Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya selalu membawa kamus kecil ke perpustakaan dan memberi tanda dengan stabilo di kata yang sulit. - I always bring a small dictionary to the library and mark difficult words with a highlighter.

You can’t freely move selalu to the very end the way you might say in English “I bring a dictionary to the library always.”
The most natural positions here are:

Saya selalu membawa kamus kecil ke perpustakaan… ✅
Saya membawa kamus kecil ke perpustakaan selalu… ❌ (sounds very odd)

So the sentence follows the normal Indonesian pattern: Subject + adverb + verb.

What is the difference between saya and aku?

Both saya and aku mean “I / me.” The difference is mostly in formality and context:

saya
- more formal and neutral
- used in writing, in polite speech, with strangers, in the workplace, on TV/news, etc.
aku
- more informal / intimate
- used with close friends, family, in songs, in novels, etc.

In this sentence, saya makes it sound neutral or slightly formal, like something you might write in a homework exercise, a diary, or a simple essay.
You could also say:

Aku selalu membawa kamus kecil ke perpustakaan…

Grammatically it’s fine; it just feels more casual.

Why is it membawa and not just bawa?

The base verb here is bawa (to bring), but in standard Indonesian, when you use it as the main verb in a normal sentence, you typically add the meN- prefix:

membawa = to bring

So:

Saya membawa kamus. = I bring a dictionary.

You will hear bawa without the prefix in informal speech, especially in colloquial Jakarta Indonesian:

Saya bawa kamus. (very common in speech)

Both are understandable, but membawa is more standard and appropriate for writing or formal contexts. That’s why the sentence uses membawa.

Why is it kamus kecil and not kecil kamus, when in English we say “small dictionary”?

In Indonesian, the normal order is:

Noun + adjective

So:

kamus kecil = small dictionary
buku besar = big book
rumah baru = new house

Putting the adjective before the noun, like kecil kamus, is incorrect.

This is a key difference from English, where adjectives usually go before the noun (“small dictionary,” “big book”). In Indonesian, remember: the noun usually comes first.

What does ke perpustakaan mean exactly, and why not di perpustakaan?

ke means “to / towards” (direction, movement).
di means “at / in / on” (location, no movement implied).

In this sentence:

ke perpustakaan = to the library

The idea is: “I always bring a small dictionary to the library (when I go there).”

If you say:

di perpustakaan = at the library / in the library

you’re just stating location, not direction. Both can be correct, but the meaning changes a bit:

Saya selalu membawa kamus kecil ke perpustakaan.
I always bring a small dictionary to the library.
Saya selalu membawa kamus kecil di perpustakaan.
Sounds more like “I always carry a small dictionary (when I am) at the library.”
This is less natural and can even feel a bit odd, because membawa… di… is not a typical combination for “bringing something somewhere.”

So ke perpustakaan is the better choice here because you’re bringing something to a place.

Why is there no saya before memberi tanda? Who is doing that action?

The subject saya is shared by both verbs:

Saya selalu membawa kamus kecil ke perpustakaan
(I always bring a small dictionary to the library)
(Saya) memberi tanda dengan stabilo di kata yang sulit.
(and (I) mark the difficult words with a highlighter.)

In Indonesian, when you have two verbs in one sentence joined by dan and they share the same subject, it’s normal to mention the subject only once at the beginning:

Saya membeli buku dan membacanya di rumah.
I buy a book and read it at home.

You could repeat it:

Saya selalu membawa kamus kecil ke perpustakaan dan saya memberi tanda…

This is grammatically correct but sounds a bit heavy and repetitive. Omitting the repeated saya is more natural.

What does memberi tanda literally mean? Could we just say menandai instead?

Literally:

memberi = to give
tanda = mark / sign
memberi tanda = to give a mark → to mark

In context, memberi tanda dengan stabilo means “to mark / highlight with a highlighter.”

You can also say:

menandai (kata yang sulit) dengan stabilo = to mark the difficult words with a highlighter.

Differences:

memberi tanda
- slightly more neutral / descriptive
- very clear literally: “to give a mark”
menandai
- more compact, a straightforward derived verb
- very natural too

Both are good Indonesian. The original sentence just uses the more “transparent” phrase memberi tanda.

What is stabilo? Is it a general word for “highlighter”?

Stabilo is actually a brand name (like Stabilo Boss highlighters), but in Indonesian it is often used generically to mean “highlighter pen.”

So:

stabilo ≈ a (fluorescent) highlighter pen

You might also hear:

spidol stabilo (literally “Stabilo marker”)
pena stabilo

In everyday conversation, people often just say stabilo and everyone understands it as a highlighter.

The phrase dengan stabilo means “with a highlighter” (using a highlighter as the tool).

Why is it dengan stabilo? Could I say pakai stabilo instead?

Yes, you can. Both:

dengan stabilo
pakai stabilo

mean “with a highlighter / using a highlighter.”

Nuance:

dengan
- a bit more neutral and slightly more formal; very common in writing.
pakai
- more colloquial / spoken; extremely common in daily speech.

So:

memberi tanda dengan stabilo (more neutral / written)
ngasih tanda pakai stabilo (very informal Jakarta-style speech)

In standard sentences like this one, dengan is a safe, good choice.

What is the function of yang in kata yang sulit?

yang is a relative marker or linking word that turns what follows into a description of the noun before it.

kata = word(s)
yang sulit = that are difficult / which are difficult
kata yang sulit = word(s) that are difficult

So yang works similarly to English “that / which / who” in relative clauses:

orang yang pintar = a person who is smart
buku yang tebal = a book that is thick
kata yang sulit = words that are difficult

Without yang, kata sulit is still understandable but feels less natural; kata yang sulit is the standard way to say “difficult words.”

Why is it kata yang sulit and not kata-kata yang sulit if we mean “difficult words” (plural)?

Indonesian does not have to mark plural the way English does. Plurality is often understood from context, so:

kata yang sulit can mean “a difficult word” or “difficult words.”

If you want to emphasize plurality, you can use reduplication:

kata-kata yang sulit = difficult words (clearly plural)

Both are grammatically fine. In many real sentences, Indonesians don’t bother to mark the plural if it’s obvious from the situation. So in this context, kata yang sulit is naturally interpreted as “difficult words.”

Is di in di kata yang sulit the same di- as the passive verb prefix?

No. Indonesian has:

di (separate word) = a preposition meaning “in / at / on / on top of”.
di- (attached prefix) = forms passive verbs (e.g. ditulis, dibeli).

In di kata yang sulit, di is the preposition:

di kata yang sulit = on the difficult words

You can see it’s written separately from kata. If it were a passive prefix, it would be attached to a verb, like:

ditandai = is/was marked

So:

memberi tanda dengan stabilo di kata yang sulit
= marking with a highlighter on the difficult words.

Is di kata yang sulit the most natural way to say “on the difficult words”? Could we use pada?

You can say di kata yang sulit, and it will be understood, but many speakers might prefer:

pada kata-kata yang sulit
literally: “on/at the difficult words”

pada is often recommended in more formal or careful writing for abstract “on” / “to” relations, while di is very general (“in/at/on”) and extremely common in real speech.

So, more “textbook” options include:

memberi tanda dengan stabilo pada kata-kata yang sulit. ✅
memberi tanda dengan stabilo di kata-kata yang sulit. ✅ (very common in speech)
memberi tanda dengan stabilo di kata yang sulit. ✅ understandable; plurality left to context

The given sentence is fine for a learner; just be aware pada + noun is often considered slightly more careful/standard in writing.