Kadang-kadang saya membayangkan liburan di pulau kecil yang tenang.

Sometimes I imagine a holiday on a small, calm island.

Breakdown of Kadang-kadang saya membayangkan liburan di pulau kecil yang tenang.

• saya: I
• kecil: small
• di: on
• tenang: calm
• yang: that
• pulau: the island
• liburan: the holiday
• kadang-kadang: sometimes
• membayangkan: to imagine

Questions & Answers about Kadang-kadang saya membayangkan liburan di pulau kecil yang tenang.

What is the difference between kadang and kadang-kadang? Are both correct?

Both are correct, and both mean sometimes.

• kadang-kadang is a bit more standard and common in written Indonesian.
• kadang (without repetition) is more informal and often used in speech.

In most contexts you can freely swap them:

• Kadang-kadang saya membayangkan…
• Kadang saya membayangkan…

The meaning stays the same: sometimes I imagine…

Where can I put kadang-kadang in the sentence? Must it be at the beginning?

It doesn’t have to be at the beginning. These versions are all natural, with slightly different emphasis:

• Kadang-kadang saya membayangkan liburan di pulau kecil yang tenang.
  → Neutral and very common: Sometimes I imagine...

• Saya kadang-kadang membayangkan liburan di pulau kecil yang tenang.
  → Also very natural, a bit more focus on me (I sometimes imagine...).

• Saya membayangkan liburan di pulau kecil yang tenang kadang-kadang.
  → Possible, but less common and can sound a bit awkward or poetic.

Best to stick with kadang-kadang at the start or right after saya.

What exactly does membayangkan mean, and how is it formed?

Membayangkan comes from the root bayang (shadow / image / reflection) with:

• prefix meN- → membayang-
• suffix -kan → membayangkan

In this sentence, membayangkan means to imagine or to picture (in your mind).

Grammatically, it is a transitive verb, so it usually takes a direct object:

• Saya membayangkan liburan.
  → I imagine a vacation.

Here, liburan is the object of membayangkan.

Why is it membayangkan liburan, not membayangkan tentang liburan?

Because membayangkan already takes a direct object; you don’t need tentang (about).

Correct:

• Saya membayangkan liburan.
  → I imagine a vacation.

A bit odd / unnecessary in this context:

• Saya membayangkan tentang liburan.
  → Literally I imagine about vacation; Indonesians usually wouldn’t say it this way.

Use tentang with verbs like berbicara, membaca, belajar:

• Saya berbicara tentang liburan. → I talk about vacations.
• Saya belajar tentang pulau itu. → I study/learn about that island.

What’s the difference between liburan and berlibur?

• liburan is a noun: vacation, holiday
  → Liburan saya menyenangkan. = My vacation was fun.

• berlibur is a verb: to go on vacation, to be on holiday
  → Saya berlibur di Bali. = I am on vacation in Bali.

In your sentence:

• membayangkan liburan = imagining a vacation (noun, thing you imagine)

If you wanted to emphasize the action of being on vacation, you could say:

• Kadang-kadang saya membayangkan sedang berlibur di pulau kecil yang tenang.
  → Sometimes I imagine being on vacation on a small peaceful island.

Why do we use di before pulau kecil yang tenang? Could we use ke?

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

In the sentence, you are imagining being on or at the island, so di is correct:

• …liburan di pulau kecil yang tenang.
  → a vacation on a small peaceful island.

If you said ke:

• …liburan ke pulau kecil yang tenang.
  → a vacation to a small peaceful island (emphasis on going there, the journey).

Both can be correct depending on what you want to emphasize:

• liburan di = vacation spent there
• liburan ke = vacation trip going there

Why is it pulau kecil yang tenang, not kecil pulau yang tenang like in English (small island)?

In Indonesian, the normal order is:

1. Noun first
2. Then adjectives or describing phrases

So:

• pulau kecil = small island
  (literally: island small)

Not:

• kecil pulau (this is wrong in standard Indonesian).

Then we add yang tenang:

• pulau kecil yang tenang
  → a small island that is peaceful / a small, peaceful island.

So the structure is:

• pulau (noun)
• kecil (adjective)
• yang tenang (relative clause = that is calm/peaceful)

What does yang do in pulau kecil yang tenang? Is it necessary?

Yang introduces a describing clause (like that / which / who in English).

• pulau kecil yang tenang
  literally: small island that is peaceful

You could say:

• pulau kecil tenang
  This is understandable, but less natural; Indonesian normally uses yang to connect additional description, especially if the phrase is more than one word or could be ambiguous.

Using yang makes it clear that tenang is describing pulau kecil, not something else.

Compare:

• orang kaya = rich person
• orang yang kaya = a person who is rich (slightly more specific / emphasized)

Can I say pulau yang kecil dan tenang instead of pulau kecil yang tenang? Is there a difference?

Both are possible, but there’s a nuance:

• pulau kecil yang tenang
  → neutral description: a small, peaceful island.

• pulau yang kecil dan tenang
  → sounds more like: an island that is small and peaceful, with a bit more emphasis or contrast, e.g. among many islands, the one that is small and peaceful.

In everyday speech, pulau kecil yang tenang is more common and flows more naturally.

Why is there no word for a in pulau kecil? How do I know if it means “a small island” or “the small island”?

Indonesian doesn’t have articles like a / an / the. So:

• pulau kecil can mean:
  • a small island
  • the small island
  • small islands (depending on context)

You figure out a / the / (plural) from context or by adding extra words:

• sebuah pulau kecil → a small island (explicitly one)
• pulau kecil itu → that / the small island
• pulau-pulau kecil → small islands (plural by reduplication)

In your sentence, without extra context, pulau kecil yang tenang is most naturally read as a small, peaceful island.

Can I drop saya and just say Kadang-kadang membayangkan liburan di pulau kecil yang tenang?

Yes, you can drop saya, especially in casual conversation, but you need to be careful with context.

• Kadang-kadang saya membayangkan…
  → Clearly I am the person who imagines.

• Kadang-kadang membayangkan…
  → Grammatically possible, but sounds a bit incomplete or vague. It could feel like a fragment unless the subject is very clear from earlier context.

In everyday speech, people often drop pronouns, but in a standalone sentence (like in a textbook), it’s better to keep saya.

Is there any difference between using saya and aku here?

Both mean I, but they differ in formality and setting:

• saya
  • more formal or neutral
  • safe for talking to strangers, in class, in writing, etc.
• aku
  • more informal / intimate
  • used with friends, family, or in song lyrics, poetry, etc.

So:

• Kadang-kadang saya membayangkan liburan di pulau kecil yang tenang.
  → neutral, polite.

• Kadang-kadang aku membayangkan liburan di pulau kecil yang tenang.
  → more casual / personal tone.

Both are grammatically correct.