Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Bank itu ramai saat siang hari, jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi. - That bank is crowded at midday, so I prefer to come in the morning.

Putting itu before the noun (itu bank) is not the normal way to point to a specific bank. Itu bank could be understood in some contexts, but it sounds awkward and is usually only heard in certain exclamations or very informal, broken speech.

So, for standard Indonesian, think:

noun + ini/itu, not ini/itu + noun.

Does “bank itu” mean “that bank” or “the bank”?

It can mean either, depending on context:

that bank – if you’re contrasting it with other banks or pointing to one specific bank.
the bank – in many real-life contexts, Indonesian doesn’t distinguish “the” and “a” as sharply as English. Bank itu just indicates a specific, known bank, similar to “the bank (we usually go to)”.

So:

bank = a bank / banks (non-specific, generic)
bank itu = the particular bank you and the listener both know about
In English you choose “that” or “the” based on nuance, but Indonesian uses itu for both “that/the specific one”.

What exactly does “ramai” mean here? Is it “busy”, “noisy”, or “crowded”?

Ramai is quite flexible. It can mean:

busy / crowded (many people, a lot of activity)
lively (for atmosphere)
sometimes noisy, if the liveliness is loud

In the sentence:

Bank itu ramai saat siang hari

the most natural English equivalents are:

The bank is crowded at midday, or
The bank is very busy at midday.

Other related words:

sibuk = busy (often about people, work, schedules: Saya sibuk = I’m busy)
penuh = full
padat = dense / packed (traffic, population, schedule)

For a place with lots of people and activity, ramai is the usual word.

Why is it “saat siang hari”? What’s the function of “saat” and “hari”? Could I just say “siang”?

Breakdown:

saat = at the time of / when (a more formal “when/at”)
siang = midday / early afternoon
hari = day

Siang hari literally = “daytime noon/afternoon”, but as a phrase it just means midday / around noon / daytime in the middle of the day.

You have several options:

saat siang hari – at midday (slightly formal / neutral)
pada siang hari – also correct; pada is a preposition “at/on”
siang hari alone – fine in many contexts
siang alone – also very common and natural:
- Bank itu ramai siang (more casual)

So yes, you could say “Bank itu ramai siang, jadi …” in everyday speech. Adding saat or pada sounds a bit more complete or formal.

What is the difference between “saat siang hari”, “di siang hari”, and “pada siang hari”?

All three can be used with time, but there are nuance differences:

saat siang hari
- literally “at the time of midday”
- sounds neutral to slightly formal
pada siang hari
- pada is the standard preposition for time (“at/on”)
- common in writing and in more careful speech
di siang hari
- di normally indicates place (“in/at”)
- many native speakers use di with times in everyday speech, but some style guides prefer pada for time.

All of these will be understood. For learners, pada siang hari or saat siang hari are safe and correct.

Why is it “jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi” and not something like “saya suka datang lebih pagi”?

There are two different ideas here:

lebih suka = to prefer
- literally “to like more”
- saya lebih suka = I prefer
lebih pagi = earlier (in the morning)
- literally “more morning / earlier”

In the original sentence:

… jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi.
“… so I prefer to come in the morning.”

Here we’re comparing times of day (midday vs morning), not expressing “earlier than usual”. So we use lebih suka (prefer), not lebih pagi (earlier).

Saya suka datang lebih pagi means:

“I like to come earlier (than some other time we’re assuming).”

Saya lebih suka datang pagi means:

“I prefer to come in the morning (rather than at midday/another time).”

Why is there no preposition before “pagi”? Could I say “datang pada pagi hari”?

Indonesian often drops prepositions with common time expressions:

saya datang pagi = I come (in the) morning
kami berangkat malam = we leave at night
dia pulang sore = he/she goes home in the late afternoon

So datang pagi is very natural.

You can absolutely say:

datang pada pagi hari
datang di pagi hari

These are also grammatically correct and can sound a bit more formal or explicit. But everyday spoken Indonesian commonly uses the shorter form datang pagi.

What does “jadi” do in this sentence? Is it the same as “to become”?

There are two common jadi:

jadi as a verb: “to become”
- Dia jadi guru. = He/She becomes a teacher.
jadi as a conjunction: “so / therefore”
- Bank itu ramai…, jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi.
  = The bank is crowded…, so I prefer to come in the morning.

In this sentence, jadi is a conjunction meaning “so / therefore / as a result”, linking cause and result.

Context tells you which jadi is being used. Here it clearly introduces a result, not a change of state.

Why is there a comma before “jadi”? Is that necessary in Indonesian?

In Indonesian writing, it is common and stylistically good to put a comma before conjunctions that start a new clause, such as dan, tetapi, karena, jadi when they join full clauses:

Bank itu ramai saat siang hari, jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi.
Saya mau pergi, tetapi hujan.

In casual writing you might see it without a comma, but for clear, standard writing, the comma is recommended because jadi here introduces a new, complete clause.

Can I drop “saya” in “jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi”?

Yes, if the subject is clear from context, Indonesian often drops pronouns:

Bank itu ramai…, jadi lebih suka datang pagi.

This would still usually be understood as “(I) prefer to come in the morning” if you were talking about your own habits. However, in many learning and formal contexts, you’ll see the subject kept explicit:

…jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi.

As a learner, it’s safe to keep the pronoun; dropping it is more a matter of style and context.

Could I say “aku” instead of “saya”? What changes?

Yes:

saya = I (neutral–polite, used widely, safe with strangers, in formal settings, and in writing)
aku = I (more informal/intimate; used with friends, family, in casual speech, songs, etc.)

So:

… jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi. – neutral, polite, standard
… jadi aku lebih suka datang pagi. – casual, more personal tone

Grammatically both are correct. Choose based on formality and your relationship with the listener.

Does this sentence indicate past, present, or future? There’s no tense marker.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Time is understood from:

context, and/or
time words (kemarin, besok, tadi, nanti, etc.)

Your sentence:

Bank itu ramai saat siang hari, jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi.

can be understood as a general habit:

“That bank is crowded at midday, so I prefer to come in the morning.”

If you want to make it clearly past or future, you add time markers:

Kemarin bank itu ramai saat siang hari, jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi.
Yesterday, that bank was crowded at midday, so I preferred to come in the morning.
Besok bank itu akan ramai saat siang hari, jadi saya lebih suka datang pagi.
Tomorrow, that bank will be crowded at midday, so I prefer/will prefer to come in the morning.