Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Adik saya suka menirukan suara burung di pagi hari. - My younger sibling likes to imitate the sound of birds in the morning.

Saya adik would sound like “I (am) the younger sibling”, not “my younger sibling”. So the order [noun + pronoun] is the normal way to say “my X” with saya.

Does adik saya specifically mean younger brother, or can it be younger sister too?

Adik is gender‑neutral. It just means younger sibling.

So:

adik saya can mean my younger brother or my younger sister, depending on context.
If you want to be explicit, you can say:
- adik laki-laki saya = my younger brother
- adik perempuan saya = my younger sister

But in everyday conversation, adik saya is normally enough; people understand the gender from context if it matters.

Can adik also mean “my younger sibling” without saya, like adikku? What’s the difference?

Yes. There are three common ways to say my younger sibling:

adik saya
- Neutral, slightly more formal, very common.
adikku
- Uses the suffix -ku = my.
- Feels more personal/intimate, often used in speech or informal writing.
adik saya yang … / adikku yang …
- When you want to add more information: my younger sibling who …

So:

Adik saya suka menirukan suara burung… – perfectly natural.
Adikku suka menirukan suara burung… – also natural, a bit warmer or more intimate.

You normally wouldn’t say saya adik for “my younger sibling”; that structure means something closer to I am the younger sibling.

What exactly does suka mean here? Is it “like” or “love,” and can it be followed directly by a verb?

Here suka means “to like / to enjoy” and it can be followed directly by a verb in base or me- form:

suka makan = like to eat
suka membaca = like to read
suka menirukan = like to imitate

You don’t need “to”:

English: likes to imitate
Indonesian: suka menirukan, not suka untuk menirukan (that’s possible but sounds more formal or unusual in this context).

Suka is usually milder than “love,” closer to English like/enjoy. For “love,” Indonesians often use cinta (for people, romantic) or sangat suka / suka sekali (for strong liking of activities or things).

Why is it suka menirukan and not suka untuk menirukan?

Both are grammatically possible:

suka menirukan suara burung – most natural in everyday speech and writing.
suka untuk menirukan suara burung – sounds more formal, careful, or “written,” and often used when the verb is more abstract.

In everyday Indonesian, when suka is followed by a verb, people almost always drop untuk:

Saya suka bermain bola. – I like playing football.
Dia suka menulis puisi. – He/She likes writing poetry.

So in this sentence, suka menirukan is the normal, natural choice.

What is the difference between meniru and menirukan?

Both come from the root tiru (to copy/imitate), with the prefix meN- and, in one form, the suffix -kan:

meniru
- Basic meaning: to imitate / to copy.
- Focuses on the action of imitating.
- Example: Dia suka meniru gaya gurunya. – He/She likes to imitate the teacher’s style.
menirukan
- Also to imitate, but with -kan, which often:
  - emphasizes the effect on the object, or
  - makes the verb feel a bit more causative/active.
- Very often, meniru and menirukan are interchangeable in everyday use, especially with suara (sound), gaya (style), etc.

In your sentence, you could say either:

suka meniru suara burung
suka menirukan suara burung

Both are understandable and natural. Many speakers slightly prefer menirukan suara for “mimicking a sound,” but the difference is subtle.

Could you say Adik saya suka meniru suara burung instead? Would it sound natural?

Yes, Adik saya suka meniru suara burung di pagi hari is also natural and correct.

Nuance:

meniru suara burung – imitate bird sounds.
menirukan suara burung – same basic meaning; some speakers feel menirukan is a bit more “complete” or explicit when there is a clear object like suara burung.

Most native speakers would not see a big difference here. Both versions are fine.

Why is it suara burung (“sound of bird”) and not suara burung-burung for plural “birds”?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural on the noun if it’s already clear from context. So:

suara burung can mean:
- the sound of a bird
- the sounds of birds
  depending on context.

Reduplication (repeating the noun) can mark plurality:

burung-burung = birds (plural)

So grammatically you could say:

suara burung – sound(s) of bird(s)
suara burung-burung – sounds of birds (more explicitly plural)

But in everyday language, people almost always just say suara burung, and listeners understand that in the morning there are usually many birds making sounds.

Can you drop suara and just say menirukan burung? Does it mean the same thing?

You can say menirukan burung, but the nuance changes slightly.

menirukan suara burung
- Focus is on the sound: imitate the sound of birds / bird calls.
menirukan burung
- More general: imitate birds (could include sounds, movements, behavior, etc.).
- In many contexts people will still understand it mainly as imitating the sound, but it’s less specific.

In your original sentence, suara burung makes it clear that what is being imitated is specifically the birds’ sounds.

Is di in di pagi hari only used for places? Why is it used with time here?

In standard grammar:

di is mainly a locative preposition: di rumah (at home), di sekolah (at school).
For time, many textbooks teach pada:
- pada pagi hari – in the morning
- pada hari Senin – on Monday

However, in everyday Indonesian, people very commonly use di with times of day:

di pagi hari
di siang hari
di malam hari

So:

pada pagi hari – more textbook/“correct” in formal writing.
di pagi hari – extremely common in speech and informal writing; widely accepted.

Both are understandable; di pagi hari does not sound wrong in normal conversation.

What is the difference between di pagi hari, pada pagi hari, pagi hari, and pagi-pagi?

All refer to the morning, but with slightly different flavors:

di pagi hari
- Common in spoken Indonesian.
- Roughly: in the morning.
pada pagi hari
- Sounds a bit more formal / textbook / written.
- Also in the morning.
pagi hari (without di/pada)
- Also natural, especially in descriptions.
- Often used when time is just background information:
  - Adik saya suka menirukan suara burung pagi hari. (more natural with a slight pause in speech, or in writing with a comma or clearer structure)
- Many speakers will still add di or pada, but pagi hari alone is understandable.
pagi-pagi
- Means early in the morning, “early morning.”
- Often implies quite early, sometimes before sunrise or just after:
  - Adik saya suka menirukan suara burung pagi-pagi. – My younger sibling likes to imitate bird sounds early in the morning.

So in your sentence:

di pagi hari = neutral “in the morning”
pagi-pagi would shift the meaning slightly to “early in the morning.”

How do we know this sentence is about a habitual action (something my sibling likes to do), not just something happening right now or in the past?

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense (past/present/future). Instead, context and adverbs tell you the time and aspect.

Here:

suka itself often implies a habit or preference (likes / tends to).
di pagi hari suggests a repeated time frame, not a single event.

So Adik saya suka menirukan suara burung di pagi hari is naturally understood as:

My younger sibling likes to imitate bird sounds in the morning (as a habit).

If you wanted a one-time event, you’d change it, e.g.:

Tadi pagi, adik saya menirukan suara burung. – This morning, my younger sibling imitated bird sounds.
Sekarang adik saya sedang menirukan suara burung. – Right now my younger sibling is imitating bird sounds.

Can I move di pagi hari to the front: Di pagi hari, adik saya suka menirukan suara burung? Is that okay?

Yes, that’s completely correct and natural.

Both word orders are fine:

Adik saya suka menirukan suara burung di pagi hari.
Di pagi hari, adik saya suka menirukan suara burung.

Putting di pagi hari at the beginning emphasizes the time a bit more, similar to English:

In the morning, my younger sibling likes to imitate bird sounds.

This kind of fronting of time expressions is very common in Indonesian.