Tetangga laki-laki kami sangat sopan.

Our male neighbor is very polite.

Breakdown of Tetangga laki-laki kami sangat sopan.

• adalah: to be
• sangat: very
• kami: our
• tetangga: the neighbor
• sopan: polite
• laki-laki: male

Questions & Answers about Tetangga laki-laki kami sangat sopan.

Does this refer to one neighbor or multiple neighbors?

Indonesian doesn’t mark number by default, so tetangga can mean either one or more neighbors. To be explicit:

• One specific neighbor: Tetangga laki-laki kami itu sangat sopan. (“that/the male neighbor of ours…”)
• A male neighbor (indefinite): Seorang tetangga laki-laki kami sangat sopan.
• One of our male neighbors: Salah satu tetangga laki-laki kami sangat sopan.
• Our male neighbors (plural): Para tetangga laki-laki kami sangat sopan or Tetangga-tetangga laki-laki kami sangat sopan.

What does kami mean, and how is it different from kita?

Both mean “we/our,” but:

• kami = exclusive “we” (excludes the person you’re speaking to).
• kita = inclusive “we” (includes the person you’re speaking to). So if the listener is part of the “our,” you’d say tetangga laki-laki kita; otherwise tetangga laki-laki kami.

Why is there a hyphen in laki-laki?

It’s a reduplication (repetition) that forms the standard word for “male/man.” The hyphen shows the repetition. Alternatives:

• lelaki (single word, slightly more formal/literary)
• pria (formal, often in media/forms)
• Colloquial: cowok (informal/slang) In this sentence, tetangga laki-laki is the most common neutral choice.

Is laki-laki necessary? Can I just say “our neighbor”?

You can drop the gender if it doesn’t matter: Tetangga kami sangat sopan. Add laki-laki only when you need to specify the neighbor is male.

How does the word order work in Tetangga laki-laki kami?

The head noun comes first, then its modifier(s), then the possessor:

• Head noun: tetangga
• Modifier: laki-laki
• Possessor: kami So: tetangga
  • laki-laki
    • kami.
      If you say Tetangga kami laki-laki, that’s a full clause meaning “Our neighbor is male,” not a single noun phrase.

How do I clearly say “our male neighbor is very polite” vs “our male neighbors are very polite”?

• Specific single neighbor: Tetangga laki-laki kami itu sangat sopan.
• Plural neighbors: Para tetangga laki-laki kami sangat sopan or Tetangga-tetangga laki-laki kami sangat sopan.

Where does sangat go? Can I use sekali or banget instead?

• sangat goes before the adjective: sangat sopan (neutral/formal).
• sekali goes after: sopan sekali (neutral).
• banget goes after and is colloquial: sopan banget. All mean “very polite,” but register differs.

How do I negate “very polite”?

• Plain negation: tidak sopan = “impolite.”
• Softer: kurang sopan = “not very/polite enough.” You can intensify: sangat tidak sopan = “very impolite.”

Can adjectives come before nouns in Indonesian?

Normally, descriptive adjectives follow the noun: rumah besar (“big house”).
With people nouns, both direct adjectives and a yang-phrase are common:

• tetangga sopan (a polite neighbor)
• tetangga yang sangat sopan (a neighbor who is very polite; often sounds more natural when adding intensifiers or longer descriptions).

Could I say tetangga pria kami instead of tetangga laki-laki kami?

It’s understandable, but pria is more formal and often used in set phrases (e.g., pakaian pria). For “male neighbor,” tetangga laki-laki or tetangga lelaki is more idiomatic. Colloquial: tetangga cowok.

How do I add more detail about which neighbor I mean?

Use yang to introduce a relative clause:

• Tetangga laki-laki kami yang tinggal di sebelah sangat sopan. (“Our male neighbor who lives next door is very polite.”)

Is there an article for “the” in Indonesian?

No articles. Definiteness is often clear from context, or you can add itu (“that/the”) after the noun phrase:

• Tetangga laki-laki kami itu sangat sopan. (makes it clearly “that/the” specific neighbor).