Breakdown of Di perpustakaan, saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah.
Questions & Answers about Di perpustakaan, saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah.
Di is a preposition that usually means “at / in / on” (location). In this sentence, di perpustakaan = “at the library / in the library.”
Ke is a preposition that usually means “to” (direction, movement).
- Di perpustakaan = at/in the library (location, no movement)
- Ke perpustakaan = to the library (movement towards it)
So you use di when you are already at a place, and ke when you are going there.
The comma separates the location phrase from the main clause:
- Di perpustakaan, saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah.
At the library, I read several history books.
Putting the location at the beginning is a way to emphasize the place. The comma is helpful but not strictly mandatory in everyday writing. You will also see:
- Di perpustakaan saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah. (often fine without a comma)
- Saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah di perpustakaan. (no comma; location at the end)
All three are grammatically correct; the difference is mostly style and emphasis, not meaning.
Yes. Malay word order is flexible with location expressions. These are all natural:
- Di perpustakaan, saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah.
- Saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah di perpustakaan.
- Saya di perpustakaan membaca beberapa buku sejarah. (slightly different rhythm, still okay)
The default, neutral order is often like (2): Subject – Verb – Object – Place:
Saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah di perpustakaan.
Putting di perpustakaan first adds a bit of focus to the location.
Perpustakaan means “library”.
It is formed from the root pustaka (a Sanskrit loan meaning “book / writing”) plus the per‑…‑an noun-forming pattern:
- pustaka → per
- pustaka
- an → perpustakaan
- pustaka
The per‑…‑an pattern often turns a base word into a place or abstract noun.
So perpustakaan is literally something like “place of books”, i.e. library.
Membaca means “to read” or “reading / read” (depending on context).
The base verb is baca = “read”.
Malay often uses the meN- prefix to form active verb forms:
- meN- + baca → membaca
The meN- prefix signals that it’s an active action verb done by the subject:
- Saya membaca buku. – I read a book / I am reading a book.
The exact tense (past, present, future) is not shown by membaca itself; it is inferred from context or time words.
Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Membaca can mean:
- read / was reading / have read (past)
- am reading (present)
- will read (future)
Context or extra time words show the time:
Semalam di perpustakaan, saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah.
Yesterday at the library, I read several history books.Sekarang di perpustakaan, saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah.
Now at the library, I am reading several history books.Nanti di perpustakaan, saya akan membaca beberapa buku sejarah.
Later at the library, I will read several history books.
So in your original sentence, the time is unspecified; you need context.
Beberapa means “several / some (more than two, but not many)”.
Malay nouns normally do not change form for plural. There is no ‑s like in English.
- buku can mean “book” or “books”.
- beberapa buku clearly means “several books”, so it is plural by meaning, not by form.
So beberapa does not change the word buku; it just adds the idea of “several”.
You can use a classifier here, but you don’t have to.
- beberapa buku sejarah – very natural and common
- beberapa buah buku sejarah – also correct
Buah is a general classifier for many objects. Classifiers are more typical when you use a specific number:
- tiga buah buku – three books
- lima buah kereta – five cars
With beberapa, it’s perfectly normal to leave the classifier out, especially in modern, casual Malay.
Buku sejarah is a noun + noun structure:
- buku = book
- sejarah = history
Taken together, buku sejarah means “history book / history books” – that is, books about history.
This structure (Noun 1 + Noun 2) is very common in Malay and often corresponds to English “Noun + Noun” or “Noun of Noun”:
- buku sejarah – history book(s)
- guru bahasa – language teacher
- tiket bas – bus ticket
So in your sentence: beberapa buku sejarah = several history books.
You can, but the meaning changes.
- membaca beberapa buku sejarah – reading several history books
- membaca sejarah – reading history (as a subject, not specifically “books”)
Membaca sejarah sounds more like “I study/read about history”, without specifying that you’re reading books.
The original sentence is more precise: you are reading several books, and they are history books.
Saya means “I / me” and is very commonly used. Unlike some languages, Malay usually keeps the subject pronoun in simple sentences, especially in writing.
You can drop it in very informal speech if the subject is clear, for example in a conversation where context is strong:
- (Saya) di perpustakaan, (saya) membaca beberapa buku sejarah.
But in standard, clear Malay, especially for learners, it is better to keep saya:
- Di perpustakaan, saya membaca beberapa buku sejarah.
Dropping it is more like casual, elliptical speech, not the “default” grammar you should learn first.
Yes, in Malay:
The letter c is pronounced like English “ch” in “church”.
- membaca → mem‑BA‑cha (not mem-BA-ka)
sejarah → roughly sə‑JA‑rah
- se‑ with a schwa (like the a in “sofa”)
- ja like “jah” with a soft j
- rah with a trilled or tapped r (depending on accent)
Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable, so:
- memBAca
- seJArah
Di is quite flexible; it can cover both “in” and “at” in English:
- di perpustakaan can be translated as “in the library” or “at the library”, depending on what sounds more natural in English.
Malay does not force you to choose between in and at here. Di just marks a location, without specifying whether you are inside, at the door, somewhere on the grounds, etc. Context would clarify if that matters.