Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu. - This year we go on vacation on that small island.

berlibur is a verb: to be on vacation / to go on vacation
- kami berlibur = we are on vacation / we go on vacation
liburan is usually a noun: holiday / vacation (the period of time)
- liburan kami = our vacation
- Saat liburan, kami pergi ke Bali. = During the holidays, we went to Bali.

In the sentence Tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu, berlibur is a verb telling what kami (we) are doing: we vacation / we are on vacation on that small island.

Why is there no word like “are” or “go” in kami berlibur?

Indonesian doesn’t use a separate verb like to be (am/are/is) or to go in this kind of sentence. The verb berlibur already carries the idea of being on vacation or going on vacation.

So:

kami berlibur can correspond to:
- we are on vacation
- we go on vacation
- we went on vacation (if the context is past)
- we will go on vacation (if the context is future)

The exact English translation depends on context and time expressions like tahun ini (this year).

How can Tahun ini kami berlibur… mean past, present, or future if there is no tense?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Time is shown by:

time expressions: kemarin (yesterday), besok (tomorrow), tahun ini (this year), etc.
sometimes by context, or by adding markers like sudah (already), sedang (currently), akan (will).

So Tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu could be understood as:

This year we are on vacation on that small island (present, or a general statement about this year)
This year we are going on vacation on that small island (future plan)
This year we went on vacation on that small island (past, if you’re summarizing what happened this year)

If you want to make it clearer:

Tahun ini kami sedang berlibur di pulau kecil itu.
→ This year we are currently on vacation on that small island.
Tahun ini kami akan berlibur di pulau kecil itu.
→ This year we will go on vacation on that small island.
Tahun ini kami sudah berlibur di pulau kecil itu.
→ This year we have already vacationed on that small island.

What is the difference between kami and kita?

Both mean we/us, but:

kami = we (not including the person you are talking to)
- used when the listener is not part of the group.
kita = we (including the person you are talking to)
- used when the listener is part of the group.

In Tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu, kami suggests that the speaker’s group is going on vacation without the listener.

If the speaker is including the listener (for example, they are planning together), they would say:

Tahun ini kita berlibur di pulau kecil itu.
→ This year we (you and I / all of us) are vacationing on that small island.

Why is it di pulau kecil itu and not ke pulau kecil itu?

The prepositions have different functions:

di = at / in / on (location, where something happens)
- di pulau kecil itu = on that small island (location of the vacation)
ke = to (movement, direction)
- ke pulau kecil itu = to that small island (the destination)

So:

Tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu.
→ Focus on where the holiday takes place (on that island).
Tahun ini kami pergi ke pulau kecil itu.
→ Focus on going to that island.

You could combine both ideas:

Tahun ini kami pergi berlibur ke pulau kecil itu.
→ This year we go on vacation to that small island.

Why is it pulau kecil and not kecil pulau?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe:

pulau kecil = small island
- pulau = island (noun)
- kecil = small (adjective)
rumah besar = big house
buku baru = new book

So the general pattern is:

noun + adjective
- not adjective + noun like in English.

What exactly does itu mean in pulau kecil itu, and why is it there?

itu is a demonstrative that generally means that or the (previously mentioned / known). In this sentence, pulau kecil itu suggests:

a specific island that:
- both speaker and listener already know about, or
- has been mentioned earlier in the conversation, or
- is visible / identifiable in the context.

Roughly:

pulau kecil itu = that small island / the small island (we talked about)

Without itu, pulau kecil would be more like a small island (non‑specific), depending on context.

Could we say pulau kecil ini instead of pulau kecil itu?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly:

ini = this (near the speaker, or just introduced / being focused on now)
itu = that (farther away, or already known / previously mentioned)

So:

Tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil ini.
→ This year we are vacationing on *this small island (near me / us).*
Tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu.
→ This year we are vacationing on *that small island (that one we both know about / can see / talked about).*

Both are grammatically correct; which one you choose depends on what you want to express.

Can I say Pada tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu, or is pada wrong here?

Pada is not wrong, but it sounds more formal or more written. In everyday spoken Indonesian, people normally just say:

Tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu.

Pada is often used with time expressions in formal speech or writing:

Pada tahun ini, perusahaan berkembang pesat.
→ In this year, the company grew rapidly.

So:

Pada tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu.
is grammatically correct, just a bit more formal or “bookish” than needed in casual conversation.

Can I drop ini and just say Tahun kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu?

No, that would be incorrect or at least incomplete.

You can:

keep ini:
- Tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu.
  → This year we are on vacation on that small island.
or replace ini with another time word:
- Tahun lalu kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu. (last year)
- Tahun depan kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu. (next year)

But Tahun kami berlibur… by itself doesn’t work in Indonesian; tahun (year) needs something to specify which year (ini, lalu, depan, 2024, etc.) or to be part of a larger structure.

Could I omit kami and just say Tahun ini berlibur di pulau kecil itu?

In standard Indonesian, you normally keep the subject pronoun, so:

Tahun ini kami berlibur di pulau kecil itu.
is the normal, clear sentence.

Omitting kami like:

Tahun ini berlibur di pulau kecil itu.

might be used in very casual notes, headlines, or social media captions where context is obvious (e.g. under a photo of your family), but grammatically it feels incomplete because we don’t know who is on vacation.

How does the prefix ber- in berlibur change the meaning of libur?

The prefix ber- often turns a noun or root into an intransitive verb meaning to have / to be in the state of / to do something related to that noun.

libur = holiday, day off (also a root related to “to be off”)
ber‑libur = to be on holiday / to vacation

Some similar patterns:

kerja (work) → bekerja (to work)
lari (run) → berlari (to run)
main (play) → bermain (to play)

So berlibur basically means to be in a holiday state / to be taking a holiday.