Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dokter menaruh stetoskop di dada saya dan menyuruh saya tarik napas dalam-dalam. - The doctor puts a stethoscope on my chest and tells me to take a deep breath.

Dokter menaruh stetoskop… can mean:
- The doctor put the stethoscope… (past)
- The doctor puts the stethoscope… (present/habitual)
- Even a narrative present, depending on context.

Time is normally shown by extra words like:

tadi (earlier), kemarin (yesterday), tadi pagi (this morning)
sekarang (now), besok (tomorrow), etc.

So the tense in English is inferred from context, not from the verb form itself.

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” before dokter?

Indonesian does not use articles like “a/an” or “the”.

dokter can mean a doctor, the doctor, or just doctor, depending on context.
In this sentence, we infer “the doctor” because it sounds natural in English and we assume a specific doctor you’re talking about (e.g. at a clinic).

If you want to make it very clearly a doctor (one among many), you could say seorang dokter, but that’s not necessary here.

Why is “my chest” expressed as dada saya, with saya after the noun?

In Indonesian, possessive pronouns usually come after the noun:

dada saya = my chest
tangan saya = my hand
rumah saya = my house

So the pattern is:
[Noun] + [pronoun] instead of my + noun.

You can also use enclitic forms attached to the noun:

dadaku = my chest (less formal, more personal/literary)
dadamu = your chest
dadanya = his/her/its chest

In this sentence, dada saya is neutral and polite, which matches using saya elsewhere.

Could I say pada dada saya instead of di dada saya?

You could say pada dada saya, and it would be grammatically correct, but:

di dada saya is the most natural and common choice here.
di is the usual preposition for in/on/at a physical location.
pada is often more formal/abstract, used a lot in writing or with abstract nouns (e.g. pada kenyataannya = in reality).

So di dada saya sounds like normal spoken and written Indonesian in this context.

What is the nuance of menaruh here? Could I use meletakkan instead?

Both menaruh and meletakkan can translate as to put / to place.

menaruh stetoskop di dada saya
- Very natural and common.
- Slightly more casual, everyday speech.
meletakkan stetoskop di dada saya
- Also correct.
- Can sound a bit more deliberate or careful, and a bit more formal.

You might also see:

menempelkan stetoskop pada dada saya = “to press/attach the stethoscope to my chest” (more technical/descriptive).

In normal storytelling or conversation, menaruh is perfectly fine.

How does the structure menyuruh saya tarik napas work? Why are there two verbs in a row?

The pattern is:

menyuruh + [person] + [bare verb]

It literally means to order / tell [someone] to [do something].

In this sentence:

menyuruh = to tell/order
saya = me
tarik (bare verb) = pull
tarik napas = take a breath / inhale

So menyuruh saya tarik napas = told me to take a breath.

Having two verbs in a row like this (one as the main verb, one as the action you’re told to do) is very normal in Indonesian, especially after verbs like:

menyuruh (to tell/order)
meminta (to ask)
menyuruh saya makan = told me to eat
meminta saya datang = asked me to come

Can I say menyuruh saya untuk menarik napas dalam-dalam instead? Is that more correct?

Yes, that is also correct:

menyuruh saya tarik napas dalam-dalam
menyuruh saya untuk menarik napas dalam-dalam

Differences in nuance:

With “untuk + me- verb”:
- Slightly more formal or careful.
- Common in writing, instructions, or more formal speech.
With bare verb (no “untuk”, no me- prefix):
- menyuruh saya tarik napas…
- Very natural in everyday speech.
- Shorter and more direct.

Both are grammatical; your original sentence is very natural and not “less correct”.

Why is it tarik napas and not bernapas or menarik napas?

These forms have different uses:

tarik napas
- Literally “pull breath”.
- Commonly means “inhale / take a (deep) breath”.
- Often used in commands or instructions:
  - Tarik napas dalam-dalam. = Take a deep breath.
- That’s why we see the bare verb tarik here.
menarik napas
- Same literal meaning, but with the me- prefix.
- Often used in narrative descriptions:
  - Dia menarik napas panjang. = He/she took a long breath.
- You could say menyuruh saya menarik napas dalam-dalam, and it’s fine, especially in formal writing.
bernapas
- Means “to breathe” (general ongoing action).
- Not used for the specific instruction “take a breath”.
- E.g. Dia masih bernapas. = He/she is still breathing.

So in a doctor’s spoken instruction, tarik napas is the most natural choice.

What does dalam-dalam add? Why is the word repeated with a hyphen?

Dalam-dalam is a reduplicated form of dalam (deep). Reduplication here:

Intensifies the adjective.
Emphasises “deeply” or “very deep”.

So:

tarik napas dalam = take a deep breath (correct, but less idiomatic)
tarik napas dalam-dalam = take a deep(ly) deep breath; sounds very natural and standard in this set phrase.

Other ways to say it:

tarik napas yang dalam (take a breath that is deep)
tarik napas sangat dalam (very deep)
tarik napas sedalam mungkin (as deep as possible)

The - is just the normal way to write reduplication in Indonesian spelling: dalam-dalam, pelan-pelan, baik-baik, etc.

I’ve seen both napas and nafas. Which one is correct here?

The currently standard spelling in official Indonesian is:

napas (with p)

nafas (with f) is an older or informal variant that you will still see in everyday writing, song lyrics, social media, etc., but dictionaries like KBBI list napas as the main form.

In your sentence, napas is the standard and recommended spelling:

tarik napas dalam-dalam ✅ (standard)

Is it necessary to repeat saya twice? Could I say “…di dada saya dan menyuruh tarik napas dalam-dalam”?

Repeating saya is normal and clearer:

…di dada saya dan menyuruh saya tarik napas dalam-dalam. ✅

If you drop the second saya:

…di dada saya dan menyuruh tarik napas dalam-dalam.
- Still understandable in casual speech.
- But it sounds a bit incomplete or less natural in careful standard Indonesian, because menyuruh usually takes an explicit object (who is being told).

More natural alternatives if you want to avoid repetition:

…di dada saya dan menyuruhku tarik napas dalam-dalam.
…di dada saya dan menyuruhku untuk menarik napas dalam-dalam.

However, for clear, standard language, keeping both saya is perfectly good and quite typical.

Why is di written separately in di dada saya, but sometimes I see dibaca, ditaruh, etc. as one word?

There are two different di in Indonesian:

Preposition di (location: in/on/at)
- Written separately from the noun:
  - di rumah = at home
  - di meja = on the table
  - di dada saya = on my chest
- That’s the di you have in this sentence.
Prefix di- (passive verb prefix)
- Written attached to the verb:
  - dibaca = is read / was read
  - ditaruh = is put / was put
  - diletakkan = is placed
- Here di- marks a passive form of the verb.

So:

di dada saya → preposition (separate word)
ditaruh di dada saya → di- as a prefix on the verb taruh (one word) plus a separate preposition di again before dada.