Kami duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek.

We sit at the edge of the park while eating snacks.

Breakdown of Kami duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek.

• makan: to eat
• duduk: to sit
• di: at
• taman: the park
• sambil: while
• kami: we
• snek: the snack
• pinggir: the edge

Questions & Answers about Kami duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek.

How do I know if this sentence is in the past (“we sat”) or present (“we are sitting”)? There’s no tense marker.

Malay verbs don’t change form for tense. Duduk can mean sit / are sitting / were sitting depending on context.

Kami duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek can be:

• We are sitting at the edge of the park while eating snacks.
• We were sitting at the edge of the park while eating snacks.

To make time clearer, Malay usually adds time words:

• Tadi kami duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek.
  = Earlier we were sitting at the edge of the park while eating snacks.
• Sekarang kami duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek.
  = Right now we’re sitting at the edge of the park while eating snacks.

Without a time word, the tense is taken from the wider conversation.

What’s the difference between kami and kita? Both mean “we,” right?

Yes, both mean we, but they include different people:

• kami = we (but NOT you)
  The speaker + others, excluding the listener.
• kita = we (including you)
  The speaker + the listener + possibly others.

In Kami duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek, the sentence means:

• We (but not you) were / are sitting…

If the speaker wants to include the person being spoken to, they would say:

• Kita duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek.
  = We (including you) are sitting at the edge of the park while eating snacks.

Does duduk only mean “to sit,” or can it also mean “to stay / live”?

The basic meaning of duduk is to sit, but it can also mean to stay / reside depending on context:

1. To sit

   • Kami duduk di pinggir taman.
     = We sit / are sitting at the edge of the park.

2. To live / reside / stay

   • Saya duduk di Kuala Lumpur.
     = I live in Kuala Lumpur.
   • Dia duduk dengan neneknya.
     = She/He stays with her/his grandmother.

In your sentence, because you have di pinggir taman sambil makan snek, the natural meaning is sit, not live.

What exactly does di pinggir taman mean? Is it “in the park” or “at the edge of the park”?

• di = at / in / on (location preposition)
• pinggir = edge / fringe / margin
• taman = park (or garden, depending on context)

So di pinggir taman literally means at the edge of the park, not inside the middle of it.

Compare:

• di taman = in the park / at the park (general location)
• di pinggir taman = at the edge / border of the park
  (maybe near a fence, path, or boundary)

What’s the difference between pinggir and tepi? Could I say di tepi taman instead?

Both pinggir and tepi can mean edge / side, and in casual conversation they often overlap:

• pinggir: more like outer edge / fringe / border, slightly more formal or descriptive.
• tepi: side / beside / by the side of, very common in everyday speech.

You can say:

• di pinggir taman
• di tepi taman

Both are understandable. Nuance:

• di pinggir taman suggests being at the margin of the park area.
• di tepi taman can feel a bit more like “by the park / next to the park.”

In most everyday situations, they’re close enough that both sound fine.

What does sambil do in this sentence? How is it different from sementara or sambil itu?

Sambil links two actions done by the same subject at the same time.

In your sentence:

• Kami duduk… (we sit)
• makan snek (eat snacks)

Kami duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek
= We sit at the edge of the park while eating snacks.

Key points:

• Same subject (kami) does both actions.
• Actions are simultaneous or overlapping.

Compare:

• sementara = while / whereas, often contrasts two different subjects or situations:
  Saya membaca sementara anak saya tidur.
  = I read while my child sleeps.
• sambil itu = meanwhile / in the meantime (linking sentences or clauses, more like an adverbial phrase).

So sambil here is correct because kami is doing both duduk and makan at the same time.

Why is it sambil makan snek and not sambil kami makan snek?

In Malay, when two verbs share the same subject, the subject usually isn’t repeated after sambil.

• Full idea: Kami duduk… sambil kami makan snek.
• Natural Malay: Kami duduk… sambil makan snek.

Because kami is clearly the subject of the first verb (duduk) and of the second action (makan), repeating kami is unnecessary and sounds heavy.

You can occasionally see sambil kami… in more complex or formal sentences, but in a simple sentence like this, sambil makan snek is the normal, natural structure.

Why is it makan snek and not memakan snek? What’s the difference?

Both come from the root verb makan (to eat), but they’re used differently:

• makan snek = eat snacks (normal, everyday form)
• memakan snek = also “eat snacks,” but sounds more formal or emphasizes the act of consuming.

In modern Malay:

• For ordinary, everyday actions, people almost always use the bare verb:
  makan nasi, minum air, baca buku, etc.
• memakan is often used when:
  • The object is non-human / abstract:
    Api memakan hutan itu. = The fire devoured the forest.
    Projek itu memakan masa yang lama. = The project took a long time (literally: “ate up” a long time).
  • You want a more formal or written style.

So makan snek is the natural choice for casual speech.

Is snek a common word in Malay, and does it need to be plural like “snacks”?

Yes, snek is a common, accepted loanword from English snack. It’s used in everyday Malay.

Malay does not change the noun form for plural, so:

• snek can mean snack or snacks, depending on context.
• No -s is added for plural.

If you want to be more specific:

• satu snek = one snack
• banyak snek = many snacks
• beberapa snek = several snacks

There are also more “native” words:

• kudap-kudapan (snacks, nibbles)
• sajian ringan (light refreshments)

But snek is perfectly normal and widely understood.

Could this also mean “We live at the edge of the park while eating snacks”? How do we know it’s not about living there?

Technically, duduk can mean “live / stay,” but in this sentence, Malay speakers will naturally interpret it as sit, because:

1. Context of the action:
   sambil makan snek describes a short, temporary activity. We normally don’t talk about living somewhere while eating snacks.

2. Naturalness:
   If you really meant “live at the edge of the park,” you would normally say:

   • Kami tinggal di pinggir taman.
     or
   • Kami menetap di pinggir taman.

So in real usage, Kami duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek is understood as sit, not live.

Can I rearrange the sentence, like Kami makan snek sambil duduk di pinggir taman? Is that still correct?

Yes, that rearrangement is grammatical and natural:

• Kami duduk di pinggir taman sambil makan snek.
  = We sit at the edge of the park while eating snacks.
• Kami makan snek sambil duduk di pinggir taman.
  = We eat snacks while sitting at the edge of the park.

Both say the same thing in practice; the difference is just what you focus on:

• First version focuses a bit more on sitting as the main action.
• Second version focuses a bit more on eating snacks as the main action.

In everyday conversation, both orders are fine.