Sebelum tidur, saya mengisi daya ponsel di kamar.

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Breakdown of Sebelum tidur, saya mengisi daya ponsel di kamar.

• saya: I
• di: in
• kamar: the room

Questions & Answers about Sebelum tidur, saya mengisi daya ponsel di kamar.

Why does the sentence begin with Sebelum tidur?

Sebelum means before, and tidur means sleep / to sleep. Together, sebelum tidur means before sleeping or before going to bed.

Putting this time phrase at the beginning sets the time context first, just like English Before bed, .... Indonesian often puts time expressions at the start of a sentence, but it is also possible to place them later:

Sebelum tidur, saya mengisi daya ponsel di kamar.
Saya mengisi daya ponsel di kamar sebelum tidur.

Both are natural.

Why is it tidur and not saya tidur after sebelum?

In Indonesian, the subject is often omitted in time expressions when it is obvious from context.

So sebelum tidur literally looks like before sleeping, with no subject stated. Since the main clause has saya, it is naturally understood that I am the one sleeping.

You could say sebelum saya tidur, and that is grammatically correct, but it sounds a bit more explicit. In everyday speech, sebelum tidur is very common and natural.

Is tidur here a verb or a noun?