Teman saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.

My friend is looking for a book in the library.

Breakdown of Teman saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.

• sebuah: a
• buku: the book
• di: in
• teman: the friend
• sedang: be (progressive)
• saya: my
• perpustakaan: the library
• mencari: to search

Questions & Answers about Teman saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.

What does teman saya literally mean, and why is the order different from English my friend?

Teman means friend, and saya means I / me.
So teman saya is literally friend my, but it is translated as my friend.

In Indonesian, possessors (like saya, kamu, dia) usually come after the noun:

• rumah saya = my house
• buku kamu = your book
• mobil dia = his / her car

So teman saya is the normal way to say my friend. You don’t say saya teman for my friend; that would be ungrammatical in this context.

What is the function of sedang here? Is it like the English -ing?

Sedang marks an ongoing action, similar to English am/is/are … -ing.

• Teman saya mencari buku di perpustakaan.
  → can mean My friend looks for / is looking for a book in the library.
• Teman saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.
  → clearly My friend is (currently) looking for a book in the library.

So:

• You add sedang when you want to emphasize that something is in progress right now.
• You can omit sedang and the sentence is still grammatical; it just becomes more neutral about time/aspect and can be interpreted as present, past, or habitual depending on context.

Why doesn’t Indonesian use a word for for after mencari like English look for?

In Indonesian, mencari already means to look for / search for. The idea of for is built into the verb, so you don’t add another preposition.

• mencari buku = to look for a book (not mencari untuk buku)

Some similar verbs:

• menunggu bus = wait (for) the bus
• mendengarkan musik = listen to music

So the pattern is typically:

[subject] + [verb] + [object]
Teman saya + sedang mencari + buku

Why is there no word for a or the before buku?

Indonesian normally does not use articles like a / an / the.

Buku by itself can mean:

• a book
• the book
• just book/books in general

Which English article you choose depends on context, not on extra words in Indonesian.

If you really want to be explicit, you can add words like:

• sebuah buku = a book / one book (neutral classifier)
• buku itu = that/the book (already known or pointed at)

But in everyday speech, buku is enough, and context does the work.

How would I say books (plural) instead of a book here?

There are a few options:

1. buku (unchanged)

   • Often used even when English needs books.
   • Teman saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.
     → could also mean My friend is looking for books in the library.

2. buku-buku (reduplication)

   • Explicitly plural: books (various, more than one).
   • Teman saya sedang mencari buku-buku di perpustakaan.

3. beberapa buku = several books

   • Teman saya sedang mencari beberapa buku di perpustakaan.

Indonesian often doesn’t mark plural unless it’s important to be clear that it’s more than one.

Can I move sedang to another place, like Teman saya mencari sedang buku di perpustakaan?

No. The natural position of sedang is right before the verb it modifies.

Correct patterns:

• Teman saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.
• Sekarang teman saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan. (adding sekarang = now at the beginning)

Incorrect / unnatural:

• Teman saya mencari sedang buku di perpustakaan.
• Sedang teman saya mencari buku di perpustakaan. (only okay in very special emphasis contexts, not standard)

Basic rule: [Subject] + sedang + [verb] + [object] (+ place/time).

What’s the difference between di perpustakaan and ke perpustakaan?

• di = at / in / on (location; where something is)

  • di perpustakaan = in/at the library

• ke = to / toward (direction; where something is going)

  • ke perpustakaan = to the library

So your sentence uses di perpustakaan because the action (searching) is taking place in the library, not going to the library.

Example contrast:

• Teman saya sedang pergi ke perpustakaan.
  = My friend is going to the library.
• Teman saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.
  = My friend is looking for a book in the library.

What exactly does perpustakaan mean? Is it related to another word?

Yes. Perpustakaan comes from:

• pustaka = book / script / literature (formal word)
• prefix per-
  • suffix -an → often forms a place related to X

So perpustakaan literally means a place related to books/literature, i.e. a library.

Compare:

• buku = book
• toko buku = bookshop / bookstore
• perpustakaan = library (a place to borrow and read, not to buy)

Can I drop saya or teman and still have a correct sentence?

You can drop parts depending on context, but the meaning changes:

1. Drop saya, keep teman:

   • Teman sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.
   • Means A/the friend is looking for a book in the library.
   • Not clear whose friend; could be any friend already known in context.

2. Drop teman, keep saya:

   • Saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.
   • Means I am looking for a book in the library.
   • Subject changes to I, not my friend.

You cannot drop both; you must have some subject (explicit noun or pronoun) in standard Indonesian:

• ✔ Dia sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan. (He/She is looking…)
• ✘ Sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan. (only okay in very informal speech, like answering a direct question about what you’re doing; grammatically incomplete in isolation)

How can I show if the friend is male, female, or a romantic partner?

Teman by itself is gender-neutral and doesn’t show whether it’s romantic or not. To be more specific:

• teman laki-laki saya = my male friend
• teman perempuan saya = my female friend
• pacar saya = my boyfriend/girlfriend (romantic partner)
• suami saya = my husband
• istri saya = my wife

So, for example:

• Teman perempuan saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.
  = My female friend is looking for a book in the library.
• Pacar saya sedang mencari buku di perpustakaan.
  = My boyfriend/girlfriend is looking for a book in the library.