Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Klien yang marah itu bertanya apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan hari ini. - That angry client asks what the lawyer can do today.

klien yang marah itu literally = that client who is angry
So the structure is: klien (client) + yang marah (who is angry) + itu (that).

You could say klien marah itu, and it would still be understandable as that angry client, but:

klien yang marah itu sounds a bit more natural and explicit, like the client who is (now) angry, often felt as a temporary state.
With yang, the phrase feels more like a relative clause (the client who is angry) rather than just a noun + adjective.

As a learner, it’s safe and common to use yang before descriptions like this.

Why does itu come at the end of klien yang marah itu, instead of before the noun like in English (that angry client)?

In Indonesian, demonstratives like ini (this) and itu (that/the) usually come after the whole noun phrase, not before it.

Pattern:

[noun + (description)] + itu/ini

Examples:

klien yang marah itu = that angry client / the angry client
rumah besar itu = that big house / the big house
orang yang tinggi itu = that tall person

So itu marks the noun phrase as specific/definite. Without itu, klien yang marah would be more like an angry client (non-specific) and with itu it becomes that/the angry client (specific).

What exactly is apa yang doing in bertanya apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan? Why not just bertanya apa bisa pengacara lakukan?

Here, apa yang works together as what (thing) that….

apa = what
yang introduces the clause that describes that what.

So:

apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan ≈ what (thing) the lawyer can do / what the lawyer can do.

This [question word] + yang + clause pattern is very common when the question word is the object of the verb inside the clause:

Saya tidak tahu apa yang dia mau.
= I don’t know what he wants.
Dia menjelaskan apa yang terjadi.
= He explained what happened.

You can hear apa bisa pengacara lakukan in speech, but apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan is clearer and more standard.

Why is the word order apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan, not apa yang pengacara bisa lakukan or something else? Are other orders possible?

Inside the yang-clause, the original sentence uses:

bisa pengacara lakukan = can + lawyer + do

In Indonesian, word order is quite flexible here. These are all possible, with slightly different feel:

apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan
apa yang pengacara bisa lakukan
apa yang bisa dilakukan pengacara (passive)

Notes:

(1) and (2) both mean what the lawyer can do. Native speakers use both; (1) is very common and sounds natural and neutral.
(3) changes to a passive focus: what can be done by the lawyer (emphasizing the action rather than the lawyer).

As a learner, (1) (apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan) is a good default.

Can I use apakah instead of apa here, like … bertanya apakah yang bisa pengacara lakukan?

No. Apa and apakah are not interchangeable here.

apa = what (asks for specific content/thing)
apakah = used for yes/no questions or as whether/if

In your sentence, we are asking what the lawyer can do, so we must use apa:

bertanya apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan = asked what the lawyer could do

Apakah would be used for yes/no type meaning:

Klien itu bertanya apakah pengacara bisa melakukan sesuatu hari ini.
= The client asked whether the lawyer could do anything today.

So:

use apa for what
use apakah for whether / is it true that…

How is bertanya different from tanya and menanyakan? Could I replace bertanya here?

All three are related to asking, but they differ in formality and grammar.

tanya (root, informal verb)
- Very common in casual speech.
- Example: Klien itu tanya apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan.
bertanya (intransitive verb)
- Neutral/standard: to ask (a question).
- Often followed by:
  - kepada/pada + person: bertanya kepada pengacara
  - or a question clause: bertanya apa yang…
- Your sentence uses this pattern correctly:
  - … bertanya apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan hari ini.
menanyakan (transitive verb)
- Focuses on what is being asked about.
- Pattern: menanyakan [thing/question] (kepada [person])
- You can say:
  - Klien yang marah itu menanyakan apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan hari ini.

So yes, you can replace bertanya with menanyakan there; the meaning is almost the same, with a slight nuance of inquiring about in menanyakan. tanya is fine in informal style.

If I want to say asked the lawyer, where do I put the person?

You add the person after kepada (or pada) for bertanya, or after the object for menanyakan.

Two natural options:

With bertanya:
- Klien yang marah itu bertanya kepada pengacara apa yang bisa dilakukan hari ini.
  = The angry client asked the lawyer what could be done today.
With menanyakan:
- Klien yang marah itu menanyakan apa yang bisa dilakukan hari ini kepada pengacara.
  = The angry client asked the lawyer what could be done today.

Both are correct. With bertanya, kepada + person usually comes right after bertanya. With menanyakan, kepada + person tends to come at the end.

Why is there no word for the in pengacara? How do we know it means the lawyer, not a lawyer?

Indonesian does not have articles like a/an/the. Definiteness is understood from context and sometimes from extra words.

In this sentence:

pengacara is understood as the lawyer because the context implies a specific lawyer (probably the client’s own lawyer).

You can make it more explicit:

pengacara itu = that/the lawyer
seorang pengacara = a lawyer (one lawyer)

Examples:

Klien itu bertanya apa yang bisa pengacara itu lakukan.
= The client asked what that/the lawyer could do.
Klien itu bertanya apa yang bisa seorang pengacara lakukan.
= The client asked what a lawyer can do.

What nuance does bisa have here? Is it ability like can, or more like could / be allowed to?

Bisa generally means can / be able to, and can cover:

ability/capability
possibility
sometimes permission in casual speech

In your sentence:

apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan hari ini
= what the lawyer can / is able to / could do today

It’s close to English could here, in the sense of what is possible.

Other options:

dapat – very similar to bisa, a bit more formal:
apa yang dapat pengacara lakukan hari ini
mampu – stresses capability (often more difficult tasks):
apa yang mampu pengacara lakukan (what the lawyer is capable of doing)

Bisa is the most common and neutral choice here.

Can hari ini be placed in another position in the sentence?

Yes, but some positions sound more natural than others.

Original:

… bertanya apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan hari ini.
(most natural – time at the end of the clause)

Other natural options:

Put hari ini at the very beginning for emphasis on time:
- Hari ini, klien yang marah itu bertanya apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan.
Put hari ini right after the main clause:
- Klien yang marah itu bertanya hari ini apa yang bisa pengacara lakukan.
  (possible, but less common; can sound a bit heavy)

Avoid splitting the inside of the yang-clause in an unnatural way, e.g.:

✗ apa yang bisa hari ini pengacara lakukan (sounds odd)

As a simple rule: place hari ini either at the beginning of the whole sentence or at the end of the relevant clause.

Is klien singular or plural here? How would I say the angry clients?

On its own, klien is number-neutral: it can mean client or clients, depending on context.

To make it clearly plural, you can:

Use para (for human plural, often somewhat formal):
- para klien yang marah itu = those angry clients
Use reduplication:
- klien-klien yang marah itu = the angry clients
  (with loanwords like klien, reduplication is possible but para is often preferred)
Use a numeral or quantifier:
- tiga klien yang marah itu = those three angry clients
- beberapa klien yang marah = several angry clients

So:

Klien yang marah itu… = that angry client / those angry clients (depending on context)
Para klien yang marah itu… = those angry clients (clearly plural).

How do we know bertanya is past (asked) and not present or future? There’s no tense marking.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Bertanya can mean:

ask / is asking / asked / will ask, depending on context.

Time is shown by:

time expressions: hari ini (today), kemarin (yesterday), besok (tomorrow), tadi (earlier), etc.
context in the conversation or narrative.

In your sentence, we interpret it as asked because:

it’s telling about an event,
hari ini gives us the time frame (today),
and in English narrative we naturally render that as past: asked.

If you really needed to make the timing explicit in Indonesian, you could add extra words:

tadi pagi klien yang marah itu bertanya… (earlier this morning the angry client asked…)
besok klien yang marah itu akan bertanya… (tomorrow the angry client will ask…)

But grammatically, bertanya itself does not change.