Kamera kecil saya rusak karena hujan deras di dalam hutan.

My small camera was damaged because of heavy rain in the forest.

Breakdown of Kamera kecil saya rusak karena hujan deras di dalam hutan.

• adalah: to be
• karena: because
• kecil: small
• rusak: damaged
• saya: my
• hujan: the rain
• deras: heavy
• hutan: the forest
• kamera: the camera
• di dalam: in

Questions & Answers about Kamera kecil saya rusak karena hujan deras di dalam hutan.

Why is kamera kecil saya in this order instead of something like saya kamera kecil?

In Indonesian, adjectives follow the noun they modify, and possessive pronouns usually come after both. So you get

• kamera (noun: camera)
• kecil (adjective: small)
• saya (possessive pronoun: my)
  stacked as kamera kecil saya. Swapping them—saya kamera kecil—would be ungrammatical. You can also expand with yang (“which/that”), e.g. kamera saya yang kecil, but the basic pattern is Noun + Adjective + Possessor.

What part of speech is rusak here, and how is it different from merusak or dirusak?

rusak in this sentence functions as a stative verb or adjective meaning “broken” or “damaged.”

• kamera kecil saya rusak = “my small camera is broken.”
  merusak is the active transitive verb “to damage/break (something).”
• Saya merusak kamera = “I damaged the camera.”
  dirusak is the passive form “was damaged/broken by (someone/something).”
• Kamera dirusak hujan deras = “The camera was damaged by heavy rain.”
  But for natural causes, Indonesians often skip di- and simply say rusak karena….

What is the role of karena? Do I need a comma before it or can I start a sentence with karena?

karena means “because” and introduces the cause clause. You don’t need a comma in everyday writing or speech:

• Main clause: Kamera kecil saya rusak
• Cause clause: karena hujan deras di dalam hutan

You can also start a sentence with karena (especially in speech):
Karena hujan deras di dalam hutan, kamera kecil saya rusak.
In formal writing some style guides discourage beginning with karena, but it’s widely accepted in practice.

Why do we say hujan deras and not deras hujan?

Adjectives come after the noun in Indonesian.

• hujan (rain)
• deras (heavy/strong-flowing)
  gives hujan deras (“heavy rain”).
  Swapping them to deras hujan would sound wrong. If you want to intensify further, you can say hujan sangat deras or use a synonym like hujan lebat.

What’s the difference between di dalam hutan and di hutan? Can I drop dalam?

Both mean “in the forest,” but with a slight nuance:

• di hutan = in the forest (general location)
• di dalam hutan = inside the forest (emphasizing being deep within)
  You can drop dalam for everyday use: karena hujan deras di hutan is perfectly fine.

Why aren’t there any articles like “the” or “a” before kamera?

Indonesian has no articles. You simply say kamera whether you mean “a camera” or “the camera.” Context clarifies the meaning. If you need to highlight “this” or “that,” you can add ini or itu:

• kamera kecil saya ini = “this small camera of mine”
• kamera kecil saya itu = “that small camera of mine”

Could I rephrase the sentence using yang, for example kamera saya yang kecil rusak karena…?

Yes. yang functions like “which/that” in relative clauses.

• kamera saya yang kecil rusak karena… = “my camera, which is small, broke because…”
  This structure emphasizes “the small one” if you have multiple cameras. If you only have one camera, kamera kecil saya rusak is shorter and more common.