Saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya setiap malam.

I think about my final assignment every night.

Breakdown of Saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya setiap malam.

• saya: I
• tugas: the assignment
• setiap malam: every night
• akhir: final
• memikirkan: to think about

Questions & Answers about Saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya setiap malam.

What is the difference between memikirkan and berpikir? Can I say Saya berpikir tugas akhir saya setiap malam?

Memikirkan is a transitive verb: it must have an object (something you think about).

• Saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya setiap malam.
  = I (actively) think about my final project every night.

Berpikir is usually intransitive (no direct object), and if you add what you think about, you normally use tentang:

• Saya berpikir tentang tugas akhir saya setiap malam. ✅
• Saya berpikir tugas akhir saya setiap malam. ❌ (unnatural)

So the natural alternatives are:

• Saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya setiap malam.
• Saya berpikir tentang tugas akhir saya setiap malam.

Meaning is very similar; memikirkan can sound a bit more like “ponder / dwell on” and emphasizes the object a little more.

Why is it tugas akhir saya and not saya tugas akhir?

In Indonesian, the usual order is:

NOUN + POSSESSOR

So:

• tugas akhir saya = my final project
• rumah saya = my house
• buku kamu = your book

Putting saya before tugas akhir (like saya tugas akhir) is not how possession is shown and sounds wrong here.

You could also use a possessive suffix (more informal/neutral), for example:

• tugas akhirku = my final project (ku attached to the noun)
• tugasku = my task

Why is saya used twice? Can I drop the second saya?

Yes, you can drop the second saya. Both are natural, but slightly different in style:

• Saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya setiap malam.
  Clear and explicit; you repeat saya to show that both the subject and the owner of the task are “I”.

• Saya memikirkan tugas akhir setiap malam.
  Still normally understood as my final project from context, especially in a conversation about yourself.

If it’s already clear that the topic is your final project, many speakers would say the shorter one. Repeating saya is not wrong; it can sound a bit more careful, formal, or explicit.

What exactly does tugas akhir mean here? Is it always “final project / thesis”?

Literally, tugas akhir is:

• tugas = task / assignment
• akhir = final / last

In everyday Indonesian within an academic context, tugas akhir is a set phrase that usually means:

• final project
• senior thesis / graduation project
• final-year paper, depending on the institution

Outside an academic context, tugas akhir could literally be understood as “last task”, but people will usually interpret it as the academic final project if you’re talking about studies, university, etc.

What does the suffix -kan in memikirkan do? Why not just memikir?

The base word is pikir (thought). With prefixes/suffixes:

• berpikir = to think (in general)
• memikirkan (sesuatu) = to think about / consider (something as an object)

Here, meN- + pikir + -kan gives memikirkan, a transitive verb that takes a direct object:

• Saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya.
  “I think about / ponder my final project.”

Memikir without -kan is not the standard form in formal Indonesian. In casual speech you will often hear:

• mikir (from berpikir)
• mikirin (from memikirkan)

but those are colloquial.

How do we know the tense? Does Saya memikirkan… mean present, past, or future?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya setiap malam can be:

• I think about my final project every night. (present, habitual)
• I used to think about my final project every night. (past, habitual)
• I will think about my final project every night. (future, if context says so)

Here, setiap malam (“every night”) strongly suggests a habit, usually translated with English simple present: I think about my final project every night.

If you need to be very explicit about time, you add time words:

• dulu (used to), tadi, kemarin, nanti, akan, etc.

Can I move setiap malam to the front or middle of the sentence?

Yes. All of these are grammatically correct, with slightly different emphasis:

1. Saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya setiap malam.
   Neutral; the time phrase comes at the end.

2. Setiap malam saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya.
   Emphasis on every night, as the frame of the sentence.

3. Saya setiap malam memikirkan tugas akhir saya.
   Also possible; a bit less common in writing, more in speech for rhythmic reasons.

Meaning is essentially the same; the difference is which part you’re highlighting.

Can setiap malam be replaced with tiap malam? Are they different?

Yes, you can say:

• Saya memikirkan tugas akhir saya tiap malam.

setiap and tiap mean the same (“each / every”), but:

• setiap is a bit more formal and common in writing.
• tiap is slightly more colloquial and very common in speech.

The difference in meaning is negligible; it’s mostly style/register.

Could I replace tugas akhir saya with memikirkannya? What would Saya memikirkannya setiap malam mean?

Yes, if it is clear from context what “it” refers to:

• Saya memikirkannya setiap malam.
  = I think about it every night.

Here -nya refers back to something previously mentioned, for example tugas akhir saya.

A natural mini-dialogue:

• A: Bagaimana dengan tugas akhir kamu?
• B: Saya memikirkannya setiap malam.

So, memikirkannya ≈ “think about it / think about that (thing)”.

Why is saya used instead of aku here?

Both mean “I”, but they differ in formality and social distance:

• saya: polite, neutral, more formal; safe in almost any situation (speaking to strangers, teachers, in writing, etc.).
• aku: informal, intimate; used with friends, family, close peers, in songs, etc.

Your sentence with aku:

• Aku memikirkan tugas akhir aku setiap malam.

More natural with aku is to use the possessive suffix:

• Aku memikirkan tugas akhirku setiap malam.

In textbooks and formal contexts, saya is usually taught first.

What would a more informal, spoken-Jakarta version of this sentence look like?

In casual colloquial Indonesian (especially Jakarta-style), you might hear:

• Gue mikirin skripsi gue tiap malem.

Changes from the original:

• saya → gue (very informal “I”)
• memikirkan → mikirin (colloquial form)
• tugas akhir → skripsi (common word for undergraduate thesis)
• setiap → tiap (more casual)
• malam → malem (colloquial pronunciation/spelling)

Your original sentence is perfectly fine standard Indonesian; this just shows the informal flavor.