Question 1

What is the basic word order of this sentence, and is it the same as in English?

Accepted Answer

Indonesian typically follows Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order, just like English. Here you have:
  • Saya (subject)  
  • melihat (verb)  
  • anak-anak (object)  
After that come location phrases (di sungai dekat rumah).

Question 2

Why is anak-anak written with hyphens, and how do you form plurals in Indonesian?

Accepted Answer

The hyphens show reduplication, a common way to make a noun plural.  
  – anak = child  
  – anak-anak = children  
Other examples: buku-buku (books), orang-orang (people).

Question 3

Why does the sentence use two different verb prefixes—me- in melihat and ber- in bermain?

Accepted Answer

Different prefixes mark different verb types:  
  • me- + lihat → melihat (active transitive: “to see something”).  
  • ber- + main → bermain (intransitive: “to play”).  
Choice of prefix depends on whether the root is transitive or intransitive.

Question 4

What is di doing in di sungai, and how is that different from the di- in passive verbs like dilihat?

Accepted Answer

Here, di is a preposition meaning “in/at/on” (location):  
  • di sungai = in the river.  
When di- attaches directly to a verb (e.g. dilihat), it’s a passive voice prefix (“is/was seen”). Context and word placement tell you which is which.

Question 5

Why does dekat rumah describe the sungai and not the action bermain?

Accepted Answer

In Indonesian, modifiers follow the word they modify.  
  • sungai dekat rumah = “the river near the house.”  
Because dekat rumah immediately follows sungai, it modifies the river. The full phrase di sungai dekat rumah means “in the river that’s near the house.”

Question 6

I often see yang in relative clauses. Why is there no yang before bermain or dekat rumah here?

Accepted Answer

You can use yang to introduce relative clauses, but it’s frequently dropped in everyday speech for brevity. Both are correct:  
  • Saya melihat anak-anak yang bermain di sungai dekat rumah.  
  • Saya melihat anak-anak bermain di sungai yang dekat rumah.

Question 7

Do you need dengan after dekat to say “near the house”?

Accepted Answer

No, dekat rumah alone is perfectly fine. If you want to be more formal or explicit, you can say dekat dengan rumah, but both mean “near the house.”

Question 8

Can you omit the pronoun Saya? When is it necessary to include or drop subjects in Indonesian?

Accepted Answer

Indonesian is pro-drop, so you can omit Saya if context makes the subject clear. In a stand-alone sentence or formal writing you’d keep it; in casual conversation you often leave it out.

Question 9

How do you express that this happened in the past? There is no past-tense verb ending here.

Accepted Answer

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. To mark past you add:  
  • Time words: kemarin (yesterday), tadi (just now)  
  • Aspect words: sudah or telah (already)  
Example: Saya sudah melihat anak-anak bermain di sungai dekat rumah.

Question 10

What would be an informal or colloquial way to say this sentence?

Accepted Answer

In casual speech you might say:  
  (Saya) liat anak-anak main di sungai dekat rumah.  
Here melihat → liat, bermain → main, and Saya is often dropped.

Saya melihat anak-anak bermain di sungai dekat rumah.

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