Beberapa sukarelawan merawat kucing liar yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan.

Several volunteers take care of stray cats that previously lived on the street.

Breakdown of Beberapa sukarelawan merawat kucing liar yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan.

• kucing: the cat
• di: on
• yang: that
• beberapa: several
• sebelumnya: previously
• jalan: the street
• hidup: to live
• sukarelawan: the volunteer
• merawat: to take care of
• liar: stray

Questions & Answers about Beberapa sukarelawan merawat kucing liar yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan.

What does beberapa mean, and is it closer to some or several in English?

Beberapa is a quantifier that means “some” / “several” / “a few”. It’s a bit vague on purpose, just like some in English.

• It usually implies more than one but not many.
• It goes before the noun: beberapa sukarelawan, beberapa hari, beberapa buku.
• There is no big difference between English some vs several here; context decides whether you’d translate it as some or several.

Why don’t sukarelawan and kucing have any plural ending like -s? How do we know they’re plural?

Indonesian usually doesn’t change the noun form for plural.

• Sukarelawan can mean “volunteer” or “volunteers”.
• Kucing can mean “cat” or “cats”.

Plurality is shown by:

• Quantifiers: beberapa sukarelawan = some/several volunteers.
• Context: here, kucing liar yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan is naturally understood as plural because we’re talking about a group being cared for (and English often makes it plural in translation), though grammatically it could also be read as singular without extra context.

Indonesian only sometimes marks plural with reduplication (e.g. kucing-kucing), but that isn’t required and often sounds more specific or emphatic (like “the various cats”).

What exactly does sukarelawan mean, and is there a difference between sukarelawan and relawan?

Sukarelawan means “volunteer” (a person who helps without being paid).

Breakdown (etymological, not something you must actively analyze):

• suka = to like
• rela = willing
• -wan = a person suffix in some words

So sukarelawan is literally a “person who willingly likes to do something” → volunteer.

In modern usage:

• sukarelawan and relawan are both common and essentially synonyms.
• relawan is a bit shorter and very widely used in speech and the media.
• In this sentence, replacing it with Beberapa relawan would sound natural.

What is the nuance of merawat? Is it just “take care of,” or is it more like “treat” or “nurse”?

Merawat means to care for / to look after / to nurse, especially involving ongoing, attentive care.

Typical uses:

• merawat pasien = to nurse/take care of a patient
• merawat luka = to treat a wound
• merawat hewan = to care for an animal (feeding, cleaning, medical care, etc.)

In this sentence, merawat kucing liar suggests:

• Not just feeding once or twice
• But giving consistent care: feeding, cleaning, maybe taking them to the vet, etc.

Compare with:

• menjaga = to guard/watch over (focus on protection, not health)
• mengurus = to manage/take care of (more administrative/practical tasks)

So merawat is well chosen when talking about animals that need care and rehabilitation.

Why is it kucing liar, not liar kucing? What’s the rule for adjective placement?

In Indonesian, adjectives normally come after the noun.

• kucing liar = wild cat(s)
• rumah besar = big house
• buku baru = new book

So:

• kucing = cat
• liar = wild
• kucing liar = “wild cat(s)” / “feral cat(s)”

Putting liar before kucing (like liar kucing) is ungrammatical in standard Indonesian.

What does liar mean here? Does kucing liar mean “wildcats” (like wild species) or “stray cats”?

Liar means wild, untamed, or not domesticated.

In context:

• kucing liar can mean:
  • wild/feral cats (domestic cats that live outdoors, not kept as pets), or
  • in some contexts, wild feline species.

In everyday speech in cities, kucing liar often refers to feral or stray domestic cats, especially if people are feeding/rescuing them.

To be more clearly “stray street cats,” people may also say:

• kucing jalanan = street cats
• kucing liar yang hidup di jalan (as in this sentence) makes it clear they live on the street, so the listener will think of stray/feral domestic cats, not tigers.

What does yang do in kucing liar yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan?

Yang introduces a relative clause or descriptive clause that gives more information about the noun.

Structure:

• kucing liar = wild/feral cat(s)
• yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan = that previously lived on the street

So yang here is similar to English “who/that/which”:

• kucing liar yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan
  = “the wild/feral cats that previously lived on the street”

Without yang, the phrase would be ungrammatical or at least very confusing. It’s needed to clearly attach the clause sebelumnya hidup di jalan to kucing liar.

What does sebelumnya mean, and how is it different from dulu or explicit past markers?

Sebelumnya literally means “before/previously (to that)”.

In this sentence it implies:

• At an earlier time (before the current situation of being cared for), the cats lived on the street.

Related expressions:

• dulu = before / in the past / “used to” (more conversational)
  
  • kucing liar yang dulu hidup di jalan = the wild cats that used to live on the street
• telah/sudah = have/has (done) – aspect markers:
  • kucing liar yang telah hidup di jalan (less natural here)
  • These focus more on the completion of an action, not “previous state vs now”.

Sebelumnya sounds somewhat neutral–formal, suitable for spoken and written Indonesian.

Why is hidup used instead of tinggal for “live” in “lived on the street”?

Both hidup and tinggal can translate as “live”, but they have different nuances:

• hidup = to live, to be alive, to live (in a general/life sense)
  
  • hidup di jalan = to live/survive on the street (emphasis on existence/survival)
• tinggal = to live/reside/stay (address or residence)
  
  • tinggal di Jakarta = to live in Jakarta (as your residence)

For animals or people in harsh conditions:

• hidup di jalan suggests surviving or existing on the streets.
• tinggal di jalan is possible but sounds more like “residing on the street,” less focused on the idea of survival.

So hidup is very natural in this context.

How is tense shown here? How do we know “previously lived” is past if the verb hidup isn’t changed?

Indonesian verbs generally do not change form for tense.

Past, present, and future are indicated by:

• Time words: kemarin (yesterday), tadi (earlier), nanti (later), besok (tomorrow), etc.
• Adverbs like sebelumnya, dulu, sudah, telah, akan, etc.
• Context.

In yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan:

• sebelumnya = previously, before this
• Combined with context, it clearly refers to a past state: the cats used to live on the street.

The verb hidup itself stays in its base form; Indonesian doesn’t change it to show past or future.

What does di mean in di jalan, and is there a difference between di jalan and di jalanan?

Di is a preposition meaning “in / at / on”, depending on context.

• di jalan = on the street / on the road
• jalan = street/road (the noun)

Di jalan is the normal way to say “on the street” about where someone/something is living or located.

Jalanan is a derived form that also means “street(s)” or “streets in general,” often a bit more colloquial and slightly more evocative:

• hidup di jalan and hidup di jalanan can both mean “live on the street(s)”.
• di jalanan can feel a bit more like “out on the streets,” with a “street life” nuance.

In this sentence, di jalan is simple and natural.

Could we drop the whole yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan part and still have a correct sentence? What would change in meaning?

Yes, you can say:

• Beberapa sukarelawan merawat kucing liar.

This is grammatically correct and means:

• “Several volunteers care for wild/feral cats.”

Differences:

• With yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan, we know which wild cats: the ones that previously lived on the street.
• Without it, it just says volunteers care for wild/feral cats in general, with no explicit information about their past living conditions.

So the relative clause narrows down and clarifies which cats are being cared for.

How would this sentence change if I wanted to clearly make both volunteers and cats plural?

Indonesian doesn’t require explicit plural marking, but you can emphasize plurality if you want:

1. Emphasize plural volunteers:

   • Beberapa orang sukarelawan merawat kucing liar yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan.
     
     • orang sukarelawan literally “volunteer persons,” but used to clearly indicate multiple people.

2. Emphasize plural cats:

   • Beberapa sukarelawan merawat kucing-kucing liar yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan.
     
     • kucing-kucing liar = cats (many cats), by reduplication.

3. Emphasize both:

   • Beberapa orang sukarelawan merawat kucing-kucing liar yang sebelumnya hidup di jalan.

Native speakers often don’t bother with these extra plural markers unless they really want to stress “many” or “various” individuals.