Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali.

Sudah basically means “already”, but in sentences like “Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali” it often corresponds to English “have” in “I have watched that movie several times.”

Key ideas:

It shows the action is completed or has already happened before now.
It does not mark tense (past vs present) the way English does; Indonesian doesn’t have grammatical tense.
It marks aspect (completed-ness) and can also imply the result is still relevant.

So:

Saya menonton film itu beberapa kali. – I watched that movie several times. (fact, neutral about completion)
Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali. – I have already watched that movie several times. (emphasizes it’s already done / has been done repeatedly before now)

Can I leave out sudah? What changes in meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Saya menonton film itu beberapa kali.

This is still understandable and roughly means “I watched that movie several times.” The difference is nuance:

With sudah: emphasizes that the watching has already happened; sounds a bit closer to English present perfect (“I’ve watched it already / I’ve watched it several times”).
Without sudah: more neutral; often interpreted as a past statement, like “I watched that movie several times,” with less focus on the idea “already.”

In everyday speech, people often include sudah to make it very clear the action is in the past and completed.

What’s the difference between sudah and pernah in this kind of sentence?

Compare:

Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali.
= I’ve already watched that movie several times.
→ Emphasizes: the action has been done (and completed), possibly recently or over time.
Saya pernah menonton film itu beberapa kali.
Literally: I have ever watched that movie several times.
→ Pernah focuses on experience at some point in your life, not on “already.”
→ With beberapa kali, it sounds like “At some time in the past, I used to watch that movie several times.” It feels more distant / “once upon a time” in tone.

For repeated actions you want to sound current and factual about your life up to now, sudah is the more natural choice here.

Why is the verb menonton and not just tonton?

In Indonesian, many verbs are formed by adding prefixes to a root word.

Root: tonton (to watch)
With prefix me-: menonton

Menonton is the standard active verb form meaning “to watch”.

Saya menonton film. – I watch / am watching a movie.

Tonton on its own is usually seen as the root, not the normal finite verb in standard Indonesian. However, in casual speech people might say things like “Ayok tonton!” (“Let’s watch!”), but the standard active form in a sentence with a subject is menonton.

What’s the difference between menonton and nonton?

Menonton – standard, more formal/neutral.
Nonton – colloquial, informal (spoken, texting, casual writing).

Same meaning: “to watch” (usually movies, TV, shows).

Examples:

Formal/neutral: Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali.
Informal: Aku sudah nonton film itu beberapa kali.

Both are very common; nonton is what you’ll hear a lot in everyday conversation.

Why is it film itu and not itu film?

In Indonesian, demonstratives like itu (that) usually come after the noun:

film itu = that film / that movie
buku itu = that book
orang itu = that person

Putting itu before the noun (itu film) is generally incorrect or at least sounds very odd in standard Indonesian.

So:

Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali. – correct and natural.
✗ Saya sudah menonton itu film beberapa kali. – not natural.

Does film itu mean “that movie” (singular) or “those movies” (plural)? How do you show plural here?

Film itu by default is singular in most contexts: “that movie.”

Indonesian often does not mark plural explicitly if it’s clear from context. But if you specifically want to emphasize plural, you have options:

Film-film itu – those movies (reduplication to show plurality)
Beberapa film itu – some of those movies (context-dependent)
Or just rely on context and/or a number:
- Dua film itu – those two movies

For your sentence:

Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali.
→ naturally interpreted as “I have watched that movie several times.”

To say “I’ve watched those movies several times,” a clearer version is:

Saya sudah menonton film-film itu beberapa kali.

What does beberapa kali literally mean, and how strong is it compared to English “several times” or “a few times”?

Literally:

beberapa = some, several, a few
kali = time(s) (as in number of occurrences)

So beberapa kali = “several times” / “a few times”.

Nuance:

It suggests more than once, but not a huge number.
It’s similar to “a few times,” “several times,” or “a couple of times” (depending on context).
It doesn’t sound as strong as “many times” (banyak kali is possible but less common; people more often say sering = “often”).

Examples:

Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali. – I’ve watched that movie a few/several times.
Saya sering menonton film itu. – I often watch that movie.

What’s the difference between kali and waktu for “time”?

Both can be translated as “time” in English, but they’re used differently:

kali = time(s) in the countable-occasion sense:
- tiga kali – three times
- sekali – once
- beberapa kali – several times
waktu = time in the sense of period / moment / when:
- Tidak ada waktu. – There is no time.
- Waktu kecil, saya tinggal di Bali. – When I was little, I lived in Bali.

So in beberapa kali, you must use kali, not waktu.

Can I drop Saya at the beginning and just say “Sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali”?

Yes. Indonesian often omits the subject when it’s clear from context.

Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali. – full sentence.
Sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali. – could still mean “I have watched that movie several times,” if it’s obvious you’re talking about yourself.

This is very common in conversation, especially when the subject has just been mentioned or is obvious from the situation. However, in more careful or written Indonesian, keeping Saya is clearer.

Can beberapa kali go somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes, you can move beberapa kali without changing the core meaning too much. Common options:

Original:
- Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali.
Middle:
- Saya sudah beberapa kali menonton film itu.
At the start (more marked/emphatic):
- Beberapa kali saya sudah menonton film itu. (more literary or emphatic)

All are grammatical. The original position (at the end) is the most neutral and natural in everyday speech.
Saya sudah beberapa kali menonton film itu is also very natural, maybe a bit more formal/written.

How do I turn this into a question like “Have you watched that movie several times?” in Indonesian?

You mainly change the subject and possibly add a question word or tone:

Formal/neutral with apakah:

Apakah kamu sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali?
(kamu = you, informal singular)

More natural conversational versions:

Kamu sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali?
Sudah nonton film itu beberapa kali? (very conversational, subject omitted, nonton instead of menonton)

Indonesian doesn’t need an auxiliary like “have” or do-support; you keep the same structure and use intonation or apakah to show it’s a question.

Does this sentence sound formal or informal? How would it change in casual speech?

Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali. is neutral—fine in both spoken and written Indonesian, neither very formal nor very slangy.

In casual speech, especially among friends, you might hear:

Aku sudah nonton film itu beberapa kali.
(using aku and nonton)

Or even shorter:

Udah nonton film itu beberapa kali.
(sudah → udah, subject omitted)

So you can adjust:

Saya / aku (I – formal-ish / informal)
sudah / udah (already – standard / colloquial)
menonton / nonton (to watch – standard / informal)

Can the sentence also mean “I watched that movie several times” (simple past), not just “I have watched…”?

Yes. Because Indonesian doesn’t grammatically distinguish present perfect vs simple past, “Saya sudah menonton film itu beberapa kali” can correspond to:

“I’ve watched that movie several times.”
“I watched that movie several times.”

Context decides which English tense is more natural.
The sudah mainly tells you: this action has already happened, completed before now. Whether you translate it as present perfect or simple past depends on what sounds right in English in that context.