Saya menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota.

I write the water temperature in the notebook.

Breakdown of Saya menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota.

• saya: I
• menulis: to write
• di dalam: in
• suhu air: the water temperature
• buku nota: the notebook

Questions & Answers about Saya menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota.

What does Saya mean here, and could I use Aku instead?

Saya means I and is the standard, polite first‑person pronoun used in almost all formal and neutral situations (talking to strangers, teachers, in writing, etc.).

You can use Aku (also I) but:

• Aku is more informal and intimate.
• It’s commonly used with close friends, family, or in casual speech.
• Using Aku with someone you don’t know well can sound too familiar or even rude, depending on tone and context.

So:

• Saya menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota. – Neutral/polite.
• Aku menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota. – Casual, with close people.

What exactly does menulis mean, and what is its base form?

Menulis means to write or writing (depending on context).
Its base form (root verb) is tulis (write).

The meN- prefix (here me- + tulis → menulis) is a very common verb-forming prefix in Malay/Indonesian. With tulis, it gives the standard active verb form:

• tulis – “write” (basic stem; also used in imperatives and certain patterns)
• menulis – “to write / is writing / wrote / writes” (active verb form)

Malay does not change the verb form for tense (past, present, future), so menulis itself is not marked for tense. Tense is understood from context or added time words such as:

• saya sedang menulis – I am (currently) writing
• saya sudah menulis – I have already written / I wrote
• saya akan menulis – I will write

How do I know if menulis here means “I write,” “I am writing,” or “I wrote”?

The sentence by itself is tense‑neutral:

• Saya menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota.

It could mean:

• I write the water temperature in the notebook (habitual)
• I am writing the water temperature in the notebook (right now)
• I wrote the water temperature in the notebook (past)

To be explicit, Malay usually adds markers:

• Saya sedang menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota.
  → I am writing the water temperature in the notebook (right now).

• Saya sudah menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota.
  → I have already written / I wrote the water temperature in the notebook.

• Saya akan menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota.
  → I will write the water temperature in the notebook.

Without such markers, context decides the time reference.

Why is it suhu air and not something like “suhu daripada air” for “temperature of the water”?

In Malay, the most common way to express “X of Y” (a possessive or “of” relationship) is simply noun + noun, with the possessor or “owner” second:

• suhu air – temperature (of the) water
• warna baju – color of the shirt
• harga rumah – price of the house

You usually do not use a preposition like daripada for this structure.
Daripada is used more for “from” with people, sources, or comparisons, e.g.:

• Hadiah ini daripada ibu saya. – This present is from my mother.
• Dia lebih tinggi daripada saya. – He is taller than me.

So suhu air is the natural, simple way to say “the water temperature” or “temperature of the water.”

Can suhu air also mean “air temperature” (temperature of the air/atmosphere)? Isn’t air “water”?

In Malay:

• air = water
• udara = air (the gas we breathe)

So suhu air means water temperature, not air temperature.

To say air temperature, you would say:

• suhu udara – air temperature

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” in this sentence?

Malay does not have dedicated articles like English “the” or “a / an.”
The noun phrase suhu air could be translated in different ways depending on context:

• the water temperature
• a water temperature
• water temperature

Whether it is definite (the) or indefinite (a) is inferred from context. If you really need to emphasize one specific thing, Malay might add other words (like itu for “that/the”), e.g.:

• Saya menulis suhu air itu di dalam buku nota.
  → I wrote that water temperature in the notebook.

But in many everyday sentences, no extra marking is needed; context is enough.

What’s the difference between di dalam, dalam, and di here? Could I say Saya menulis suhu air dalam buku nota or … di buku nota?

All three exist, but they differ slightly:

1. di dalam
   Literally “at/located in inside (of).”

   • Emphasizes being inside something.
   • A bit more explicit/formal.

   Saya menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota.
   → I write/wrote the water temperature inside the notebook.

2. dalam (by itself)
   Can function as a preposition “in”. In many everyday sentences, dalam alone is acceptable:

   Saya menulis suhu air dalam buku nota.
   → also understandable as “in the notebook,” common in speech and informal writing.

3. di (by itself)
   Means “at / in / on”, a general location preposition:

   Saya menulis suhu air di buku nota.

   • Grammatically possible.
   • Often interpreted as “at/on the notebook” and may sound slightly less natural if you really mean inside (on its pages). Some speakers might still use it in casual speech.

In many contexts, di dalam and dalam feel more naturally like “inside (the) notebook,” while di is more general and might feel a bit vague here.

Is buku nota just “notebook”? Why two words?

Yes, buku nota means notebook.

Literally:

• buku – book
• nota – note(s)

So buku nota is book (of) notes, i.e., notebook.

Malay often uses two (or more) nouns together to form compound meanings:

• buku teks – textbook
• buku latihan – exercise book
• buku resepi – recipe book

In many cases, speakers treat buku nota as a single concept, just written with a space instead of as one fused word.

Is the word order Saya menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota fixed, or can I move parts around?

The basic word order is:

Subject – Verb – Object – (Place/Time)
Saya – menulis – suhu air – di dalam buku nota

This is the most natural arrangement.

You can move some elements, usually for emphasis or style:

1. Fronting the place phrase (less common here, but possible in some contexts):

   • Di dalam buku nota, saya menulis suhu air.
     → In the notebook, I write the water temperature.
     (sounds a bit more formal or literary; emphasizes the place)

2. Keeping Subject–Verb together is usually recommended. Reordering to:

   • Saya di dalam buku nota menulis suhu air.
     sounds awkward and is not typical.

So, the original sentence is the standard, neutral order, and should be your default.

Why di dalam buku nota and not pada buku nota?

Both di and pada can translate to at/on/in in English, but they’re used differently:

• di

  • location → very common for physical locations:
  • di rumah – at home
  • di meja – on the table
  • di dalam buku nota – in/inside the notebook

• pada is:

  • Used more in formal Malay.
  • Common with time (pada hari Isnin – on Monday; pada pukul 8 – at 8 o’clock).
  • Used with more abstract relationships (pada pendapat saya – in my opinion).

You could encounter pada buku nota in certain formal or very specific stylistic contexts, but for a simple physical location (in a notebook), di (dalam) is by far the most natural choice.

Could I use mencatat instead of menulis to mean “write down / record” the temperature?

Yes, you can:

• mencatat (root: catat) = to record / to note down / to jot down

So a very natural alternative is:

• Saya mencatat suhu air di dalam buku nota.
  → I record / note down the water temperature in the notebook.

Nuance:

• menulis is more general: to write (anything—an essay, a letter, a number).
• mencatat is more specific: to record data or make notes, especially brief or factual information.

For temperatures, measurements, etc., mencatat is often slightly more precise, but menulis is still perfectly correct and common.

Can I drop Saya and just say Menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota?

You can omit the subject in certain contexts, but you usually need a clear context for it to make sense.

• Menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota.
  On its own, this sounds like a fragment or a command (“Write the water temperature in the notebook.”) rather than a full statement with I as the subject.

In conversations, if it is already clear who is doing the action, speakers sometimes omit the pronoun, but for a clear, standalone sentence, you should keep:

• Saya menulis suhu air di dalam buku nota.