Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran. - I drink cold fruit juice after fitness training.

jus buah dingin = juice fruit cold → “cold fruit juice”
- jus = juice (head noun)
- buah = fruit (modifier of jus)
- dingin = cold (adjective modifying jus buah)

So the natural order is: noun + (noun modifier) + adjective

Compare:

buku baru = new book
mobil merah = red car
kopi panas = hot coffee

Putting dingin before jus (dingin jus buah) would be incorrect in Indonesian.

Is buah here a separate noun (“fruit”), or is jus buah like a fixed phrase for “fruit juice”?

Both perspectives are useful:

Grammatically, buah is a noun meaning “fruit”.
In usage, jus buah functions as a common collocation meaning fruit juice (juice made from fruit).

You could also say:

jus apel = apple juice
jus jeruk = orange juice

Here apel, jeruk, buah all play the same role: specifying what kind of juice it is.

So jus buah literally is “fruit juice”, and it’s a natural, ordinary way to say it.

Does dingin describe only the juice, or does it also describe the fruit somehow?

In jus buah dingin, dingin applies to the whole noun phrase jus buah, not to buah alone.

Think of it grouped like this: (jus buah) dingin = cold (fruit juice).

So the meaning is that the juice is cold, not that the fruit is cold.

How do I know this sentence is past tense (“I drank”) if there is no past tense marker?

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

I drink
I am drinking
I drank
I will drink

The tense is understood from context or from time words.

If you really want to emphasize the past, you can add words like:

tadi = a moment ago, earlier
sudah = already

Examples:

Saya tadi minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran.
I drank cold fruit juice earlier after my workout.
Saya sudah minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran.
I have already drunk cold fruit juice after my workout.

In your original sentence, context (like telling a story about your day) would normally make it clear that it’s in the past.

What’s the difference between saya and aku? Could I say Aku minum jus buah dingin…?

Yes, you can say Aku minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran.

Difference:

saya = polite, neutral, more formal; safe in most situations
aku = informal, casual; used with friends, family, people your age or younger

For writing exercises or polite speech to strangers, saya is usually better.
For chatting with close friends, aku is very common.

Could I drop saya and just say Minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran?

Yes, that is possible in casual Indonesian, especially in speech or informal writing.

Saya minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran.
Clear subject “I”.
Minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran.
Subject is understood from context, often “I”.

People do this often when the subject is obvious (e.g., talking about your routine).
For learners, it’s good practice to keep saya until you’re comfortable with when it’s safe to omit it.

What does latihan kebugaran literally mean, and how is it different from olahraga?

Breakdown:

latihan = training, practice, workout
kebugaran = fitness (from bugar = fit, in good shape)

So latihan kebugaran is literally fitness training / workout.

Difference from olahraga:

olahraga = sport(s), exercising in general
- Saya olahraga setiap pagi. = I exercise every morning.
latihan kebugaran is more specifically fitness training, like gym workouts, structured fitness routines.

In everyday conversation, many people might just say setelah olahraga (“after exercising”), but latihan kebugaran is perfectly natural and a bit more specific.

Can I use sesudah instead of setelah? Are they different?

You can replace setelah with sesudah here:

Saya minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran.
Saya minum jus buah dingin sesudah latihan kebugaran.

Both mean after and are almost interchangeable in modern Indonesian.

Very small nuance:

setelah is slightly more common in standard written Indonesian.
sesudah may sound slightly more conversational or traditional in some varieties.

But in practice, learners can treat them as synonyms.

Why isn’t there any word for “a” or “the” (like “a cold fruit juice” or “the cold fruit juice”)?

Indonesian generally does not use articles like a, an, the.

jus buah dingin can mean:
- a cold fruit juice
- the cold fruit juice
- cold fruit juice (in general)

Context decides whether English should use a or the. If you want to emphasize plural or indefiniteness, there are other strategies (like adding beberapa for “some”), but there is no direct equivalent of English articles.

How would I make this plural, like “We drink cold fruit juices after workouts”?

One natural way:

Kami minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran.
We drink cold fruit juice after workouts.

Indonesian often does not mark the noun itself as plural. Plural meaning is clear from context and from kami (“we”).

If you really want to emphasize variety or multiple glasses, you could say:

Kami minum beberapa jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran.
We drink several cold fruit juices after workouts.

But in most cases, just jus buah dingin is enough.

Is latihan kebugaran my workout specifically, or can it be any workout?

latihan kebugaran by itself is generic: “a workout / fitness training”.

If you want to emphasize that it’s your workout, you can say:

setelah latihan kebugaran saya = after my workout

So:

Saya minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran.
I drink cold fruit juice after (a/the) workout.
(Often understood as “my workout” from context.)
Saya minum jus buah dingin setelah latihan kebugaran saya.
More explicitly: after my workout.

What part of speech is minum here? Can minum also be a noun?

In your sentence, minum is a verb: to drink.

Saya minum jus buah dingin… = I drink / I am drinking / I drank…

But in Indonesian, many root words can function as different parts of speech:

minum = to drink (verb)
minuman = drink, beverage (noun, with suffix -an)

Examples:

Saya mau minum. = I want to drink.
Minuman dingin ini enak. = This cold drink is delicious.

So in your sentence, minum is clearly a verb because it comes after the subject saya in the typical Subject–Verb–Object order.