Suhu tubuh saya normal, jadi dia hanya tersenyum dan menulis angkanya.

Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Indonesian grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Indonesian now

Questions & Answers about Suhu tubuh saya normal, jadi dia hanya tersenyum dan menulis angkanya.

Why is there no word for “is” in Suhu tubuh saya normal? When do Indonesians use adalah?

Indonesian usually drops a verb like “to be” when linking a noun/pronoun to an adjective:

  • Suhu tubuh saya normal.
    Literally: Body temperature my normal.
    Meaning: My body temperature is normal.

You only use adalah mainly:

  • before a noun phrase, not an adjective:
    • Dia adalah dokter. = He/She is a doctor.
  • in more formal or written language for clarity or emphasis.

With an adjective like normal, suhu tubuh saya adalah normal is grammatically possible but sounds stiff and overly formal in everyday speech. The natural spoken form is exactly as in the sentence: Suhu tubuh saya normal.

Is suhu tubuh the usual way to say body temperature? Could I say temperatur tubuh or something else?

Yes, suhu tubuh is a very natural and common way to say body temperature.

You might also hear:

  • suhu badan – also common, maybe a little more colloquial.
  • temperatur tubuh – understood, but sounds more technical or influenced by English; less common in everyday speech.
  • In casual speech, people sometimes shorten it to just suhu if the context is clear (e.g., at a clinic).

For normal, neutral Indonesian, suhu tubuh or suhu badan are the best choices.

Why is it tubuh saya and not saya tubuh for my body?

In Indonesian, the possessed thing comes first, and the owner comes after it:

  • tubuh saya = my body
  • rumah saya = my house
  • nama saya = my name

You do not say saya tubuh for my body; that sounds wrong.
So Suhu tubuh saya literally has the structure: temperature [of] body my.

What’s the difference between saya and aku, and between dia and ia in this sentence?

In the sentence we have saya and dia:

  • saya = I / me (polite, neutral; common in most situations, especially with strangers, in formal writing, at the doctor, etc.)
  • aku = I / me (more intimate or casual; used with friends, family, in songs, or very informal contexts)

You could say Suhu tubuh aku normal, but that sounds more intimate/casual, and less appropriate in a typical doctor–patient context.

For third person:

  • dia = he / she (used in speech and in most writing)
  • ia = also he / she, but tends to appear in more formal written Indonesian (news articles, literature) and usually before the verb in a sentence.

In this sentence, dia hanya tersenyum… is the most natural spoken/written choice.
Ia hanya tersenyum… is possible in formal writing.

What does jadi do in jadi dia hanya tersenyum…? Is it like “so”, “therefore”, or “then”?

jadi here works like English “so” / “therefore” / “as a result”.

  • Suhu tubuh saya normal, jadi dia hanya tersenyum dan menulis angkanya.
    = My body temperature was normal, so he just smiled and wrote down the number.

Other connectors with a similar function:

  • maka – more formal/literary.
  • oleh karena itu – “because of that / therefore”, formal.
  • karena itu – “for that reason / so”, semi‑formal.

In everyday speech and neutral writing, jadi is the most common and natural option here.

What exactly does hanya mean, and how is it different from saja (for example, dia tersenyum saja)?

hanya means “only / just”, limiting the action or thing:

  • dia hanya tersenyum = he/she only smiled, didn’t do anything more.

saja can also mean “just / only”, but it’s more flexible and can add a slightly different nuance.

Compare:

  • Dia hanya tersenyum.
    → More explicit restriction: He didn’t do anything else; he only smiled.
  • Dia tersenyum saja.
    → Feels a bit more casual; often used to downplay or soften: He just smiled (and that’s it).

In this sentence, hanya tersenyum is very natural.
Dia tersenyum saja dan menulis angkanya is also possible, with a slightly softer, more colloquial feel.

What is the function of the ter- prefix in tersenyum? Why not just senyum?

The base word is senyum = “smile” (a noun).
With ter-, it becomes tersenyum = “to smile” (verb).

The ter- prefix has several functions in Indonesian, but with tersenyum it’s simply the standard verb form for “to smile”. You normally don’t say menyenyum.

Colloquially, you might see/hear:

  • Dia senyum. (using the bare root as a verb)
    This is common in casual speech/chat.

But in neutral or correct standard Indonesian, tersenyum is the proper verb:

  • Dia tersenyum. = He/She smiled / is smiling.
Why is it menulis and not some past-tense form like “wrote”? How is tense expressed?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense.
menulis can mean:

  • write / writes
  • wrote
  • is writing / was writing

The time reference is understood from context or from additional time words:

  • Dia menulis angkanya tadi. = He wrote the number earlier.
  • Sekarang dia menulis angkanya. = Now he is writing the number.

In the sentence, the narrative context makes it clear it’s a past event, so menulis is understood as “wrote (it down)” without any extra marking.

Why is it menulis angkanya and not just menulis angka? What does the -nya add?

angka = number / figure
angkanya = the number / its number / that number

The suffix -nya can:

  • refer back to something already known (like “the” in English), or
  • mean his / her / its / their, depending on context.

In this sentence, angkanya means “the number (of my temperature)”—the specific number the doctor just saw on the thermometer.

If you said just menulis angka, it would sound incomplete, like “wrote a number” (any number) rather than “wrote that number / the reading”.

You could also say:

  • menulis angka itu = wrote that number
    which is similar in meaning to menulis angkanya, but angkanya is more compact and natural here.
What’s the difference between angka, nomor, and bilangan? Why use angka here?

Roughly:

  • angka = a digit or numeral; also used generally for numeric values (scores, prices, data, etc.)
  • nomor = number as a label (phone number, house number, ID number, queue number)
  • bilangan = more technical/math term for number (as a concept), used in education.

In a medical context, the doctor is writing down a numeric measurement (your temperature).
So angka is natural: menulis angkanya = “wrote down the numerical value / the figure.”

Using nomor here would sound odd, because we’re not dealing with a label number (like nomor antrian = queue number), but a measurement.

Why don’t we repeat dia before menulis? Can we say … jadi dia hanya tersenyum dan dia menulis angkanya?

Indonesian often omits the subject in the second (or later) verb of a sentence when it’s the same subject:

  • Dia hanya tersenyum dan (dia) menulis angkanya.

Repeating dia is not wrong, but:

  • Dia hanya tersenyum dan dia menulis angkanya.

sounds more heavy or emphatic in Indonesian, as if you want to stress each action separately. The more natural, fluid version is the one in your sentence, with dia omitted before menulis because it’s clearly understood.

Could we say Suhu badan saya normal instead of Suhu tubuh saya normal? Is there a nuance difference between tubuh and badan?

Yes, you can say:

  • Suhu badan saya normal.

Both are correct and commonly used.

Nuance:

  • tubuh – slightly more neutral / standard, often used in written or semi‑formal language.
  • badan – very common in everyday speech; also used in many set phrases (e.g. sakit badan, badan saya pegal).

In a clinic/hospital context, both suhu tubuh and suhu badan will sound natural. Many speakers might default to suhu badan in casual speech.

Does normal work exactly like English “normal” here? Are there any restrictions?

Yes, normal in Indonesian is borrowed from English and used in a very similar way:

  • suhu tubuh saya normal = my body temperature is normal
  • tekanan darahnya normal = his/her blood pressure is normal
  • hasil tesnya normal = the test result is normal

It behaves like a regular adjective and can follow a noun phrase without adalah, just like in your sentence.