Adik laki-laki saya latihan futsal setiap Sabtu malam di gedung olahraga.

My younger brother practices futsal every Saturday night in the sports hall.

Breakdown of Adik laki-laki saya latihan futsal setiap Sabtu malam di gedung olahraga.

• di: in
• setiap: every
• saya: my
• malam: the night
• gedung: the building
• Sabtu: Saturday
• olahraga: sports
• adik laki-laki: the younger brother
• latihan: to practice
• futsal: futsal

Questions & Answers about Adik laki-laki saya latihan futsal setiap Sabtu malam di gedung olahraga.

What does adik laki-laki saya literally mean, and why is it ordered that way?

Adik laki-laki saya literally breaks down as:

• adik = younger sibling (gender-neutral)
• laki-laki = male / man
• saya = I / me, but here: my

So adik laki-laki saya = my younger brother.

The order is:
noun + descriptor + possessor
→ adik (sibling) + laki-laki (male) + saya (my)

In Indonesian, possession usually comes after the noun:

• adik saya = my younger sibling
• adik laki-laki saya = my younger brother

Could you just say adik saya instead of adik laki-laki saya?

Yes, you can say adik saya.

• adik saya = my younger sibling (gender not specified)
• adik laki-laki saya = my younger sibling who is male → my younger brother

Use adik saya:

• when gender is clear from context, or
• when gender doesn’t matter.

Use adik laki-laki saya:

• when you want to be explicit that it’s a younger brother, not a sister.

Why is saya at the end (adik laki-laki saya) instead of before the noun like in English (“my younger brother”)?

Indonesian puts the possessor after the thing owned:

• adik saya = my younger sibling
• buku saya = my book
• rumah saya = my house

So the structure is:

[thing] + [owner]
adik + saya → my younger sibling

When you have more detail about the thing (like gender), it all stays before the possessor:

• adik laki-laki saya = my younger sibling (who is male)

There is no separate word like “my”; instead, pronouns (saya, kamu, dia, mereka, dll.) are used after the noun to show possession.

Is latihan futsal a verb or a noun phrase? How is it functioning here?

Literally:

• latihan = practice, training (usually a noun)
• futsal = futsal (the sport)

So latihan futsal literally = futsal practice / futsal training, a noun phrase.

But in real sentences like this, Indonesian often uses a noun as if it were the action:

Adik laki-laki saya latihan futsal…
“My younger brother practices futsal…”

So grammatically it looks like a noun, but functionally it acts like the verb phrase “to practise futsal.” This is very common and natural in Indonesian.

What’s the difference between latihan futsal, berlatih futsal, and bermain futsal?

They’re all related but not identical.

• latihan futsal

  • Literally “futsal practice” (noun)
  • Commonly used as the activity:
    
    • Saya latihan futsal setiap minggu.
      = I (go to) futsal practice every week.

• berlatih futsal

  • Verb: “to practise futsal” (focus on training/improvement)
  • Slightly more formal or explicit:
    
    • Saya berlatih futsal setiap minggu.

• bermain futsal

  • Verb: “to play futsal” (just playing the game)
  • Emphasises playing, not necessarily structured training:
    
    • Saya bermain futsal dengan teman-teman.
      = I play futsal with my friends.

In your sentence, latihan futsal suggests he regularly attends futsal training/practice sessions.

English needs a verb like “plays” or “practises”. Why is there no obvious verb like is, does, or plays in this Indonesian sentence?

Indonesian often doesn’t need auxiliary verbs like “do/does/is/are” or a separate “main verb” that looks like English:

• English:
  
  • My younger brother *practises futsal...*
• Indonesian:
  
  • Adik laki-laki saya latihan futsal...

Here, latihan futsal itself is enough to express the activity. Indonesian does not need an extra verb like “does” or “is”. The pattern:

[subject] + [activity word/phrase]

is a complete predicate in Indonesian.

How does setiap Sabtu malam work? Is that the normal order for saying “every Saturday night”?

Yes, setiap Sabtu malam is the natural order.

Breakdown:

• setiap = every / each
• Sabtu = Saturday
• malam = night / evening

Order:

setiap + [day] + [part of day]
setiap Sabtu malam = every Saturday night

Compare:

• setiap Senin pagi = every Monday morning
• setiap Jumat sore = every Friday afternoon

Putting malam before Sabtu (e.g. setiap malam Sabtu) would sound unusual or change the nuance; setiap Sabtu malam is the standard pattern.

Does malam mean “evening” or “night” here?

Malam can cover both evening and night, roughly from after sunset until late at night. The exact range depends on context and culture.

In setiap Sabtu malam:

• It can mean Saturday evening (e.g. around 7–9 pm)
• or simply Saturday night

Everyday Indonesian doesn’t clearly separate “evening” and “night” the way English does; malam covers both. If you need more precision, you’d specify the time (e.g. jam tujuh malam).

Why is Sabtu capitalized? Are days of the week always capitalized in Indonesian?

Yes. In standard Indonesian spelling:

• Days of the week are capitalized:
  
  • Senin, Selasa, Rabu, Kamis, Jumat, Sabtu, Minggu
• Months are also capitalized:
  
  • Januari, Februari, Maret, etc.

So Sabtu is capitalized correctly in setiap Sabtu malam.

What exactly does di gedung olahraga mean, and how is di used?

Breakdown:

• di = at / in / on (location preposition)
• gedung = building
• olahraga = sports / exercise

So di gedung olahraga = at the sports hall / sports center / sports building.

About di:

• di is used for location (where something happens):
  
  • di rumah = at home
  • di sekolah = at school
  • di lapangan = on the field

Compare with ke (for direction/movement):

• ke gedung olahraga = to the sports hall (movement towards)
• di gedung olahraga = at the sports hall (location)

Can I move di gedung olahraga earlier in the sentence, or must it be at the end?

You can move it; Indonesian word order is fairly flexible for time and place phrases.

All of these are grammatically fine, with only slight emphasis changes:

• Adik laki-laki saya latihan futsal setiap Sabtu malam di gedung olahraga.
  (neutral; place at the end)

• Adik laki-laki saya latihan futsal di gedung olahraga setiap Sabtu malam.
  (slight emphasis on where before when)

• Setiap Sabtu malam adik laki-laki saya latihan futsal di gedung olahraga.
  (emphasis on every Saturday night)

The original order is very natural and common:
[subject] + [activity] + [time] + [place].

Is this sentence formal, neutral, or informal? How might it sound in more casual everyday speech?

The given sentence is neutral and suitable for everyday conversation, writing, or polite contexts.

More casual variations (especially in speech) might be:

• Adik cowok aku latihan futsal tiap Sabtu malam di gedung olahraga.

  • adik cowok = younger brother (slangy/informal)
  • aku instead of saya (more informal)
  • tiap instead of setiap (colloquial)

• Adek aku futsal tiap Sabtu malam di gedung olahraga.

  • adek = relaxed spelling of adik
  • futsal used as the activity verb on its own

The original sentence is perfectly natural and widely usable.

What is the basic subject–verb–object structure of this sentence?

You can map it roughly to S–V–(O)–Adverbs in English terms:

• Subject (S):
  Adik laki-laki saya = my younger brother

• Predicate / Verb phrase (V):
  latihan futsal = practises futsal

• Adverb of time:
  setiap Sabtu malam = every Saturday night

• Adverb of place:
  di gedung olahraga = at the sports hall

So the structure is:

[S] Adik laki-laki saya
[V] latihan futsal
[Time] setiap Sabtu malam
[Place] di gedung olahraga.