Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kunjungan keluarga kami ke kebun binatang membuat adik saya bahagia. - Our family’s visit to the zoo makes my younger sibling happy.

Putting it the other way (keluarga kami kunjungan) is ungrammatical in standard Indonesian. The head noun almost always comes first, and what belongs to or describes it comes after.

Could I say Kunjungan kami ke kebun binatang instead of Kunjungan keluarga kami ke kebun binatang?

Yes, you can.

Kunjungan keluarga kami ke kebun binatang
Emphasises that it was our family (as a family unit) that visited.
Kunjungan kami ke kebun binatang
Just says our visit without highlighting “family” explicitly. It could be understood as “our visit” (whoever kami refers to in context).

Both are grammatically correct; the original just makes it clear it was a family outing.

Why is kami used here instead of kita?

Indonesian distinguishes between two kinds of we:

kami = we / us, excluding the listener
kita = we / us, including the listener

In keluarga kami, the family is “we” but does not include the person being spoken to (the listener is not part of that family).
If the speaker wanted to include the listener as part of the group, they would use kita, for example:

Kunjungan keluarga kita ke kebun binatang…
= Our (including you) family’s visit to the zoo…

What does kebun binatang literally mean? Is it just “zoo”?

Yes, kebun binatang is the usual term for zoo.

Literally:

kebun = garden / plantation
binatang = animal

So it is something like animal garden.
You might also hear:

bonbin – colloquial shortening of kebun binatang
taman satwa – animal park (more formal or promotional)

Why is the preposition ke used before kebun binatang?

ke usually means to (movement toward a place).

In this sentence:

ke kebun binatang = to the zoo

Compare:

ke = to
di = at / in (location)
dari = from

So:

Kunjungan keluarga kami ke kebun binatang…
focuses on the destination of the visit (to the zoo), not just being at the zoo.

What exactly does adik saya mean? Does it specify brother or sister?

Adik saya literally means my younger sibling and is gender-neutral.
It can be a younger brother or a younger sister.

If you want to be specific:

adik laki-laki saya = my younger brother
adik perempuan saya = my younger sister

In everyday conversation, people often just say adik saya when the gender is obvious from context.

Why do we say adik saya bahagia and not add a verb like “is” or “was”?

Indonesian usually does not use a verb like “to be” (is/was) before adjectives in simple statements.

So:

adik saya bahagia
literally: my younger sibling happy
and this is a complete, correct sentence meaning my younger sibling is happy.

You only need adalah (a kind of copula) when linking a subject to a noun phrase, not to a simple adjective like bahagia:

Dia adalah dokter. = He/She is a doctor.
Dia bahagia. = He/She is happy. (no adalah)

What does membuat do in this sentence? Could we leave it out?

Membuat here means to make / to cause.

Structure:

Kunjungan keluarga kami ke kebun binatang = subject
membuat = verb (made / caused)
adik saya = object (my younger sibling)
bahagia = result / state (happy)

So the whole thing is:
Our family’s visit to the zoo made my younger sibling happy.

You cannot just remove membuat, because then you would have:

Kunjungan keluarga kami ke kebun binatang adik saya bahagia. (incorrect)

You need membuat to express the causal relationship (“made … happy”).

Can I say Kunjungan keluarga kami ke kebun binatang membuat bahagia adik saya?

That word order is not natural.

Standard and natural is:

… membuat adik saya bahagia.
(verb → object → complement)

Putting bahagia before adik saya (membuat bahagia adik saya) sounds awkward and poetic at best. In normal speech and writing, keep:

membuat + [person/object] + [adjective / state]
membuat adik saya bahagia

What is the difference between bahagia, senang, and gembira? Could I use them here?

All three relate to being happy, but with slightly different nuances:

bahagia
Deep, lasting happiness, often emotional or life-related (family, love, life situation).
Very natural in this sentence.
senang
Happy, pleased, glad (often about something specific, sometimes more casual).
You could say: Kunjungan keluarga kami ke kebun binatang membuat adik saya senang.
= Our family’s visit to the zoo made my younger sibling happy / pleased.
gembira
Cheerful, delighted, joyful; sometimes lively, childlike happiness.
Also fine: … membuat adik saya gembira.

All three are grammatically correct here; bahagia may sound a bit more like a deep joy than just casual excitement.

How would I say “Our family’s visit to the zoo yesterday made my younger sibling very happy”?

You can extend the original sentence like this:

Kunjungan keluarga kami ke kebun binatang kemarin membuat adik saya sangat bahagia.

Breakdown:

kemarin = yesterday (time expression; often placed after the place phrase or at the start)
sangat = very (placed before the adjective)
sangat bahagia = very happy

You could also say bahagia sekali instead of sangat bahagia:

… membuat adik saya bahagia sekali.
(also means very happy)