Ada dua puluh delapan tamu di pesta.

There are twenty-eight guests at the party.

Breakdown of Ada dua puluh delapan tamu di pesta.

• di: at
• pesta: the party
• tamu: the guest
• ada: there is
• dua puluh delapan: twenty-eight

Questions & Answers about Ada dua puluh delapan tamu di pesta.

What does the word ada do in this sentence?

ada is the existential verb meaning “there is/are.” It states the existence or presence of something. So Ada dua puluh delapan tamu… = “There are twenty‑eight guests…”

• It’s the normal way to make “there is/are” statements.
• Without ada (e.g., Dua puluh delapan tamu di pesta) sounds like a headline or note; for a full sentence, include ada.

Can I change the word order?

Yes. Indonesian allows some flexibility:

• Ada dua puluh delapan tamu di pesta. (neutral)
• Di pesta ada dua puluh delapan tamu. (emphasizes the location)
• More formal: Terdapat dua puluh delapan tamu di pesta.

Do I need to use the classifier orang when counting people?

• Both are acceptable: dua puluh delapan tamu and dua puluh delapan orang tamu (“28 guests”).
• orang is a common human classifier and is very natural: dua orang tamu, lima orang tamu, etc.
• For “one guest,” seorang tamu is preferred over satu tamu.
• If context already makes “guest” clear, you can say just dua puluh delapan orang (“28 people”).
• Don’t say dua puluh delapan tamu orang (wrong order).

Why isn’t the noun pluralized (e.g., tamu-tamu) after a number?

Numbers already imply plurality, so the noun stays in its base form: dua puluh delapan tamu, not tamu-tamu. Reduplication (tamu-tamu) or para tamu is used for general/collective “guests,” not with explicit numerals (so not dua puluh delapan para tamu).

Is di pesta the best way to say “at the party”? What about pada?

Use di for locations: di pesta = “at the party.”
pada is more formal/abstract (often for time or recipients) and is less idiomatic for physical locations here, though pada pesta itu can appear in formal writing. For everyday speech: di pesta (itu).

How do I say “at a party” vs. “at the party” vs. “at that party”?

• “at a party”: di sebuah pesta / di suatu pesta
• “at the party” (context-known): di pesta
• “at that party”: di pesta itu Indonesian has no dedicated articles “a/the”; demonstratives like ini/itu or classifiers like sebuah add specificity.

How do I spell the number 28 in words? Do I need hyphens?

Write it as three separate words: dua puluh delapan (literally “two tens eight”). No hyphens are used. Using digits (28) is also common, especially in informal or data-heavy text.

Is it delapan or delapan?

Both delapan and delapan are recognized in Indonesian; delapan is the more widely taught standard form today. You may also hear lapan regionally/colloquially, but stick to delapan in standard Indonesian.

How do I say “the 28th guest”?

Use the ordinal marker ke-:

• With digits: tamu ke-28
• Spelled out: tamu kedua puluh delapan

Can I drop di and say something like tamu pesta?

To express location, you need di: di pesta = “at the party.”
A compound like tamu pesta would mean “party guests” (as a noun phrase), not “guests at the party” as a location statement. So keep di for “at.”

Does ada ever mean “to have”?

In Indonesian, possession is usually punya or memiliki: Saya punya tiga buku.
ada primarily means “there is/are” or “to be present/located” (e.g., Saya ada di rumah = “I am at home”). In some colloquial varieties you may hear Saya ada tiga saudara, but standard Indonesian prefers Saya punya tiga saudara.

How do I negate the sentence?

Use tidak ada:

• Tidak ada tamu di pesta. = “There are no guests at the party.”
• To negate the exact number: Di pesta itu tidak ada dua puluh delapan tamu, or better, state the actual number: Di pesta itu ada dua puluh tujuh tamu, bukan dua puluh delapan.