Saya bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.

I meet the academic advisor at the library.

Breakdown of Saya bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.

• saya: I
• di: at
• bertemu: to meet
• perpustakaan: the library
• dosen pembimbing: the academic advisor

Questions & Answers about Saya bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.

Why is there no word for a or the in dosen pembimbing or perpustakaan?

Indonesian does not use articles like English a/an or the. Nouns stand alone, and context tells you whether they mean a, the, some, etc.

• dosen pembimbing can mean a supervisor or the supervisor.
• di perpustakaan can mean in a library or in the library.

If you really need to emphasize one person, you can add seorang:

• Saya bertemu seorang dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.
  → I met a (certain / one) academic adviser in the library.

But in most everyday sentences, you simply omit any article-like word.

Is bertemu transitive or intransitive? Why is there no dengan here?

In “careful” grammar, bertemu is considered intransitive and usually followed by dengan:

• Saya bertemu dengan dosen pembimbing.

However, in actual modern usage, especially in speech, people very often drop dengan and treat bertemu as if it took a direct object:

• Saya bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.

Both are natural and correct in everyday Indonesian.
Nuance:

• bertemu dengan feels slightly more formal or explicit.
• bertemu [someone] is slightly more colloquial and shorter.

So dosen pembimbing here functions as the person you met, whether you think of it grammatically as an object or as the complement of an intransitive verb + omitted preposition.

Why is it dosen pembimbing and not pembimbing dosen?

In Indonesian noun phrases, the main noun usually comes first, and modifiers follow it.

• dosen pembimbing
  
  • dosen = lecturer
  • pembimbing = supervisor / advisor
    → literally lecturer (who is a) supervisor → supervising lecturer / academic adviser

If you said pembimbing dosen, it would mean a supervisor of lecturers (someone who supervises lecturers), which is a different meaning.

So the pattern is:

• [main noun] + [describing noun or adjective]

Examples:

• buku sejarah = history book (book of history)
• guru musik = music teacher (teacher of music)
• dosen pembimbing = supervising lecturer / academic adviser

How do I know this sentence is past tense (“met”) and not present or future?

Indonesian verbs generally do not change form for tense. bertemu by itself just means to meet, without specifying time. The time is understood from context or from time words.

To specify tense, you add adverbs:

• Past:
  • Saya tadi bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.
  • Saya kemarin bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.
• Future:
  • Saya akan bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.
  • Nanti saya bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.

In the original sentence, context (for example, the rest of the conversation) would tell you whether it means met, am meeting, or will meet. The same Indonesian sentence can often be translated in more than one tense in English.

What exactly does dosen pembimbing refer to? Is it just any lecturer?

dosen pembimbing is a specific academic role, especially in Indonesian universities:

• dosen = lecturer / professor (university-level teacher)
• pembimbing = person who guides / supervises

dosen pembimbing usually refers to:

• a thesis or final-project supervisor
• sometimes a formal academic advisor for your studies

It is not just any lecturer; it implies a guiding / supervising role for a student’s project or academic progress.

What is the role of di in di perpustakaan, and how is it different from ke?

di and ke are different prepositions:

• di = at / in / on (location)
  
  • di perpustakaan = at/in the library
• ke = to (direction, movement toward a place)
  
  • ke perpustakaan = to the library

In your sentence:

• Saya bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.
  → The meeting happens in/at the library (location), so di is correct.

If you change it to:

• Saya pergi ke perpustakaan.
  → I went to the library (movement), so ke is needed.

Can I move di perpustakaan to another place in the sentence?

Yes, Indonesian word order is fairly flexible for adverbial phrases like di perpustakaan, as long as the meaning stays clear. All of these are acceptable:

• Saya bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.
• Saya di perpustakaan bertemu dosen pembimbing. (less common, but possible)
• Di perpustakaan saya bertemu dosen pembimbing.

The most neutral, everyday version is still the original:

• Saya bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.

Is Saya the only option for I here? Can I use aku or drop the subject?

You have options, depending on formality and context:

• Saya bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.
  
  • Saya = neutral / polite, good in most situations.
• Aku bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.
  
  • Aku = informal / intimate, used with friends, family, or people your age or younger.
• Tadi bertemu dosen pembimbing di perpustakaan.
  
  • Subject omitted, understood from context. This is common in casual speech or when it’s already clear who you’re talking about.

So:

• In formal or mixed-company situations: prefer Saya.
• With close friends / peers in casual contexts: Aku or omission is common.

How should I pronounce perpustakaan?

perpustakaan is pronounced with clear, even syllables; Indonesian generally has simple, regular pronunciation.

Break it into syllables:

• per-pus-ta-ka-an

Approximate pronunciation:

• per – like per in person, but the r is tapped/flapped
• pus – like poos (short u as in put, not as in food)
• ta – like tah
• ka – like kah
• an – like an in under (short a
  • n)

Stress is usually light and tends to fall near the end, often on -ka- or -an, but Indonesian stress is not as strong or contrastive as in English. The main thing is to pronounce every vowel clearly and not reduce them like English does.