Paman saya bekerja di kantor cabang dekat stasiun.

My uncle works at a branch office near the station.

Breakdown of Paman saya bekerja di kantor cabang dekat stasiun.

• di: at
• bekerja: to work
• dekat: near
• stasiun: the station
• saya: my
• kantor cabang: the branch office
• paman: the uncle

Questions & Answers about Paman saya bekerja di kantor cabang dekat stasiun.

Why is it Paman saya, not saya paman?

• Indonesian usually puts the possessor after the noun: paman saya (my uncle), rumah mereka (their house).
• You can also use possessive suffixes: pamanku, pamanmu, pamannya.

Can I say Pamanku instead of Paman saya?

• Yes. Pamanku and Paman saya both mean “my uncle.” Paman saya is very common; Pamanku can feel a bit more compact or literary.
• Write the suffix without a hyphen: pamanku, pamanmu, pamannya.

What does the ber- in bekerja do?

• ber- turns the base kerja (work) into an intransitive verb: bekerja (to work).
• Formal/neutral: bekerja. Colloquial: kerja can function as a verb too (e.g., Aku kerja di bank).

Is Paman saya kerja... acceptable?

• Yes, in casual speech. kerja acts as a verb informally.
• To mark “right now,” use sedang (neutral) or lagi (informal): Paman saya sedang bekerja / Paman saya lagi kerja.

Why use di here, not ke?

• di = at/in (location). ke = to (movement).
• He’s located at the office, not moving toward it: bekerja di kantor cabang is correct. Compare pergi ke kantor (go to the office).

What’s the difference between dekat stasiun and di dekat stasiun?

• In the sentence, dekat stasiun modifies kantor cabang: “the branch office near the station.”
• di dekat stasiun is a standalone location phrase: bekerja di dekat stasiun = “works near the station” (no office mentioned).
• You can also say kantor cabang di dekat stasiun; meaning is the same.

Do I need dengan after dekat? Is dekat ke okay?

• Both dekat stasiun and dekat dengan stasiun are acceptable; adding dengan is common, especially formally.
• Avoid dekat ke stasiun; it’s not standard.

Why is there no word for “a/the” before kantor?

• Indonesian has no articles; definiteness comes from context.
• To be explicit, you can say:
  • sebuah kantor cabang = a branch office
  • kantor cabang itu = the branch office (specific/previously known)

What exactly does kantor cabang mean, and why not cabang kantor?

• kantor cabang = “branch office” (head noun first, modifier second: office [that is a] branch).
• cabang kantor would read as “a branch of an office,” which isn’t how Indonesians refer to a branch office.

Could I just say di cabang instead of di kantor cabang?

• Yes, in context. Many people shorten it to di cabang (e.g., bank branches).
• di kantor cabang is clearer and safe in all contexts.

How do I say “work at” versus “work for” in Indonesian?

• Work at a place: bekerja di [tempat] (e.g., bekerja di kantor cabang).
• Work for an employer/person: bekerja untuk [perusahaan/orang] (e.g., bekerja untuk Bank ABC).
• Very formal alternative: bekerja pada [instansi/perusahaan].

Do I need yang: kantor cabang yang dekat stasiun?

• Not required. dekat stasiun can directly follow the noun as a modifier.
• kantor cabang yang dekat stasiun is also correct and can sound a bit more explicit/formal.

Does stasiun automatically mean a train station?

• Usually yes; stasiun commonly implies the train station.
• To be explicit: stasiun kereta / stasiun kereta api. Other types are named differently (e.g., terminal bus).

Why don’t we use adalah in this sentence?

• adalah is for equational sentences (X = Y): Ayah saya adalah dokter.
• Here we have a verb (bekerja), so adalah isn’t used.

How do I show it’s habitual versus happening right now?

• Habitual/general: Paman saya bekerja... (context shows it’s regular).
• Right now: add sedang (neutral) or lagi (informal): Paman saya sedang bekerja....

Can I move the location phrase to the front?

• Yes, for emphasis: Di kantor cabang dekat stasiun, paman saya bekerja.
• This topicalization is common and grammatical.

When is di written separately vs attached (like di-)?

• Preposition “at/in” is separate: di kantor, di rumah.
• Passive prefix is attached: dibaca, ditulis. di tulis (with a space) is wrong for the passive.

How would I express plurals like “branch offices” or “one of the branch offices”?

• Use quantifiers: beberapa kantor cabang (several), banyak kantor cabang (many), salah satu kantor cabang (one of the branch offices).
• Reduplication is possible but less common here: kantor-kantor cabang.

Should paman be capitalized?

• Lowercase in paman saya (a common noun).
• Uppercase when used as a form of address or replacing a name: Paman, sini dulu; Kemarin Paman datang.

How do you pronounce stasiun?

• Three syllables: sta-si-un. Roughly “stah-see-oon.” The s is always an “s” sound; u is like “oo” in “food.”