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Breakdown of Cerita itu sangat penting bagi mereka.
adalah
to be
itu
that
sangat
very
penting
important
cerita
the story
mereka
them
Questions & Answers about Cerita itu sangat penting bagi mereka.
Why does the sentence use bagi? Can I use untuk instead?
Bagi and untuk can sometimes overlap in meaning, but bagi often stresses the idea of "for someone’s benefit or interest," while untuk can have a broader range of "for" meanings. In this particular sentence, bagi emphasizes the importance of the story from the perspective of whom it’s important to. Using untuk here isn’t wrong grammatically, but bagi reinforces that it’s truly significant for them.
What does sangat mean in this context?
Sangat means "very" or "extremely" and is used to intensify the adjective penting (important). In this sentence, it shows that the story is very important to them.
Does cerita itu translate to "that story" or "the story"?
Indonesian doesn’t have a direct equivalent of English articles, so itu can mean "that" or can function like the definite article "the," depending on context. Here, cerita itu is best understood as "that story," but it can also closely resemble "the story" in meaning.
Could we rearrange the sentence?
Yes, you could say: Cerita itu bagi mereka sangat penting, but it sounds a bit less natural. Indonesian typically follows a Subject–Verb–Object structure with adjectives or adverbs after the main subject or verb. The original sentence flows more naturally.
Why is mereka used instead of a different word?
Mereka simply means "they" or "them" in Indonesian. In this sentence, mereka is the third-person plural pronoun referring to the people for whom the story is important. If you know the specific people, you could replace mereka with their names or a different pronoun, but generally, mereka is the standard choice for "they" or "them."
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