Film tentang negara bersalju itu sangat menarik.

That movie about a snowy country is very interesting.

Breakdown of Film tentang negara bersalju itu sangat menarik.

• adalah: to be
• itu: that
• sangat: very
• tentang: about
• film: the film
• menarik: interesting
• negara: the country
• bersalju: snowy

Questions & Answers about Film tentang negara bersalju itu sangat menarik.

In Indonesian, why does itu come at the end (Film … itu) instead of before the noun like “that film” in English?

Indonesian demonstratives ini (this) and itu (that) normally come after the noun phrase, not before it.

• film itu = that film
• buku ini = this book
• rumah besar itu = that big house

So in the sentence, itu is in its usual position at the end of the noun phrase. English uses that film, but Indonesian uses film itu.

In this sentence, does itu refer to the film or to the snowy country? How can I make each meaning clear?

As written, Indonesian speakers will most naturally read:

• Film tentang negara bersalju itu sangat menarik.
  → The film about *that snowy country is very interesting.*

Here, itu is closest to negara bersalju, and the phrase negara bersalju itu is understood as that snowy country.

To make each meaning clearer:

1. “The film about that snowy country is very interesting.”

   • The original sentence already expresses this.
   • The key unit is: negara bersalju itu = that snowy country.

2. “That film (which is) about snowy countries is very interesting.”
   Move itu to directly modify film:

   • Film itu tentang negara bersalju. Film itu sangat menarik.
     That film is about snowy countries. That film is very interesting.

   Or:

   • Film itu, yang tentang negara bersalju, sangat menarik.
     (That film, which is about snowy countries, is very interesting.)

So: in the original sentence, itu is more naturally understood as referring to negara bersalju, not film.

Why isn’t there any word like “is” in Film … sangat menarik? How do you say “is” in Indonesian?

Indonesian usually does not use a separate word for “is/are/am” before adjectives.

• Film itu sangat menarik.
  Literally: Film that very interesting.
  Meaning: That film *is very interesting.*

Some points:

• With adjectives (interesting, big, new, etc.), you typically just put the adjective after the noun or subject. No “to be”:

  • Dia pintar. = He/She is smart.
  • Rumah itu besar. = That house is big.

• There is a word adalah, sometimes translated as “is”, but it is mainly used between two nouns or for more formal definitions:

  • Jakarta adalah ibu kota Indonesia.
    Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia.

You would not say Film itu adalah sangat menarik in normal Indonesian; that sounds unnatural. You just say Film itu sangat menarik.

In negara bersalju, why does bersalju come after negara, when in English “snowy” comes before “country”?

In Indonesian, modifiers like adjectives and many descriptive verbs usually come after the noun they describe.

• negara bersalju = snowy country
• rumah besar = big house
• baju merah = red shirt
• orang pintar = smart person

So negara bersalju literally has the structure “country snowy”, but it is translated as “snowy country” in English. This noun-then-adjective order is normal in Indonesian.

What exactly does bersalju mean, and how is it formed?

Bersalju is built from:

• salju = snow
• prefix ber- (often means “to have / to be equipped with / to be in a state of”)

So bersalju literally means “to have snow / to be snowy”.

Functions:

• As a stative verb / adjective:

  • Negara itu bersalju. = That country is snowy / has snow.
  • Cuaca di sana bersalju. = The weather there is snowy.

• As a modifier of a noun:

  • negara bersalju = a snowy country
  • gunung bersalju = a snowy mountain

This pattern is common:

• berbulu (bulu = fur) → furry, having fur
• berwarna (warna = color) → colored, having color
• berdaun (daun = leaf) → leafy, having leaves

So bersalju is essentially “snowy / having snow”.

Could I say negara yang bersalju instead of negara bersalju? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say both:

• negara bersalju
• negara yang bersalju

Both can mean “snowy country” or “a country that is snowy”, and both are grammatical.

Nuance:

• negara bersalju sounds a bit more compact and is very natural for a simple description.
• negara yang bersalju can feel:
  • slightly more explicit (literally “country that is snowy”), or
  • slightly more formal or careful in some contexts.

In everyday speech, Indonesians often omit yang with simple, one-word qualities:

• orang kaya and orang yang kaya
• rumah besar and rumah yang besar

Both patterns are widely used; negara bersalju is perfectly natural.

How strong is sangat menarik compared with menarik sekali or menarik banget? Which one sounds more natural?

All three intensify menarik (interesting), but they differ in tone/register:

• sangat menarik

  • Meaning: very interesting
  • Tone: neutral to slightly formal, common in writing or polite speech.

• menarik sekali

  • Meaning: very interesting
  • Tone: neutral, very common in both spoken and written Indonesian.

• menarik banget

  • Meaning: really / super interesting
  • Tone: informal / colloquial, used in casual speech, especially in Jakarta-style Indonesian.

All are correct. In a neutral sentence like this one, sangat menarik or menarik sekali are the safest choices.

How do you show plural in something like negara bersalju? Does it mean “snowy country” or “snowy countries”?

By default, Indonesian doesn’t mark singular vs plural on the noun, so negara bersalju can mean:

• a snowy country
• snowy countries

Context tells you which is intended.

To make the plural meaning explicit, you have options:

• negara-negara bersalju
  (reduplication to show plural) → snowy countries
• beberapa negara bersalju = several snowy countries
• banyak negara bersalju = many snowy countries
• semua negara bersalju = all snowy countries

So in the original sentence, negara bersalju is number-neutral; it could be singular or plural depending on context.

Is menarik here an adjective or a verb? I learned that menarik also means “to pull”.

Menarik does both jobs in Indonesian.

1. Action verb: from root tarik = pull

   • Dia menarik pintu. = He/She pulls the door.

2. Stative verb / adjective: interesting

   • Film itu menarik. = That film is interesting.

In Film tentang negara bersalju itu sangat menarik, menarik is used in this second sense: a stative adjective-like verb meaning interesting.

This “one word works as verb and adjective” pattern is common in Indonesian:

• menyenangkan = to please / pleasant / enjoyable
• mengagumkan = to amaze / amazing

Could I replace tentang with something else, like mengenai? Are there any differences?

Yes, you can replace tentang with mengenai:

• Film tentang negara bersalju itu sangat menarik.
• Film mengenai negara bersalju itu sangat menarik.

Both mean essentially the same: a film about that snowy country is very interesting.

Nuance:

• tentang: very common, neutral, used in everyday speech and writing.
• mengenai: also common, but can sound a bit more formal or written, especially in official documents or more serious contexts.

In casual conversation, tentang is probably more frequent, but both are correct here.

If I say Film itu sangat menarik tentang negara bersalju, is that correct?

No, that word order is not natural in Indonesian.

The prepositional phrase with tentang should be placed right after the noun it modifies:

• Natural:
  • Film itu tentang negara bersalju.
    That film is about snowy countries.
  • Film tentang negara bersalju itu sangat menarik.
    The film about that snowy country is very interesting.

Putting sangat menarik (very interesting) between film itu and tentang negara bersalju breaks the usual structure:

• Film itu sangat menarik tentang negara bersalju.
  sounds wrong in Indonesian.

So, keep tentang + [topic] directly after film (or inside its noun phrase), and put sangat menarik either before or after that whole phrase, as in the correct examples above.