Anjing saya hampir saja mengejar kucing tetangga di halaman.

My dog almost chased the neighbor's cat in the yard.

Breakdown of Anjing saya hampir saja mengejar kucing tetangga di halaman.

• di: in
• anjing: the dog
• kucing: the cat
• halaman: the yard

Questions & Answers about Anjing saya hampir saja mengejar kucing tetangga di halaman.

In Indonesian, why is it anjing saya and not saya anjing for my dog?

Indonesian puts the thing owned first and the owner after it.

• anjing saya = dog + I = my dog
• rumah mereka = house + they = their house

So saya anjing would literally read I dog, which is ungrammatical (or at best sounds like I am a dog, but even that would normally be saya anjing only in very special contexts, and more naturally saya adalah anjing).

What is the difference between saya and aku here? Could I say anjing aku?

Both saya and aku mean I / me, but they differ in formality:

• saya – more formal, polite, neutral; safe in almost all situations
• aku – informal, used with friends, family, and in casual speech

In possessive form:

• anjing saya – neutral / polite my dog
• anjing aku – informal my dog

Grammatically, anjing aku is possible, but anjing saya is more standard and slightly more formal.

Can I also say anjingku instead of anjing saya? Is there any difference?