Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Sayur di panci besar belum matang. - The vegetables in the big pot are not yet cooked.

sayur can mean “vegetable” or “vegetables” without a change in form. Indonesian nouns don’t mark plurality with an “s” or any suffix; you rely on context or words like beberapa (“some”) or reduplication (sayur-sayuran) if you want to be extra clear.

Why is there no word for “are” or “is” in this sentence?

Indonesian doesn’t use a copula in most present-tense statements. Adjectives and adverbs can function as predicates directly. So belum matang (“not yet cooked”) is the predicate without an explicit “are/is.”

What exactly does belum do in belum matang?

belum is an adverb meaning “not yet.” Paired with an adjective like matang (“ripe” or “cooked”), it means “not yet X’d,” i.e. “not yet cooked.”

Why is matang used here instead of a verb like memasak?

memasak is the verb “to cook.” matang is an adjective meaning “ripe” or “cooked.” In Indonesian you can say something is matang to mean it’s done cooking, so belum matang naturally means “not cooked yet.”

What role does di play in di panci besar?

Here di is a preposition meaning “in” or “on.” It introduces the place where the vegetables are: “in the big pot.”

Isn’t di also the passive-voice prefix on verbs? How do I tell them apart?

Yes, di- can be a passive prefix (e.g. dilihat, “is seen”). As a preposition it’s always separate from the noun that follows (di panci). With the passive verb prefix, there’s no space: dipanci would never occur.

Why is it panci besar and not besar panci?

In Indonesian adjectives typically follow the noun they modify. So you say panci besar (“pot big,” i.e. “big pot”).

Could I say panci yang besar instead of panci besar?

Yes. panci yang besar (“the pot that is big”) is more emphatic or formal. In everyday speech, though, dropping yang is common: panci besar.

Can I add dalam to make it di dalam panci besar?

Absolutely. di panci besar and di dalam panci besar both mean “in the big pot,” but di dalam explicitly stresses “inside.”

If I moved belum around, would it change the meaning? For example, belum sayur di panci besar matang?

That word order would be ungrammatical. In Indonesian the typical sequence is: Noun Phrase (sayur di panci besar) followed by the predicate (belum matang).

How would I say “The vegetables are already cooked” instead?

Replace belum with sudah (“already”): Sayur di panci besar sudah matang.