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Breakdown of Hujan turun deras di sore hari.
di
in
sore hari
the afternoon
hujan
the rain
turun
to fall
deras
heavily
Questions & Answers about Hujan turun deras di sore hari.
What function does hujan have in the sentence, and why is there no explicit pronoun like “it” in Indonesian weather expressions?
hujan is a noun (a mass noun) meaning “rain.” In English we say “it rains” with a dummy subject it, but Indonesian drops that placeholder. The noun itself acts as the subject of the verb (here turun), so you simply say hujan turun for “rain falls” or “it is raining.”
What does turun mean in this context, and why can’t we just use hujan as a verb?
Literally, turun means “to descend” or “to go down.” Paired with hujan, it forms the idiomatic expression hujan turun (“rain falls”) which corresponds to the verb “to rain.” There is no standalone verb hujan; you always use turun (or other verbs like mengguyur “to pour”) to describe rainfall.
What role does deras play, and why is it placed after turun rather than before?
deras is an adverb meaning “heavily” or “intensely.” In Indonesian, adverbs modifying verbs normally follow the verb, so you get turun deras (“falls heavily”). If you put deras first, it might still be understood but it sounds less natural.
Why is the preposition di used before sore hari? Is it the same di that marks a location?
Yes. Indonesian di covers both location and time. Here, di sore hari literally means “at (the) late afternoon.” You use di to specify when something happens, just as you use it for places (e.g. di rumah “at home”).
Can we use pada sore hari instead of di sore hari, and is there a difference?
You can say pada sore hari, especially in formal or written contexts. pada is a more explicit time marker. In everyday speech, di sore hari is more common and sounds natural.
What’s the nuance between sore, petang, and malam when talking about time?
sore generally refers to the late afternoon (around 3 PM–6 PM). petang overlaps with sore but often leans toward the time when daylight fades (around 5 PM–7 PM). malam means “night,” starting after dusk (around 7 PM onward). Context and region can slightly shift these ranges.
Is it okay to reorder the sentence as Di sore hari hujan turun deras? Does that change the meaning?
Yes, Indonesian word order is flexible. Moving di sore hari to the front emphasizes the time (“In the late afternoon, rain fell heavily”). The core meaning stays the same; you’re just shifting the focus or setting the scene first.
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