Saya melihat layar ponsel terlalu lama sebelum tidur.

I look at my phone screen for too long before sleeping.

Breakdown of Saya melihat layar ponsel terlalu lama sebelum tidur.

• saya: I
• terlalu: too
• sebelum: before
• tidur: to sleep
• lama: long
• melihat: to look at
• layar ponsel: the phone screen

Questions & Answers about Saya melihat layar ponsel terlalu lama sebelum tidur.

What does melihat mean here? Is it “see,” “look at,” or “watch”?

Melihat literally means “to see,” but in practice it often covers English see / look at / watch depending on context.

In this sentence, melihat layar ponsel is best understood as “look at my phone screen / look at the screen of my phone.” You could also say:

• melihat ponsel – look at the phone (not focusing specifically on the screen)
• menonton – “to watch” (used more for movies, TV, videos: menonton TV, menonton film)

So melihat layar ponsel is natural for “looking at the phone screen (visually, for a long time).”

Why is it layar ponsel and not layar dari ponsel or layar ponsel saya?

Indonesian often shows possession simply by putting the nouns next to each other:

• layar ponsel = the phone screen / the screen of the phone

You only add dari when you really need to emphasize “from/of” in a more explicit way, and even then it can sound wordy:

• layar dari ponsel – grammatical but less natural for everyday speech in this context.

Possession by a person is often omitted if it’s obvious from context. You could say:

• layar ponsel saya – my phone screen

But since the subject is Saya, it’s usually understood that it’s your phone screen. The shorter layar ponsel is fine and natural.

Is terlalu lama positive or negative? Can it also mean “very long”?

Terlalu normally means too / excessively, and it usually has a negative or at least “not ideal” feeling:

• terlalu lama = too long, longer than is good
• terlalu panas = too hot
• terlalu mahal = too expensive

If you want very long without the “too much” idea, you’d use:

• sangat lama – very long
• lama sekali – very long / really long

In this sentence, terlalu lama clearly implies “longer than is healthy / longer than I should.”

Where does terlalu lama usually go in the sentence? Could I move it?

In this sentence:

• Saya melihat layar ponsel terlalu lama sebelum tidur.

Terlalu lama describes melihat layar ponsel (the act of looking at the screen), so it is placed after the object layar ponsel and before the time phrase sebelum tidur.

You could move it a bit, but you shouldn’t split it:

• Saya terlalu lama melihat layar ponsel sebelum tidur. – also possible; now terlalu lama more strongly modifies the whole action “looking at the phone screen.”

Both word orders are acceptable, but the original is very natural and common.

Why is there no word showing past tense like “-ed”? How do we know when this happened?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense (no -ed, -s, -ing). Melihat is the same for:

• I see the screen
• I saw the screen
• I am seeing the screen

Time is indicated by context or by time words:

• tadi malam – last night
• kemarin – yesterday
• sekarang – now
• nanti – later

So you could specify:

• Tadi malam saya melihat layar ponsel terlalu lama sebelum tidur.
  = Last night I looked at my phone screen too long before sleeping.

Without an explicit time word, it can mean a habit (I tend to do this) or a past event, depending on context.

Is sebelum tidur literally “before sleep” or “before sleeping”? Why no untuk?

Sebelum tidur literally is “before sleep / before sleeping,” and this pattern is very common:

• sebelum makan – before eating
• sebelum bekerja – before working
• sebelum mandi – before taking a shower

You don’t need untuk here. Using untuk would change the structure and is usually unnecessary:

• sebelum tidur – correct, natural
• sebelum untuk tidur – incorrect

The verb tidur (to sleep) can appear in this position directly after sebelum. It feels more like “before (I) sleep” than a noun like “before (the) sleep.”

Why can tidur stand alone? Shouldn’t it be sebelum saya tidur?

It can be sebelum saya tidur, and that’s also correct:

• Saya melihat layar ponsel terlalu lama sebelum saya tidur.

But Indonesian often drops the subject in the second clause when it’s the same as in the first clause. So:

• sebelum tidur is understood as sebelum saya tidur (before I sleep) because the subject Saya is already known.

This dropping of repeated subjects is very common and natural in Indonesian.

What’s the difference between Saya and Aku here? Could I say Aku melihat…?

Yes, you could say:

• Aku melihat layar ponsel terlalu lama sebelum tidur.

The difference is about formality and relationship:

• Saya – more formal / neutral, polite, suitable for talking to strangers, in writing, or in polite speech.
• Aku – more informal, used with friends, family, people close to you, or in casual contexts.

The grammar of the sentence doesn’t change; only the tone does.

Why is it melihat and not melihati or something else? How is it formed?

The base verb is lihat (see). The standard active form is:

• me-
  • lihat → melihat

The me- prefix is the normal active verb prefix. There is no common verb melihati in standard Indonesian.

Some related verbs/words:

• melihat – to see / look at
• penglihatan – sight, vision
• kelihatan – visible / looks like

In this sentence, melihat is simply the regular active form of lihat.

Is layar ponsel the most natural phrase? Could I just say melihat ponsel terlalu lama?

You could say:

• Saya melihat ponsel terlalu lama sebelum tidur.

This would usually still be understood as “I look at my phone for too long.” However:

• layar ponsel emphasizes the screen, which fits better with health or sleep-context discussions (blue light, eye strain, etc.).

In everyday speech, people might also say:

• lihat HP terlalu lama – more casual (HP = handphone, very common in Indonesia).

But layar ponsel is clear, neutral, and standard.

Could I say menatap instead of melihat? What’s the nuance?

Yes:

• Saya menatap layar ponsel terlalu lama sebelum tidur.

Menatap is “to stare at / gaze at,” which implies a longer, more focused look. Nuance:

• melihat – to see / look at, general
• menatap – to stare at intently, usually longer and more focused

So menatap layar ponsel suggests you are really fixated on the screen, which fits well with “too long,” but melihat is more general and slightly more neutral.

Can I change the word order of sebelum tidur? For example, put it at the beginning?

Yes, Indonesian allows some flexibility with time expressions. You can say:

• Sebelum tidur, saya melihat layar ponsel terlalu lama.

This is fully natural and maybe even a bit more common in narratives. The meaning doesn’t change; it just emphasizes the time context (“Before sleeping, …”).

You wouldn’t usually put sebelum tidur in the very middle of the verb phrase, though. The main usual patterns are:

• [Subject] [Verb + Object] [Time]
• [Time], [Subject] [Verb + Object]

Both are fine here.

Could this sentence also mean a habit, like “I tend to look at my phone too long before bed”?

Yes. Because there is no explicit time marker (tadi, kemarin, etc.), the sentence can naturally be understood as:

• a general habit: “I (usually) look at my phone screen too long before sleeping.”
• or a past event, if the context is about what happened on a particular occasion.

Spoken Indonesian relies heavily on context to decide whether a bare verb like melihat is habitual, present, or past.