Saya menghafal kata sandi itu.

that

Breakdown of Saya menghafal kata sandi itu.

• saya: I
• kata sandi: the password
• menghafal: to memorize

Questions & Answers about Saya menghafal kata sandi itu.

What is the nuance of saya here? Could I use aku instead?

Saya is the neutral, polite, and slightly formal way to say I. It’s safe in almost all situations: with strangers, older people, at work, in writing, etc.

You can replace it with aku, but the tone changes:

• Aku menghafal kata sandi itu.
  – more informal, intimate, or casual (friends, close family, people your age or younger).

So the sentence is correct with either:

• Saya menghafal kata sandi itu. – polite/neutral
• Aku menghafal kata sandi itu. – casual/intimate

You just need to match the pronoun to the social situation.

How is tense expressed? How do I know this means past and not present or future?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Menghafal itself is tenseless; it just means to memorize.

Time is usually understood from context or from time words. For example:

• Saya sudah menghafal kata sandi itu. – I have already memorized that password.
• Tadi saya menghafal kata sandi itu. – I memorized that password earlier.
• Besok saya akan menghafal kata sandi itu. – I will memorize that password tomorrow.

Your sentence Saya menghafal kata sandi itu. could mean:

• I memorize that password.
• I memorized that password.
• I am memorizing that password.

The exact tense is inferred from the larger context.