Breakdown of Jurnalis senior itu memberi nasihat kepada jurnalis muda di kantor berita.
Questions & Answers about Jurnalis senior itu memberi nasihat kepada jurnalis muda di kantor berita.
Itu is a demonstrative that literally means that, but very often it works like the English the.
In jurnalis senior itu:
- It most naturally means the senior journalist (a specific one already known from context).
- Depending on context, it could also mean that senior journalist (maybe contrasting with another).
So:
- jurnalis senior = a senior journalist (general, not specific)
- jurnalis senior itu = the/that senior journalist (specific)
In Indonesian, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.
So:
- jurnalis senior = senior journalist
- jurnalis muda = young journalist
Saying senior jurnalis is not standard; it will sound odd or foreign. Stick to:
- noun + adjective
Other examples:
- rumah besar = big house
- buku baru = new book
- kantor kecil = small office
Indonesian usually does not mark singular vs plural on the noun itself. Jurnalis can mean journalist or journalists, depending on context.
In your sentence:
- jurnalis senior itu = the senior journalist (most naturally interpreted as singular, because of itu)
- jurnalis muda could be a young journalist or young journalists, depending on context.
If you really want to emphasize plural, you have options:
- para jurnalis = the journalists (formal, often used for people)
- para jurnalis muda = the young journalists
- jurnalis-jurnalis muda = young journalists (reduplication to show plural; can sound more literary or emphatic, and is less common in everyday speech)
Both relate to giving advice.
memberi nasihat (kepada seseorang)
- literally: to give advice (to someone)
- structure: memberi (to give) + nasihat (advice)
- sounds neutral and is very common.
menasihati (seseorang)
- literally: to advise (someone)
- the verb is built directly from nasihat with the me- prefix and -i suffix.
Meaning-wise:
- Jurnalis senior itu memberi nasihat kepada jurnalis muda.
The senior journalist gave advice to the young journalist. - Jurnalis senior itu menasihati jurnalis muda.
The senior journalist advised the young journalist.
In everyday speech, memberi nasihat is probably slightly more common and feels a bit softer. Menasihati can sound a bit more formal or more focused on the act of advising, sometimes with a hint of “lecturing” depending on context.
In the sentence, kepada introduces the person who receives the advice:
- memberi nasihat kepada jurnalis muda
= to give advice to the young journalist.
Differences:
kepada
- used mainly before people or personified things.
- similar to to in English when the object is a person.
- examples:
- berbicara kepada guru = speak to the teacher
- mengirim surat kepada teman = send a letter to a friend
ke
- general to / towards for places or directions.
- examples:
- pergi ke kantor = go to the office
- berjalan ke sekolah = walk to school
untuk
- usually means for, indicating purpose or beneficiary.
- examples:
- hadiah untuk ibu = a gift for mother
- nasihat untuk jurnalis muda = advice for young journalists (more general, not necessarily directly given to them in person)
So:
- memberi nasihat kepada jurnalis muda = gave advice to a specific young journalist
- memberi nasihat untuk jurnalis muda = gave/provided advice for young journalists (more general, could be written advice, a talk, etc.)
The base word is beri (to give). In standard Indonesian, to make a normal active verb, you usually add a meN- prefix (a set of forms of me- that adjust to the initial consonant of the root).
- beri → memberi
So:
- memberi = to give (active verb form)
- You generally say memberi nasihat, not beri nasihat in neutral standard Indonesian.
The meN- prefix:
- turns roots into active verbs:
- tulis → menulis (to write)
- baca → membaca (to read)
- kirim → mengirim (to send)
In informal speech, people sometimes use beri on its own (e.g. beri tahu instead of memberi tahu), but memberi nasihat is the standard written form.
Yes, Indonesian word order is fairly flexible with adverbial phrases like di kantor berita (at the news office/agency). All of these are possible and grammatical:
Jurnalis senior itu memberi nasihat kepada jurnalis muda di kantor berita.
→ neutral; the advice is given at the news office.Di kantor berita, jurnalis senior itu memberi nasihat kepada jurnalis muda.
→ puts more emphasis on the location.Jurnalis senior itu di kantor berita memberi nasihat kepada jurnalis muda.
→ also possible, but sounds a bit more marked; context would decide how natural it feels.
The basic S–V–O order remains:
- Subject: jurnalis senior itu
- Verb: memberi
- Object (what is given): nasihat
- Indirect object (receiver): kepada jurnalis muda
- Place: di kantor berita
Kantor = office
berita = news
But kantor berita is a set phrase that usually means news agency, like Reuters, AP, or AFP. It can also be understood more generally as a news office or news bureau, depending on context.
So:
- di kantor berita = at the news agency / at the news office
Context would decide whether we imagine a big international agency, a local news agency, or simply the office of a media organization.
To express a more clearly indefinite meaning in Indonesian, you can use seorang before a singular person noun:
- Seorang jurnalis senior memberi nasihat kepada seorang jurnalis muda di kantor berita.
Breakdown:
- seorang jurnalis senior = a senior journalist
- seorang jurnalis muda = a young journalist
You can also drop seorang and rely on context:
- Jurnalis senior memberi nasihat kepada jurnalis muda.
This often reads as a senior journalist gave advice to a young journalist, though it can be a bit more general.
- di is used for location (where something happens).
- ke is used for direction / movement toward a place.
In your sentence:
- di kantor berita = at the news agency/office (location of the action)
If you wanted to express movement, you would use ke:
- Jurnalis senior itu pergi ke kantor berita.
= The senior journalist went to the news agency.
Since the sentence is about giving advice at a place, di is correct.
Both relate to giving helpful ideas, but there is a nuance:
nasihat
- typically advice with a moral or personal tone.
- often related to behavior, attitude, or life decisions.
- can sound a bit more serious or “elder-to-younger”.
saran
- usually suggestion / recommendation.
- can be more neutral, practical, or technical.
- commonly used in work or planning contexts.
In this sentence, nasihat fits well, because a senior journalist advising a younger one often involves guidance about behavior, ethics, and career decisions, not just technical tips. But saran would also be understandable, just slightly different in feel:
- memberi saran kepada jurnalis muda = give suggestions to the young journalist.
By default, di kantor berita describes where the action takes place — where the senior journalist gives advice.
The sentence:
- Jurnalis senior itu memberi nasihat kepada jurnalis muda di kantor berita.
Most naturally means:
- The senior journalist gave advice at the news agency to the young journalist.
Whether the young journalist works there is implied by real-world knowledge, not by grammar. Often, yes, both would be assumed to work there, but grammatically di kantor berita is attached to the action, not explicitly to either person.
If you specifically wanted to say the young journalist at the news agency, you might say:
- …kepada jurnalis muda di kantor berita itu.
or - …kepada jurnalis muda yang bekerja di kantor berita. (who works at the news agency)