun)
  2. rutin (adjective modifying kegiatan) → routine activity
  3. keluarga kami (noun phrase acting as possessor) → of our family

So:

  • kegiatan rutin keluarga kami
    our family’s routine activity
    literally: activity routine our family (in English word order)

Indonesian order is typically:

Noun (head) + Adjective + Possessor

Why is the adjective rutin placed after kegiatan, not before it?

In Indonesian, adjectives normally follow the noun they modify.

So you say:

  • kegiatan rutin = routine activity
  • rumah besar = big house
  • anak pintar = smart child

Putting the adjective before the noun (rutin kegiatan) is generally unnatural or would change the structure completely.

So the normal pattern is:

kegiatan (noun) + rutin (adjective)
= routine activity

What’s the difference between kegiatan rutin, kebiasaan, and rutinitas?

All three relate to things done regularly, but with slightly different focuses:

  1. kegiatan rutin

    • literally: routine activity
    • Focuses on a specific repeated activity.
    • Ex: Rapat pagi adalah kegiatan rutin kantor ini.
      “Morning meetings are this office’s routine activity.”
  2. kebiasaan

    • = habit / custom
    • More about a habitual behavior, sometimes less formal than “activity”.
    • You could say:
      Sarapan bersama adalah kebiasaan di keluarga kami.
      “Having breakfast together is a habit in our family.”
  3. rutinitas

    • = routine (as a noun, usually uncountable in feel)
    • Refers more to the overall routine or pattern, not one single activity.
    • Ex: Rutinitas pagi saya termasuk sarapan dan olahraga.
      “My morning routine includes breakfast and exercise.”

Your sentence with kegiatan rutin focuses on that one specific repeated activity: having breakfast together.

How does keluarga kami express our family without a separate word for our?

Indonesian uses pronouns directly after nouns to show possession:

  • keluarga kami = our family
  • rumah saya = my house
  • teman mereka = their friend

So the pattern is:

Possessed noun + possessor pronoun

There is no extra word like of or a possessive ending like ’s. The pronoun kami is doing the job of our here.

What is the difference between kami and kita, and could the sentence use keluarga kita instead?

Both kami and kita translate as we / us / our, but:

  • kami = we (not including you, the listener) → exclusive
  • kita = we (including you, the listener) → inclusive

In your sentence:

  • keluarga kami = our family (but not including the listener in that family)
  • keluarga kita = our family (explicitly including the listener as part of that family)

So:

  • If you’re talking to someone who is not part of your family, keluarga kami is correct.
  • If you’re talking to a family member (for example, your sibling) and you want to include them in “our family,” keluarga kita is more natural.
Is the sentence formal, neutral, or informal? How would it sound in casual conversation?

The sentence is neutral, leaning slightly formal because of:

  • the structure with adalah
  • the wording kegiatan rutin

In casual spoken Indonesian, people might say:

  • Keluarga kami rutin sarapan bersama.
    (Subject first; sounds very natural.)
  • Di keluarga kami, sarapan bareng itu sudah kebiasaan.
    (bareng = colloquial for bersama; more relaxed tone.)

But your original sentence is perfectly natural in spoken Indonesian too; it just has a slightly more “standard/written” feel.

Are there other natural ways to express the same idea in Indonesian?

Yes, here are a few common variants with very similar meanings:

  1. Keluarga kami rutin sarapan bersama.
    → Our family regularly has breakfast together.

  2. Sarapan bersama sudah menjadi kebiasaan di keluarga kami.
    → Having breakfast together has become a habit in our family.

  3. Sarapan bersama merupakan rutinitas di keluarga kami.
    → Having breakfast together is a routine in our family.

  4. Di keluarga kami, sarapan bersama itu hal yang rutin.
    → In our family, having breakfast together is something routine.

All of these are natural; choice depends on how formal or conversational you want to sound.