Voice of Indonesia presents “Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia,” a lesson in the Indonesian language on the radio. We introduce some Indonesian vocabulary and tips on how to use it in a conversation. This segment is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language and Book Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture. Today’s topic is Mulai Jam Berapa? in English ‘What time does it start?’
Read to this conversation about Mulai Jam Berapa? which means ‘What time does it start?’ Kevin asks Siti, when does Bahasa Indonesia class start?
Kevin : Pukul berapa kelas bahasa Indonesia dimulai?
Siti : Pukul dua siang.
Now, I am going to introduce the vocabularies and expressions related to the topic today.
Pukul berapa ... dimulai? which means What time does it start?
Kelas class
Pukul dua two o’clock
Siang afternoon
To ask about time, you can use some expressions among others:
-Pukul berapa kelas dimulai? or
-Pada pukul berapa kelas dimulai? which meansWhat time does the class begin?
To respond someone who asks about time, you can answer with adverb of time. For examples:
Siti |
: Pukul berapa kelas bahasa Indonesia dimulai? (What time does the class begin?) |
Kevin |
: Pukul dua siang (at two o’clock) |
When asking about time, you can use two contexts of conversation, formal and informal contexts. The formal one is used for older people, new people and respected people. In the formal conversation, you can use an expression pada pukul berapa dimulai?
While the informal context is used for people who are already familiar, friends, or younger people. In your informal conversation, you just say Pukul berapa mulainya? which means ‘at what time does it begin/start?’
That was “Let’s Speak Bhs Indonesia”, a lesson in Bahasa Indonesia or the Indonesian language on the radio. Hopefully, this edition will be useful for those who want to know more about Bahasa Indonesia.