setelah

Setelah is a common Indonesian word meaning "after" or "following." It functions primarily as a temporal conjunction that introduces a subordinate clause describing an event that occurs later in time than another event. It can also be used as an adverb meaning "afterward" or "later."

In a sentence, setelah links a dependent clause to the main clause to express sequence: "Setelah makan, kami pergi." Here, the action of eating precedes the action of going. Indonesian does not inflect verbs for tense, so setelah serves to establish temporal order rather than tense. Setelah may also begin a sentence: "Setelah itu, dia pulang" meaning "After that, he went home."

Sesudah is a near-synonym in many contexts, but usage can vary by region and formality. Setelah is common in everyday speech, while sesudah is often found in more formal or literary contexts. The expression setelah + time phrase is flexible: "setelah beberapa menit" (after a few minutes), "setelah selesai pekerjaan" (after finishing the work).

Etymology and usage notes: Setelah is of Malay origin and is a core temporal connector in Indonesian. It remains widely used in standard Indonesian as well as in Malay. Related expressions include "setelah itu" (after that) and "seterusnya" (next, subsequently).