Di pagi hari, kicau burung terdengar lembut di dekat jendela.

In the morning, birdsong can be heard softly near the window.

Breakdown of Di pagi hari, kicau burung terdengar lembut di dekat jendela.

• di: in
• pagi hari: the morning
• di: at
• dekat: near
• lembut: soft
• jendela: the window
• terdengar: to be heard
• kicau burung: the birdsong

Questions & Answers about Di pagi hari, kicau burung terdengar lembut di dekat jendela.

What does di pagi hari mean and why is di used here?

Di pagi hari means “in the morning.”

• di is a preposition that can mark time (or location) in Indonesian.
• pagi = “morning”
• hari = “day”
  Together, di pagi hari literally translates to “on morning day,” i.e. “in the morning.”

Can we say just pagi instead of di pagi hari?

Yes, in casual speech pagi alone often suffices:

• Pagi, kicau burung terdengar lembut… (“In the morning, bird chirping sounds soft…”)
  However, di pagi hari is more specific and formal when indicating that something happens during the morning period.

What is kicau burung? Does it mean “bird”?

• burung = “bird”
• kicau here is a noun meaning “chirping” or “tweet.”
  So kicau burung means “bird chirping” (the sound birds make), not “bird” itself.

Why is terdengar used instead of didengar? They both look passive.

• terdengar = stative verb “to sound” or “to be audible” (prefix ter-
  • root dengar)
• didengar = passive voice “was heard” (prefix di-
  • root dengar)
    In this sentence, we describe how the chirping sounds, so we use the stative terdengar, not the passive didengar.

Why does lembut come after terdengar and what does it mean?

lembut = “soft” or “gentle” (adjective). Indonesian adjectives typically follow the words they modify. Here, lembut describes the manner of sounding: “sounds soft.”

What does di dekat jendela translate to? Can we omit di?

Di dekat jendela means “near the window.”

• di = locative preposition “at/in”
• dekat = “near”
• jendela = “window”
  You can say dekat jendela in casual speech, but di dekat jendela is the fully specified locative phrase.

Why are there no articles like “the” or “a” before burung and jendela?

Indonesian doesn’t use definite or indefinite articles. Nouns stand alone:

• burung can mean “a bird,” “the bird,” or “birds” generically, depending on context.
• jendela similarly can mean “a window” or “the window.”

Is the comma after Di pagi hari necessary?

No, the comma is optional. It indicates a pause for style/emphasis. Without it, the sentence remains grammatically correct:
Di pagi hari kicau burung terdengar lembut di dekat jendela.

Could I reorder the sentence, for example putting di dekat jendela before kicau burung?

Yes. Indonesian word order is fairly flexible. For instance:
“Di pagi hari, di dekat jendela kicau burung terdengar lembut.”
This changes the emphasis (location before the subject) but the meaning stays clear.