Breakdown of Polisi berbicara tentang ancaman itu.
itu
that
tentang
about
polisi
the police
berbicara
to talk
Questions & Answers about Polisi berbicara tentang ancaman itu.
Does polisi mean the police or a police officer here?
It can mean either, depending on context.
In Indonesian, polisi can refer to:
- the police as an institution or group
- a police officer
In this sentence, without extra context, many learners will understand it as the police or a police officer. Indonesian often leaves number and specificity less explicit than English does.
If you want to be clearer, you could say:
- seorang polisi = a police officer
- para polisi = the police officers / police officers
Why is there no word for is/are in the sentence?
Indonesian usually does not need a verb like is, are, or am in the same way English does.
But in this sentence, the main verb is already berbicara = to speak / to talk, so no extra helping verb is needed.
English:
- The police are talking about that threat.
Indonesian:
- Polisi berbicara tentang ancaman itu.
This is completely normal Indonesian sentence structure.
What does berbicara mean exactly, and why does it start with ber-?