"Dia sedang tidur saat kami datang."

Translation: He was asleep when we arrived.

[evabstracted]

What would be the difference between "Dia sedang tidur saat kami datang" & "Dia tidur saat kami datang"?

[Rick392366]

"sedang" is a word that is used as a time marker to indicate that the action is still ongoing.
A sentence like that should be translated in the "present continuous tense" in English.

"Dia tidur" = He/She sleeps/slept.
"Dia sedang tidur" = He/She is/was sleeping.

"sedang" can be replaced with the word "lagi".
Tono sedang makan = Tono lagi makan = Tono is eating (action is still ongoing).

But remember that when using "lagi" for this purpose, "lagi" is positioned in the same place as "sedang", right before the verb, as part of the predicate.

If you put "lagi" after the predicate, it has a different meaning:

Tono lagi makan = Tono is eating.
Tono makan lagi = Tono eats again.

[digitalpointer]

Thanks for this. I especially appreciate your explanations of the less formal equivalents.

[Flanders1]

That is so helpful, thanks

[KTo228]

In order to have this entirely in the present tense, would it diverge from the meaning of the Indonesian too much to try something like "Now that we have come, he is asleep."

[Harvey384140]

She is sleeping when we arrived, why is this incorrect

[anyisa]

Simply because you use 'is sleeping' and 'arrived' which are mix of present and past tense.

[LauraGrant780008]

Can you say, "He has been asleep since we arrived."?

[tuanle163158]

what's wrong with "he's still sleeping when we come"