Kampanye kesehatan di sekolah mendukung kebiasaan makan siang yang lebih sehat.

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Questions & Answers about Kampanye kesehatan di sekolah mendukung kebiasaan makan siang yang lebih sehat.

What is the basic word order in this sentence, and how does it compare to English?

The sentence uses standard Indonesian S–V–O (Subject–Verb–Object) word order:

  • Subject: Kampanye kesehatan di sekolah (the health campaign at school)
  • Verb: mendukung (supports)
  • Object: kebiasaan makan siang yang lebih sehat (healthier lunchtime habits)

So structurally, it’s very similar to English:
“The school health campaign supports healthier lunchtime habits.”

Indonesian doesn’t need articles like a/the, but the basic order is the same.

What does di sekolah mean exactly, and why is di used here instead of something else?

di is a preposition meaning at / in (a location).
sekolah means school.

So di sekolah = at school / in the school.

You use di to talk about a place where something is located or happens:

  • di rumah = at home
  • di kantor = at the office
  • di sekolah = at school

You would not use ke here, because ke means to (movement toward a place), while di is for location.

What is the difference between kampanye kesehatan di sekolah and kampanye kesehatan sekolah?
  • kampanye kesehatan di sekolah literally: health campaign at school

    • Emphasis: the place where the campaign happens is the school.
  • kampanye kesehatan sekolah literally: school health campaign

    • Emphasis: the campaign is related to or owned by the school.

In many contexts, both could refer to the same thing, but:

  • If you want to stress locationdi sekolah.
  • If you want to stress that it is the school’s own campaign (a school health campaign) → kampanye kesehatan sekolah.

The given sentence chooses the more explicit “at school” phrasing.

What does mendukung mean, and how is it formed?

mendukung means to support.

It comes from the root dukung (support) plus the prefix meN-, which turns roots into active verbs. The N part assimilates depending on the first consonant of the root; here it becomes men- + dukungmendukung.

So:

  • dukung (support – root form, often seen in dictionaries)
  • mendukung (supports / to support – used as the main verb)

In a sentence:

  • Kampanye itu mendukung kebiasaan sehat. = That campaign supports healthy habits.
Does this sentence have any tense (present, past, future)? How do we know?

Indonesian verbs like mendukung do not change form for tense. There is no equivalent of supports / supported / will support built into the verb.

mendukung can mean:

  • supports / is supporting (present)
  • supported / was supporting (past)
  • will support / is going to support (future)

The tense is understood from context or from time words, for example:

  • Kemarin kampanye itu mendukung… = Yesterday the campaign supported…
  • Besok kampanye itu akan mendukung… = Tomorrow the campaign will support…

In your sentence, without context, it’s most naturally read as a general present statement:
“(In general) the health campaign at school supports healthier lunchtime habits.”

What does kebiasaan mean, and why is there no plural marker for “habits”?

kebiasaan means habit or habit(s), custom, or practice.

Indonesian usually doesn’t mark plural with an ending like -s (as in English). kebiasaan can be singular or plural, depending on context. Here, kebiasaan makan siang is naturally understood as lunchtime habits (plural).

If you really want to emphasize plurality, you can say:

  • kebiasaan-kebiasaan (reduplication to stress “many habits”)
  • or use a word like banyak (many): banyak kebiasaan

But often, just kebiasaan is enough.

How does kebiasaan makan siang work grammatically? Is makan siang a verb or a noun here?

makan siang literally means to eat lunch, but very often it functions as a noun phrase meaning lunch.

In kebiasaan makan siang:

  • kebiasaan = habit(s)
  • makan siang = lunch / lunchtime eating

So together it’s “lunchtime habits” or “lunch-eating habits”.

Indonesian often puts the more general noun first and the more specific descriptor after it:

  • kebiasaan makan siang = habits of lunch(-time eating)
  • kebiasaan makan malam = dinner(-time) habits
What is the function of yang in kebiasaan makan siang yang lebih sehat?

yang is a very common word that often introduces a relative clause or a descriptive phrase.

In kebiasaan makan siang yang lebih sehat:

  • kebiasaan makan siang = lunchtime habits
  • yang lebih sehat = that are healthier

So yang links the noun phrase (kebiasaan makan siang) with the description (lebih sehat). It works like “that/which”:

  • kebiasaan makan siang yang lebih sehat
    lunchtime habits that are healthier

Without yang, kebiasaan makan siang lebih sehat can sound less clearly structured; yang neatly marks the descriptive part.

How does lebih sehat express “healthier” in Indonesian?

lebih means more, and sehat means healthy.

So:

  • sehat = healthy
  • lebih sehat = more healthy → healthier

This is how comparatives are usually formed in Indonesian:

  • lebih besar = bigger / larger
  • lebih cepat = faster
  • lebih penting = more important

If you want to say the healthiest, you usually use paling:

  • paling sehat = the healthiest.
Could the sentence also mean “supports the healthier lunchtime habit” (singular), or is it clearly plural?

Grammatically, kebiasaan makan siang yang lebih sehat is neutral about singular vs plural. Indonesian doesn’t mark that here.

Depending on context, it could be interpreted as:

  • healthier lunchtime habits (plural), or
  • the healthier lunchtime habit (singular, if only one specific habit is meant)

In most realistic contexts, talking about a campaign and kebiasaan, listeners will naturally understand it as multiple habits, just as in English: “healthier lunchtime habits.”

How would I say “supports healthy lunchtime habits” (not specifically healthier)?

You can remove lebih and simply use sehat:

  • Kampanye kesehatan di sekolah mendukung kebiasaan makan siang yang sehat.

This means: “The health campaign at school supports healthy lunchtime habits.”

yang sehat = that are healthy
yang lebih sehat = that are healthier (more healthy, compared to before or to other habits).