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 instead of just , and would that change the meaning?