Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Tolong potonglah roti itu dengan pisau baru di meja. - Please cut that bread with the new knife on the table.

tolong functions like please in English to soften a command. It most commonly comes before the verb, but you can also put it at the end for a gentler tone. For example:

Tolong potong roti itu.
Potong roti itu, tolong.

What does the suffix -lah in potonglah do? Is it necessary?

The particle -lah adds emphasis or politeness to an imperative. It makes the request feel a bit more formal or “insistent,” but it is not strictly required. Both versions are correct:

Tolong potong roti itu…
Tolong potonglah roti itu…

Why is there no subject like you in this sentence?

Indonesian imperatives drop the subject pronoun because it’s understood from context that you are addressing you (the second person). Adding kamu would sound redundant or even awkward:

❌ Tolong kamu potong…
✅ Tolong potong…

Why is itu placed after roti? What does roti itu mean?

In Indonesian, demonstratives (ini, itu) follow the noun.

roti itu literally is bread that (i.e. that bread).
Use roti ini for this bread.
Context can turn roti itu into the bread in English, but it always has that “that” or distal sense.

Why do we use dengan before pisau? Could we say pakai pisau instead?

dengan is the standard preposition to indicate the instrument you use, equivalent to with. Colloquially, you can replace it with pakai (use):

Tolong potong roti itu dengan pisau baru.
Tolong potong roti itu pakai pisau baru.
A more formal synonym is menggunakan:
Tolong potong roti itu menggunakan pisau baru.

Why is baru placed after pisau? How do adjectives work?

Indonesian adjectives follow the noun they modify. So pisau baru is literally knife new. If you want to insert a relative marker, you can say pisau yang baru, but it’s optional for simple descriptions.

What’s the difference between pisau baru and pisau yang baru?

pisau baru is a direct noun + adjective phrase.
pisau yang baru uses the relative pronoun yang, adding a slight sense of “the knife which is new.” Use yang when you need a full relative clause (for example, pisau yang baru dibeli kemarin).

What does di meja modify in this sentence? Could it modify the cutting action?

Here di meja attaches to pisau baru, so it means the new knife on the table. Instrument phrases (the dengan… part) stay together. If you wanted on the table to modify the action of cutting, you’d move di meja outside that phrase, e.g.:

Di meja, tolong potong roti itu dengan pisau baru.
or
Tolong potong roti itu di meja dengan pisau baru.

Why do people sometimes say di atas meja instead of di meja?

In everyday speech di meja is understood as on the table. di atas meja is more explicit (“on top of the table”). Both are correct; dropping atas is just a common shortcut.

Can we rephrase the entire command in other natural ways?

Yes. Here are a few alternatives with the same basic meaning:

Tolong potong roti itu pakai pisau baru yang ada di meja.
Tolong, gunakan pisau baru di meja untuk memotong roti itu.
Potong roti itu dengan pisau baru di meja, ya.