Mereka mengumpulkan plastik di taman untuk daur ulang.

They collect plastic in the park for recycling.

Breakdown of Mereka mengumpulkan plastik di taman untuk daur ulang.

• mereka: they
• di: in
• untuk: for
• taman: the park
• mengumpulkan: to collect
• plastik: the plastic
• daur ulang: to recycle

Questions & Answers about Mereka mengumpulkan plastik di taman untuk daur ulang.

What is the difference between mengumpulkan and mengumpul? When should I use each one?

Both come from the root kumpul (to gather), but they are used differently:

• mengumpul = to gather (oneself), to assemble

  • Usually intransitive (no direct object).
  • Example: Orang-orang mengumpul di taman. – People gather in the park.

• mengumpulkan = to gather/collect something

  • Transitive: it takes a direct object.
  • Example: Mereka mengumpulkan plastik. – They collect plastic.

In your sentence, because plastik is the thing being collected, you need the transitive verb mengumpulkan.

Why is plastik not marked as plural? How do I say "plastics" or "pieces of plastic"?

Indonesian usually does not change the noun form to show plural. Context tells you if it’s one or many.

So plastik can mean:

• plastic (as a material)
• plastic(s) (one or more items made of plastic)

To make plurality more explicit, you can use:

• A number or quantifier:
  
  • banyak plastik – a lot of plastic / many pieces of plastic
  • beberapa plastik – several plastics
• Reduplication (repeating the noun), often for “various” or “many”:
  
  • plastik-plastik – plastic items / various plastics
• A more specific expression:
  
  • potongan plastik – pieces of plastic
  • kantong plastik – plastic bags

In your sentence, mengumpulkan plastik is naturally understood as "collecting plastic (waste)" in general.

Why are there no words like "the" or "a" before plastik and taman?

Indonesian doesn’t have articles like the, a, an. Nouns appear bare, and specificity is expressed in other ways:

• To mean that park:
  
  • taman itu
• To mean this park:
  
  • taman ini
• To mean a park (one park) (more explicit, slightly formal/written):
  
  • sebuah taman

So:

• di taman could be in the park or in a park, depending on context.
• mengumpulkan plastik could be collect plastic / collect the plastic, again depending on what has been mentioned or is understood in the situation.

Why is it di taman and not ke taman?

Because the sentence describes where the collecting happens, not movement to a place.

• di = at / in / on (static location)
  
  • di taman – in/at the park
• ke = to (movement toward a place)
  
  • mereka pergi ke taman – they go to the park

In your sentence, they are already in the park doing the collecting, so di taman is correct.

What do the prefix me- and suffix -kan in mengumpulkan do?

Morphologically:

• Root: kumpul – gather
• Prefix meN- (here realized as meng-)
  
  • Makes an active verb: mengumpul – to gather
• Suffix -kan
  
  • Often makes the verb transitive (takes an object), or causative (cause something to be in a state)

So:

• mengumpul – to gather / assemble (often people gather themselves)
• mengumpulkan – to gather/collect something (an object follows: plastik, data, uang, etc.)

That’s why the sentence uses mengumpulkan plastik.

What kind of word is daur ulang? Is it a noun or a verb? Why is it two words?

Daur ulang is usually treated as a noun phrase meaning recycling.

• daur = cycle
• ulang = again

Together, daur ulang literally suggests “cycle again,” but as a set phrase it means recycling (as a concept or process):

• proses daur ulang – the recycling process
• fasilitas daur ulang – recycling facility

Even though it’s written as two words, it functions like one lexical unit.

It can also form a verb when you add the meN- prefix:

• mendaur ulang – to recycle (something)
  
  • Mereka mendaur ulang plastik. – They recycle plastic.

Why is it untuk daur ulang, and not untuk mendaur ulang or untuk didaur ulang?

All of these are grammatically possible, but the nuance changes:

1. untuk daur ulang

   • untuk
     • noun
   • Literally: for recycling (for the purpose of recycling, as a process).
   • Very natural and common in this context.

2. untuk mendaur ulang (plastik)

   • untuk
     • verb (active)
   • Literally: in order to recycle (the plastic).
   • Focuses more on their action of recycling.

3. untuk didaur ulang

   • untuk
     • passive verb
   • Literally: in order to be recycled.
   • Emphasizes that the plastic is going to undergo recycling, not who does it.

Your sentence uses untuk daur ulang, which is a simple, neutral way to say for recycling.

Can this sentence also mean "They are collecting plastic..." right now? How do you show the continuous/progressive aspect?

Yes. Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense or aspect, so:

• Mereka mengumpulkan plastik di taman untuk daur ulang.
  can mean:
  • They collect plastic in the park for recycling. (habitual)
  • They are collecting plastic in the park for recycling. (right now)

If you specifically want to emphasize “are …ing” (right now), you can add sedang:

• Mereka sedang mengumpulkan plastik di taman untuk daur ulang.
  – They are currently collecting plastic in the park for recycling.

In everyday speech, people might also use lagi:

• Mereka lagi ngumpulin plastik di taman buat daur ulang. (colloquial)
  – They’re collecting plastic in the park for recycling (right now).

Can I change the position of di taman and untuk daur ulang? How flexible is the word order?

Indonesian word order is fairly flexible for adverbial phrases (place, time, purpose), though neutral order is what you have.

Original:

• Mereka mengumpulkan plastik di taman untuk daur ulang.

Some acceptable variations:

1. Emphasize the place:

   • Di taman, mereka mengumpulkan plastik untuk daur ulang.
     – In the park, they collect plastic for recycling.

2. Move the purpose earlier:

   • Mereka mengumpulkan plastik untuk daur ulang di taman.
     – They collect plastic for recycling in the park.
     (Still natural; focus slightly shifts depending on context.)

3. Front both adverbials (more formal, written style):

   • Di taman untuk daur ulang, mereka mengumpulkan plastik.

However, keeping S – V – O – (place) – (purpose) as in the original is the clearest and most neutral for everyday use.

How do I pronounce mengumpulkan, especially the ng part?

mengumpulkan is syllabified roughly as:

• me-ngum-pul-kan

A simple pronunciation guide:

• me – like "meh" with a short, weak vowel (often /mə/)
• ngum – "ng" is one sound: /ŋ/ as in English "sing", followed by um
• pul – like "pool" but shorter (no long vowel)
• kan – like "kahn", short a as in "father"

Approximate IPA: /mə.ŋum.pul.kan/
Stress is usually on the second syllable: me-NGUM-pul-kan.

Key point: the ng at the start of ngum is a single nasal sound /ŋ/, not n + g separately.