Breakdown of Tadi malam kamar saya kemasukan nyamuk karena jendelanya tidak tertutup rapat.
Questions & Answers about Tadi malam kamar saya kemasukan nyamuk karena jendelanya tidak tertutup rapat.
What does tadi malam mean exactly? Is it just last night?
Yes. Tadi malam commonly means last night.
- tadi = earlier, just now, earlier today/in the recent past
- malam = night
Together, tadi malam means last night or earlier last night.
A learner should know that tadi by itself often refers to something recent, but in combinations like tadi pagi / tadi siang / tadi malam, it points to a specific earlier time period:
- tadi pagi = this morning / earlier this morning
- tadi siang = earlier this afternoon
- tadi malam = last night
Why is it kamar saya and not saya kamar?
Because Indonesian usually puts the possessor after the noun.
- kamar saya = my room
- literally: room my
This is the normal pattern:
- buku saya = my book
- rumah dia = his/her house
- teman mereka = their friend
So kamar saya is the standard way to say my room.
What does kemasukan mean here?
Kemasukan here means something like to get entered by, to have something come into it, or more naturally in English, to have something get inside.
So:
- kamar saya kemasukan nyamuk = my room got mosquitoes in it / mosquitoes got into my room
This verb has a useful nuance: it often suggests that something unwanted or unexpected got inside.
Examples:
- Rumah saya kemasukan pencuri. = My house was broken into by a thief / thieves.
- Mata saya kemasukan debu. = Dust got into my eye.
- Kamar saya kemasukan nyamuk. = Mosquitoes got into my room.
So kemasukan is not just about physical entry; it often carries the idea that something got in and caused a problem.
How is kemasukan built grammatically?
It comes from the root masuk = to enter / go in, with the circumfix ke- -an:
- masuk = enter, go in
- ke + masuk + an → kemasukan
In many cases, ke- -an can show that the subject experiences something, often something accidental, uncontrolled, or unpleasant.
In this sentence:
- kamar saya kemasukan nyamuk
- literally: my room experienced mosquitoes entering it
That is why kemasukan feels different from just dimasuki or ada nyamuk di kamar saya.
Why not just say ada nyamuk di kamar saya?
You can say that, but the meaning and emphasis are a bit different.
- Ada nyamuk di kamar saya. = There are mosquitoes in my room.
- Kamar saya kemasukan nyamuk. = My room got mosquitoes in it / mosquitoes got into my room.
The first sentence is more neutral: it simply states that mosquitoes were there.
The second sentence emphasizes:
- entry
- something unwanted
- often a sense of cause or accident
Because the sentence continues with karena jendelanya tidak tertutup rapat, kemasukan fits very well: the mosquitoes got in because the window was not tightly closed.
Why is nyamuk singular here? Does it mean one mosquito or mosquitoes in general?
In Indonesian, nouns often do not have to be marked for singular or plural. So nyamuk can mean:
- a mosquito
- mosquitoes
The context tells you which meaning is intended.
Here, English would naturally translate it as mosquitoes, because:
- that is the most likely real-life meaning
- kemasukan nyamuk often implies mosquitoes got in, not just one
If Indonesian wants to make plurality very explicit, it can use reduplication:
- nyamuk-nyamuk = mosquitoes
But in normal speech, that is often unnecessary.
What does karena do in this sentence?
Karena means because.
It introduces the reason:
- karena jendelanya tidak tertutup rapat
- because the window wasn’t tightly closed
So the sentence structure is:
- Tadi malam = time
- kamar saya kemasukan nyamuk = main event
- karena jendelanya tidak tertutup rapat = reason
This is very straightforward Indonesian word order.
What does jendelanya mean, and what is the function of -nya here?
Jendelanya means the window, his/her window, its window, or sometimes the window in question, depending on context.
Here, -nya is best understood as making the noun more specific:
- jendela = window
- jendelanya = the window / its window / the window of it
In this sentence, it most naturally refers to the room’s window:
- kamar saya ... karena jendelanya ...
- my room ... because its/the window ...
So -nya does not always mean his/her. It can also function like the or the relevant one in context.
Why is it jendelanya and not jendela kamar saya?
Both are possible, but they sound a bit different.
- jendelanya = the window / its window
- jendela kamar saya = my room’s window / the window of my room
Using jendelanya is more natural and efficient here because the room has already been mentioned. Once kamar saya is established, jendelanya smoothly refers back to the window belonging to that room.
This kind of reference is very common in Indonesian.
What does tertutup mean?
Tertutup means closed.
It comes from:
- tutup = lid, cover; to close
- tertutup = closed
The prefix ter- here often describes a state or condition:
- pintu tertutup = the door is closed
- jendela tertutup = the window is closed
So:
- jendelanya tidak tertutup rapat = the window was not tightly closed
What is the difference between tutup and tertutup?
A useful simple distinction is:
- tutup can be a root meaning close or cover
- tertutup describes the state of being closed
Compare:
- Saya menutup jendela. = I close the window.
- Jendelanya tertutup. = The window is closed.
So in your sentence, tertutup is appropriate because it describes the condition of the window, not the action of someone closing it.
What does rapat mean in tertutup rapat?
Here rapat means tightly, firmly, or completely shut.
So:
- tertutup = closed
- tertutup rapat = tightly closed / shut properly / sealed shut
This is a very common collocation in Indonesian.
Examples:
- Pintunya tertutup rapat. = The door is tightly shut.
- Botol itu ditutup rapat. = The bottle was closed tightly.
In your sentence, tidak tertutup rapat means the window was closed, or partly closed, but not tightly enough, which allowed mosquitoes to enter.
Why is there tidak before tertutup, not bukan?
Because tertutup is a verb/adjectival predicate, and tidak is the normal negator for verbs and adjectives.
- tidak negates verbs and adjectives
- bukan usually negates nouns, noun phrases, or identification
So:
- jendelanya tidak tertutup rapat = the window was not tightly closed
Compare:
- Dia tidak sakit. = He/she is not sick.
- Itu bukan rumah saya. = That is not my house.
Using bukan tertutup here would be incorrect.
Is the word order natural? Why does the sentence start with Tadi malam?
Yes, it is very natural.
Indonesian often puts a time expression at the beginning of the sentence:
- Tadi malam = last night
- kemarin = yesterday
- besok pagi = tomorrow morning
So this structure is very common:
- [time] + [main clause] + [reason]
In this sentence:
- Tadi malam = last night
- kamar saya kemasukan nyamuk = my room got mosquitoes in it
- karena jendelanya tidak tertutup rapat = because the window wasn’t tightly closed
Starting with the time helps set the scene immediately.
Could this sentence be translated literally as Last night my room was entered by mosquitoes because its window was not tightly closed?
That is close to the structure, but it sounds unnatural in English.
A more natural English translation would be:
- Last night, mosquitoes got into my room because the window wasn’t tightly closed.
- Last night, my room got mosquitoes in it because the window wasn’t shut tightly.
The literal wording helps you understand the grammar, but natural translation should usually focus on how English actually says it.
Can -nya in jendelanya refer to my window?
Yes, indirectly. It refers back to something already mentioned, in this case kamar saya.
So jendelanya can be understood as:
- the room’s window
- its window
- naturally in English: the window
Even though -nya often gets taught as his/her, in real Indonesian it is much broader. It can refer to:
- a previously mentioned thing
- a known item in context
- something like the
That is exactly what is happening here.
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