Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya mencadangkan file belajar di laptop setiap minggu. - I back up the study files on the laptop every week.

The base word is cadang, which means something like “reserve / keep in reserve / set aside.”
With the prefix meN- and suffix -kan, it becomes mencadangkan, a verb meaning “to reserve / to set aside / to make a backup.”

In IT/data contexts, mencadangkan (data/file) is used for “to back up (data/files).” So here Saya mencadangkan file… = I back up the files…

How is mencadangkan formed morphologically?

Root: cadang (reserve, set aside).
Prefix: meN- → here it surfaces as men- before c.
Suffix: -kan (often makes a transitive/causative verb).

So meN- + cadang + -kan → mencadangkan, literally “to cause something to be reserved/kept aside,” extended to “to back up” for files/data.

Is mencadangkan file belajar di laptop setiap minggu a natural sentence in Indonesian?

Yes, it is grammatically correct and understandable.

In everyday speech, people might also say things like:

Saya mencadangkan data di laptop setiap minggu.
Saya backup file belajar di laptop setiap minggu. (mixing in the English backup as a verb, very common informally)

But your original sentence is fine and sounds neutral/formal.

What does file belajar mean exactly, and why is belajar used after file?

File belajar literally means “study file” or “files for studying.”
Here belajar (to study) is used like an adjective to show purpose: files used for studying.

This pattern (noun + base verb for purpose) is common:

sepatu lari = running shoes (shoes for running)
kacamata baca = reading glasses (glasses for reading)

So file belajar = files related to studying/learning.

What’s the difference between file belajar, file pelajaran, and file pembelajaran?

Roughly:

file belajar – very natural, informal-neutral; “files I use to study.” Focus on your act of studying.
file pelajaran – “lesson files”; can sound like materials organized by lessons/subjects (e.g., a teacher’s lesson files).
file pembelajaran – more formal/academic; “learning materials/files” in an educational/official context.

In everyday personal speech about your own study stuff, file belajar is the most natural.

Why is file not pluralized? How do you say “files” in Indonesian?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural on the noun. File can mean “file” or “files,” depending on context.

If you really want to emphasize “many files,” you can:

Reduplicate: file-file belajar
Or add a quantity word: banyak file belajar (“many study files”)

But in most real situations, file belajar is enough, and listeners will understand it can be plural.

Why is it di laptop and not something like ke laptop?

di marks location: di laptop ≈ “on the laptop / in the laptop (as a device).”
In your sentence, it most naturally means “the study files on the laptop.”

ke marks movement/direction (“to, towards”), so:

Saya mencadangkan file ke hard disk eksternal.
= I back up the files to an external hard drive.

Your use of di laptop correctly describes the location of the files.

Does di laptop mean “on my laptop” or just “on a laptop”?

Literally it’s just on a laptop. Indonesian doesn’t mark possession there.

If you want to make it explicit:

di laptop saya = on my laptop
di laptop kantor = on the office laptop

Often, if the context is clear (you’re talking about your own habits), di laptop will be understood as “on my laptop” without needing saya.

Why isn’t my expressed in file belajar or laptop? How do I say “my study files” or “my laptop”?

Indonesian uses a pronoun after the noun to show possession:

file belajar saya = my study files
laptop saya = my laptop

Your sentence could be made more explicit:

Saya mencadangkan file belajar saya di laptop saya setiap minggu.

In practice, Indonesians often omit saya when it’s obvious we are talking about the speaker’s own things, to avoid repetition.

Can I move setiap minggu to a different position in the sentence?

Yes. Adverbial time expressions are quite flexible. All of these are acceptable:

Saya mencadangkan file belajar di laptop setiap minggu.
Setiap minggu, saya mencadangkan file belajar di laptop.
Saya setiap minggu mencadangkan file belajar di laptop. (still okay, slightly less common)

The most neutral are the first two: end position or sentence-initial.

How do we know this means a habitual action (“I do this every week”) if there’s no tense in Indonesian?

Indonesian doesn’t have verb tense like English; it uses time expressions to show when or how often something happens.

Here, setiap minggu (“every week”) clearly marks a habitual action.
So Saya mencadangkan… + setiap minggu is understood as “I back up… every week / I (regularly) back up…”

Could I drop Saya and just say Mencadangkan file belajar di laptop setiap minggu?

Grammatically, yes, but it sounds like a fragment, slogan, or instruction rather than a full sentence.

Saya mencadangkan… = a normal full statement “I back up…”
Mencadangkan file belajar di laptop setiap minggu. could sound like a bullet point in a list of habits, or an imperative-ish instruction.

In regular conversation or writing about yourself, keep Saya.

What are some informal alternatives to Saya here?

Common options, depending on region and formality:

aku – informal, friendly, widely used
gue/gua – informal Jakarta slang
saya – neutral/polite/formal

Examples:

Aku mencadangkan file belajar di laptop setiap minggu. (casual)
Gue backup file belajar di laptop tiap minggu. (very casual Jakarta style)

Could I use another verb instead of mencadangkan, like menyimpan or something similar?

Yes, depending on what you want to emphasize:

menyimpan file belajar di laptop = to save/keep the study files on the laptop (not necessarily making a backup copy).
membuat cadangan file belajar di laptop = to make a backup of the study files on the laptop (more explicit phrase).

For the specific idea of “backing up,” mencadangkan (or informal backup) is the most precise in IT contexts.

How would I say “I backed up…” (past) and “I will back up…” (future) in Indonesian?

You add time words, not tense on the verb:

Past:
- Saya tadi mencadangkan file belajar di laptop. = I just backed up…
- Saya kemarin mencadangkan file belajar di laptop. = I backed up yesterday…
Future:
- Saya akan mencadangkan file belajar di laptop nanti. = I will back up later.
- Nanti malam saya mencadangkan file belajar di laptop. = I will back up tonight.

The verb mencadangkan itself doesn’t change; the time word gives the past/future meaning.

Could I say Saya sedang mencadangkan file belajar di laptop? What would that mean?

Yes. sedang marks an action in progress, like English “am doing (right now).”

Saya sedang mencadangkan file belajar di laptop.
= I am (in the middle of) backing up the study files on the laptop.

Your original sentence without sedang plus setiap minggu is about a regular habit, not something happening right now.