Breakdown of Sisa kue manis tadi malam disimpan di dapur.
di
in
dapur
the kitchen
tadi malam
last night
manis
sweet
kue
the cake
disimpan
to be stored
sisa
the remainder
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Questions & Answers about Sisa kue manis tadi malam disimpan di dapur.
What does sisa mean in this sentence, and how does it function grammatically?
- Sisa literally means “leftover” or “remnant.”
- Here it modifies kue, forming the noun phrase sisa kue = “leftover cake.”
- You can think of sisa as an attributive noun (like “leftover” in English). It always precedes the noun it describes.
Why is there no word for “the” before sisa kue manis?
- Indonesian has no articles (no “a,” “an,” or “the”).
- Definiteness (“the leftover cake”) is inferred from context or added with words like itu (“that”) if needed.
- In your sentence, it’s clear from context which leftovers you’re talking about, so no article is required.
What does tadi malam mean, and why does it come after kue manis?
- Tadi malam = “last night.”
- Time expressions like this commonly follow the noun they modify: kue manis tadi malam = “the sweet cake (from) last night.”
- You could also front the time phrase for emphasis: Tadi malam, sisa kue manis disimpan di dapur.
Why is disimpan used here instead of menyimpan?
- Menyimpan = active form “to store.”
- Di- prefix creates the passive disimpan = “was/were stored.”
- The passive voice is used because the actor (who stored it) is either unknown or unimportant.
Who performed the action of storing? Why isn’t that person mentioned?
- In Indonesian passive sentences, the agent can be omitted if it’s obvious or irrelevant.
- If you needed to specify, you’d add oleh + agent:
“Sisa kue manis tadi malam disimpan oleh ibu di dapur.”
(“The leftover sweet cake from last night was stored by Mom in the kitchen.”)
What does di dapur mean, and why isn’t it ke dapur?
- Di + place marks a location where something is. So di dapur = “in/at the kitchen.”
- Ke + place indicates movement toward. Ke dapur would mean “to the kitchen.”
How would you indicate that there were multiple leftover cakes?
- Plurality in Indonesian is often context-driven. You could repeat the noun (kue kue) or use -ku.-ku or add words like beberapa (“several”).
- Example: Beberapa sisa kue manis tadi malam disimpan di dapur.
= “Several leftover sweet cakes from last night were stored in the kitchen.”
Can we change the order of phrases for emphasis?
Yes. Indonesian is flexible with topic-focus structures. For example:
- Fronting location: Di dapur, sisa kue manis tadi malam disimpan.
- Fronting time: Tadi malam, sisa kue manis disimpan di dapur.
- All remain grammatical; the choice depends on what you want to highlight.