Telinga saya sakit malam ini.

My ear hurts tonight.

Breakdown of Telinga saya sakit malam ini.

• adalah: to be
• saya: my
• malam ini: tonight
• sakit: painful
• telinga: the ear

Questions & Answers about Telinga saya sakit malam ini.

What does each word in Telinga saya sakit malam ini literally mean?

Word by word:

• telinga = ear
• saya = I / me (here: my)
• sakit = sore / in pain / sick / hurts
• malam = night / evening
• ini = this

So literally: ear my sore night this, which in natural English is My ear hurts tonight / this evening.

Why is it telinga saya and not saya telinga for “my ear”?

In Indonesian, possession is usually shown by putting the possessed noun first and the possessor after:

• telinga saya = my ear (literally ear I)
• rumah saya = my house
• buku kamu = your book

So telinga saya is the normal way to say my ear.
Saya telinga is not grammatical for possession.

Why is there no word for “is” in telinga saya sakit?

Indonesian usually doesn’t use a separate verb like “to be” (am/is/are) before adjectives.

Pattern:

• subject + adjective = subject + is + adjective

Examples:

• Saya lapar. = I am hungry.
• Dia capek. = He/She is tired.
• Telinga saya sakit. = My ear is sore / hurts.

So sakit itself functions as the predicate (like “is sore”), and you don’t add adalah here.

Does sakit mean “hurts” or “sick”? How is it used?

Sakit is quite broad. It can mean:

1. In pain / sore / hurts (about a body part)

   • Telinga saya sakit. = My ear hurts.
   • Kepala saya sakit. = I have a headache / My head hurts.

2. Sick / ill (about a person’s overall health)

   • Saya sakit. = I’m sick / I’m ill.

English often needs different words (hurt, sore, painful, sick), but Indonesian commonly just uses sakit, and context tells you which meaning is intended.

Could I say saya punya telinga yang sakit instead?

You can say Saya punya telinga yang sakit, but it sounds unnatural or overly literal in most contexts.

• Saya punya telinga yang sakit. literally: I have an ear that is sore.
  This focuses on “having” such an ear, and is not how you normally complain about pain.

The normal, natural way is:

• Telinga saya sakit. = My ear hurts.

Use saya punya … yang sakit for more specific descriptive situations, not simple pain complaints.

How do you say “my ears hurt” instead of “my ear hurts”? Does telinga saya sakit mean one ear or both?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural on nouns unless it’s important to be clear.

• Telinga saya sakit. can mean:
  • My ear hurts.
  • My ears hurt.

If you really want to emphasize plural, you can say:

• Kedua telinga saya sakit. = Both of my ears hurt.
• Semua telinga saya sakit is wrong (you only have two); use kedua.

What’s the difference between telinga and kuping for “ear”?

Both mean ear, but they differ in register:

• telinga

  • More neutral / standard / formal.
  • Common in writing, media, medical contexts.

• kuping

  • More informal / colloquial, often used in everyday speech.
  • Slightly more “slangy” or casual in some regions.

Your sentence with kuping:

• Kuping saya sakit malam ini.
  This is fine in informal conversation, but telinga is the safer, standard choice.

What exactly does malam ini mean? Is it “tonight” or “this night”? How is it different from tadi malam or nanti malam?

• malam ini = this evening / tonight (the current or upcoming night on this date)
• tadi malam = last night / earlier tonight (a night that has already passed; often the previous night)
• nanti malam = tonight / later tonight (the night that’s coming, later today)

So:

• Telinga saya sakit malam ini.
  = My ear hurts tonight (now / in this evening context).

• Telinga saya sakit tadi malam.
  = My ear hurt last night / earlier tonight.

• Telinga saya akan sakit nanti malam.
  = My ear will hurt tonight (unusual, but grammatically possible).

Can malam ini go at the beginning of the sentence, like in English “Tonight my ear hurts”?

Yes. Time expressions are flexible in Indonesian:

• Telinga saya sakit malam ini.
• Malam ini telinga saya sakit.

Both are correct and mean the same thing: Tonight my ear hurts.

Putting malam ini first can give a bit more emphasis to tonight, but the meaning is essentially unchanged.

Are there other ways to say “my ear” besides telinga saya?

Yes, there are a few common patterns:

1. telinga saya

   • Neutral, standard.
   • Works in almost all contexts.

2. telingaku

   • telinga
     • -ku (my).
   • A bit more informal / personal, common in spoken language or casual writing.

3. telinga aku

   • Also used in casual speech, but aku is less formal than saya.

In your sentence you could say:

• Telingaku sakit malam ini. (more informal)
• Telinga saya sakit malam ini. (neutral / polite)

How is telinga pronounced, especially the ng in it?

telinga is pronounced roughly: tuh-LING-ah

Syllables: te-lin-ga (but the ng is a single sound)

• te = like te in ten (short e)
• ling = l
  • ng as in English sing
• ga = ga as in “Gaga” (hard g)

The ng is a single nasal sound, not n + g separately. There is no English-style schwa for the final a; it’s a clear “ah” sound.

How do Indonesians know if this is present, past, or future, since there’s no tense?

Indonesian doesn’t change the verb/adjective for tense. Time is shown mostly by context and time words:

• Present / general:
  • Telinga saya sakit. = My ear hurts / My ear is sore.
• With malam ini:
  • Telinga saya sakit malam ini. = My ear hurts tonight (now / this evening).
• Past:
  • Telinga saya sakit tadi malam. = My ear hurt last night / earlier tonight.
• Future (often with akan or a future time word):
  • Telinga saya akan sakit nanti malam. = My ear will hurt tonight.
  • Nanti malam telinga saya sakit. (context makes it future)

So the base sentence Telinga saya sakit malam ini is naturally understood as about the current night/time.