"He is asleep when we come."

Translation: Dia sedang tidur saat kami datang.

[deactivated user]

Can I use "kapan" instead of "saat" in such a sentence?

[DiegoJaviUnlam]

Hai! Please, try to use "kapan" in Indonesian only as a question word (kata tanya) or an adverb "kapan saja" as in English "anytime" or "at any time".

Wiktionary Indonesia: https://id.wiktionary.org/wiki/kapan

Selamat belajar! :)

[Faceblake]

This English sentence seems to mean that it's habitual, as in, "whenever we come, he's sleeping," or "he's always asleep when we get there." Is "saat" best for habitual? ("ketika" seems to be about past, "jika/kalau" more for future...) I can't tell if it's a bad translation. My thought is that jika/kalau should be used here. "Dia sedang tidur saat kami datang" seems more like it should translate to, "He was sleeping when we got there." But that is because I think "saat" is mostly for past. Can someone clarify?

[Rick392366]

saat = ketika = waktu <==> they're synonyms ==> 'when', 'at the moment that.'
https://kbbi.web.id/saat

saat/sa·at/ n
1 waktu (yang pendek sekali); ketika:

jika = kalau <==> they're synonyms ==> 'íf' , a condional if/when.
https://kbbi.web.id/jika

jika/ji·ka/ p
kata penghubung untuk menandai syarat (janji); kalau

[Faceblake]

Okay, so are you saying saat/ketika/waktu can or can't be used for future?

[Rick392366]

I can't think of a context where I can use 'saat' / 'ketika' / 'waktu' to describe an event in the future.

[Faceblake]

So "Dia sedang tidur saat kami datang" should translate to, "He was sleeping when we came" (i.e. past, not habitual) ...yeah?

[Rick392366]

Yes.

[XavierLamb9]

Would it also correct if sedang wasn't included ?

[setijoso]

Shouldn't the english sentence be "He is asleep when we came" or "he was asleep when we come"?