Kadang-kadang saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.

Sometimes I study alone in the library.

Breakdown of Kadang-kadang saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.

• saya: I
• di: in
• belajar: to study
• perpustakaan: the library
• kadang-kadang: sometimes
• sendiri: on its own

Questions & Answers about Kadang-kadang saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.

What does kadang-kadang literally mean, and is it different from just kadang?

Kadang-kadang literally means sometimes.
It’s a reduplication of kadang, which also means sometimes.

In everyday use:

• kadang-kadang = neutral, very common way to say sometimes
• kadang = a bit shorter, slightly more informal, but still common

You can usually swap them without changing the meaning much:

• Kadang-kadang saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.
• Kadang saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.

Both are fine and both mean Sometimes I study by myself in the library.

Does kadang-kadang have to go at the beginning? Can I move it?

You can move kadang-kadang around in the sentence without changing the basic meaning:

• Kadang-kadang saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.
• Saya kadang-kadang belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.
• Saya belajar sendiri kadang-kadang di perpustakaan. (possible, but less common)

Most natural are the first two:

• At the beginning: a bit more emphasis on the frequency.
• After saya: feels very neutral, common in speech.

So: Kadang-kadang saya… and Saya kadang-kadang… are both very good.

What exactly does belajar mean here: study or learn?

Belajar can mean both to study and to learn, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• saya belajar = I study / I am studying / I learn / I am learning

English separates study and learn, but Indonesian uses belajar for both ideas:

• Saya belajar bahasa Indonesia. = I study / I am learning Indonesian.
• Dia belajar matematika di rumah. = He/She studies / is learning math at home.

So Kadang-kadang saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan. is best translated as Sometimes I study by myself in the library.

Does belajar sendiri mean self-study or just studying alone?

It can mean both, and context decides which is stronger.

• belajar sendiri can mean:
  • studying alone (no friends or teacher present), and/or
  • self-studying (without a teacher, on your own initiative)

In this sentence, most people would understand it as:

• Sometimes I study on my own in the library
  (probably without a teacher, perhaps using books, internet, etc.)

If you really want to stress the idea of no teacher, you can also say:

• belajar otodidak (self-taught, autodidact), but that’s more specific and less general than belajar sendiri.

Is sendiri describing saya (myself) or belajar (alone)? Which meaning is intended?

Grammatically, sendiri can attach to the subject or the verb, so there are two possible readings:

1. saya belajar sendiri
   = I study by myself / I myself study
   (no one else is involved, or no teacher)

2. belajar sendiri
   = to study alone / to study on one’s own

In practice, these blend together, and the natural understanding is:

• Sometimes I (myself) study alone / by myself in the library.

Context (for example, whether you’re contrasting with studying in a group or with a teacher) will make it clear whether “alone” or “self-study” is more important.

What is the difference between sendiri and sendirian?

Both relate to being alone, but they feel a bit different:

• sendiri

  • neutral
  • can mean by oneself, alone, or own
  • examples:
    • Saya belajar sendiri. = I study by myself.
    • Kamar saya sendiri. = My own room.

• sendirian

  • focuses more on being alone (physically), sometimes with a hint of loneliness
  • examples:
    • Saya di rumah sendirian. = I’m at home all by myself.
    • Dia makan sendirian. = He/She is eating alone.

In your sentence you could also say:

• Kadang-kadang saya belajar sendirian di perpustakaan.
  This sounds a bit more like Sometimes I study there all on my own (no one with me).

Could I say saya belajar di perpustakaan sendiri instead? What would that mean?

Saya belajar di perpustakaan sendiri is not the same as saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.

• saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan
  = I study by myself in the library.

• saya belajar di perpustakaan sendiri
  is usually understood as:
  = I study in my own library (a private library that belongs to me).

sendiri placed after perpustakaan tends to mean own (possessive), not alone.
So keep sendiri next to belajar or saya if you want the meaning by myself / alone, like in the original sentence.

Is the subject saya necessary? Can I drop it like in some other languages?

Indonesian often allows you to drop the subject if it’s clear from context, but it’s still very common to keep it, especially in simple learner-friendly sentences.

You could say:

• Kadang-kadang saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan. (with saya)
• Kadang-kadang belajar sendiri di perpustakaan. (without saya)

The second one is understandable, but:

• it’s less clear who is studying (it could be I, we, people in general, etc.)
• using saya is safer and more natural in isolation or in writing exercises.

So for clear, standard Indonesian, keep saya in this sentence.

Why saya and not aku? What is the difference?

Both mean I / me, but they differ in formality and context:

• saya

  • more formal or neutral-polite
  • used with strangers, in the workplace, in writing, in public speech

• aku

  • more informal / intimate
  • used with friends, family, close people, or in some songs and poetry

So:

• Kadang-kadang saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.
  = neutral / polite, suitable in almost any context.

• Kadang-kadang aku belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.
  = more casual, sounds like talking to a friend.

Both are grammatically correct.

What does di mean here, and how is it different from ke?

Di and ke are both very common prepositions:

• di = at / in / on (location, where something is)

  • di perpustakaan = at/in the library
  • di rumah = at home

• ke = to / towards (direction, movement)

  • ke perpustakaan = to the library
  • ke rumah = to (the) home

In your sentence, the meaning is about where you study, not where you are going, so di perpustakaan is correct.

You cannot combine them as di ke; you must choose one or the other depending on meaning.

Can I omit di and just say … perpustakaan?

No, you should not omit di here.

In Indonesian, locations normally need a preposition like di, ke, or dari:

• di perpustakaan = at/in the library
• ke perpustakaan = to the library
• dari perpustakaan = from the library

Just saying … perpustakaan without di/ke/dari would sound incomplete or incorrect in this context. So di perpustakaan is required.

How is tense expressed? Does this mean Sometimes I study (habitually), Sometimes I am studying, or Sometimes I studied?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Belajar stays the same for past, present, or future. The tense is understood from context or time words.

Your sentence can mean:

• Sometimes I study by myself in the library. (habitual, general)
• Sometimes I am studying by myself in the library. (present, depending on context)
• Sometimes I studied by myself in the library. (past, if you’re talking about your past habits)

If you want to be clearer, you add time expressions:

• Dulu kadang-kadang saya belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.
  = In the past, sometimes I studied by myself in the library.
• Nanti kadang-kadang saya akan belajar sendiri di perpustakaan.
  = In the future, sometimes I will study by myself in the library.

But the original is naturally understood as a habitual statement.

What exactly does perpustakaan mean? Is it only for book libraries?

Perpustakaan means library: a place where you can read or borrow books (often also magazines, digital media, etc.).

It is not a bookstore. A bookstore is:

• toko buku = bookshop, bookstore

Examples:

• Saya pergi ke perpustakaan. = I go to the library.
• Saya beli buku di toko buku. = I buy books at the bookstore.

So di perpustakaan is specifically at the library, not at a store.

Why is there a hyphen in kadang-kadang? What does that indicate?

The hyphen shows reduplication: repeating a word or part of a word.

In Indonesian:

• kadang → kadang-kadang
• hari (day) → hari-hari (days / every day, or many days)
• orang (person) → orang-orang (people)

Reduplication can:

• change the meaning (e.g., from singular to plural or to “various”)
• add emphasis
• create a fixed expression (like kadang-kadang = sometimes)

In this case, kadang-kadang is simply the standard, common form for sometimes, and it’s written with a hyphen.

How should I pronounce kadang-kadang and perpustakaan?

Roughly (using English-like syllables):

• kadang-kadang

  • syllables: ka-dang-ka-dang
  • ng is a single sound, like in “song”
  • stress is fairly even: ka-dang-ka-dang

• perpustakaan

  • syllables: per-pus-ta-ka-an
  • break it down: per – pus – ta – ka – an
  • every vowel is pronounced: a (like father), u (like put but shorter), e in per is like an unstressed uh
  • stress tends to be slightly stronger near the end: per-pus-ta-ka-an

Indonesian pronunciation is generally very regular: each syllable is clearly pronounced.