Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Pagi ini saya main bulu tangkis bersama tetangga di lapangan kecil. - This morning I play badminton with my neighbor on the small court.

main bulu tangkis
- main is a shortened, more casual form of bermain.
- Very common in spoken Indonesian and in informal writing.
- Sounds natural and friendly: like saying “play badminton”.
bermain bulu tangkis
- More complete and slightly more formal.
- Fine in writing, narration, or when you want to sound a bit more careful/polished.

In everyday conversation, main bulu tangkis is probably more common than bermain bulu tangkis.

Why doesn’t the sentence have a past tense word like “played”? It just says saya main.

Indonesian does not change the verb form for past, present, or future. The verb main stays the same.

Tense is usually understood from:

Time words:
- pagi ini = this morning (still today) → past relative to now, but same day
- kemarin = yesterday
- besok = tomorrow
Optional aspect words:
- sudah = already (often used for past)
- tadi = earlier today (recent past, same day)

If you want to be very clear that it’s in the past, you can say:

Tadi pagi saya main bulu tangkis… = Earlier this morning I played badminton…
Pagi ini saya sudah main bulu tangkis… = This morning I already played badminton…

But Pagi ini saya main bulu tangkis… is already understood as a past event that happened this morning.

What is the difference between pagi ini and tadi pagi?

Both refer to “this morning”, but the nuance is a bit different:

pagi ini
- Literally “this morning”.
- Neutral: just locates the action in the morning of today.
- Often used when the morning is still going on, but can also be used later in the day.
tadi pagi
- Literally “earlier this morning / this morning earlier”.
- Stronger feeling that it’s already over, in the past part of today.
- Often used later in the day (afternoon/evening) to refer back to the morning.

Both could work here; pagi ini is slightly more neutral and textbook-friendly.

Why is bulu tangkis written as two words? I’ve seen bulutangkis too.

You’ll see both in real life:

bulu tangkis (two words)
- This is the form you’ll usually find in dictionaries and formal writing.
- Literally: bulu (feather) + tangkis (to fend off / to parry).
bulutangkis (one word)
- Also widely used, especially in signs, club names, sports contexts.
- Treated as a single word meaning “badminton”.

For learning purposes, use bulu tangkis (two words), but recognize that bulutangkis is not “wrong” in everyday usage.

Does tetangga mean “neighbor” or “neighbors”? How do you show plural?

Tetangga by itself is number-neutral; it can mean:

“neighbor” (one person), or
“neighbors” (more than one),

depending on context.

To make it clearly plural, you can say:

para tetangga = (all) the neighbors
tetangga-tetangga = neighbors (reduplication)

So:

Pagi ini saya main bulu tangkis bersama tetangga…
→ “with my neighbor / neighbors” (context decides which)

If you really want to show it’s one neighbor, you can say:

bersama seorang tetangga = with a neighbor (one)

Why is there no word for “a” before lapangan kecil? Why not sebuah lapangan kecil?

Indonesian usually doesn’t need an article like “a” or “the”. So:

di lapangan kecil
- Can mean “at a small court” or “at the small court”.
- The context decides whether it’s specific or general.

You can add a classifier if you want to emphasize “one”:

di sebuah lapangan kecil = at a small court (one, non-specific)
di satu lapangan kecil = at one small court (more explicitly “one”)

In your sentence, di lapangan kecil is the most natural, simple way to say it.

Could it also be di lapangan yang kecil? What’s the difference from di lapangan kecil?

Both are grammatically correct, but the nuance changes:

di lapangan kecil
- “at a small court/field”
- kecil is a normal adjective describing the type of field.
- Neutral description.
di lapangan yang kecil
- Literally “at the field that is small”
- yang kecil sounds more like you’re picking out that field from others or emphasizing its smallness.
- Similar to English “the field which is small” or “the one that’s small”.

In most neutral situations, di lapangan kecil is simpler and more natural.

What is the difference between bersama tetangga and dengan tetangga?

Both can translate to “with my neighbor(s)”, but:

bersama tetangga
- Literally “together with my neighbor(s)”.
- Slightly more formal or “complete” in writing.
- Emphasizes doing the activity together.
dengan tetangga
- Literally “with my neighbor(s)”.
- Very common and neutral.
- Can focus more on accompaniment than “togetherness”, though in practice they overlap.

In your sentence, you could say either:

…main bulu tangkis bersama tetangga…
…main bulu tangkis dengan tetangga…

Both are natural. Bersama just adds a bit of “together” flavor.

Why is it di lapangan kecil and not ke lapangan kecil?

In Indonesian:

di = at / in / on (location)
ke = to / toward (direction or destination)

Your sentence talks about where you played badminton, not about going there. So:

main … di lapangan kecil = played … at a small court
If you wanted to focus on going there, you’d use ke with a verb of motion:
- Saya pergi ke lapangan kecil = I went to the small court.

So di is correct here because it describes the place of the activity.

Can I move pagi ini to another place in the sentence? For example: Saya pagi ini main bulu tangkis…?

Yes, Indonesian word order is flexible for time expressions. All of these are possible:

Pagi ini saya main bulu tangkis bersama tetangga di lapangan kecil.
Saya pagi ini main bulu tangkis bersama tetangga di lapangan kecil.
Saya main bulu tangkis bersama tetangga di lapangan kecil pagi ini.

Differences:

Pagi ini at the beginning often sets the time frame as the main topic: “As for this morning, I played…”
Pagi ini in the middle or at the end is more like adding a detail.

All are grammatical; the original version (time first) is very common and clear.

What is the difference between saya and aku here?

Both mean “I”, but they differ in formality and relationship:

saya
- Polite, neutral, somewhat formal.
- Safe to use almost everywhere: with strangers, in class, at work, etc.
- Works well in writing.
aku
- Informal, more intimate.
- Used with close friends, family, and in songs/poems.
- Might sound too casual or rude in a formal context if you’re not careful.

So:

Pagi ini saya main bulu tangkis… = neutral/polite
Pagi ini aku main bulu tangkis… = casual, friendly

For learners, default to saya unless you clearly know aku is appropriate.

Is main only used for sports like badminton, or can it be used more generally?

Main is quite flexible and common in everyday speech. It can mean:

To play (a game or sport)
- main bulu tangkis = play badminton
- main bola = play soccer
- main kartu = play cards
To hang out / go out for fun
- Saya mau main ke rumah kamu. = I want to come over to your place (to hang out).
- Mereka lagi main di mall. = They’re hanging out at the mall.

You don’t usually say memainkan bulu tangkis for “play badminton” – that sounds unnatural.
Use main bulu tangkis or bermain bulu tangkis instead.

Could I drop saya and just say Pagi ini main bulu tangkis bersama tetangga…?

Yes, native speakers often drop pronouns when the subject is clear from context. So:

Pagi ini (saya) main bulu tangkis bersama tetangga…

is something you might hear in casual conversation, especially if it’s already obvious you are talking about yourself.

However:

For learners, it’s safer to keep saya so the sentence is always clear.
In writing or when first introducing the information, including saya is more natural.