When you learn Indonesian language you will not find difficult tenses as there is no changing in the verbs form when you talk about the past, the present as well as the future. All you need to know is the adverb of time as follows:
Kemarin - yesterday
Hari ini - today
Nanti malam - tonight
Besok malam - tomorrow night
Hari Sabtu depan - next week
Hari Jumat depan - next friday
Bulan depan - next month
Seminggu yang lalu - a week ago
Dua bulan yang lalu - two months ago
Tiga tahun yang lalu - three years ago
Saat ini - At the moment/ at this time
Sekarang - now
Examples:
Saya bertemu Arif kemarin - I met Arif yesterday
Lisa akan bertemu guru Bahasa Indonesia besok - Lisa will meet Indonesian language teacher tomorrow
The word "bertemu" remains the same. It does not change in form.
When you want to talk about progressive tense you can put the word "sedang/ lagi"
Examples:
Amir sedang membaca buku di kamarnya saat ini - Amir is reading book at his room at the moment
or
Amir lagi baca buku di kamarnya saat ini
For negative forms you use the words "tidak/ nggak" after the words "sedang/ lagi"
Examples:
Amir tidak sedang membaca buku di kamarnya saat ini - Amir is not reading at his room at the moment
or
Amir nggak lagi baca buku di kamarnya saat ini
For the interrogative form:
Apa yang sedang Amir lakukan di kamarnya saat ini? - What is Amir doing at his room at the moment?
or
Amir lagi ngapain di kamarnya saat ini?
For Present perfect tense you just use the word "sudah/ pernah".
Examples:
Saya pernah bertemu dia sebelumnya - I have seen him/her before
Dia pernah ke Bali sebelumnya - I have been to Bali before
For negative sentence you use the word "belum"
Examples:
Saya belum pernah bertemu dia sebelumnya - I have not seen him/her before
Dia belum pernah ke Bali sebelumnya - S/he has not been to Bali before
Saya belum makan - I have not eaten yet
For interrogative sentence you use the word "sudah"
Examples:
Kamu sudah makan? - Have you eaten yet?
Dia sudah pernah ke Bali sebelumnya? - Has s/he been to Bali before?
Kamu sudah makan? - Have you eaten yet
Read also:
Pronouns in Indonesian language
Days and Months in Indonesian
Weather in Indonesian language
Parts of a house in Indonesian language
Direction in Indonesian
Vocabulary 2
Vocabulary 1
