Ketika pesawat lepas landas, saya menarik napas dalam-dalam supaya lebih tenang.

Ketika means when in this sentence.

It introduces a time clause:

• Ketika pesawat lepas landas = When the plane took off / as the plane was taking off

Other common Indonesian words with a similar meaning are:

• saat
• waktu
• sewaktu (less common in everyday speech)

So you could also hear:

• Saat pesawat lepas landas...
• Waktu pesawat lepas landas...

All are natural, though ketika can sound a little more formal or written.

Lepas landas is the standard Indonesian expression for to take off (for a plane).

So:

• pesawat lepas landas = the plane takes off / took off

It is a fixed expression:

• lepas = release, come off
• landas relates to launching or starting from the ground

But learners should treat lepas landas as one unit of meaning rather than trying to translate each word literally every time.

Related aviation words:

• mendarat = to land
• penerbangan = flight
• bandara = airport

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

So pesawat can mean:

• a plane
• the plane
• planes

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English naturally uses the plane because the situation is specific, but Indonesian does not need a separate word for that.

If the speaker wanted to make it more specifically identifiable, they could say:

• pesawat itu = that/the plane

But in many cases, just pesawat is enough.

The comma separates the time clause from the main clause:

• Ketika pesawat lepas landas, = time clause
• saya menarik napas dalam-dalam... = main clause

This is very similar to English:

• When the plane took off, I took a deep breath...

The comma is especially natural when the sentence begins with the subordinate clause. In casual writing, punctuation in Indonesian can sometimes be looser, but this comma is standard and helpful.

Yes, literally menarik means to pull or to draw, and napas means breath.

But menarik napas is a normal Indonesian expression meaning:

• to take a breath
• to inhale

So this is an idiomatic phrase, just like English uses take with a breath, even though you are not literally “taking” an object.

Some related expressions:

• menarik napas = inhale / take a breath
• menghembuskan napas = exhale / breathe out
• bernapas = to breathe

The standard modern Indonesian spelling is napas.

You may still see nafas, because that older spelling is very common in informal writing and is influenced by Arabic spelling traditions. But in standard Indonesian, especially in dictionaries and formal writing, napas is preferred.

So in a learning context, it is best to use:

• napas

Dalam-dalam means deeply or very deep in this context.

So:

• menarik napas dalam-dalam = to take a deep breath / to breathe in deeply

This comes from dalam = deep. Reduplication here strengthens the sense, making it feel more like deeply.

Compare:

• napas dalam = deep breath
• menarik napas dalam-dalam = inhale deeply / take a deep breath

This kind of repetition is very common in Indonesian and often adds intensity or emphasis.

Indonesian often uses reduplication (repeating a word) for different effects. Here, the repetition makes the adverb stronger or more expressive.

So:

• dalam = deep
• dalam-dalam = deeply / very deeply

This is not exactly the same as plural reduplication like:

• buku-buku = books

Instead, this is an adverbial or intensifying use of repetition.

A learner can think of dalam-dalam here as a natural phrase meaning deeply.

Supaya means so that, in order to, or so.

In this sentence:

• supaya lebih tenang = so that I would be calmer / to feel calmer

It introduces purpose or intention.

Very similar words are:

• agar = so that, in order that
• biar = so that, let, often more casual depending on use

So you could also say:

• ...agar lebih tenang
• ...biar lebih tenang (more conversational in many contexts)

This is a very common thing in Indonesian.

Lebih literally means more, but it does not always need an explicitly stated comparison. In many contexts, it simply means:

• calmer
• more at ease
• a bit more calm than before

So supaya lebih tenang means:

• so that I would feel calmer
• to be more calm
• to calm myself down a bit

The comparison is understood from context: calmer than I was before.

Indonesian often allows predicate adjectives without a separate verb like to be or to become.

So:

• tenang = calm
• lebih tenang = calmer / more calm

And:

• supaya lebih tenang naturally means so that I’d be calmer or to become calmer, even though no extra verb is required.

This is one of the big differences from English. Indonesian often leaves out verbs like to be when they are not necessary.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So:

• lepas landas
• menarik
• lebih tenang

do not by themselves tell you whether the action is past, present, or future.

The time is understood from context. Depending on the situation, this sentence could mean:

• When the plane took off, I took a deep breath so I’d feel calmer.
• When the plane takes off, I take a deep breath to feel calmer.

In many real contexts, English would probably translate it as past tense, but Indonesian itself leaves that open unless other time words are added.

Because the subject is already clear from context.

The sentence means:

• When the plane took off, I took a deep breath so that I would be calmer.

In Indonesian, once the subject is obvious, it is often omitted in later parts of the sentence.

A fuller version could be:

• Ketika pesawat lepas landas, saya menarik napas dalam-dalam supaya saya lebih tenang.

But that sounds less natural because the second saya is unnecessary.

Yes.

Indonesian often does not mark aspect as precisely as English. So ketika pesawat lepas landas can cover a range of meanings depending on context, including:

• when the plane took off
• when the plane was taking off
• as the plane was taking off

English forces you to choose more specifically, but Indonesian is often more flexible.

Yes, very common.

It is a natural everyday way to say:

• take a deep breath
• breathe in deeply

People use it literally and figuratively, for example in stressful situations, before speaking, before doing something difficult, or to calm down.

You may also hear:

• Tarik napas dalam-dalam. = Take a deep breath.
• Coba tarik napas dulu. = Try taking a breath first.

So this is a very useful phrase to remember as a chunk.