Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di tim kecil kami tidak ada yang terlambat hari ini.

Di tim kecil kami is a location phrase: in our small team. In Indonesian, it’s very natural to put this kind of location or context at the beginning of the sentence to set the scene. So the basic structure is:

Di tim kecil kami = in our small team (context)
tidak ada yang terlambat hari ini = nobody is late today (main statement)

Why is it tim kecil kami and not kami tim kecil, like our small team in English?

Indonesian noun phrases generally follow this order:

Noun + Adjective + Possessor

So:

tim = team
kecil = small
kami = we/our (exclusive)

Put together: tim kecil kami = our small team.

In English you say our small team (possessor first), but in Indonesian the base noun comes first, then the description, then the possessor.

What exactly does tidak ada do here? Why not just use tidak?

Tidak ada is a negative existential construction. Roughly, it means there is no / there are no / there isn’t any.

ada = there is / there are / to exist
tidak ada = there is no / there are no

In this sentence:

tidak ada yang terlambat = there is no one who is late / nobody is late

If you used only tidak without ada, you’d need a clear subject and verb (e.g. Dia tidak terlambat = He/She is not late). Here, you’re not saying a specific person is not late; you’re saying no one at all is late, so you use tidak ada.

What does yang do in tidak ada yang terlambat?

Yang introduces a descriptive clause that modifies an implied noun, often something like person(s) or thing(s).

Here, yang terlambat literally means who/that is late.

The full idea is something like:

tidak ada [orang] yang terlambat
there is no person who is late

The noun orang (person) is omitted because it’s understood from context. Yang then links the implied noun to its description terlambat (late).

Why is there no word for person or people in the sentence? How do we know it means no one?

Indonesian often omits obvious nouns if the meaning is clear from context.

In tidak ada yang terlambat, the structure implies there is no one / nobody:

tidak ada = there is no
yang terlambat = who is late

Native speakers understand that the missing noun is something like orang (person), because being late usually applies to people.

You can say it explicitly:

Di tim kecil kami tidak ada seorang pun yang terlambat hari ini.
(There is not even a single person who is late in our small team today.)

But the shorter form in your sentence is very natural and common.

Does yang terlambat mean one person or many people? How do you know it’s nobody and not no person vs no people?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural on nouns or phrases; context tells you.

Yang terlambat is neutral: it can mean the one who is late or those who are late, depending on context. When used with tidak ada here, it naturally means no one / nobody (singular or plural).

tidak ada yang terlambat = nobody is late / there’s no one who is late

You don’t need a special plural form; Indonesian leaves it ambiguous unless you add words like semua (all), beberapa (some), etc.

Why is hari ini at the end? Can it go somewhere else?

Hari ini means today, and time expressions are often placed:

at the beginning: Hari ini di tim kecil kami tidak ada yang terlambat.
or at the end: Di tim kecil kami tidak ada yang terlambat hari ini.

Both are correct. Putting hari ini at the end is very natural and common in conversational Indonesian. The choice slightly affects emphasis:

Start: Hari ini emphasizes today as the main frame.
End: sounds like you’re adding today as a specification of when this statement is true.

Is di really necessary in di tim kecil kami? Could I say Tim kecil kami tidak ada yang terlambat hari ini?

You can say:

Tim kecil kami tidak ada yang terlambat hari ini.

That is acceptable and understandable. However:

Di tim kecil kami explicitly marks it as a location/context: in our small team.
Without di, Tim kecil kami sounds more like a subject. The sentence then feels a bit less smooth because the structure [subject] tidak ada yang terlambat is less typical than Di [location] tidak ada yang terlambat.

Native speakers strongly prefer Di tim kecil kami here, especially in neutral or formal language.

What is the difference between kami and kita, and why is kami used?

Both mean we/our, but:

kami = we (excluding the listener)
kita = we (including the listener)

Using tim kecil kami suggests that the speaker’s small team does not include the listener. For example, you’re reporting about your team to someone outside the team.

If the listener is part of the team, you would naturally say:

Di tim kecil kita tidak ada yang terlambat hari ini.
(In our small team [including you], nobody is late today.)

Do I need a comma after Di tim kecil kami?

In Indonesian writing, it’s optional but common to put a comma after an introductory phrase:

Di tim kecil kami, tidak ada yang terlambat hari ini.

In everyday, informal writing (messages, chats), many people omit the comma:

Di tim kecil kami tidak ada yang terlambat hari ini.

Both are acceptable; with or without a comma, the meaning is the same. For more formal texts, the comma is slightly preferred.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral?

The sentence is neutral and works well in both spoken and written Indonesian.

All words (di, tim, kecil, kami, tidak ada, yang, terlambat, hari ini) are standard.
There’s no slang or very formal vocabulary.

You could easily say this in an office meeting, a chat with colleagues, or a written report.

How do we know this refers to today in the sense of a completed timeframe (like nobody was late today) if Indonesian doesn’t mark tense?

Indonesian usually does not mark past/present/future in the verb. Instead, context and time expressions carry that information.

hari ini = today
With something like terlambat (late), listeners infer from context whether you mean:
- up to now (so far today no one has been late), or
- describing the whole day as already completed.

If you want to be explicit about the past, you could add tadi (earlier):

Tadi pagi di tim kecil kami tidak ada yang terlambat.
(This morning in our small team, nobody was late.)

But the original sentence is naturally understood with the appropriate time reference from context.

Are there other common ways to say the same idea with a similar structure?

Yes, a few very natural variants are:

Di tim kecil kami tidak ada seorang pun yang terlambat hari ini.
(Adds seorang pun for emphasis: not even a single person.)
Di tim kecil kami semuanya datang tepat waktu hari ini.
(Focuses on the positive: everyone came on time.)

But your sentence is already completely natural and idiomatic.