Saya tahu begadang tidak baik, tetapi tadi malam saya masih harus membaca ulang proposal.

Begadang means staying up late, especially staying awake at night when you should normally be sleeping. It can mean:

• staying up very late
• pulling an all-nighter
• losing sleep because you are working, studying, or doing something else at night

So in this sentence, begadang tidak baik means that staying up late is not good.

In Indonesian, bahwa can introduce a clause meaning that, but it is often omitted in natural sentences.

So:

• Saya tahu begadang tidak baik
• Saya tahu bahwa begadang tidak baik

Both are correct.

The version without bahwa is very common and sounds natural. English learners often expect that to appear, but Indonesian frequently leaves it out.

The verb tahu means to know. What follows it is the thing being known: begadang tidak baik.

You can think of it like this:

• Saya = I
• tahu = know
• begadang tidak baik = staying up late is not good

So the whole structure is:

• I know [that staying up late is not good].

The clause begadang tidak baik functions as the object or content of tahu.

Both can be translated as not good / bad, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

• tidak baik = not good, unhealthy, not advisable
• buruk = bad, poor, negative, often stronger or harsher

In this sentence, begadang tidak baik sounds very natural because it suggests staying up late is unhealthy or not a good habit.

If you said begadang buruk, it would sound less natural here. Tidak baik is the more idiomatic choice.

Tetapi means but. It connects two contrasting ideas:

• I know staying up late is not good
• but last night I still had to reread the proposal

Yes, tapi can also be used.

• tetapi = more formal or standard
• tapi = more common in everyday speech

So both are correct, but tetapi fits a more careful written style.

Tadi malam usually means last night.

It refers to the night before the current day, from the speaker’s perspective.

Learners often compare it with kemarin malam, which can also mean last night. In everyday Indonesian, both are often used for the previous night, but there is a slight difference in feel:

• tadi malam = earlier last night, more connected to the present moment
• kemarin malam = yesterday night, a bit more explicitly tied to yesterday

In many situations, they overlap. In this sentence, tadi malam sounds very natural.

Masih means still, and harus means must / have to.

Together, masih harus means:

• still had to
• still needed to
• still was required to

So:

• saya masih harus membaca ulang proposal = I still had to reread the proposal

The word masih shows that even though the speaker knew staying up late was not good, the obligation remained.

Membaca ulang means to reread.

Breakdown:

• membaca = to read
• ulang = again / repeated

So membaca ulang proposal literally means read the proposal again, but in natural English that is reread the proposal.

In Indonesian, ulang often comes after a verb to show repetition:

• melihat ulang = review / watch again
• memeriksa ulang = check again
• membaca ulang = reread

Yes. Membaca kembali proposal is also possible and means roughly the same thing: to read the proposal again.

But there is a nuance:

• membaca ulang = reread, repeat the reading
• membaca kembali = read again / go back to reading

In many contexts they are interchangeable. Membaca ulang is very natural when you mean checking a document again carefully.

In standard Indonesian, after harus, you can use either a base verb or a meN- verb, depending on style and level of formality.

So these are both possible:

• harus membaca
• harus baca

Difference in tone:

• harus membaca = more formal, more standard written Indonesian
• harus baca = more conversational, less formal

Since this sentence sounds fairly polished, harus membaca ulang proposal fits well.

Membaca comes from the root baca (read).

The prefix meN- forms an active verb. Because the root starts with b, the form becomes mem-:

• baca = read
• membaca = to read / read

This is a very common pattern in Indonesian. In formal Indonesian, membaca is the standard active verb form.

Indonesian does not have articles like English a, an, or the.

So proposal can mean:

• a proposal
• the proposal

The exact meaning comes from context. In this sentence, context suggests the proposal, probably one specific proposal the speaker had to review.

Yes, in some contexts Indonesian can omit repeated subjects if the meaning is clear. For example:

• Saya tahu begadang tidak baik, tetapi tadi malam masih harus membaca ulang proposal.

This can still be understood as I know..., but last night I still had to...

However, keeping the second saya makes the sentence clearer and more balanced, especially in careful writing. So the full version sounds more complete:

• Saya tahu ..., tetapi tadi malam saya masih harus ...

Yes, proposal is commonly used in Indonesian, especially in academic, business, and professional contexts. It is a loanword and is completely normal in modern Indonesian.

There are more native-sounding alternatives in some contexts, such as usulan, but proposal is the usual word when talking about a formal written proposal, research proposal, project proposal, and so on.

The sentence sounds natural, standard, and slightly formal.

Why?

• tetapi instead of tapi
• membaca instead of baca
• proposal gives a professional or academic context

It sounds like something someone might say in a thoughtful conversation or write in a narrative about work or study.