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Questions & Answers about Polisi memberi penjelasan tentang perlindungan data pribadi dan hak atas privasi.
In this sentence, does Polisi mean “the police” as an institution or individual police officers? How do I know without articles?
Indonesian does not use articles (the, a, an), so Polisi is flexible.
Here it can mean:
- the police (as an institution) – most natural reading in this context
- the police officers – also possible, depending on wider context
Which one is meant depends on context, not on grammar. If you wanted to be more explicit, you could say:
- pihak kepolisian = the police as an institution / the police authority
- para polisi = the police officers (emphasizing multiple people)
Why is it memberi penjelasan instead of just menjelaskan?
Both are correct, but they differ slightly in nuance and grammar:
memberi penjelasan (tentang …)
- literally: to give an explanation (about …)
- structure: memberi (to give) + penjelasan (an explanation)
- sounds a bit more formal or neutral, common in news writing
menjelaskan (tentang …) or menjelaskan …
- literally: to explain (about …) or to explain …
- structure: menjelaskan (to explain) + object
In this sentence, you could say:
- Polisi menjelaskan perlindungan data pribadi dan hak atas privasi.
That’s also natural. just emphasizes the act of an explanation.