Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Rumah tetangga kami tidak sebesar rumah paman; pagar mereka setinggi meja. - Our neighbor’s house is not as big as Uncle’s house; their fence is as high as a table.

In Indonesian, the possessed noun comes first and the possessor follows. So rumah tetangga kami literally reads “house neighbor our,” meaning “our neighbor’s house.” By contrast, rumah kami is simply “our house.”

Is tidak sebesar basically the same as “smaller than”? Why not lebih kecil daripada?

Yes. Tidak sebesar X literally means “not as big as X,” which in practice equals “smaller than X.” You could also say lebih kecil daripada/dari X. Both are natural; tidak sebesar frames the comparison from the larger side, while lebih kecil frames it from the smaller side.

Why is it tidak sebesar, not bukan sebesar?

Use tidak to negate verbs and adjectives, and bukan to negate nouns and pronouns. Since sebesar is an adjective phrase, tidak sebesar is correct. Example contrast: Itu bukan rumah paman (That is not Uncle’s house) vs. Itu tidak besar (That is not big).

What does the prefix se- do in sebesar and setinggi?

Here se- means “as … as” and attaches to an adjective: sebesar (as big as), setinggi (as tall/high as), sepanjang (as long as). Note this is a different se- from the one meaning “one” in words like sebuah, seorang.

Are there alternatives to setinggi?

Yes:

sama tinggi dengan meja
tingginya sama dengan (tinggi) meja
Less common but possible in speech: setinggi meja can be paraphrased as sama tingginya dengan meja.
All mean “(is) as tall/high as a table.”

Does tetangga kami mean one neighbor or several?

Tetangga is number-neutral; context decides. The pronoun mereka later suggests “neighbors” (plural, e.g., a neighbor family). For explicit plural you can say para tetangga kami; for explicit singular, seorang tetangga kami or add itu: tetangga kami itu.

Why is it kami, not kita?

Kami = we/us (excluding the listener). Kita = we/us (including the listener). Talking about “our neighbors” normally excludes the person you’re talking to, so tetangga kami is appropriate.

Whose uncle is rumah paman referring to? Should it be rumah paman saya/kami?

Without a pronoun, paman can refer to a contextually understood uncle (often the speaker’s). To be crystal clear, say rumah paman saya or rumah paman kami. Colloquially, some speakers also use om for “uncle.”

Is using mereka for a single neighbor okay?

Use mereka for plural referents (e.g., a neighbor family). For one person, use dia/ia (neutral) or beliau (respectful). So if it’s a single neighbor: pagar dia; if it’s the neighbor family: pagar mereka.

Could I say Pagarnya setinggi meja instead of pagar mereka setinggi meja?

Yes, pagarnya = “its/their fence,” with -nya referring to something known from context. However, because two houses are mentioned, pagarnya could be ambiguous (whose fence?). Pagar mereka is unambiguous, or you can say Pagar rumah tetangga kami setinggi meja.

Do I ever add daripada after se-, like sebesar … daripada?

No. Se- + adjective takes its comparator directly: sebesar rumah paman, setinggi meja. Use daripada/dari/ketimbang with lebih: lebih kecil daripada/dari rumah paman (also ketimbang in informal speech).

How exact is setinggi? Does it mean exactly the same height?

Literally yes, but in everyday speech it often implies approximate equality. To make the approximation explicit, add kira-kira: kira-kira setinggi meja or tingginya kira-kira sama dengan meja.

Why use a semicolon here?

Indonesian uses the semicolon like English: to join two closely related independent clauses. A period would also be fine, or you could use a comma plus a linker: …, dan pagar mereka … or …, sedangkan pagar mereka ….

Where does tidak go relative to sebesar?

Place tidak immediately before the predicate you’re negating: tidak sebesar. Don’t separate them. So: Rumah tetangga kami tidak sebesar rumah paman is correct.

Do I need classifiers like sebuah for meja here?

No. In comparisons, Indonesian typically uses the bare noun: setinggi meja. You’d use a classifier if you needed to count or specify a unit, e.g., sebuah meja (“a table”), but it’s unnecessary in this construction.