When to use it
Use it when someone explained something too quickly.
“I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?” — The sentence in English
"I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?" uses "didn't" for the past negative.
- I
- pronounpersonal pronoun, always written with a capital letter
- didn't
- contractiondo · tense: past · contraction of "did not"; makes the negative in the past
- understand
- verbunderstand · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · after "didn't" the verb stays in its base form
- the
- determinerdefinite article
- instructions
- nounplural noun
- can
- auxiliary verbcan · tense: present · modal verb of ability or permission
- you
- pronounpersonal pronoun
- repeat
- verbrepeat · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · main verb after "can"
“Saya tidak mengerti petunjuknya, bisakah Anda mengulanginya?” — The sentence in Indonesian
"Saya tidak mengerti petunjuknya" has no past form: the context shows the time. "Mengulanginya" includes "it" (-nya) at the end.
- Saya
- pronoun"I"
- tidak
- particle"not"
- mengerti
- verberti · form: meng- + erti · "understand"; no past form
- petunjuknya
- nounpetunjuk + -nya: "the instructions"
- bisakah
- auxiliary verbbisa · form: bisa + -kah · "can" as a question
- Anda
- pronounpolite "you"
- mengulanginya
- verbulang · form: meng- + ulang + -i + -nya · "repeat it"
English × Indonesian: What changes from one language to the other
English marks the past with "didn't"; Indonesian uses the same verb for every time. English can leave out "it" after "repeat"; Indonesian adds -nya.
Example conversation
— Saya tidak mengerti petunjuknya, bisakah Anda mengulanginya?
— I didn't understand the instructions, can you repeat?
— Tentu, saya akan bicara lebih pelan.
— Of course, I'll speak more slowly.