Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan.

Putting saya in the middle (tas saya sekolah) would sound wrong and confusing to a native speaker. The possessor (saya, kamu, dia, etc.) usually comes after the full noun phrase it possesses.

What exactly does "dibawa" mean, and how is it different from "membawa"?

Both come from the root bawa (to bring / to carry), but:

membawa = to bring / carry (active voice)
- Example: Saya membawa tas itu. = I bring / am bringing that bag.
dibawa = is/was brought / is being brought (passive voice with di-)
- Example: Tas itu dibawa ke perpustakaan. = The bag was brought to the library.

So in Tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan:

The bag is the one being acted on (it is brought by someone, but the person is not mentioned).
That’s why the passive form dibawa is used.

Who is doing the action in "Tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan"? Where is the person?

The sentence is passive and does not mention the doer. It implies:

My school bag was taken to the library (by someone).

In Indonesian, it is very common to leave out the agent if it’s obvious, unimportant, or unknown.

If you want to mention the person, you can add oleh:

Tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan oleh guru.
My school bag was taken to the library by the teacher.

But in everyday speech, especially with pronouns, Indonesians often skip oleh and just say:

Tas sekolah saya dibawa guru ke perpustakaan.

How do we know the tense? Does "dibawa" mean is being taken or was taken?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Dibawa just means is/was brought/taken.

The exact tense is understood from context or from time words:

Kemarin tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan.
Yesterday my school bag was taken to the library. (past)
Sekarang tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan.
Right now my school bag is being taken to the library. (present progressive)

Without any time marker, Tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan can usually be translated as the simple past in English:

My school bag was taken to the library.

But depending on context, it could also be understood as present.

Can I change the word order, like "Dibawa tas sekolah saya ke perpustakaan"?

In everyday, neutral Indonesian, the natural order here is:

Tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan.

Starting the sentence with dibawa is grammatically possible in very specific contexts (e.g., poetry, headlines, or special emphasis), but it will sound strange or stylistic, not normal conversational Indonesian.

So for normal use, keep:

[Subject] + [Verb] + [Destination]
Tas sekolah saya + dibawa + ke perpustakaan.

Why is it "ke perpustakaan" and not "di perpustakaan"?

ke = to / toward (movement, direction)
di = at / in / on (location, no movement)

In dibawa ke perpustakaan, the bag is being moved to the library, so ke is correct.

Compare:

Tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan.
My school bag was taken to the library. (movement)
Tas sekolah saya di perpustakaan.
My school bag is at the library. (location, no movement)

Is "perpustakaan" just “library”, or does it have a structure like prefix + root?

Yes, it has a word-formation structure:

Root: pustaka = book / writing (more formal or literary now)
per- … -an = a common Indonesian noun-forming pattern

So: per + pustaka + an → perpustakaan
Literally something like “place related to books” → library.

You don’t need to break it every time you see it, but knowing this helps you recognize other per-…-an nouns.

Could I say "Tas sekolahku dibawa ke perpustakaan" instead? What’s the difference from "Tas sekolah saya"?

Yes, you can say:

Tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan.
Tas sekolahku dibawa ke perpustakaan.

Both mean My school bag was taken to the library.

Differences:

saya = neutral, more formal/polite.
-ku (attached to the noun) = more informal, often used in writing (messages, diaries, songs), or in casual speech.

So:

tas sekolah saya → slightly more neutral/formal.
tas sekolahku → sounds more personal/intimate/informal.

If I want to say it actively, like “I took my school bag to the library”, how would I change the sentence?

Active voice with membawa:

Saya membawa tas sekolah saya ke perpustakaan.
I took / brought my school bag to the library.

Structure:

Saya = I (subject / doer)
membawa = to bring / take (active verb)
tas sekolah saya = my school bag (object)
ke perpustakaan = to the library (destination)

So:

Passive: Tas sekolah saya dibawa ke perpustakaan.
(focus on the bag; doer may be unknown or unimportant)
Active: Saya membawa tas sekolah saya ke perpustakaan.
(focus on who is doing the action)

Could "dibawa" here mean “carried” instead of “taken”? Which English verb is more accurate?

dibawa covers both ideas: brought / taken / carried.

English separates these nuances more clearly:

take = move something away from the speaker’s current location
bring = move something toward the speaker or listener
carry = focus on the physical act of holding and moving something

Indonesian bawa / dibawa doesn’t sharply separate these like English does. The best translation depends on context:

In many neutral contexts: was taken to the library is a very natural translation.
You could also say was brought to the library.
If you want to stress the physical carrying: was carried to the library.

All are possible translations of dibawa; Indonesian itself is less specific here.

Is "tas sekolah saya" always “my school bag”, or can it mean “my bag for school” in a broader sense?

Tas sekolah saya literally means my school bag, but in Indonesian that can naturally mean:

a specific school bag (like a backpack used for school), or
any bag that I use for school purposes.

The phrase is quite flexible; Indonesian doesn’t always draw a sharp line between “school bag” (a special type) and “bag that I use for school” the way English sometimes does. Context usually makes it clear.