Karena terburu-buru, dia hampir tersedak saat menelan roti yang masih panas.

Karena means because. It introduces the reason for what happens in the main clause.

So in:

Karena terburu-buru, dia hampir tersedak ...

the first part gives the cause: Because he/she was in a hurry, he/she almost choked ...

Indonesian often puts this reason clause at the beginning, followed by a comma, just like English can.

Both are related, but terburu-buru is a very common expression meaning to be in a hurry or rushed.

• buru-buru = hurry / in a hurry
• terburu-buru = hurried, rushed, in a state of being rushed

In everyday Indonesian, terburu-buru often sounds a bit more natural when describing someone’s condition.

For example:

• Saya buru-buru. = I’m in a hurry.
• Saya terburu-buru. = I’m rushed / I’m in a hurry.

In this sentence, Karena terburu-buru means Because he/she was in a hurry.

Not exactly in a simple, literal way. The prefix ter- can have several functions in Indonesian, such as:

• accidental or unintended action
• a state or resulting condition
• superlative in some words

In terburu-buru, it is best learned as part of a fixed expression meaning rushed or in a hurry. It does not need to be analyzed too literally every time.

So yes, ter- is there, but the safest approach is to treat terburu-buru as one vocabulary item.

Hampir means almost.

In this sentence:

dia hampir tersedak

it modifies the verb phrase, so it means he/she almost choked.

Its position is very typical:

• dia hampir jatuh = he/she almost fell
• saya hampir lupa = I almost forgot
• mereka hampir terlambat = they were almost late

So hampir usually comes before the verb or predicate it modifies.

This is a very useful distinction.

• tersedak = to choke, especially because food or drink goes down the wrong way or gets stuck
• tercekik = to be strangled, or to be unable to breathe because of pressure on the neck or blockage

In the sentence, tersedak is the correct word because the problem happens while swallowing hot bread.

So:

• tersedak roti = choke on bread
• tercekik would usually suggest something more severe or a different cause

Saat and ketika can both mean when.

In this sentence, saat menelan means when swallowing / while swallowing.

They are often interchangeable:

• saat menelan roti
• ketika menelan roti

Both are correct. However:

• saat often feels slightly simpler and more conversational
• ketika can sound a little more formal or narrative

The difference here is small, and both would be understood naturally.

Because menelan means to swallow, while makan means to eat.

The sentence is describing the specific moment that caused the choking: the act of swallowing.

• makan roti = eat bread
• menelan roti = swallow bread

If you said saat makan roti, it would mean while eating bread, which is broader and less precise.
Saat menelan roti focuses exactly on the swallowing, which is why it fits better with tersedak.

Yang masih panas means that was still hot or which was still hot.

Here, yang introduces a relative clause, just like that/which in English. It describes roti.

So:

• roti = bread
• roti yang masih panas = bread that is still hot

This is a very common Indonesian pattern:

• orang yang datang tadi = the person who came earlier
• buku yang saya baca = the book that I read
• makanan yang terlalu pedas = food that is too spicy

Without yang, the structure would not work properly here.

Masih means still.

So:

• panas = hot
• masih panas = still hot

It shows that the bread had not cooled down yet. That detail helps explain why swallowing it was a problem.

Other examples:

• masih dingin = still cold
• masih baru = still new
• masih tidur = still asleep

Indonesian does not use articles like a, an, and the the way English does.

So roti can mean:

• bread
• a bread
• the bread

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English would naturally say something like the bread or just bread, but Indonesian simply says roti.

This is very normal:

• Saya membeli buku. = I bought a book / the book
• Dia makan roti. = He/she ate bread / some bread / the bread

No. Dia can mean he or she.

Indonesian does not usually mark gender in third-person singular pronouns. So from this sentence alone, you cannot tell whether the person is male or female.

That is why translations often say he/she unless the context already makes the gender clear.

The comma separates the introductory reason phrase from the main clause.

Structure:

• Karena terburu-buru, = because he/she was in a hurry
• dia hampir tersedak ... = he/she almost choked ...

This is similar to English punctuation in sentences like:

Because he was in a hurry, he almost choked ...

In Indonesian, commas are commonly used after a fronted clause like this, especially in careful writing.

Yes. Indonesian allows that.

For example:

Dia hampir tersedak saat menelan roti yang masih panas karena terburu-buru.

That is grammatical, but it can sound a little less clear, because karena terburu-buru at the end might feel slightly more loosely attached.

The original version is clearer because it sets up the cause first:

Karena terburu-buru, dia hampir tersedak ...

That word order is very natural when the speaker wants to emphasize the reason.

It is basically neutral standard Indonesian.

None of the words are slang, and none are unusually stiff or literary. It would fit well in:

• normal writing
• news-style narration
• textbooks
• everyday storytelling

A very casual spoken version might simplify some parts, but the sentence as given is completely natural and standard.