Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kakak perempuan saya juga membuat janji temu untuk konsultasi minggu depan. - My older sister also makes an appointment for a consultation next week.

So kakak perempuan together means “older sister” (literally: older sibling (who is) female). It doesn’t specify how much older, only that she is older than the speaker.

Is there any difference between kakak perempuan saya and just kakak saya?

Yes, in how specific you are:

kakak saya = “my older sibling.” This could be a brother or a sister; the gender is not specified.
kakak perempuan saya = “my older sister.” This clearly says the older sibling is female.

If the context already makes the gender obvious, Indonesians often just say kakak saya. But if you need to be clear that it’s a sister, you add perempuan (or in casual speech sometimes kakak cewek).

Why is the possessive saya placed after kakak perempuan, not before? Could I say saya kakak perempuan?

In Indonesian, the possessive pronoun normally comes after the noun:

kakak perempuan saya = my older sister
rumah saya = my house
teman saya = my friend

Putting saya before the noun (saya kakak perempuan) changes the structure and becomes ungrammatical in this meaning.
So saya kakak perempuan does not mean “my older sister”; it sounds like a fragment meaning “I am an older sister,” and even then it’s incomplete (you’d say saya kakak perempuan something).

Could I use the suffix -ku instead of saya, like kakak perempuanku?

Yes, that’s possible, with a change in style/register:

kakak perempuan saya – neutral, a bit more formal/polite
kakak perempuanku – more informal/intimate, feels a bit more “personal” or “storytelling” in tone

Both mean “my older sister.”
You cannot say kakak perempuan aku; for possessive after a noun, you either use:

independent pronoun: saya, kamu, dia
or possessive suffix: -ku, -mu, -nya

So: kakak perempuan saya / kakak perempuanku, but not kakak perempuan aku.

What does juga do here, and can I move it to another position in the sentence?

juga means “also / too / as well.”

In Kakak perempuan saya juga membuat janji temu..., the most natural reading is:

My older sister also made an appointment…

You can move juga, but the feel changes slightly:

Kakak perempuan saya juga membuat janji temu...
→ The subject (“my older sister”) is also doing this, in addition to someone else.
Kakak perempuan saya membuat janji temu juga untuk konsultasi minggu depan.
→ Feels like “She made an appointment too,” often contrasting with some other action or thing (e.g. she bought medicine and also made an appointment).

The original position (right after the subject) is the clearest and most neutral for “My older sister also…”. Putting juga in strange positions (Kakak juga perempuan saya membuat…) would be ungrammatical or confusing.

Is membuat janji temu natural Indonesian? Could I just say membuat janji?

Yes, both are used, with nuance:

membuat janji literally “to make an appointment / to make an arrangement / to make a promise.”
Very common, quite general. Context decides whether it’s an appointment or a promise.
membuat janji temu literally “to make a meeting appointment.”
More explicit that it’s a scheduled meeting, especially in contexts like doctors, offices, formal consultations.

In many everyday contexts, membuat janji is enough.
In medical or formal office contexts, janji temu is very common (e.g. janji temu dengan dokter = appointment with a doctor).

What’s the difference between janji temu and perjanjian?

Both can be translated as “appointment” or “agreement” in some contexts, but they’re used differently:

janji temu
→ A scheduled meeting/appointment between people, like a doctor’s appointment, a salon booking, etc.
Everyday, practical.
perjanjian
→ An agreement/contract (often more formal, legal, or written), e.g. perjanjian kerja (work contract), perjanjian sewa (rental agreement).

In this sentence about a “consultation next week,” janji temu is more natural than perjanjian.

Why is it untuk konsultasi and not something like untuk berkonsultasi? What’s the difference?

Both are possible:

untuk konsultasi – konsultasi is a noun, “consultation.”
→ “to make an appointment for a consultation.”
untuk berkonsultasi – berkonsultasi is a verb, “to consult / to have a consultation.”
→ “to make an appointment to consult (with someone).”

In practice:

untuk konsultasi sounds short, natural, and is very common, especially with doctors, psychologists, lawyers, etc.
untuk berkonsultasi is a bit more formal/complete, but still normal.

So you could say:

...membuat janji temu untuk konsultasi minggu depan.
...membuat janji temu untuk berkonsultasi minggu depan.

Both are correct; the original is slightly simpler and very idiomatic.

How do we know this sentence is talking about the future (“next week she will have a consultation”) if Indonesian doesn’t mark tense?

Indonesian usually doesn’t mark tense on the verb. Time is indicated by time expressions like:

kemarin = yesterday
tadi = earlier today
sudah / telah = already (often past)
akan = will (optional, for clarity about future)
minggu depan = next week

Here, minggu depan (“next week”) shows it’s about the future. A more explicitly “future” version could be:

Kakak perempuan saya juga akan membuat janji temu untuk konsultasi minggu depan.

But akan is optional; the original sentence is already naturally understood as future because of minggu depan.

Can minggu depan go in another position, like at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Time expressions are flexible in Indonesian. All of these are grammatical:

Minggu depan, kakak perempuan saya juga membuat janji temu untuk konsultasi.
Kakak perempuan saya minggu depan juga membuat janji temu untuk konsultasi. (less common, but possible)
Kakak perempuan saya juga membuat janji temu untuk konsultasi minggu depan. (your original; very natural)

The most typical positions are:

At the beginning of the sentence, for emphasis on time.
At the end, as in the original, which is very common in speech.

Is saya the only option for “I / my” here, or could I replace it with aku?

You generally don’t say kakak perempuan aku for “my older sister”; that sounds off.

For “my,” you normally choose between:

independent pronoun: saya (more formal/polite), aku (more informal/intimate)
possessive suffix: -ku (my, informal/intimate)

Natural options:

kakak perempuan saya – neutral/polite
kakak perempuanku – informal/intimate

Using aku in this sentence would be more natural in a different structure, e.g.:

Aku juga membuat janji temu untuk konsultasi minggu depan.
(“I also made an appointment…”)

What is the function of the prefix me- in membuat?

The base verb is buat (“to make, to do”). The prefix me- (in this case realized as mem- before b) turns it into a standard active verb:

buat – make/do (base form; very casual or imperative)
- Buat janji dulu. = Make an appointment first. (informal)
membuat – to make (active, standard form)
- Kakak perempuan saya juga membuat janji temu...

So membuat is the appropriate form in neutral, grammatical sentences, especially in writing or polite conversation.