Saya minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan.

I apologize to the teacher in the library.

Breakdown of Saya minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan.

• saya: I
• di: in
• guru: the teacher
• perpustakaan: the library
• kepada: to
• minta maaf: to apologize

Questions & Answers about Saya minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan.

What does minta maaf literally mean, and is it one verb?

Minta maaf is a verb phrase made of:

• minta = to ask for / to request
• maaf = forgiveness / pardon / sorry

Literally it means “to ask for forgiveness”, and in practice it means “to apologize / to say sorry”.

It behaves like a single verb phrase, so Saya minta maaf = “I apologize / I say sorry.”

What is the difference between minta maaf and meminta maaf?

Both mean “to apologize / to ask for forgiveness”.

• minta maaf – more informal, very common in everyday conversation.
• meminta maaf – more formal, uses the meN- verb prefix (meminta).

Your sentence could also be:

• Saya meminta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan.

This sounds slightly more formal/polished, but the meaning is the same.

Why do we use kepada before guru? Could I just say Saya minta maaf guru?

You need kepada (or another preposition) to mark the person you are apologizing to.

• kepada guru = “to the teacher”

So:

• Saya minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan. ✅
• Saya minta maaf guru di perpustakaan. ❌ (ungrammatical)

In standard Indonesian, kepada is the normal choice for a person as the recipient/target of an action.

Can I use pada or sama instead of kepada?

Yes, but with different levels of formality:

• kepada guru – standard and polite; common in writing and careful speech.
• pada guru – also grammatically correct, a bit more common in writing; in everyday speech people more often use kepada for people.
• sama guru – informal/colloquial, common in casual spoken Indonesian.

Examples:

• Saya minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan. (neutral–polite)
• Saya minta maaf pada guru di perpustakaan. (also acceptable)
• Saya minta maaf sama guru di perpustakaan. (casual speech)

What exactly does di perpustakaan mean, and how is it different from ke perpustakaan?

• di = “in / at / on” (location, where something is)
• perpustakaan = library

So di perpustakaan = “in the library / at the library.”

If you said ke perpustakaan:

• ke = “to” (direction, movement toward)

ke perpustakaan would mean “to the library,” as in Saya pergi ke perpustakaan (“I go to the library”).

In your sentence, di perpustakaan tells us the place where the apologizing happens (or where the teacher is).

Does Saya minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan mean the apology happened in the library, or that the teacher works in the library?

It can be interpreted in two similar ways, and context usually decides:

1. Place of the action

   • “I apologized to the teacher (and this happened) in the library.”

2. Description of the teacher

   • “I apologized to the teacher who was in the library.”

In practice, both readings are very close: the teacher is in the library and the apology takes place there. If you specifically mean “the librarian” as a job, you would normally say pustakawan or petugas perpustakaan, not just guru di perpustakaan.

How do I say “I apologized to my teacher” instead of just “to the teacher”?

Add saya after guru:

• guru saya = my teacher

So the sentence becomes:

• Saya minta maaf kepada guru saya di perpustakaan.
  = “I apologized to my teacher in the library.”

Indonesian shows possession by adding the pronoun after the noun: guru saya, buku saya, teman saya, etc.

Is guru singular or plural here? Does it mean “to the teacher” or “to the teachers”?

Indonesian nouns usually don’t show singular vs plural by form. guru can mean:

• a teacher / the teacher
• teachers (if the context makes it clear)

So your sentence could be:

• “I apologized to the teacher in the library,” or
• “I apologized to the teachers in the library.”

To make “teachers” explicit, you can say:

• kepada para guru (polite, common in formal speech/writing)
• kepada guru-guru (reduplication; also means “teachers”)

How do I know this is past tense (“I apologized”) when there is no tense marker in Indonesian?

Indonesian normally does not change verb forms for tense. Saya minta maaf can mean:

• “I apologize / I am apologizing,” or
• “I apologized,” depending on context.

To make time clear, speakers add time words:

• Tadi saya minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan.
  = “Earlier I apologized to the teacher in the library.”

• Sekarang saya sedang minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan.
  = “Right now I am apologizing to the teacher in the library.”

• Nanti saya akan minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan.
  = “Later I will apologize to the teacher in the library.”

So the bare sentence is time-neutral; English translations choose a tense based on context.

What is the difference between saya and aku, and can I drop saya?

• saya = “I”; polite, neutral; safe in most situations, especially with teachers, strangers, or in formal settings.
• aku = “I”; informal, used with friends, family, people of similar age/status.

With a teacher, saya is generally more appropriate.

You can drop the subject pronoun in some contexts, but it changes the feel:

• Saya minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan.
  = “I apologized to the teacher in the library.” (statement about yourself)

• Minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan.
  = sounds more like an instruction: “(You should) apologize to the teacher in the library.”

So for a normal statement about yourself, keep saya.

Can I move di perpustakaan to a different position in the sentence?

Yes, Indonesian word order is somewhat flexible, but some positions sound more natural.

Very natural:

• Saya minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan.
• Di perpustakaan, saya minta maaf kepada guru. (with a pause/comma in speech or writing)

Possible but a bit less typical in everyday style:

• Saya minta maaf di perpustakaan kepada guru.
• Saya di perpustakaan minta maaf kepada guru.

They are still understandable, but the most neutral pattern is usually:
Subject – verb phrase – indirect object – place (like your original sentence).

Is this sentence polite enough to use when talking about apologizing to a teacher?

Yes, it’s polite and appropriate.

• Saya – polite “I”
• minta maaf – a normal, sincere way to say “apologize”
• kepada guru – respectful preposition + noun

If you were speaking directly to the teacher, you might say, for example:

• Saya minta maaf, Bu. (to a female teacher)
• Maaf, Pak, saya terlambat. (“Sorry, Sir, I am late.”)

But as a description of what you did, Saya minta maaf kepada guru di perpustakaan is perfectly fine and polite.

Can maaf alone be used instead of minta maaf?

Yes, but they’re used slightly differently:

• maaf on its own is like saying “sorry” or “excuse me”:

  • Maaf, Pak. = “Sorry, Sir.”
  • Maaf, saya tidak tahu. = “Sorry, I don’t know.”

• minta maaf is more like “to apologize” / “to ask for forgiveness” as an action:

  • Saya minta maaf kepada guru. = “I apologized to the teacher.”
  • Dia belum minta maaf. = “He/She hasn’t apologized yet.”

So maaf alone is fine in direct interaction, while minta maaf is good when you talk about the act of apologizing.