Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Telur di panci kecil sudah matang, jadi matikanlah kompor sekarang. - The eggs in the small pot are already cooked, so turn off the stove now.

In Indonesian, adding -lah to an imperative verb creates a softer or more emphatic command.
• matikan alone is a direct “turn off.”
• matikanlah feels more polite or urgent, like “please go ahead and turn off.”
You can omit -lah in casual speech, but including it often makes the instruction sound more courteous or formal.

Why does the adjective kecil come after panci, instead of before like in English?

Indonesian places adjectives after nouns. So you say panci kecil (“pot small”) rather than “small pot.” This noun–adjective order is a fixed rule in Bahasa Indonesia, unlike English which has adjective–noun order.

There’s no article like the or a before telur. How do you know if it’s singular or plural?

Indonesian does not use articles. telur can mean “an egg,” “the egg,” or “eggs” depending on context.
• To specify number, you add a numeral or word like beberapa telur (“some eggs”) or dua telur (“two eggs”).
• Plural can also be marked with reduplication (telur-telur), but that’s optional and often implies “many eggs.”

Why is di used in di panci kecil? Can it be omitted?

di is the preposition “in/at/on” and marks location. di panci kecil means “in the small pot.”
If you drop di, the phrase loses its locative meaning and the sentence becomes ungrammatical. To express the same idea without di, you’d need a different structure, e.g. telurnya saya masak dalam panci kecil, where dalam also means “inside.”

What does sudah mean here? Could I use telah instead?

Both sudah and telah mean “already.”
• sudah is more common in everyday speech.
• telah is slightly more formal or literary.
You can say Telur di panci kecil telah matang with no change in meaning, but it sounds more formal than using sudah.

Why is matang used instead of masak, and what nuance does matang add?

• masak generally means “to cook” or “cooked.”
• matang means “ripe” or “fully cooked.”
For eggs, telur matang often implies they’re boiled long enough (hard-boiled). Saying telur sudah masak is understandable, but telur sudah matang emphasizes that the eggs are done through and through.

What does jadi mean in this sentence? Can I replace it with karena?

Here, jadi means “so” or “therefore,” indicating a result: the eggs are cooked, so turn off the stove.
Replacing it with karena (“because”) is grammatically possible (Karena telur sudah matang…) but it shifts the focus: you’d be stating the reason for turning off the stove rather than presenting a conclusion.

Is it okay to move sekarang elsewhere, like at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Sekarang matikanlah kompor (“Now turn off the stove”) is natural and emphasizes immediacy. You can also place sekarang right after telur or at the very end, but avoid awkward splits like matikanlah sekarang kompor. The most common spots are the sentence start or end.