CONVERSATION: GOING TO A LIBRARY

This is an example of a conversation between two students. As a conversation it is informal. It is quite difficult to translate these sentences into English in order that they have similar structures to the Indonesian. This problem will be discussed in the next lessons.

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Agus: Hallo, Joko. Selamat pagi! = Hallo, Joko. Good morning!
Joko : Selamat pagi. Mau ke mana? = Good morning. Where are you going?
Agus : Ke perpustakaan. Kamu mau ke mana? = To the library. You?
Joko : Saya juga mau ke perpustakaan. Saya mau mengembalikan buku.=I will also go to the library. I will return the book.
Agus : Saya mau meminjam buku. Saya butuh referensi untuk makalah saya. = I will borrow books. I need a reference for my paper.
Joko : Tugasmu belum selesai? Have you not finished your task?
Agus : Belum. Mungkin saya baru bisa menyelesaikan tugas saya dalam satu minggu ini. = Not yet. Maybe I will be able to finish my task within this week.
Joko : Saya sudah selesai satu minggu yang lalu. I finished my task a week ago.
Agus : Mmm, bagus! Liburan mendatang apa yang akan kamu kerjakan? Mmm, it is good! What will you do in the next vacation?
Joko : Saya mau pulang ke Jawa. Kamu mau ke mana? = I will return to Java. Where will you go?
Agus : Sepertinya saya harus bekerja. Saya butuh uang untuk membayar kuliah semester depan. Saya juga butuh uang untuk membeli buku. = I think I have to work. I need money to pay my educational fee for the next semester. I also need money to buy books.

TENSES: 2

Because we do not have tenses, there are at least two ways to learn tenses in Indonesian. The first is by following the translation in the previous lesson. Although it is not common, Indonesians will understand what you mean. For example, in the preceding lesson there is a sentence like this: Saya akan sudah makan menjelang pukul 10 pagi. It is not familiar to us, but we understand. The second is just to express the sentences and are followed by the information of time.

Afterwards, I group the tenses into five categories. You will never find this categorisation in the Indonesian grammar.

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CATEGORY 1:

The present tense and past tense are the same. The difference is their information of time. Remember, we do not have the past form of verbs!

Present Tense
I usually study in my sleeping room.
Saya biasanya BELAJAR di kamar tidur saya.

Past Tense
I studied yesterday in my sleeping room.
Saya BELAJAR kemarin di kamar tidur saya.

Note: generally=umumnya, commonly=biasanya.

CATEGORY 2:

The present continuous tense and past continuous tense are the same.

Present Continuous Tense
I am studying now in the library.
Saya sedang belajar sekarang di perpustakaan.

Past Continuous Tense
I was studying when he called me.
Saya sedang belajar saat dia menelpon saya.

CATEGORY 3:

Future Tense
I WILL study tomorrow.
Saya AKAN belajar besok.

CATEGORY 4:

The present perfect tense and past perfect tense are the same!

Present Perfect Tense
I HAVE STUDIED.
Saya SUDAH BELAJAR.

Past Perfect Tense
My mother said that I HAD STUDIED.
Ibu saya berkata bahwa saya SUDAH BELAJAR.

Pay attention, in Indonesian we can add the information of time in the present perfect tense and past perfect tense. For example: Kami telah makan (tadi pagi)=We have eaten (this morning). Note: sudah=telah.

CATEGORY 5:

Since THE FOLLOWING TENSES are not familiar to Indonesians, forget them!
1. Present Perfect Continuous Tense
2. Past Perfect Continuous Tense
3. Future Continuous Tense
4. Future Perfect Tense
5. Future Perfect Continuous Tense


IMPORTANT!
The most important in “Indonesian tenses” is the information of time. To make sure that an action has happened, is happening, or will happen is from the information of time. Mention it and then we understand.

TENSES: INTRODUCTION

In Indonesian we do not recognise what English speakers say as tenses. Consequently, in Indonesian there is no the past form of verbs. They will be the same when they are used for ‘past tense’, ‘present tense’, and ‘future tense’. Therefore, you do not need to memorise the past form of verbs as we do when we learn English, or other languages. This fact also applies to local languages in Indonesia, such as Sundanese and Javanese. I do not know with other local languages because in Indonesia there are more than 700 local languages.

Look at these examples:

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Present Tense
I (usually) EAT at 7 in the morning.
Saya (biasanya) MAKAN pada pukul 7 pagi.

Present Continuous Tense
We are EATING in the restaurant.
Kami sedang MAKAN di restauran.

Present Perfect Tense
She has EATEN.
Dia sudah MAKAN.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense
He has been eating for 15 minutes.
Dia telah sedang MAKAN selama 15 menit.

Past Tense
They ATE yesterday in my house.
Mereka MAKAN kemarin di rumah saya.

Past Continuous Tense
I was EATING when he came.
Saya sedang MAKAN saat dia datang.


Past Perfect Tense
My mother said that she had EATEN.
Ibu saya berkata bahwa dia sudah MAKAN.

Past Perfect Continuous Tense
My father had been EATING when I visited him.
Bapak saya sudah sedang makan saat saya mengunjunginya.

Future Tense
My younger brother will EAT in his friend’s house tomorrow.
Adik saya akan MAKAN di rumah temannya besok.

Future Continuous Tense
My elder brother will be EATING at 6 pm.
Kakak saya akan sedang MAKAN pada pukul 6 sore.

Future Perfect Tense
I will have EATEN by 10am.
Saya akan sudah MAKAN menjelang pukul 10 pagi.

Future Perfect Continuous Tense
You will have been EATING for 30 minutes.
Kamu akan sudah sedang MAKAN selama 30 menit.

From the above examples, we see that the verb ‘makan’ (to eat) is not changed in any tenses. I will explain this lesson more deeply in the following lessons, because we do not utilise all these tenses.

INDONESIAN - ENGLISH - INDONESIAN DICTIONARY

A dictionary is an indispensable tool for those who learn a language. For you who are studying Indonesian, there is a good Indonesian-English-Indonesian dictionary which you can download. Download the dictionary at this link.