Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Gosip di media sosial kadang-kadang melukai perasaan orang. - Gossip on social media sometimes hurts people's feelings.

Indonesian usually does not mark singular vs plural on nouns, so gosip can mean gossip in general, without saying whether it’s one piece or many.
If you want to say to gossip (the action), you normally use the verb bergosip:
- Mereka sering bergosip. = They often gossip.

What is the subject and what is the verb in this sentence?

The structure is basic S–V–O (Subject–Verb–Object):

Subject: Gosip di media sosial (Gossip on social media)
Verb: melukai (hurts / wounds)
Object: perasaan orang (people’s feelings)

So the whole sentence literally is: Gossip on social media sometimes hurts people’s feelings.

What exactly does di mean in di media sosial? Is it “in” or “on”?

di is a general location preposition that can correspond to in, on, or at in English, depending on context.

di rumah = at home
di meja = on the table
di Jakarta = in Jakarta
di media sosial = on social media

So di itself doesn’t force a specific English preposition; you choose in/on/at in translation based on what sounds natural in English. For platforms like social media, English uses on, so we translate it as on social media.

Why is kadang-kadang repeated with a hyphen? How is it different from kadang?

kadang-kadang is a reduplicated form of kadang. Reduplication (repeating the word with a hyphen) is very common in Indonesian.

kadang-kadang and kadang both mean sometimes.
kadang-kadang is slightly more neutral/standard; kadang sounds a bit more casual or shortened, especially in speech.

Examples:

Kadang-kadang saya lupa. = Sometimes I forget.
Kadang saya lupa. = Sometimes I forget. (more casual)

Can kadang-kadang go in other positions in the sentence?

Yes. kadang-kadang (an adverb of frequency) is quite flexible. All of these are natural:

Kadang-kadang gosip di media sosial melukai perasaan orang.
Gosip di media sosial kadang-kadang melukai perasaan orang.
Gosip di media sosial melukai kadang-kadang perasaan orang. → sounds awkward; usually avoid putting it between the verb and its direct object.

The most common choices are (1) at the beginning of the sentence or (2) right before the verb (as in the original).

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

melukai is a verb meaning to injure / to wound / to hurt, both physically and emotionally, depending on context.

Root: luka = wound, injury
Verb: melukai = to wound / to cause a wound

In this sentence, it’s used metaphorically:

melukai perasaan = to hurt someone’s feelings / to wound someone emotionally

What’s the difference between melukai and menyakiti when talking about feelings?

Both can be used for emotional hurt, but there are slight nuances:

menyakiti (from sakit = sick, hurt, painful)
- Very common in everyday speech.
- Means to hurt (physically or emotionally).
- menyakiti perasaan orang = hurt people’s feelings (very natural).
melukai (from luka = wound)
- Literally to wound / to injure.
- When used with perasaan, it can sound a bit more dramatic or formal, like “to wound someone’s feelings.”

In normal conversation, menyakiti perasaan orang is probably more frequent, but melukai perasaan orang is also common and perfectly correct.

What does perasaan mean, and how is it different from just rasa?

rasa is the root and can mean taste, sense, feeling.
perasaan is a noun formed with pe- … -an, often making an abstract noun.

So:

rasa = taste / sense / feel
perasaan = feeling(s) (emotional state)

In this sentence, perasaan orang means people’s feelings (their emotions).

Does orang here mean “person”, “people”, or “someone”? Why isn’t it orang-orang?

In perasaan orang, orang is used in a generic sense:

It means people in general (or a person in general), like English people’s feelings or a person’s feelings in a general statement.

Indonesian often leaves nouns in the singular form to talk about people in general:

Anjing itu setia kepada manusia.
Literally: Dogs are loyal to human. → means Dogs are loyal to humans/people.

If you say orang-orang, you are emphasizing many individual people:

Gosip di media sosial melukai perasaan orang-orang.
This is still correct, but it sounds more like you’re thinking of specific groups of people being hurt, rather than a general truth.

Could we say perasaan seseorang instead of perasaan orang? What’s the difference?

You can, but the nuance changes:

perasaan orang
- Very general: people’s feelings as a concept.
- Fits well with a general truth about social media gossip.
perasaan seseorang
- Means someone’s feelings (a particular but unspecified person).
- Feels more individualized, like you’re picturing a specific person whose feelings are hurt.

Both are grammatically correct; the original sentence is making a broader, more general statement, so perasaan orang fits better.

Why is there no word like “do”, “does”, or “is” in this sentence? Is melukai the only verb?

Yes, melukai is the only main verb here. Indonesian does not use separate auxiliary verbs like do/does or is/are just to form a normal present-tense sentence.

English: Gossip on social media *sometimes hurts people’s feelings.*
Indonesian: Gosip di media sosial kadang-kadang melukai perasaan orang.

No extra helping verb is needed. The subject Gosip di media sosial directly takes the verb melukai.

How do we know the tense of this sentence? Could it be past or future?

Indonesian verbs usually do not change form for tense. There is no special past or future conjugation of melukai.

You understand the time from:

Time words: kemarin (yesterday), tadi (earlier), besok (tomorrow), nanti (later), etc.
Context.

In this sentence, there are no explicit time markers, and kadang-kadang suggests a habitual/general situation. So it’s best understood as a general truth in the present, similar to the English simple present:

Gossip on social media sometimes hurts people’s feelings.

With different time words, the same verb form works:

Kemarin gosip di media sosial melukai perasaan orang.
= Yesterday gossip on social media hurt people’s feelings.

Is media sosial considered an Indonesian phrase, and can we say sosial media instead?

media sosial is the standard Indonesian phrase for social media:

media = media (same as English)
sosial = social

Indonesian noun phrases usually go Noun + Adjective:

rumah besar = big house
kota kecil = small town
media sosial = social media

So sosial media is not standard Indonesian. You should say media sosial.

Is there a more informal way to say media sosial, like how English says “socials” or “SM”?

Yes. In informal speech and writing (especially online), Indonesians often abbreviate media sosial as:

medsos

For example:

Gosip di medsos kadang-kadang melukai perasaan orang.
Same meaning, but more casual/colloquial.