Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di daerah pedesaan, fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan masih terbatas. - In rural areas, health facilities for animals are still limited.

desa = a village (a specific administrative unit or small settlement).
pedesaan = rural (area/region); it’s formed from desa with the prefix–suffix pe- -an, which often makes a more general noun.
daerah = area/region.

So:

di desa → in the village (usually a particular village).
di daerah pedesaan → in rural areas / in rural regions (more general, not just one village).

The sentence wants to speak generally about rural regions, so di daerah pedesaan sounds more natural than di desa.

Why does the sentence start with Di daerah pedesaan plus a comma? Is that required?

Indonesian often puts a place or time expression at the beginning of a sentence to set the scene:

Di daerah pedesaan, fasilitas kesehatan…

The comma is standard after a longer introductory phrase, but it’s not always strictly enforced in everyday writing. You could also say:

Fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan masih terbatas di daerah pedesaan.

Both are correct. The meaning is the same; the difference is just emphasis and style.

How does fasilitas kesehatan work grammatically? Is it like “health facilities” in English?

Yes, it works similarly, but the structure is different:

fasilitas = facilities
kesehatan = health (from sehat = healthy, plus ke- -an to make an abstract noun)

In Indonesian, a common pattern is:

[main noun] + [modifier noun]

So:

fasilitas kesehatan = literally “facilities health” → “health facilities”.

It’s a simple noun–noun phrase: fasilitas is the head, kesehatan specifies what kind of facilities.

Why is it kesehatan and not just sehat?

sehat = healthy (adjective).
kesehatan = health (abstract noun).

The ke- -an circumfix changes the adjective into a noun:

sehat → kesehatan (healthy → health)
adil → keadilan (just → justice)

Because we are talking about health facilities (a noun), we need the noun kesehatan, not the adjective sehat.

What is the role of untuk in fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan?

untuk means for, expressing purpose or target. So the structure is:

fasilitas kesehatan = health facilities
untuk = for
hewan = animals

So fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan = health facilities for animals.

You could also say:

fasilitas kesehatan hewan

This is also used and sounds more compact, but untuk hewan clearly highlights “intended for animals.”

What’s the difference between hewan and binatang?

Both can translate as animal, but:

hewan is more neutral and often used in scientific, formal, or neutral contexts (e.g. hewan ternak = livestock).
binatang can sound more colloquial and is also used as an insult (like calling someone “an animal”).

In a sentence about health facilities, hewan is the more appropriate and neutral choice.

Does fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan mean one facility or multiple facilities? There is no plural marker.

Indonesian generally does not mark plural with an ending like -s in English. Number is understood from context.

fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan can mean a health facility for animals or health facilities for animals.

If you really want to emphasize plurality, you could say:

berbagai fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan = various health facilities for animals
banyak fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan = many health facilities for animals

But it’s not required; the original sentence is naturally interpreted as plural in context.

What exactly does masih mean here? How is it different from just saying terbatas?

masih = still (indicates a continuing state).
terbatas = limited.

Together:

masih terbatas = are still limited → the situation has not improved (yet).

If you only say:

fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan terbatas.
= Health facilities for animals are limited.

This is a simple statement of fact. Adding masih implies continuity, and often the idea that improvement is expected or hoped for but hasn’t fully happened.

What is the meaning and function of terbatas? Where does it come from?

terbatas comes from the noun batas (limit, boundary) with the prefix ter-.

batas = limit
terbatas = limited

With many adjectives, ter- can indicate a state or condition:

buka (open) → terbuka (open, opened)
kunci (lock) → terkunci (locked)
batas (limit) → terbatas (limited)

In this sentence, terbatas functions as an adjective describing fasilitas: the facilities are limited.

Could you change the word order? For example, can I say Fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan di daerah pedesaan masih terbatas?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct:

Fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan di daerah pedesaan masih terbatas.

The meaning is the same. Differences:

Di daerah pedesaan, fasilitas…
→ Starts by setting the place as background information.
Fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan di daerah pedesaan…
→ Starts by focusing on the facilities, then specifies which facilities (the ones in rural areas).

Both are natural; it’s mainly a matter of emphasis and style.

Indonesian has no words like “a” or “the” in this sentence. How do we know if it’s “the health facilities” or “health facilities” in general?

Indonesian normally doesn’t use articles like a/an or the. Definiteness is understood from context:

fasilitas kesehatan untuk hewan can be:
- health facilities for animals (general)
- the health facilities for animals (specific)

Context from a wider text or conversation tells you whether it’s general or specific. In this standalone sentence, it is most naturally read as a general statement about rural areas, so English would usually translate it as:

In rural areas, health facilities for animals are still limited.