Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Anak laki-laki itu memberi warna ungu pada bunga dengan pensil warna. - That boy gives purple color to the flower with colored pencils.

Itu is a demonstrative meaning that/that one, and when placed after a noun phrase (like anak laki-laki) it marks it as specific/known to the speaker and listener. So anak laki-laki itu means the/that boy (a particular boy already identifiable in context). If you want this boy right here, use ini: anak laki-laki ini. For an indefinite boy, you could say seorang anak laki-laki (a boy), without itu/ini.

Why is it anak laki-laki with a hyphen? Are there other ways to say “boy”?

Laki-laki is a reduplicated form and is conventionally written with a hyphen. Anak laki-laki is the standard way to say boy. Alternatives:

Formal/neutral: anak laki-laki, anak lelaki (less common in Indonesia), anak pria is odd.
Informal: anak cowok, bocah laki-laki, bocah cowok. For adult males, use pria or laki-laki; for female child: anak perempuan.

Why use memberi warna ungu? Wouldn’t mewarnai be more natural?

Both are correct:

memberi warna ungu (pada …) literally give the color purple (to …). It’s grammatical and fairly formal/literary.
mewarnai (… dengan warna ungu) is the everyday verb to color. Most people would say: Anak itu mewarnai bunga dengan (pensil warna) ungu. With paint you might use mengecat; with markers/crayons/pencils, mewarnai is best.

Why is it pada bunga and not kepada, di, or ke?

With memberi, recipients that are people/animates typically take kepada. Inanimate recipients or abstract targets often take pada. Set phrases like memberi warna pada … are standard.
di marks a location (at/on), not a recipient.
ke is to/toward; after memberi, ke is colloquial (common in speech), while kepada/pada is standard: ngasih warna ungu ke bunga (colloquial).

Can I drop warna and just say memberi ungu?

No. With memberi, you need the noun warna: memberi warna ungu (pada …). If you switch to the verb mewarnai, you can say mewarnai … dengan warna ungu. Be careful: mewarnai bunga ungu usually reads as color the purple flowers (ungu modifies bunga), not color the flower purple.

What exactly does dengan pensil warna mean?

It’s the instrument phrase: with/by means of a colored pencil (or colored pencils). dengan marks the tool. Informal alternatives are pakai or menggunakan: mewarnai bunga pakai pensil warna / … menggunakan pensil warna.

Should it be pensil warna ungu to show he used a purple pencil?

If you want to specify the actual pencil color, yes: dengan pensil warna ungu. The original dengan pensil warna only tells us the tool type (a colored pencil) but not which color. Since the sentence already states warna ungu, many speakers would either:

Keep the tool general: … dengan pensil warna.
Or align them: … dengan pensil warna ungu.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move dengan pensil warna before pada bunga?

Adjunct order is flexible, but the most natural flow is recipient/target before instrument: … memberi warna ungu pada bunga dengan pensil warna. You can swap them (… pada bunga … dengan pensil warna vs … dengan pensil warna … pada bunga) without changing meaning, but don’t put the instrument between the verb and its direct object in clunky ways. Fronting the instrument with a comma is also fine for emphasis: Dengan pensil warna, anak laki-laki itu …

Does bunga need itu to mean “the flower”?

Only if you want that specific flower. Without a demonstrative, bunga can be generic or indefinite. Compare:

… pada bunga. (on a/flowers in general)
… pada bunga itu. (on that/the specific flower) Indonesian does not have articles; definiteness is handled with ini/itu (or context) when needed.

Is there a passive version of this sentence?

Yes:

Bunga itu diberi warna ungu (oleh anak laki-laki itu) dengan pensil warna.
More natural with the verb mewarnai: Bunga itu diwarnai (dengan pensil warna ungu) oleh anak laki-laki itu. In passive, oleh (by) is often omitted if the agent is obvious or unimportant.

Does bunga ever mean something else?

Yes. Bunga can mean flower or interest (as in bank interest). Context disambiguates. A colloquial word for flower is kembang: Anak itu mewarnai kembang dengan pensil warna.

Why is the demonstrative after the noun phrase (anak laki-laki itu) and not before?

Indonesian demonstratives follow the noun: buku itu (that/the book), rumah ini (this/the house). Initial itu is possible but usually serves as a topic or as the subject pronoun that, e.g., Itu anak laki-laki. = That’s a boy. For attributive use (that boy), keep itu after the noun phrase: anak laki-laki itu.

What’s the pattern of memberi vs memberikan here?

Both work:

memberi warna ungu pada bunga
memberikan warna ungu pada bunga With -kan, speakers often feel a slightly more formal tone. In practice, meanings overlap; both take the thing given (warna ungu) as the direct object and the recipient (bunga) with pada/kepada.

Could I say memberi bunga warna ungu?

Avoid that. memberi bunga is naturally read as give a flower (as a gift). To say give color to the flower, use the fixed pattern memberi warna … pada bunga or switch to mewarnai bunga (dengan …).

How do I mark singular vs plural for pensil warna?

Indonesian doesn’t mark plural by default. dengan pensil warna could be with a colored pencil or with colored pencils. To force singular, add a classifier:

dengan sebatang pensil warna (ungu) (one stick-like item; best for pencils)
dengan sebuah pensil warna (ungu) (general classifier; also acceptable) For plural, you can add beberapa (several), banyak (many), or reduplication pensil-pensil warna (rare in this context).

Is mewarnai bunga ungu acceptable?

It’s grammatical but ambiguous; most readers parse it as color the purple flower(s). To express the result color, prefer:

mewarnai bunga dengan warna ungu
or conversational: mewarnai bunga jadi ungu (colloquial result marker jadi).

Any register tips to sound natural?

Formal/literary: Anak laki-laki itu memberi warna ungu pada bunga dengan pensil warna.
Neutral everyday: Anak itu mewarnai bunga dengan pensil warna ungu.
Colloquial: Anak itu mewarnai bunga pakai pensil warna ungu. Very casual Jakarta-style: Anaknya ngewarnain bunga pake pensil warna ungu. (note slang morphology)

Is there any difference between warna ungu and just ungu?

Ungu can be a color word (adjective or noun). When you need a noun phrase meaning the color purple, say warna ungu. As an adjective after a noun: bunga ungu (a purple flower). After verbs like mewarnai, use dengan warna ungu to avoid ambiguity.