Dokter menyarankan saya minum obat ini dua kali sehari.

The doctor advises me to take this medicine twice a day.

Breakdown of Dokter menyarankan saya minum obat ini dua kali sehari.

• ini: this
• saya: I
• minum: to drink
• obat: the medicine
• dokter: the doctor
• menyarankan: to advise
• dua kali sehari: twice a day

Questions & Answers about Dokter menyarankan saya minum obat ini dua kali sehari.

Why is there no word like “to” before minum (drink), as in “suggested me to drink this medicine…”?

Indonesian doesn’t need a marker like English “to” before verbs in this kind of structure.

• menyarankan saya minum obat ini
  literally: “recommended me drink this medicine”

Here, minum is just another verb following menyarankan. Indonesian often uses a pattern:

• [verb 1] + [person] + [verb 2]
  • Dokter menyarankan saya minum…
    = The doctor suggested (that) I drink…

You could add untuk (to / in order to):

• Dokter menyarankan saya untuk minum obat ini…
  This is also correct and quite common, but untuk is optional, not required the way “to” is in English.

What exactly is the role of saya here? Is it the object, or the subject of minum?

It functions as both:

1. Object of menyarankan

   • menyarankan siapa? → saya
     recommended whom? → me

2. Subject of minum

   • siapa yang minum obat ini? → saya
     who drinks this medicine? → I

So the structure is:

• Dokter (subject of menyarankan)
• menyarankan (main verb)
• saya (object of menyarankan, subject of minum)
• minum obat ini dua kali sehari (what I’m supposed to do)

This “shared” role is very common in Indonesian with verb chains like:

• menyuruh saya pergi (tell me to go)
• meminta dia datang (ask him/her to come)

Could you also say Dokter menyarankan agar saya minum obat ini dua kali sehari? What’s the difference?

Yes, that sentence is also correct and quite natural.

• menyarankan saya minum…
  More direct, everyday, slightly simpler.

• menyarankan agar saya minum…
  Slightly more formal. agar = so that / so as that / that.
  It clearly introduces a clause: “that I drink this medicine twice a day.”

In speaking, people often omit agar/untuk for brevity, especially when the meaning is obvious.

Why is it menyarankan, not mensarankan from saran?

This is due to a standard prefix rule in Indonesian.

• Base word: saran (advice, suggestion)
• Prefix: meN- (forms active verbs)

When meN- meets a base starting with s, the s usually changes to ny:

• meN- + saran → menyarankan (to suggest / to recommend)

So:

• NOT mensarankan (incorrect)
• Correct: menyarankan

What’s the nuance of menyarankan compared with verbs like menyuruh or meminta?

They all involve telling someone to do something, but with different strength/feeling:

• menyarankan = to recommend / to suggest

  • Softer, more optional.
  • Dokter menyarankan saya minum obat ini…
    The doctor advises it; it’s the recommended thing to do.

• menyuruh = to order / to tell (someone to do something)

  • Stronger, more like giving an order or instruction.
  • Dokter menyuruh saya minum obat ini…
    The doctor tells me to drink this medicine (more directive, less optional).

• meminta = to ask / request

  • Focus on the asking itself, can be polite but not necessarily advisory.
  • Dokter meminta saya minum obat ini…
    The doctor asks me to drink this medicine.

For medical advice, menyarankan sounds very natural and professional.

Why is it minum obat and not something like makan obat or meminum obat?

All three forms exist, but they differ in usage:

1. minum obat

   • Literally: drink medicine
   • This is the most common and neutral way to say “take medicine” in Indonesian, even for pills, capsules, or syrups.

2. makan obat

   • Literally: eat medicine
   • Used colloquially by some speakers, especially in some regions, but minum obat is more standard and widely accepted.

3. meminum obat

   • Same meaning as minum obat but more formal/literary.
   • meminum is the transitive form, explicitly taking obat as its object.
   • You’re more likely to see it in written instructions or formal texts (though minum obat is also perfectly fine there).

In everyday conversation, minum obat is the default.

Does obat ini mean “this medicine” or “these medicines”? How do you show plural?

obat ini can mean either “this medicine” (singular) or “these medicines” (plural), depending on context.

Indonesian normally doesn’t mark plural with an ending like English -s. Plurality is understood from context or added words:

• obat ini = this medicine / these medicines
• obat-obat ini = these medicines (explicit plural, by reduplication)
• semua obat ini = all this/these medicine(s)
• tiga obat ini = these three medicines

In a clinic context, obat ini could be a specific medicine (a single type), or a set of pills all treated as “this medicine.”

Can I drop saya and just say Dokter menyarankan minum obat ini dua kali sehari?

Yes, that sentence is still grammatically correct:

• Dokter menyarankan minum obat ini dua kali sehari.

However, the nuance changes slightly:

• With saya:
  Clear that the recommendation is specifically for me.
• Without saya:
  More general or impersonal, like “The doctor recommends taking this medicine twice a day” (could be understood as a general instruction or for whoever is concerned).

In a real conversation about your own treatment, including saya is clearer and more natural.

Why is saya used instead of aku here?

Both are 1st person singular pronouns, but with different levels of formality:

• saya
  
  • Neutral to formal.
  • Used with strangers, in professional settings, with older people, in hospitals, etc.
• aku
  
  • Informal, intimate.
  • Used with close friends, family, or people your own age, in casual contexts.

With a doctor, saya is the safe, polite, standard choice.
Using aku with a doctor is possible if the interaction is very informal and friendly, but saya is generally preferred.

Why is dua kali sehari at the end? Could I say sehari dua kali instead?

Yes, both are correct and frequently used:

• dua kali sehari = twice a day
• sehari dua kali = in a day, twice

In your sentence, the default order is:

• minum (verb)
• obat ini (object)
• dua kali sehari (time frequency)

This pattern (time info at the end) is very natural:

• Saya bekerja lima hari seminggu.
  I work five days a week.
• Minum vitamin ini sekali sehari.
  Take this vitamin once a day.

You can also say:

• Dokter menyarankan saya minum obat ini sehari dua kali.
  Same meaning; just a slightly different emphasis/order.

How does Indonesian express tense here? How do I know if this is past, present, or future?

Indonesian doesn’t mark tense on the verb the way English does.
menyarankan itself doesn’t mean past/present/future — context tells you.

Dokter menyarankan saya minum obat ini dua kali sehari could mean:

• The doctor advises me (habitually) to take this medicine twice a day.
• The doctor has advised me (earlier) to take it.
• The doctor will advise me (in some narrative; less common reading).

If you need to be explicit, you add time words:

• Tadi dokter menyarankan saya…
  Earlier the doctor advised me…
• Kemarin dokter menyarankan saya…
  Yesterday the doctor advised me…
• Besok dokter akan menyarankan saya…
  Tomorrow the doctor will advise me…

But in real life, co‑text and situation usually make the time clear.

Why is Dokter not capitalized here? Shouldn’t “Doctor” be a title?

In this sentence, dokter is used as a common noun, not as a title plus name:

• dokter = a doctor / the doctor (profession, role)
• It is written with a lowercase d.

You only capitalize it when it’s part of a specific title/name:

• Dokter Andi menyarankan saya minum obat ini…
  Doctor Andi suggested I take this medicine…

So:

• Dokter menyarankan saya… (if you are calling the person “Doctor” directly as a name) → capital D
• dokter menyarankan saya… (talking about “the doctor” in general) → lowercase d

Your sentence, as given, is most naturally read as “the doctor,” so dokter in lowercase is standard.