Kancing baju saya lepas tadi pagi.

to be

Breakdown of Kancing baju saya lepas tadi pagi.

• tadi pagi: earlier this morning
• saya: my
• baju: the shirt

Questions & Answers about Kancing baju saya lepas tadi pagi.

What are the functions of each word in Kancing baju saya lepas tadi pagi?

Word by word:

• kancing = button (noun)
• baju = shirt/clothes (noun)
• saya = I / me, here meaning my (possessive)
• kancing baju saya = the button of my shirt / my shirt button
• lepas = loose / came off / detached (acts like a verb or adjective)
• tadi pagi = this morning / earlier this morning (past, today)

So the structure is roughly:
[button] [shirt] [my] [came off] [this morning] → My shirt button came off this morning.

---

Why is there no word for was or came in the sentence?

Indonesian usually does not use a separate verb like to be (am/is/are/was) in simple statements, and past tense is often shown by context or time words, not verb changes.

In kancing baju saya lepas tadi pagi:

• lepas already covers the idea of came off / became loose.
• tadi pagi indicates that it happened in the past (earlier today).

So you do not need something like was or came; lepas plus tadi pagi is enough.

---

Is lepas a verb or an adjective here?