Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Daun hijau di halaman belakang terlihat segar. - The green leaves in the backyard look fresh.

daun hijau can mean “a green leaf” or “green leaves”.
If you really want to emphasize plurality, you can say daun-daun hijau (reduplication often marks plural), but it’s not required.

So daun hijau di halaman belakang is naturally understood as “the green leaves in the backyard” if the context suggests there is more than one leaf.

Why is the adjective hijau (green) placed after the noun daun, not before, like in English?

In Indonesian, the typical word order is:

Noun + Adjective

So:

daun hijau = “green leaf/leaves”
rumah besar = “big house”
anjing lucu = “cute dog”

Putting the adjective before the noun (hijau daun) is not natural in standard Indonesian; it would sound wrong. The adjective normally follows the noun it describes.

What exactly does di mean in di halaman belakang?

di is a preposition that usually means “in / at / on”, depending on context. It introduces a location.

di halaman belakang = “in the backyard”
di rumah = “at home”
di meja = “on the table”

So di halaman belakang tells us where the green leaves are.

Is halaman belakang one phrase meaning “backyard”? How does it work?

Yes, halaman belakang is a noun phrase:

halaman = yard, yard area (also “page” in other contexts)
belakang = back, rear

Together, halaman belakang literally means “back yard”, which corresponds to English “backyard”.

You do not say belakang halaman for “backyard” — that would sound like “the back (part) of the yard,” not the fixed phrase “backyard” itself. The usual phrase is halaman belakang.

What does terlihat mean, and how is it different from lihat?

lihat is the base verb “to see / look at”.
terlihat is derived from it and usually means “to be seen”, “to appear”, or “to look (a certain way)”.

In this sentence:

terlihat segar ≈ “looks fresh” / “appears fresh”.

You could think of it like:

terlihat = “is visible as / appears as”

Similar words you might see with similar meaning are kelihatan and nampak:

Daun hijau di halaman belakang kelihatan segar.
Daun hijau di halaman belakang nampak segar.

These are very close in meaning to terlihat segar, with slight differences in formality or nuance, but all are fine in everyday language.

Is terlihat present tense? How do I know the tense in this sentence?

Indonesian verbs usually do not change form for tense (present, past, future). terlihat itself is tenseless.

The tense is determined by context or by adding time words:

Kemarin, daun hijau di halaman belakang terlihat segar.
Yesterday, the green leaves in the backyard looked fresh.
Besok, daun hijau di halaman belakang akan terlihat segar.
Tomorrow, the green leaves in the backyard will look fresh.

Without any time word, Daun hijau di halaman belakang terlihat segar is most naturally understood as present (“look fresh now”) unless context suggests otherwise.

Why is there no word for “is/are” (like am/is/are) in this sentence?

Indonesian often does not use a separate “to be” verb (like “is/are”) when connecting a subject to:

an adjective:
- Daun hijau … segar. = literally “Green leaves … fresh.”
a location (with di):
- Daun hijau … di halaman belakang. = “The green leaves … in the backyard.”

In this sentence, terlihat segar acts as the predicate (“look fresh”), so you don’t need an equivalent of “are”:

Daun hijau di halaman belakang terlihat segar.
= “The green leaves in the backyard look fresh.”

If you want to connect a noun to a noun (not an adjective), you may see adalah, but you wouldn’t use it here.

Where is “the” in this sentence? How do I know it’s “the green leaves” and not “a green leaf”?

Indonesian has no direct equivalent of English “a/an/the”. There is no article in the sentence.

daun hijau could mean:
- “a green leaf”
- “green leaves”
- “the green leaf/leaves”

The correct English article (“a” vs “the”) and singular/plural are decided by context, not by Indonesian grammar. In a typical real-life context, you’re probably talking about a specific, known set of leaves in your backyard, so English will naturally use “the green leaves”.

Can I put the place phrase at the end, like in English: “The green leaves look fresh in the backyard”?

Yes, you can. Both of these are grammatically correct:

Daun hijau di halaman belakang terlihat segar.
- Emphasis slightly more on which leaves (the ones in the backyard).
Daun hijau terlihat segar di halaman belakang.
- Emphasis slightly more on where they look fresh (in the backyard).

The basic pattern is flexible. Indonesian allows the location phrase (di halaman belakang) either right after the noun phrase or at the end of the clause; the main meaning stays the same.

Could I add itu to say “those green leaves in the backyard look fresh”?

Yes. itu is a demonstrative that often corresponds to “that / those / the” (specific).

Daun hijau di halaman belakang itu terlihat segar.
= “Those green leaves in the backyard look fresh.” / “The green leaves in that backyard look fresh.”

Adding itu makes the leaves feel more specific/definite, as if both speaker and listener already know exactly which leaves are being talked about. Without itu, they can still be specific, but itu makes that explicit.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would I say it in everyday speech?

The sentence:

Daun hijau di halaman belakang terlihat segar.

is neutral in style. It’s:

perfectly fine in everyday conversation
also acceptable in written or slightly more formal contexts

It doesn’t use slang, and it doesn’t use highly formal words. You can use it in speech to a friend or in a simple written description (e.g., in a school essay).