Saat parkir, Ayah memutar setir pelan-pelan sambil melihat spion.

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Breakdown of Saat parkir, Ayah memutar setir pelan-pelan sambil melihat spion.

• sambil: while
• ayah: the father
• pelan-pelan: slowly

Questions & Answers about Saat parkir, Ayah memutar setir pelan-pelan sambil melihat spion.

What does saat mean in this sentence?

Saat means when or during. Here it introduces the time background for the main action:

Saat parkir = When parking / While parking

It tells you when Ayah was turning the steering wheel and looking in the mirror.

Why does the sentence say saat parkir instead of something longer like saat Ayah parkir?

Indonesian often leaves out words that are clear from context. In saat parkir, the subject is understood to be the same person as in the main clause, namely Ayah.

So saat parkir naturally means:

• when parking
• while he was parking

This kind of shortening is very common in Indonesian.

Is parkir a noun or a verb here?

Here, parkir functions like a verb: to park.

Indonesian words can be flexible, and parkir is often used directly as a verb in everyday language:

• Saya parkir di depan. = I parked / am parking in front.

So in saat parkir, it means while parking.