Breakdown of Kedai itu ramai, tetapi meja kami berantakan setelah makan.
adalah
to be
itu
that
makan
to eat
tetapi
but
setelah
after
ramai
crowded
kami
our
meja
the table
kedai
the shop
berantakan
messy
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Questions & Answers about Kedai itu ramai, tetapi meja kami berantakan setelah makan.
Why is itu after kedai instead of before it like “that shop”?
In Indonesian, demonstratives typically come after the noun. So:
- kedai itu = that shop / the shop (already known in context)
- kedai ini = this shop
Putting itu after the noun often works like English “the” when the referent is known: kedai itu can mean “the shop” as well as “that shop.”
Do I need a verb like “is” (e.g., adalah) in Kedai itu ramai?
No. Indonesian does not require a copula before adjectives. You say:
- Kedai itu ramai. = The shop is busy/crowded. Using adalah before an adjective here is ungrammatical. Adalah is used before nouns (e.g., Dia adalah dokter.).
What exactly does ramai mean here? Busy, crowded, or noisy?
Ramai most commonly means busy/crowded/lively. Nuances:
- Busy/crowded with people: ramai
- Very crowded: sangat ramai / ramai sekali
- Noisy: berisik or bising (noise-focused)
- The opposite of ramai: sepi (quiet, not busy) If you want “full,” use penuh. For “packed,” you can say penuh sesak.
What’s the difference between tetapi, tapi, namun, and akan tetapi?
- tetapi: but (neutral/formal; conjunction within a sentence)
- tapi: but (informal; very common in speech)
- namun: however (sentence adverb; often starts a sentence/clause)
- akan tetapi: however/but (formal, often written) Examples:
- Kedai itu ramai, tetapi meja kami berantakan.
- Kedai itu ramai. Namun, meja kami berantakan.
- Kedai itu ramai, tapi meja kami berantakan. (casual)
Is the comma before tetapi necessary?
Recommended, especially in formal writing. PUEBI (the official Indonesian spelling guide) uses a comma before tetapi when linking two independent clauses: …, tetapi …. In casual writing you’ll sometimes see it omitted, but it’s good practice to keep it.
How does possession work in meja kami? Why not meja kita?
Possession is noun + possessor:
- meja kami = our table (exclusive: we, not including the listener)
- meja kita = our table (inclusive: we, including the listener) Use kami if you want to exclude the person you’re talking to; use kita if you include them.
What does berantakan mean exactly? Is it “dirty”?
Berantakan means messy, in disarray, things are scattered. It does not necessarily mean dirty.
- Messy: berantakan, acak-acakan, (informal) amburadul
- Dirty: kotor You can combine them: Meja kami kotor dan berantakan.
If I want to say the table became messy (change of state), how do I say that?
Add a change-of-state verb:
- Meja kami jadi berantakan setelah makan.
- Meja kami menjadi berantakan setelah makan. These emphasize that it turned messy after the eating happened.
Who is doing the eating in setelah makan? There’s no subject.
Indonesian often drops the subject when it’s clear from context. Here, setelah makan implies “after we ate.” To make it explicit, say:
- setelah kami makan (after we ate)
- setelah kami selesai makan (after we finished eating) Colloquial: habis makan or sehabis makan.
Are setelah, sesudah, (se)habis, and usai interchangeable?
All mean “after,” with style/register nuances:
- setelah / sesudah: neutral; sesudah can feel slightly more formal or old-fashioned in some regions, but both are standard.
- habis / sehabis: more casual/colloquial.
- usai: formal/literary. Your sentence is perfectly natural with setelah or sesudah: … berantakan setelah/sesudah makan.
Can I put the time phrase first: Setelah makan, meja kami berantakan?
Yes. Fronting time expressions is common and natural:
- Setelah makan, meja kami berantakan. Keep the comma after the fronted time phrase.
Do I need yang anywhere, like meja kami yang berantakan?
Not in the original sentence. Yang introduces a relative clause or highlights a specific referent:
- Meja kami yang berantakan = It’s our table that’s messy (contrastive/focus). Your original Meja kami berantakan simply states a predicate (our table is messy), which is normal and correct without yang.
Is meja kami singular or plural? Could it mean “our tables”?
By default it’s singular: meja (table). To make it clearly plural, you can reduplicate or use a quantifier:
- meja-meja kami = our tables
- beberapa meja kami = several of our tables Context sometimes allows a singular form to refer to plural, but here it reads as singular.
Would kedai, warung, restoran, and kafe all work? What’s the nuance?
They differ:
- kedai: small shop/eatery; often in compounds like kedai kopi (coffee shop).
- warung: small, often informal food stall or family-run place; very casual.
- restoran: restaurant; more formal.
- kafe: café. Choose the one that best matches the venue you have in mind.
Could I use “although” instead of “but,” e.g., Walaupun or Meskipun?
Yes, use a concessive clause:
- Walaupun kedai itu ramai, meja kami berantakan setelah makan.
- Meskipun kedai itu ramai, meja kami berantakan setelah makan. Both mean “Although the shop was crowded, our table was messy after eating.” You wouldn’t use tetapi in that exact structure unless you split into two clauses.