Teman saya belajar drum di studio musik.

the friend

Breakdown of Teman saya belajar drum di studio musik.

• di: at
• belajar: to learn
• saya: my

Questions & Answers about Teman saya belajar drum di studio musik.

Why is it teman saya and not saya teman for my friend?

In Indonesian, the usual pattern for possession is:

[thing owned] + [owner]

So you say:

• teman saya = friend + I → my friend
• rumah saya = house + I → my house
• mobil dia = car + s/he → his / her car

Putting saya before the noun (saya teman) is not grammatical in standard Indonesian for this meaning.

You could also see:

• temanku = my friend (more informal; -ku is a suffix meaning my)

Does teman saya mean exactly my friend, or could it also mean a friend of mine?

It can mean either, depending on context.

Indonesian usually does not mark definiteness clearly (no clear a vs the). So:

• Teman saya belajar drum di studio musik.
  can be understood as:
  • My friend is learning drums at a music studio.
    or
  • A friend of mine is learning drums at a music studio.

If you really want to emphasize one (single) friend of mine, you can say:

• Seorang teman saya belajar drum di studio musik.
  (One friend of mine studies/learns drums at a music studio.)

Is singular or plural here? How do I say ?