Kami mengikuti seminar singkat tentang manajemen waktu di kampus.

We attend a short seminar about time management on campus.

Breakdown of Kami mengikuti seminar singkat tentang manajemen waktu di kampus.

• sebuah: a
• di: at
• kami: we
• tentang: about
• singkat: short
• kampus: the campus
• mengikuti: to attend
• seminar: the seminar
• manajemen waktu: the time management

Questions & Answers about Kami mengikuti seminar singkat tentang manajemen waktu di kampus.

Why is kami used instead of kita here?

Indonesian has two words for we:

• kami = we (not including the listener)
• kita = we (including the listener)

In Kami mengikuti seminar singkat…, the speaker is saying that they went to the seminar, but the person being spoken to was not part of the group.

If the listener was also at the seminar, you would say:

• Kita mengikuti seminar singkat tentang manajemen waktu di kampus.
  = We (you and I) attended a short seminar on time management on campus.

What does mengikuti literally mean, and why is it used for “attend a seminar”?

The verb mengikuti comes from the root ikut, which basically means:

• ikut = to join, to go along, to take part, to follow

mengikuti is a transitive form (it takes an object), and common meanings include:

• to follow (physically or abstractly):
  
  • Dia mengikuti mobil itu. = He followed that car.
  • Saya mengikuti berita politik. = I follow political news.
• to take part in / participate in:
  
  • Mereka mengikuti lomba. = They took part in a competition.

For events like seminar, kursus (course), pelatihan (training), Indonesian often uses mengikuti in the sense of to attend / participate in:

• Kami mengikuti seminar singkat…
  = We attended/participated in a short seminar…

Other verbs that could be used with slightly different nuance:

• hadir di seminar = to be present at the seminar (focus on being there)
• pergi ke seminar = to go to the seminar (focus on going, not necessarily full participation)

Why is it seminar singkat and not singkat seminar, like in English “short seminar”?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

• seminar singkat
  
  • seminar = seminar (noun)
  • singkat = short, brief (adjective)
  • literally: seminar short

Other examples:

• buku baru = new book
• rumah besar = big house
• acara menarik = interesting event

Putting the adjective before the noun, like singkat seminar, is ungrammatical in standard Indonesian.

What is the nuance of singkat compared to pendek for “short”?

Both singkat and pendek can be translated as short, but they’re used in different contexts:

• pendek
  
  • usually about physical length or height:
    
    • rambut pendek = short hair
    • orang pendek = short person
• singkat
  
  • usually about time or duration, or brevity of content:
    
    • waktu singkat = a short time
    • pidato singkat = a short speech

A seminar is something with a duration, so seminar singkat is natural and idiomatic.
seminar pendek sounds odd or non‑native in most contexts.

What does tentang do in this sentence, and can I replace it with something else?

tentang means about / regarding / on (the topic of).

In seminar singkat tentang manajemen waktu:

• tentang manajemen waktu = about time management

You can often replace tentang with mengenai or perihal:

• seminar singkat mengenai manajemen waktu
• seminar singkat perihal manajemen waktu (more formal)

In daily speech, tentang is the most common and neutral choice.

Is manajemen waktu a fixed phrase, and what does it literally mean?

Yes, manajemen waktu is a common, fairly fixed phrase:

• manajemen = management (borrowed from English management)
• waktu = time

So it literally means time management, just like in English.

Word order: in Indonesian, when one noun modifies another noun, it usually comes after:

• manajemen waktu = management (of) time
• manajemen proyek = project management
• manajemen keuangan = financial management

So we don’t say waktu manajemen for time management; that would be wrong.

Why is there no word for “a” in “a short seminar”?

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

• seminar singkat can mean:
  • a short seminar
  • the short seminar
  • short seminars (depending on context)

If you really want to emphasize one seminar, you can add satu or sebuah, but it’s usually not necessary:

• Kami mengikuti satu seminar singkat…
• Kami mengikuti sebuah seminar singkat…

These sound a bit more specific/emphatic than the original, which is already natural and complete without any article.

How can I tell that seminar singkat is singular and not plural?

From this sentence alone, you can’t tell for sure. Indonesian often leaves number (singular vs plural) unspecified, and context fills it in.

• Kami mengikuti seminar singkat…
  
  • could be understood as a short seminar (most likely)
  • or short seminars if context says so

To make it clearly plural, people often:

1. Use a plural marker like para or beberapa (for countable things):
   
   • beberapa seminar singkat = several short seminars
2. Repeat the noun (seminar-seminar), though this is less common with loanwords:
   
   • Kami mengikuti seminar-seminar singkat…

In everyday speech, number is usually clear from the surrounding context, not from the noun form itself.

Why is di used with kampus, and what exactly does di kampus mean?

di is a preposition that usually means at / in / on (location).

• di kampus = at campus or on campus

So …di kampus tells us where the seminar took place.

Compare with:

• ke kampus = to campus (movement towards the campus)
• dari kampus = from campus

di is for location (static), ke for direction/movement, dari for origin.

Is kampus just the physical area, or also the institution, like “campus” in English?

kampus is borrowed from English campus and is used similarly. It can mean:

1. The physical campus area:
   
   • Saya sedang di kampus. = I’m on campus.
2. Informally, the university environment:
   
   • Suasana kampus di sini sangat menyenangkan.
     = The campus atmosphere here is very pleasant.

In …di kampus, it naturally means the seminar is held on the university campus (as a place).

Is the word order flexible? Could I say Kami di kampus mengikuti seminar singkat tentang manajemen waktu?

You can say Kami di kampus mengikuti seminar singkat tentang manajemen waktu, and it is grammatically acceptable, but the nuance and focus shift a bit.

• Kami mengikuti seminar singkat tentang manajemen waktu di kampus.

  • Neutral; the location di kampus is simply where the seminar is.

• Kami di kampus mengikuti seminar singkat tentang manajemen waktu.

  • Slightly emphasizes kami di kampus as a unit (“We, who are on campus, attended…”), or sets di kampus as background information about kami.

The original sentence is the most straightforward and common way to say it.

How would this sentence change if I wanted to say “yesterday we attended…”?

Indonesian doesn’t change the verb form for past tense. You simply add a time word:

• Kemarin kami mengikuti seminar singkat tentang manajemen waktu di kampus.
  
  • kemarin = yesterday

The verb mengikuti stays exactly the same; the time expression kemarin shows it happened in the past.

Other examples:

• Tadi pagi kami mengikuti… = This morning we attended…
• Minggu lalu kami mengikuti… = Last week we attended…