Saya tinggal di kos dekat perpustakaan.

I live in a boarding room near the library.

Breakdown of Saya tinggal di kos dekat perpustakaan.

• saya: I
• di: in
• dekat: near
• perpustakaan: the library

Questions & Answers about Saya tinggal di kos dekat perpustakaan.

What does tinggal mean here? Is it “live” or “stay”?

In this sentence, tinggal means “to live / reside” (to have your place of residence).

• Saya tinggal di kos... = I live in a boarding house...
• It can also mean “to stay” in some contexts, but the default meaning with a place is “live/reside.”
• For a clearly temporary stay (like one or two nights), Indonesians more often use menginap or nginap:
  
  • Saya menginap di hotel. = I’m staying at a hotel (overnight).

Here, by default, tinggal is understood as where you live, not just a short visit.

Why do we say tinggal di kos and not tinggal ke kos?

In Indonesian:

• di = in / at / on (location)
• ke = to (movement/direction)

Since the sentence describes where you are living (location), you must use di:

• Saya tinggal di kos. = I live in/at a boarding house.
• Saya pergi ke kos. = I go to the boarding house.

So tinggal normally uses di to show where someone lives.

What exactly is kos? Is it the same as “house” or “apartment”?