Prosesi diakhiri dengan tepuk tangan dan foto bersama di depan gedung utama.

The procession ends with applause and group photos in front of the main building.

Breakdown of Prosesi diakhiri dengan tepuk tangan dan foto bersama di depan gedung utama.

• dan: and
• dengan: with
• di depan: in front of
• gedung: the building
• utama: main
• tepuk tangan: the applause
• prosesi: the procession
• diakhiri: to be ended
• foto bersama: the group photo

Questions & Answers about Prosesi diakhiri dengan tepuk tangan dan foto bersama di depan gedung utama.

What does diakhiri do in this sentence? Is it like “was ended” in English?

Diakhiri is a passive verb. It comes from the root akhir (end) with the suffix -i and the passive prefix di-:

• mengakhiri = to end (something) – active
• diakhiri = to be ended (by someone) – passive

In Prosesi diakhiri dengan…, the closest natural English is “The procession was ended / was concluded with…”.

Indonesian does not mark tense on the verb, so diakhiri itself is not “past tense”; context makes it past, present, or future. Here, because we’re narrating a finished event, we translate it with English past: was ended.

What’s the difference between diakhiri, berakhir, and mengakhiri? Could we use berakhir here?

They all relate to “ending” but have different grammar:

• berakhir = to end, to come to an end (intransitive)
  
  • Acara berakhir pukul 10 malam. – The event ended at 10 p.m.
• mengakhiri = to end something (active transitive)
  
  • Panitia mengakhiri prosesi dengan doa. – The committee ended the procession with a prayer.
• diakhiri = to be ended (passive transitive)
  
  • Prosesi diakhiri dengan doa. – The procession was ended with a prayer.

In your sentence, Prosesi diakhiri dengan…, the structure focuses on the procession (the thing being ended) rather than on who ended it.

You could say:

• Prosesi berakhir dengan tepuk tangan dan foto bersama…

That would sound natural, but it slightly changes the feel:

• diakhiri suggests someone formally concluded it.
• berakhir suggests the procession simply came to an end (perhaps more “naturally” or less explicitly by someone’s action).

Both are correct; it’s a nuance choice.

Why do we say diakhiri dengan tepuk tangan…? Why dengan and not oleh?

In Indonesian passive sentences:

• oleh typically introduces the agent (the doer):
  
  • Prosesi diakhiri oleh panitia. – The procession was ended by the committee.
• dengan introduces means, accompaniment, or manner (how/with what something is done):
  
  • Prosesi diakhiri dengan tepuk tangan. – The procession was ended with applause.

In your sentence, tepuk tangan dan foto bersama are not the people who ended the procession; they are how or with what it was ended. So dengan is the right preposition.

You can combine both:

• Prosesi diakhiri oleh panitia dengan tepuk tangan dan foto bersama.
  The procession was ended by the committee with applause and a group photo.

What exactly does tepuk tangan mean? Is it literally “clap hands”? Is it singular or plural?

Literally, tepuk = clap, tangan = hand, so tepuk tangan is “hand-clap(s)”.

In usage, tepuk tangan is a noun phrase meaning “applause”:

• Mereka memberi tepuk tangan. – They gave a round of applause.

It behaves like an uncountable noun in English (“applause”):

• Indonesian doesn’t mark plural here; tepuk tangan can be “a clap”, “clapping”, or “applause”, depending on context.
• You can say tepuk tangan meriah (enthusiastic/loud applause), tepuk tangan panjang (long applause), etc.

So in diakhiri dengan tepuk tangan, it’s best understood as “ended with applause”.

Why is it tepuk tangan, not bertepuk tangan here?

• tepuk tangan (no prefix) = a noun: applause
• bertepuk tangan = a verb: to clap, to applaud

Examples:

• Para tamu bertepuk tangan. – The guests applauded (they clapped).
• Acara diakhiri dengan tepuk tangan. – The event was ended with applause.

Your sentence is listing things that accompanied the ending: with applause and a group photo. So we want nouns, not verbs, hence:

• …diakhiri dengan tepuk tangan dan foto bersama… (applause + group photo)
  not
• …diakhiri dengan bertepuk tangan dan berfoto bersama… (two verb phrases, which wouldn’t fit well after dengan in this structure).

What does foto bersama literally mean, and how is it different from berfoto bersama?

Literally:

• foto = photo
• bersama = together/with

Foto bersama is a set phrase that functions as a noun phrase meaning:

• a group photo (the photo itself), or
• the group-photo session at the end of an event

In many event reports, foto bersama implies “taking a group photo” even though it is grammatically a noun:

• Acara diakhiri dengan foto bersama.
  = The event ended with a group photo / with a group-photo session.

Berfoto bersama is verbal:

• berfoto bersama = to take photos together / to have a group photo taken
  
  • Kami berfoto bersama di depan gedung utama. – We took a group photo in front of the main building.

So:

• foto bersama – noun: “group photo / group photo session”
• berfoto bersama – verb: “(to) take a group photo together”

In your sentence, diakhiri dengan … wants a noun phrase after dengan, so foto bersama fits better than berfoto bersama.

Where are “a/the” in prosesi and gedung utama? How do we know if it’s “the procession” or “a procession”?

Indonesian normally has no articles like “a/an/the”. Nouns can be definite or indefinite depending on context.

• prosesi can mean “a procession” or “the procession”.
• gedung utama can mean “a main building” or “the main building”.

In your sentence, since we’re clearly talking about a specific event and a specific building, the natural English is:

• The procession
• In front of the main building

If you need to make it explicit in Indonesian:

• For something more indefinite: sebuah prosesi (a procession), sebuah gedung utama (a main building – a bit unusual phrase).
• For something clearly definite/specific: prosesi itu, gedung utama itu – “that procession”, “that main building”.

But usually, context alone is enough.

Why is it di depan gedung utama, and not just depan gedung utama?

• di is a preposition meaning at / in / on.
• depan is a noun meaning front.

Together, di depan means “in front of” (as a prepositional phrase for location).

When you state where something happens or is located, you normally need di:

• Mobil itu di depan rumah. – The car is in front of the house.
• Mereka berdiri di depan gedung utama. – They stood in front of the main building.

Without di, depan gedung utama would sound like a bare noun phrase (“the front of the main building”) rather than a full locative phrase, and it doesn’t work here as the place where the action happens. You can say:

• bagian depan gedung utama – the front part of the main building

but that’s a different structure.

Why is it gedung utama and not utama gedung? How does adjective order work?

In Indonesian, adjectives almost always follow the noun they describe:

• gedung utama – main building
• rumah besar – big house
• kota kecil – small town

So:

• gedung = building
• utama = main / primary
• gedung utama = main building

The order utama gedung is ungrammatical for “main building”.

If you have more than one adjective, they all follow the noun:

• gedung kantor baru yang besar – the new, big office building

Who actually ended the procession? Why is there no “by someone” in Prosesi diakhiri…?

Indonesian often uses the passive without mentioning the agent (the doer), especially when:

• the doer is obvious from context,
• the doer is not important, or
• the focus is on the affected thing (here, the procession).

Prosesi diakhiri dengan… simply focuses on the procession and how it was concluded, not on who did it.

If you want to mention the doer, you can add oleh:

• Prosesi diakhiri oleh panitia dengan tepuk tangan dan foto bersama.
  The procession was ended by the committee with applause and a group photo.

Can we move di depan gedung utama to another position in the sentence?

Yes, Indonesian word order is quite flexible for adverbial phrases like locations. All of these are grammatical, with slightly different emphasis:

1. Prosesi diakhiri dengan tepuk tangan dan foto bersama di depan gedung utama.
   – Neutral; the location naturally comes last.

2. Prosesi diakhiri di depan gedung utama dengan tepuk tangan dan foto bersama.
   – Puts a bit more focus on the place where it was ended.

3. Di depan gedung utama, prosesi diakhiri dengan tepuk tangan dan foto bersama.
   – Strong emphasis on the location (“As for the place, in front of the main building, the procession was ended…”).

All are acceptable; choice depends on what you want to highlight.