Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami duduk di pinggir lapangan setelah latihan kebugaran. - We sit at the edge of the field after fitness training.

In Kami duduk di pinggir lapangan setelah latihan kebugaran, kami tells us that the speaker’s group does not include the listener. The speaker is saying what their group did, not “you and I.”

If the listener had also been part of the group that sat at the edge of the field, you would normally say:

Kita duduk di pinggir lapangan setelah latihan kebugaran.
= We (you and I) sat at the edge of the field after fitness training.

How do we know this sentence is in the past, since duduk doesn’t change form?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Duduk can mean:

to sit / sit
to be sitting / are sitting / were sitting

Tense is understood from context and from time words. In this sentence, setelah latihan kebugaran (after fitness training) strongly suggests a past event, so in English we naturally translate it as:

We sat at the edge of the field after fitness training. or
We were sitting at the edge of the field after fitness training.

If you wanted to make the past sense clearer, you could add words like:

tadi (earlier, just now)
kemarin (yesterday)
sudah (already)

For example: Tadi kami duduk di pinggir lapangan setelah latihan kebugaran.

Does duduk mean “to sit” or “to be sitting”? Is there a separate -ing form in Indonesian?

Duduk can cover both ideas:

Kami duduk…
can be understood as
– We sit…
– We are sitting…
– We sat…
– We were sitting…

Indonesian doesn’t have a special -ing verb form like English. Continuous or ongoing actions are usually understood from context or sometimes shown with extra words like sedang:

Kami sedang duduk di pinggir lapangan.
= We are sitting at the edge of the field (right now).

In your sentence, sedang is omitted because it’s not necessary; the context makes it clear enough.

Why do we need di in di pinggir lapangan? Can we just say pinggir lapangan?

Di is a preposition that marks location: in, at, on.

pinggir = edge / side
pinggir lapangan = the edge/side of the field (as a noun phrase)
di pinggir lapangan = at the edge of the field (as a prepositional phrase)

Without di, pinggir lapangan is just a noun phrase (“the edge of the field”), not a full location expression in the sentence. So you need di to say where you are sitting:

Kami duduk di pinggir lapangan.
= We sat / were sitting at the edge of the field.

Also note the spacing:

di pinggir (with a space) = the preposition di
- noun
dipinggir (no space) would normally be wrong here.

What does pinggir mean exactly? Is it the same as tepi?

Both pinggir and tepi can mean “edge” or “side,” and in many situations they can be used interchangeably.

Common uses:

pinggir jalan = roadside / side of the road
pinggir pantai = shoreline / edge of the beach
pinggir lapangan = the edge/side of the field

Tepi can often replace pinggir:

tepi jalan, tepi pantai, tepi lapangan

In this sentence, di pinggir lapangan and di tepi lapangan would both be understood; pinggir is just a very common, natural choice.

What does lapangan mean here? Is it always a sports field?

Lapangan basically means an open space. Depending on context, it can be:

A sports field:
lapangan sepak bola = soccer field
lapangan basket = basketball court
A general open field or ground:
lapangan rumput = grassy field
An open square / large open area in a town:
lapangan kota = town square / open city field

In di pinggir lapangan, because it’s after latihan kebugaran (fitness training), the most natural interpretation is a sports field or exercise field, so we translate it as field in English.

Why is there no word for “the” before lapangan? How do we know it’s “the field” and not “a field”?

Indonesian does not have articles like a / an / the. A single noun like lapangan can mean:

a field
the field
fields (in some contexts)

Definiteness is understood from context. If both speaker and listener know which field is being talked about (for example, the usual school field), English translation will use the:

Kami duduk di pinggir lapangan…
→ We sat at the edge of the field…

If you really want to make it clearly “that specific field,” Indonesian can add itu:

di lapangan itu = at that field / at the field

To make it clearly “a field” in the sense of “one unspecified field,” you might say sebuah lapangan, but this is less common in casual speech.

Can this sentence also mean “We sit at the edge of the field after fitness training” (a habit), not just one past event?

Yes, it can. Because duduk is not marked for tense or aspect, the sentence can describe:

A specific past event:
We sat / were sitting at the edge of the field after fitness training.
A regular habit:
We (usually) sit at the edge of the field after fitness training.

If you wanted to emphasize the habitual meaning, you might add a frequency word:

Kami selalu duduk di pinggir lapangan setelah latihan kebugaran.
= We always sit at the edge of the field after fitness training.

Can setelah be moved to the beginning, like in English “After fitness training, we sat at the edge of the field”?

Yes. Both word orders are natural:

Kami duduk di pinggir lapangan setelah latihan kebugaran.
Setelah latihan kebugaran, kami duduk di pinggir lapangan.

Sentence 2 is very common and sounds natural. Usually you put a comma after setelah … when the time clause comes first.

What is the difference between setelah, sesudah, and habis?

All three can mean “after,” but their usage and tone differ slightly:

setelah
Neutral, standard, widely used in both spoken and written Indonesian.
Setelah latihan kebugaran, kami duduk…
sesudah
Very close in meaning to setelah; also standard. Sometimes feels a bit more formal or bookish, but still common.
Sesudah latihan kebugaran, kami duduk…
habis
Literally “finished” or “used up”; in informal speech it can mean “after”:
Habis latihan kebugaran, kami duduk di pinggir lapangan.
This is more colloquial.

In your sentence, setelah is a safe, neutral choice.

What exactly does latihan kebugaran mean? How is it different from olahraga?

Breakdown:

latihan = training / practice
kebugaran = fitness (from bugar = fit, in good physical condition)

So latihan kebugaran = fitness training / workout / fitness practice.

Olahraga means sport or physical exercise in general.

Saya suka olahraga. = I like sports / working out.
Dia rutin melakukan latihan kebugaran. = He/She regularly does fitness training.

In many real-life contexts, latihan kebugaran could be a structured workout (gym session, fitness class, conditioning drills), while olahraga is broader and can include playing games like football, badminton, etc.

Is latihan kebugaran a noun phrase here, or is it verbal, like “training for fitness”?

Here, latihan kebugaran functions as a noun phrase:

latihan (noun) = training
kebugaran (noun) = fitness
Together: latihan kebugaran = fitness training (an event / activity, treated as a noun)

The preposition setelah (“after”) is followed by this noun phrase:

setelah latihan kebugaran = after (the) fitness training

You could also use a verb phrase:

setelah berlatih kebugaran = after training for fitness / after doing fitness training

Both are grammatical; the noun phrase version (latihan kebugaran) is very natural and concise.

Can we drop kami and just say Duduk di pinggir lapangan setelah latihan kebugaran?

Yes, Indonesian often drops the subject when it’s obvious from context. So:

(Kami) duduk di pinggir lapangan setelah latihan kebugaran.

is possible in conversation or informal writing, especially if everyone already knows who “we” refers to.

However:

Keeping kami makes the sentence clearer and more complete, especially in isolation (like in a textbook example).
Without kami, the sentence might also be interpreted as a fragment, like a note or caption:
“(We) sitting at the edge of the field after fitness training.”

So grammatically it’s okay to drop kami, but including it is better for clarity in stand‑alone examples.