Breakdown of Begitu telepon berdering, saya segera mengangkatnya.
saya
I
nya
it
berdering
to ring
telepon
telephone/phone
Questions & Answers about Begitu telepon berdering, saya segera mengangkatnya.
What does begitu mean here?
In this sentence, begitu means as soon as.
So Begitu telepon berdering, ... means As soon as the phone rang / started ringing, ...
A useful thing to know is that begitu has more than one meaning in Indonesian. In other contexts, it can mean like that or that way. But at the beginning of a clause like this, it often means as soon as.
What does berdering mean, and why does it start with ber-?
Berdering means to ring.
So:
- telepon berdering = the phone rings / is ringing / rang
The prefix ber- often makes a verb that describes a state, action, or activity associated with the base word. Here, the base is dering, which is related to the sound of ringing, and berdering means to produce a ringing sound.
You do not need to translate ber- by itself every time; it is better to learn berdering as a complete verb meaning to ring.
Why is it telepon berdering and not telepon berbunyi? Are they different?