Breakdown of Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri, sekarang saya tinggal di rumah.
Questions & Answers about Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri, sekarang saya tinggal di rumah.
Dulu is an adverb of time meaning before / in the past / formerly. It does not function as a tense marker the way English has past tense forms.
In this sentence:
- Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri
= In the past / Before, I lived in an apartment.
There is no verb conjugation for past in Malay. Instead, Malay uses:
- dulu – before / previously
- sudah / telah – already (completed action)
- pernah – have ever (experience)
- sekarang – now
- nanti – later
So dulu simply places the action in the past context. The verb tinggal itself does not change form.
Yes, dulu can move, and the main meaning stays the same, though the emphasis can shift slightly.
Common patterns:
Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri.
– Most neutral; introduces the past situation.Saya dulu tinggal di pangsapuri.
– Still natural. The dulu is closer to saya, sometimes felt as “as for me, in the past I lived in an apartment.”Saya tinggal di pangsapuri dulu.
– Also possible, but this can sound a bit more like “I lived in an apartment before (that)” or “at that earlier stage”, especially if followed by another step in a sequence.
All are understandable. For a clear contrast with sekarang, the first (Dulu saya…) and second (Saya dulu…) positions are the most common and natural.
Malay verbs normally do not change form for tense. The verb tinggal:
- Saya tinggal di rumah. – I live in a house. / I am staying in a house.
- Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri. – I lived / used to live in an apartment.
- Esok saya tinggal di hotel. – Tomorrow I will stay at a hotel.
The same base verb tinggal is used for past, present, and future. Time is indicated by:
- Time words: dulu, tadi, semalam, sekarang, nanti, esok
- Aspect words: sudah / telah (already), sedang (in the middle of), akan (will, often optional), pernah (have ever).
So Malay indicates time through adverbs and particles, not through verb conjugation.
Tinggal by itself means to live / to stay / to remain.
- Saya tinggal. – I’m staying / I’ll stay (here).
(The location is understood from context.)
When you specify a place, you usually add di before the location:
- tinggal di pangsapuri – live in an apartment
- tinggal di rumah – live in a house
- tinggal di Kuala Lumpur – live in Kuala Lumpur
So:
- tinggal – the action “live / stay”
- di + place – tells you where
In this sentence, di is needed because you’re specifying the places where you live.
Both are possible, but there’s a nuance:
- di pangsapuri – “at / in the apartment building”, very normal and natural.
- di dalam pangsapuri – “inside the apartment”, adds extra emphasis on being inside (often used when you need to contrast inside vs outside).
In everyday speech, di alone is usually enough:
- di rumah – at home / in the house
- di sekolah – at school
- di pejabat – at the office
Use di dalam when you really need to highlight “inside”:
- di dalam bilik – inside the room (not outside it)
Tinggal has a few related meanings; context decides which one is meant.
To live / reside / stay (the meaning in your sentence)
- Saya tinggal di rumah. – I live in a house.
- Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri. – I used to live in an apartment.
To stay / remain (not move, not leave)
- Awak pergi dulu, saya tinggal. – You go first, I’ll stay.
To be left / remain (as a remainder)
- Tinggal dua keping lagi. – Only two pieces are left.
- Duit saya tinggal sedikit. – My money is almost gone / only a bit is left.
The meaning “live / reside” is very common when tinggal is followed by di + place.
Both are understood, but there are some preferences:
- pangsapuri – the more “Malay” word; commonly used, including in official and everyday contexts.
- apartmen – borrowed from English “apartment”; also common, especially in cities, ads, property listings.
In this sentence, pangsapuri is completely natural. You could say:
- Dulu saya tinggal di apartmen, sekarang saya tinggal di rumah.
and it would also sound normal. As a learner, using pangsapuri is a safe choice.
Malay normally does not mark plural unless it’s important to be explicit. So:
- Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri.
is usually understood as “I used to live in an apartment”, or “I used to live in an apartment (type of housing).”
If you really need to stress more than one apartment, you can say:
- Dulu saya tinggal di beberapa pangsapuri. – I used to live in several apartments.
- Dulu saya sering berpindah-pindah, tinggal di banyak pangsapuri. – I used to move around a lot, living in many apartments.
Without words like beberapa (several), banyak (many), context decides whether it feels singular or general.
Yes, that is natural and common:
- Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri, sekarang di rumah.
In the second part, tinggal and saya are understood from the first clause:
- (Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri), (sekarang saya tinggal di rumah).
Malay often drops repeated words when the meaning is clear. Including saya tinggal a second time is also correct; it just sounds slightly more explicit:
- Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri, sekarang saya tinggal di rumah.
Yes, you can say:
- Dulu saya tinggal di pangsapuri, kini saya tinggal di rumah.
Both sekarang and kini mean now / currently.
Nuance:
- sekarang – most common, neutral in everyday speech.
- kini – also common, but can feel a bit more formal, or used in writing, news, and storytelling.
In casual conversation sekarang is slightly more usual; in writing, both are fine.
Both mean I / me, but they differ in formality and relationship:
- saya – polite, neutral, safe in almost all situations: with strangers, at work, in writing, with people older than you.
- aku – informal, for close friends, family, or when you speak very casually. It can sound rude if used with the wrong person.
Your sentence with aku:
- Dulu aku tinggal di pangsapuri, sekarang aku tinggal di rumah.
This is fine in an informal context among friends, but as a learner, saya is the safest default.