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Tenggorokan saya sakit, jadi saya minum teh hangat.

Tenggorokan saya sakit, jadi saya minum teh hangat.
My throat hurts, so I drink warm tea.

Breakdown of Tenggorokan saya sakit, jadi saya minum teh hangat.

adalah
to be
saya
I
minum
to drink
teh
the tea
hangat
warm
jadi
so
saya
my
sakit
sore
tenggorokan
the throat
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Questions & Answers about Tenggorokan saya sakit, jadi saya minum teh hangat.

Why is it tenggorokan saya and not saya tenggorokan or my tenggorokan?

In Indonesian, the normal pattern for possession is:

[thing] + [owner]

So you say:

  • tenggorokan saya = my throat
  • rumah saya = my house
  • teman saya = my friend

Putting saya before the noun (like saya tenggorokan) is not correct for “my throat”.

Other correct options for “my throat” are:

  • tenggorokan saya (neutral, standard)
  • tenggorokan aku (more casual, with aku)
  • tenggorokanku (more attached form, using -ku for “my”)
What exactly does sakit mean here? Is it “hurt”, “sore”, or “sick”?

Sakit is flexible. It can mean:

  • sore / painful / hurt:
    • Tenggorokan saya sakit. = My throat is sore / hurts.
  • sick / ill (about a person):
    • Saya sakit. = I’m sick / I’m ill.
  • a specific illness when followed by a noun:
    • sakit kepala = headache
    • sakit perut = stomachache

In Tenggorokan saya sakit, sakit is like an adjective:
“My throat is sore / in pain.”

Why is the word order teh hangat and not hangat teh?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun:

  • teh hangat = warm tea
  • baju merah = red shirt
  • mobil baru = new car

So:

  • teh hangat = correct
  • hangat teh = incorrect as a normal noun phrase

If you put hangat first, it can sound like you’re starting a sentence with an adjective:
Hangat, teh ini. (This tea is warm.) — but that’s a different structure and feels marked/stylized.

Does minum mean “drink”, “am drinking”, “drank”, or “will drink”?

Minum itself has no tense. It just means “to drink” / “drink(s)”.
The tense or time is understood from context or added time words.

Examples:

  • Saya minum teh hangat.
    • I drink warm tea. / I am drinking warm tea. / I drank warm tea. / I will drink warm tea.
  • Tadi saya minum teh hangat. = I drank warm tea earlier.
  • Nanti saya minum teh hangat. = I will drink warm tea later.

In your sentence:

Tenggorokan saya sakit, jadi saya minum teh hangat.

In context it most naturally means:
“My throat hurts, so I’m drinking / I’ll drink warm tea.”
—but grammar alone doesn’t fix the tense; context does.

What does jadi do here? Is it like “so”, “therefore”, or “because”?

Jadi here means “so / therefore”, introducing the result of the first clause.

  • Tenggorokan saya sakit, jadi saya minum teh hangat.
    = My throat hurts, so I drink warm tea.

Compare:

  • karena = because (introduces the reason)
    • Saya minum teh hangat karena tenggorokan saya sakit.
      = I drink warm tea because my throat hurts.

You can think of it like this:

  • [Reason], jadi [Result].
  • [Result] karena [Reason].
Can I drop the second saya and just say: Tenggorokan saya sakit, jadi minum teh hangat?

Yes, in informal spoken Indonesian, that’s very natural:

  • Tenggorokan saya sakit, jadi minum teh hangat.

The subject saya is understood from context. Indonesian often drops repeated subjects when it’s clear who is doing the action.

However:

  • With saya repeated: a bit more explicit and neutral.
  • Without the second saya: a bit more casual, very common in speech and informal writing (texts, chats).
Why is it minum teh hangat and not meminum teh hangat?

Both exist, but:

  • minum = everyday, neutral verb “to drink”.
  • meminum = formally the me- transitive form; sounds more formal/literary and is used less in everyday speech.

Most native speakers say:

  • Saya minum teh. (normal)
    not
  • Saya meminum teh. (correct but sounds formal / stiff in casual talk)

So saya minum teh hangat is the natural colloquial choice.

Is there a difference between teh hangat and teh panas?

Yes:

  • teh hangat = warm tea (comfortably warm, not very hot)
  • teh panas = hot tea (hot enough that you might blow on it)

In everyday speech, some people are a bit loose and might use them interchangeably, but the basic idea is:

  • hangat = warm
  • panas = hot
Could I also say Saya sakit tenggorokan instead of Tenggorokan saya sakit?

Yes, both are used, with a slightly different structure:

  1. Tenggorokan saya sakit.
    Literally: My throat is sore.

    • Focuses on the body part.

  2. Saya sakit tenggorokan.
    Literally: I am sick (with) throat.

    • Focuses on me + the illness (like “I have a sore throat”).

Both are natural; you’ll hear both patterns with many symptoms:

  • Kepala saya sakit. / Saya sakit kepala. = I have a headache.
  • Perut saya sakit. / Saya sakit perut. = I have a stomachache.
How do you pronounce tenggorokan, especially ngg?

Break it into syllables:

  • teng-go-ro-kan

Details:

  • te – like “te” in “ten” (without the final n).
  • ngg in tengg- is pronounced as ng + g, similar to English “finger” (the “ng” + “g” sound).
  • ro – like “ro” in “robot” but with a tapped/flapped r (like Spanish r in pero).
  • kan – “kahn” (short a, clear n).

Stress is usually fairly even, but you can think of a slight stress on -ro-:
teng-GO-ro-kan / TENG-go-RO-kan (stress is not as strong as in English, though).