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Questions & Answers about Sekolah saya jauh dari rumah.
Why is saya placed after sekolah instead of before?
In Indonesian, possessive pronouns generally follow the noun they modify. So sekolah saya literally reads “school my,” which we understand as “my school.” Placing saya before (saya sekolah) would mean “I school,” which isn’t grammatical.
What part of speech is jauh, and how does it function here?
jauh is an adjective meaning far. In this sentence it acts as the predicate describing the subject (sekolah saya). In English we say “My school is far,” and in Indonesian the copula “is” is implied—so “sekolah saya jauh” already means “my school is far.”
What is the role of dari, and why do we use it?
dari is a preposition meaning from. It introduces the point of reference for the distance. So jauh dari rumah means “far from home (house).” Without dari, you wouldn’t know from where the school is far.
Why are there no articles like “a” or “the” before sekolah or rumah?
Indonesian doesn’t use definite or indefinite articles the way English does. When you say sekolah saya, it can mean “my school” or “a school of mine” depending on context, but you don’t add words equivalent to “the” or “a.”
Could I say rumah saya instead of just rumah, and would that change the meaning?
Yes, you can say rumah saya (“my house/home”) if you want to be explicit. In daily speech, rumah often implies home—your own house—so it’s common to drop saya. Adding saya shifts focus slightly to “my house” rather than just “home” in general.
How would I make this sentence negative (“My school is not far from home”)?
Insert tidak before jauh:
Sekolah saya tidak jauh dari rumah.
Here tidak negates the adjective jauh, giving “My school is not far from home.”
How can I turn it into a question to ask “Is my school far from home?”
You can add apakah at the start or simply use rising intonation:
1) Apakah sekolah saya jauh dari rumah?
2) Sekolah saya jauh dari rumah?
Both mean “Is my school far from home?” The first is more formal.
Can I use a different form of the possessive pronoun, for example sekolahku jauh dari rumah?
Yes. -ku is the attached (informal) form of saya. So sekolahku jauh dari rumah means the same thing but sounds more casual. In writing or formal speech, you’d more often see sekolah saya.