Di lampu lalu lintas, sopir belok kiri.

At the traffic light, the driver turns left.

Breakdown of Di lampu lalu lintas, sopir belok kiri.

• di: at
• sopir: the driver
• lampu lalu lintas: the traffic light
• belok: to turn
• kiri: left

Questions & Answers about Di lampu lalu lintas, sopir belok kiri.

How do I know whether this sentence is past or present? How can I say it explicitly happened in the past?

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense, so belok can be past, present, or future depending on context. To make the time clear, add time words or aspect markers:

• Past/complete: sudah belok kiri, telah belok kiri, or add a past-time adverb like tadi, kemarin, barusan.
  • Example: Di lampu lalu lintas, sopir sudah belok kiri tadi.
• Progressive: sedang belok kiri.
  • Example: Di lampu lalu lintas, sopir sedang belok kiri.
• Future/intention: akan/mau belok kiri.
  • Example: Di lampu lalu lintas, sopir akan/mau belok kiri.

Should it be belok kiri or belok ke kiri? Are both correct?

Both are correct and very common.

• belok kiri is a set phrase (you’ll see it on road signs).
• belok ke kiri explicitly marks direction with ke “to/toward,” but doesn’t change the meaning. Use whichever feels natural; neither sounds wrong.

Are there other natural ways to say “turn left”?

Yes:

• belok kiri / belok ke kiri — neutral, standard.
• ambil kiri — common in spoken directions (“take the left”); can also mean “keep to the left” depending on context.
• For instructions, you’ll often hear: nanti belok kiri di depan (“turn left ahead”), jangan belok kiri (“no left turn”). Note: putar balik means “make a U-turn,” not “turn left.”

Why use di in di lampu lalu lintas? Could I use pada?

Use di for physical locations (“at/in/on” a place). pada is more formal/abstract and not typical for simple physical location like this. So:

• Natural: di lampu lalu lintas (“at the traffic light”).
• Less natural here: pada lampu lalu lintas (sounds stiff).

What’s the difference between sopir, supir, pengemudi, and pengendara?

• sopir: Standard spelling (per dictionaries). Often implies a professional/hired driver (taxi, bus, company driver), but in casual speech people also use it more broadly.
• supir: Very common spelling in everyday writing, but considered nonstandard; sopir is preferred.
• pengemudi: Neutral, formal “driver” (anyone who drives a vehicle).
• pengendara: “Rider/operator,” often for motorists in general (motorcyclists, drivers), especially in traffic reports. In a neutral sentence, pengemudi is the safest choice; sopir is fine and very common in everyday Indonesian.

Is di lampu lalu lintas the most natural way to say “at the traffic light”? What about lampu merah?

In everyday speech, lampu merah (“red light”) is more common:

• Di lampu merah, sopir belok kiri. Lampu lalu lintas is perfectly correct and a bit more formal/neutral. Regionally, you might also hear bangjo (from Javanese, “traffic light”), but that’s informal and location-specific.

Can I move the place phrase to the end? Is there any change in meaning?

Yes, you can place it at the end with no change in core meaning:

• Di lampu lalu lintas, sopir belok kiri. (Place first; sets context.)
• Sopir belok kiri di lampu lalu lintas. (Place last; slightly more focus on the action first.) Both are natural. Indonesian freely fronts time/place for context-setting.

Do I need the comma after the fronted place phrase?

Recommended but not strictly required. Style guides (PUEBI) suggest a comma after a fronted adverbial (time/place) phrase:

• Di lampu lalu lintas, sopir belok kiri. In informal writing you’ll also see it without the comma. Using the comma improves clarity.

Why is there no article like “the/a” before sopir? How can I make it explicit?

Indonesian has no articles. You can specify if needed:

• Indefinite “a driver”: seorang sopir/pengemudi
• Definite “the driver”: sopir itu or si sopir (colloquial), sang sopir (elevated/literary) Examples:
• Di lampu merah, seorang sopir belok kiri.
• Di lampu merah, sopir itu belok kiri.

Is belok the base verb? What about membelok and membelokkan?

• belok: intransitive “to turn” (no object). Most common for the subject turning.
  • Sopir belok kiri.
• membelok: exists but is less common in everyday use for this meaning; many speakers still prefer belok.
• membelokkan: transitive “to turn something,” i.e., cause to turn; needs an object.
  • Sopir membelokkan mobil ke kiri. (“The driver turned the car to the left.”)

Is di in di lampu the same as the passive prefix di-?

No. There are two different “di”:

• Preposition di (“at/in/on”), written separately: di lampu merah
• Passive prefix di-, attached to verbs: diambil, ditulis Spelling helps you tell them apart: separate word vs attached prefix.

How do I make the subject plural (“drivers turned left”)?

Add a plural marker/quantity:

• para sopir (plural human group)
• banyak sopir / beberapa sopir
• Reduplication: sopir-sopir (informal/common in speech) Examples:
• Di lampu merah, para sopir belok kiri.
• Di lampu merah, banyak sopir belok kiri.

What part of speech is kiri here? Why no ke?

kiri functions as a directional complement/adverb with belok. Indonesian allows direction words directly after motion verbs:

• belok kiri, belok kanan, menghadap utara Adding ke (belok ke kiri) is also fine and equally common; it just makes the direction-marking explicit.

Is the spelling of lalu lintas and sopir correct? Any common mistakes?

• lalu lintas is two words (not “lalulintas”).
• sopir is the standard spelling (you’ll see supir a lot informally, but sopir is preferred in standard writing).