Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya sudah lelah, justru saya masih lembur di kantor. - I am already tired, yet I am still working overtime at the office.

Saya lelah = I am tired (neutral statement of condition).
Saya sudah lelah = I’ve come to the point of being tired; there’s a sense that something has led to this tiredness and it’s now enough / too much.

In this sentence, sudah helps emphasize that the speaker’s energy is already used up, which then contrasts with masih lembur (“still working overtime”).

Can I say Saya lelah instead of Saya sudah lelah? What’s the difference?

You can say Saya lelah, and it is grammatically correct.

Difference in nuance:

Saya lelah = “I am tired.”
- More neutral, simply describing your current condition.
Saya sudah lelah = “I’m already tired / I’ve gotten tired (by now).”
- Implies the tiredness has accumulated and it’s somewhat late or too much already.
- Works better when you’re contrasting it with something that still has to be done (here: masih lembur).

In the given sentence, sudah strengthens the contrast:
> I’m already tired, but (ironically) I’m still doing overtime at the office.

What exactly does justru mean here? Is it like “but”, “even though”, or “instead”?

Justru expresses something that is contrary to what you would expect.
In English, depending on context, it can feel like:

“ironically,”
“in fact (contrary to that),”
“on the contrary,”
sometimes close to “instead” or “actually” (with a contrastive tone).

In the sentence:
> Saya sudah lelah, justru saya masih lembur di kantor.

The structure is:

Expected: “If I’m already tired, I should go home / rest.”
Reality (with justru): “On the contrary, I’m still doing overtime at the office.”

So you could capture the nuance as:
> I’m already tired; ironically, I’m still doing overtime at the office.

Justru is stronger than a simple but (tapi) because it highlights the unexpectedness or irony of the situation.

Where can justru be placed in the sentence? Is Saya justru masih lembur di kantor also correct?

Yes, Saya justru masih lembur di kantor is correct, and it’s probably the most natural order in everyday speech.

You have a few options:

Saya sudah lelah, justru saya masih lembur di kantor.
- Focuses on the whole second clause as the surprising part.
- Reads like: “I’m already tired; yet (unexpectedly) I’m still working overtime at the office.”
Saya sudah lelah, saya justru masih lembur di kantor.
- Very natural; justru comes right before what’s being contrasted (masih lembur).
- You’ll hear this often in speech.
Saya sudah lelah, justru masih lembur di kantor.
- Subject (saya) is omitted in the second clause because it’s understood.
- Also natural in informal or neutral Indonesian.

General rule:

Put justru before the part you want to emphasize as “contrary to expectation,” usually before the verb or predicate:
- Saya justru marah. = I am the one who is (unexpectedly) angry.
- Dia justru pergi. = He/she (unexpectedly) left.

What’s the difference between justru and malah in this context?

Justru and malah are very similar and often interchangeable in casual speech. Both can express “contrary to expectation”.

In the sentence:

Saya sudah lelah, justru saya masih lembur di kantor.
Saya sudah lelah, malah saya masih lembur di kantor.

Both mean something like:
> I’m already tired, yet (ironically) I’m still doing overtime at the office.

Nuance:

Justru
- Slightly more neutral or formal.
- Often used when logically emphasizing a contrast.
Malah
- Common in colloquial speech.
- Often carries a “to your surprise / annoyingly / instead” feeling.

For everyday conversation, malah sounds very natural.
For writing or more formal tone, justru is a bit safer, though malah is still widely used.

Could I use padahal or tetapi instead of justru? How would the meaning change?

You can use them, but they’re not identical.

Padahal
- Often starts a subordinate clause that contrasts with a previous fact.
- Roughly: “even though / whereas / when in fact”.
- A natural rewrite:
  - Saya sudah lelah, padahal saya masih lembur di kantor.
  - Better style: Saya sudah lelah, padahal saya masih harus lembur di kantor.
- This stresses the contrast (“I’m already tired, even though I still have to do overtime”), but not as strongly the irony as justru.
Tetapi / tapi
- Means “but / however”.
- A rewrite:
  - Saya sudah lelah, tetapi saya masih lembur di kantor.
  - Informal: Saya sudah lelah, tapi saya masih lembur di kantor.
- This is a straightforward contrast (“I’m tired, but I’m still doing overtime”), without the extra nuance of “this is the opposite of what you would expect.”

Summary:

justru = on the contrary, unexpectedly; highlights irony.
padahal = even though; emphasizes the contradiction between situation and expectation.
tetapi / tapi = but; simple contrast, more neutral in tone.

In saya masih lembur, is lembur a verb or a noun? Why isn’t it bekerja lembur?

Originally, lembur is a noun meaning “overtime (work)”.
But in everyday Indonesian, many nouns can also function like verbs, and lembur is one of them.

So:

lembur (noun) = overtime (extra hours of work).
- Saya dapat uang lembur. = I get overtime pay.
lembur (verb-like use) = to work overtime.
- Saya lembur. = I’m working overtime.

Saya masih lembur is very natural and widely used.
Saya masih bekerja lembur is also correct, just a bit more explicit or formal-sounding.

In speech, people almost always say:

Saya lembur sampai jam 10 malam. = I worked overtime until 10 p.m.

Does masih lembur mean “am still working overtime right now” or “still have to do overtime in general”?

Masih means “still (in a continuing state)”.

Saya masih lembur can mean:

Right now I’m still working overtime
- If said during the overtime, it implies the activity is ongoing.
I still have to do overtime (these days / in this period)
- If talking about your general situation, it can mean you are still in a period of doing overtime regularly.

Indonesian normally doesn’t mark the progressive form (like English am doing). Context (time expressions, situation) tells you whether it’s “right now” or “in general”.

In this specific sentence with di kantor and the contrast with being tired, the most natural reading is that the person is still doing overtime at that moment (or at least still stuck working at the office).

Why is there a comma and not a conjunction like tapi between the clauses?

In Indonesian writing, a comma can separate two closely related clauses, especially when the second one is introduced by an adverb like justru.

Saya sudah lelah, justru saya masih lembur di kantor.

The comma marks a pause, similar to saying in English:
> I’m already tired, yet I’m still working overtime at the office.

You could add a conjunction, but it’s not necessary because justru already plays a strong contrastive role. Alternatives:

Saya sudah lelah, tapi justru saya masih lembur di kantor.
Saya sudah lelah, namun justru saya masih lembur di kantor.

These sound more emphatic, as if you’re really stressing the contrast.

Is Saya sudah capek, justru saya masih lembur di kantor also correct? What’s the difference between lelah and capek?

Yes, Saya sudah capek, justru saya masih lembur di kantor is correct.

Lelah vs capek:

Lelah
- Slightly more formal or neutral.
- Common in writing and polite speech.
Capek (also spelled capai, cape in casual writing)
- More colloquial / everyday.
- Very common in spoken Indonesian.

Meaning-wise, both are “tired / exhausted”.
So:

Saya sudah lelah = I’m already tired (neutral / a bit formal).
Saya sudah capek = I’m already tired (very everyday, casual).

In an office conversation, capek is perfectly fine. In formal writing, lelah might be preferred.

Can I drop the second saya and say Saya sudah lelah, justru masih lembur di kantor?

Yes, you can, and it’s natural:
> Saya sudah lelah, justru masih lembur di kantor.

In Indonesian, once the subject is clear, it often doesn’t need to be repeated. Here, it’s obvious that the subject of masih lembur is still saya.

Tone differences:

Saya sudah lelah, justru saya masih lembur di kantor.
- Slightly more explicit and emphatic, maybe a bit more formal.
Saya sudah lelah, justru masih lembur di kantor.
- Feels a bit more compact and conversational.

Both are grammatically correct and natural.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would it be okay in an office email?

The sentence is broadly neutral:

Pronoun saya is formal/neutral.
Words like sudah, lelah, justru, masih, lembur, di kantor are all standard.

You could use it in:

Casual speech at work.
Chat messages or internal communication.
Even in a relatively informal office email, especially if you’re expressing your condition to a colleague.

For a very formal email, you might polish it a bit, for example:
> Saya sudah sangat lelah, namun saya masih harus lembur di kantor.

But as-is, Saya sudah lelah, justru saya masih lembur di kantor. is perfectly acceptable in most everyday professional contexts.