# Indonesian: being in progress



## sufler

Hello!
How do you express in Indonesian being in progress of an activity.
For example, if I want to say:
"I learned a lot of new words *translating* this text"

Could it be:
Aku sudah belajar banyak kata baru, *menterjemahkan* teks itu.
or should I use "sedang"?


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## mignons

We usually use "sedang" when expressing ongoing activity. Example:
- I'm driving a car now. 
Saya sedang mengendarai mobil sekarang.

-I'm translating your documents.
Saya sedang menterjemahkan dokumen-dokumenmu.

But i don't think your sentence:



sufler said:


> "I learned a lot of new words *translating* this text"


represents that kind of sentence, I would translate your sentence as:
_Saya sudah belajar banyak kata baru untuk menterjemahkan teks itu._


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## theo1006

sufler said:


> Hello!
> "I learned a lot of new words *translating* this text"



I agree with mignons that your sentence is not the best example for using _sedang_.  But I would not write _untuk_ either.
If I interpret your sentence as "I learned a lot of new words _while_ translating this text." then I would say this in indonesian as: "Saya belajar banyak kata baru _sambil_ menerjemahkan teks itu." or: "Saya belajar banyak kata baru _sewaktu_ menerjemahkan teks itu."

Preserving the character 't' in _men(t)erjemahkan_ is a quite common mistake.  The correct form of the verb however is _menerjemahkan_.  In the same way as the verb of _terka_ becomes _menerka_, of _terbang_ becomes _menerbangkan_, and so on.

Theo


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## adrnstyd

theo1006 said:


> I agree with mignons that your sentence is not the best example for using _sedang_.  But I would not write _untuk_ either.
> If I interpret your sentence as "I learned a lot of new words _while_ translating this text." then I would say this in indonesian as: "Saya belajar banyak kata baru _sambil_ menerjemahkan teks itu." or: "Saya belajar banyak kata baru _sewaktu_ menerjemahkan teks itu."
> 
> Preserving the character 't' in _men(t)erjemahkan_ is a quite common mistake.  The correct form of the verb however is _menerjemahkan_.  In the same way as the verb of _terka_ becomes _menerka_, of _terbang_ becomes _menerbangkan_, and so on.
> 
> Theo



I couldn't agree more, except for one thing. Isn't "this text" would mean that the text is within your reach.
So, more correct translations are:
Saya belajar banyak kata baru _sambil_ menerjemahkan teks _ini_.
Saya belajar banyak kata baru _sewaktu_ menerjemahkan teks _ini_.
If I may add one more translations,
Saya belajar banyak kata baru _dengan_ menerjemahkan teks ini.


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