#Tense/aspect: sudah, telah, sedang, masih, lagi, tengah, akan


#Tense and Aspect

#This document is organised as follows:

#Tense
#Aspect
#Aspect - sudah
#Aspect - telah
#Aspect - sedang
#Aspect - masih
#Aspect - lagi, tengah
#Aspect - akan


#Tense

#Indonesian verbs do not change to indicate tense or aspect.
#A sentence such as dia pergi ke kantor (he goes/went to the office)
#carries no indication of whether the verb pergi refers to a habitual action
#or single occurence and, if the latter, when it happens in relation to 
#the present. Listeners usually pick up meanings from the context
#within which the utterance is made.


#1

Ibu pergi ke pasar

#mother go to market
#mother goes to the market
#mother went to the market
#mother is going to the market


#Time can be indicated by adjuncts of time such as setiap hari 'every day' and tadi pagi
#'this morning' (past) sebentar malam 'this evening' (FUT)

#2

Ibu pergi ke pasar setiap hari

#mother go to market every day
#mother goes to the market everyday


#3

Ibu pergi ke pasar tadi pagi

#mother go to market before now morning
#mother went to the market this morning

#4

Ibu pergi ke pasar sebentar malam

#mother go to market before after now evening
#mother went to the market this evening


#Aspect

#Aspect markers are usually used to indicate completeness or continuation of an event or action.


#Aspect - sudah

#Sudah indicates that an action/event has occurred or that a state has been achieved

#2

Ibu Siwabessy sudah pergi ke kantor

#mother Siwabessy PERF go to office
#Madame Siwabessy has gone to the office


#Amir sudah sehat kembali
#Amir PERF healthy back
#Amir has already recovered (Lit: AMir has got  his health back)


#3

Bapak sudah bangun

#father PERF wake up
#father has woken up / fathe is awake

#4

Anak itu sudah mandi

#Child that PERF take a shower/bath
#The child has taken a shower/bath / He is clean now

#With such verbs, however, sudah can also indicate that the action is complete;
#context indicating which is meant:

#5

Siswa-siswa itu sudah beristirahat

#student-REDUP that PERF BER-rest
#The students have taken a rest (and are now ready to study)

#Note that examples 3, 4, and 5 show that when sudah is combined with verbs which indicate 
#a state, it usually refers both to the action which begins the state and the continuation 
#of the state.



#Sudah with other predicates beside verbs.

#6

Mereka sudah pegawai negeri

#3PL already officer  state
#They are already civil servants (before they were only part-time staff)

#7

Anak laki-laki itu sudah tinggi

#child male-REDUP that already tall
#The boy is already tall

#8

Kami sudah di sini

#1PL.EXCL already at here
#We are already here



#Aspect - telah

#Telah has the same meaning as sudah.

#9

Siswa-siswa itu telah beristirahat

#student-REDUP that PERF BER-rest
#The students have taken a rest  

#The difference between the two is a matter of register; telah is mostly used in
#formal speech or in writing. Sudah occurs both in formal and informal styles.


#Telah with other predicates beside verbs.


#Ungrammatical

#10

Mereka telah dokter (0! 0 0 0)

#3PL already doctor
#They have become doctors


#Ungrammatical

#11

Anak laki-laki itu telah tinggi (0! 0 0 0)

#child male-REDUP that already tall
#The boy is already tall


#Ungrammatical

#12

Kami telah di sini   (0! 0 0 0)

#1PL.EXCL already at here
#We are already here


#Although examples 12 and 13 are ungrammatical, they may still be acceptable
#e.g. when using them in an informal meeting (although this is very rare).

#Sentence 12 would be grammatical when telah precedes the verb as in 13.

#13

Kami telah tinggal di sini

#1PL.EXCL already live at here
#We have already lived here


#similarly example 14 is best replaced by 15:

#Ungrammatical

#14

Mereka telah pegawai negeri  (0! 0 0 0)

#3PL already officer  state
#They are already civil servants (before they were only part-time staff)


#15

Mereka telah menjadi pegawai negeri

#3PL already meN-become officer  state
#They have already become civil servants (before they were only part-time staff)


#Sentence 15 is grammatical when telah precedes a verb.


#Aspect - sedang

#Sedang 'in progress' or 'in the process of'. Sedang indicates that an action or event
#is in progress or in process.

#Similar to sudah sedang precedes the verb of the sentence.

#16

Dia sedang menulis

#3SG in the process of meN-write
#He/she is writing


#Ungrammatical:

#17

Dia  menulis sedang  (0! 0 0 0)

#3SG meN-write in the process of
#He/she is writing

#Aspect - lagi, tengah


#Lagi and tengah have similar meanings with sedang, however,
#their use is not common.

#Lagi and tengah precede the verb of the sentence just like sudah and sedang.


#18

Dia lagi tidur

#3SG in the process of sleep
#He is sleeping


#19

Sekolah ini tengah direnovasi oleh PT Baratayuda

#school this middle PASS-renovate by PT Sinar Surya
#This school is being renovated by PT Sinar Surya

 

#Aspect - masih

#masih indicates that an action/event is still happening:

#20

Mereka masih kuliah

#3PL still study
#They are still studying


#Masih with other predicates beside verbs.


#21

Mereka masih pegawai negeri

#3PL still officer  state
#They are still civil servants 

#22

Dia masih bujang  

#3SG still single 
#He/se is still single

#23

Kami masih di sini

#1PL.EXCL still at here
#We are still here


#Aspect - akan


#Akan indicates a future event or state:

#Akan precedes verbal and non-verbal predicates.


#24

Dia akan sakit

#3SG will sick
#He/She will be sick

#25

Kami akan tidur di sini

#1PL.EXCL will sleep at here
#We will sleep here


#Ungrammatical:

#26

Dia sakit akan (0! 0 0 0)

#3SG sick will
#He/She will be sick


#Akan cannot precede a noun.

#Ungrammatical

#27

Dia akan mentri  (0! 0 0 0)

#3SG will minister
#He will become a minsiter