Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Sebelum membeli novel, kakak perempuan saya membaca rekomendasi teman dan ulasan di internet. - Before buying a novel, my older sister reads friends’ recommendations and reviews on the internet.

Full form (more explicit):
- Sebelum kakak perempuan saya membeli novel, kakak perempuan saya membaca…
- Sebelum dia membeli novel, kakak perempuan saya membaca…
Natural, idiomatic form (subject understood from context):
- Sebelum membeli novel, kakak perempuan saya membaca…

Because the subject of both actions is the same (the older sister), native speakers feel no need to repeat it. This dropping of the subject is very common in Indonesian when:

The subject is obvious from context, and
The same subject does both actions.

So your original sentence is the most natural version.

What exactly does “kakak perempuan saya” mean, and why is the order like that?

Kakak perempuan saya breaks down like this:

kakak = older sibling
perempuan = female, woman
saya = my

So literally: “older sibling female my” → “my older sister.”

Important points:

Noun + modifiers order: In Indonesian, the main noun comes first, then any descriptors:
- kakak perempuan saya = older sibling (who is) female (and) mine
- rumah besar baru itu = house big new that = “that big new house”
Without perempuan, kakak saya just means “my older sibling”, gender not specified.
You could also say:
- kakak cewek saya (more informal, “my girl older sibling / my older sister”)
- kakak wanita saya (less common, more formal word for “woman”)

So kakak perempuan saya is a clear, standard way to say “my older sister.”

Why is it “kakak perempuan saya” and not “saya kakak perempuan” like in English “my older sister”?

Indonesian puts possessors after the noun, not before it:

kakak saya = my older sibling
rumah saya = my house
teman saya = my friend

So the pattern is:

[Noun] + saya = “my [noun]”

When you add an extra descriptor (like “older,” “female”), it still goes after the noun but before the possessor:

kakak perempuan saya = my older sister
teman baru saya = my new friend
guru bahasa Inggris saya = my English teacher

Putting saya in front (saya kakak perempuan) would sound wrong; that would read more like “I (am) an older sister,” and even then, the structure would be incomplete/ungrammatical.

What is the difference between “membeli” and “beli”? Why use “membeli” here?

Both relate to “buy”, but there are differences:

beli = the base verb “buy”
membeli = the meN- prefixed form, often more formal/neutral and commonly used in standard Indonesian.

Usage:

In formal or neutral writing/speech, membeli is more natural:
- Sebelum membeli novel…
- Dia membeli buku di toko itu.
In casual conversation, people might just say beli:
- Sebelum beli novel, Kakak baca rekomendasi dulu.

So in your sentence, membeli matches a more standard, slightly formal or neutral style. You could say “Sebelum beli novel…” in spoken, informal language and it would still be correct and natural.

Does “rekomendasi teman dan ulasan di internet” mean singular or plural? How do I know if it’s “recommendation” or “recommendations”?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural with -s like English. Whether it’s singular or plural comes from context.

rekomendasi teman could mean:
- “a friend’s recommendation”
- “a recommendation from friends”
- “friends’ recommendations”
ulasan di internet could mean:
- “a review on the internet”
- “reviews on the internet”

In your sentence, the most natural English translation is plural:

“reads friends’ recommendations and reviews on the internet”

If you need to make plural very clear, you can:

Use reduplication:
- rekomendasi-rekomendasi
- ulasan-ulasan
Or use a quantity word:
- banyak rekomendasi teman = many recommendations from friends
- beberapa ulasan di internet = several reviews on the internet

But native speakers rarely bother unless it’s important to stress number. The unmarked form is usually enough.

Why is there no “dari” in “rekomendasi teman”? In English we say “recommendations from friends.”

In Indonesian, a noun–noun relationship is often expressed just by putting the nouns together, without a preposition:

rekomendasi teman
= recommendations (of/from) friends
buku guru
= teacher’s book / the teacher’s book
rumah nenek
= grandma’s house

You can use dari to be more explicit:

rekomendasi dari teman = recommendations from friends

Difference in feel:

rekomendasi teman
- Very natural, slightly more compact.
- Often understood as “friends’ recommendations” (they belong to/furnished by the friends).
rekomendasi dari teman
- Slightly more explicit: the recommendations come from friends.

In most contexts, rekomendasi teman is perfectly clear and idiomatic.

How would I say “my friend’s recommendation” instead of just “friends’ recommendations” in general?

To specify a particular friend and ownership, you can say:

rekomendasi teman saya = my friend’s recommendation / recommendations
rekomendasi dari teman saya = recommendation(s) from my friend

If it’s clearly singular in context, listeners will understand it as “my friend’s recommendation.” If you really want to stress one recommendation, add a number word:

satu rekomendasi dari teman saya = one recommendation from my friend

Why is it “di internet” and not something like “pada internet” or without any preposition?

In Indonesian:

di is the most common preposition for location (“at / in / on”).
pada is more formal/abstract, often used:
- with people or organizations, e.g. pada guru, pada pemerintah
- in formal writing.

For places (even virtual places like the internet), di is standard:

di rumah = at home
di sekolah = at school
di internet = on the internet / online

Pada internet sounds odd and unnatural.
You also normally don’t drop the preposition here; you say di internet, not just “ulasan internet” if you mean “reviews on the internet.”

Could the word order be “kakak perempuan saya, sebelum membeli novel, membaca rekomendasi teman dan ulasan di internet”?

That word order is grammatically possible but sounds a bit awkward and overly heavy in the middle.

Natural patterns are:

Subordinate clause first, then main clause (very common):
- Sebelum membeli novel, kakak perempuan saya membaca rekomendasi teman dan ulasan di internet.
Main clause first, then subordinate clause:
- Kakak perempuan saya membaca rekomendasi teman dan ulasan di internet sebelum membeli novel.

Putting “sebelum membeli novel” in the middle, between subject and verb, is less natural for Indonesian rhythm. It’s grammatically okay, but not the preferred style.

What’s the difference between “sebelum” and “sebelumnya”? Could I say “Sebelumnya membeli novel…”?

They’re not interchangeable:

sebelum = before (a conjunction, often followed by a verb or clause)
- Sebelum membeli novel, kakak perempuan saya…
- Sebelum tidur, saya minum teh.
sebelumnya = before that / previously / earlier (an adverb referring to an earlier time)
- Sebelumnya, kakak perempuan saya tidak pernah membaca ulasan.
  = Previously, my older sister never read reviews.
- Saya sudah bilang sebelumnya.
  = I already said (so) before.

So “Sebelumnya membeli novel, …” is not natural. You should keep sebelum in your sentence.

Why is the subject “kakak perempuan saya” repeated instead of using “dia”? Could I say “… dia membaca rekomendasi…”?

You could say:

Sebelum membeli novel, dia membaca rekomendasi teman dan ulasan di internet.

But then “dia” is just “he/she,” without specifying your relationship. Using kakak perempuan saya:

Tells us it’s your older sister, not just any female person.
Makes the sentence clearer in a narrative where your relationship matters.

You might choose:

dia when the identity is already clear and the relationship isn’t important.
kakak perempuan saya when you want to introduce or emphasize who she is to you.

In many texts, the first mention would be kakak perempuan saya, and later mentions might switch to dia for brevity.

Why use “saya” and not “aku” here? Do they mean the same thing?

Both mean “I / me / my”, but differ in formality and relationship:

saya
- Polite, neutral, more formal.
- Safe in almost any context: with strangers, in writing, at work, in school.
aku
- More informal/intimate.
- Used with friends, family, close people, songs, etc.

kakak perempuan saya is standard/neutral and sounds fine in written example sentences.
In an informal, spoken context, you might say:

kakak perempuanku (with the suffix -ku instead of saya)
or
kakak cewek aku (very casual).

In a textbook/example sentence, saya is the usual choice.