Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu. - My friend studies in the law major at that university.

Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.

My friend studies in the law major at that university.

Breakdown of Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Indonesian grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Indonesian now

Questions & Answers about Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.

Why is it Teman saya and not saya teman at the beginning?

In Indonesian, possessive structures are usually possessed + possessor, not the other way around like in English.

Teman saya = my friend (literally: friend my)
buku saya = my book
rumah mereka = their house

Saya teman by itself is not grammatical for my friend. It would just sound like two nouns next to each other with no clear relationship.

So the natural pattern is:

[thing / person] + [owner/pronoun]
teman saya, mobil kamu, guru mereka, etc.

Can I also say Saya punya teman yang belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu? Does it mean the same thing?

Yes, you can say:

Saya punya teman yang belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.

Literally: I have a friend who studies in the law department at that university.

The meaning is essentially the same, but there is a nuance:

Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum...
Focuses on the friend as already known/identified. It assumes the listener knows which friend, or that this friend is already a topic.
Saya punya teman yang belajar di jurusan hukum...
Feels more like introducing a friend that the listener doesn’t necessarily know about yet: I have a friend who...

Both are correct; it’s more about discourse context (what is already known) than grammar.

Does belajar here mean “is studying” or “studies”? How do tenses work in this sentence?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Belajar can mean:

studies (habitually / generally)
is studying (right now, ongoing)
studied (in the past), if the context makes that clear
will study (future), again depending on context

In your sentence:

Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.

The most natural reading in isolation is My friend studies law / is studying in the law department at that university.

If you want to be explicit:

Present continuous / right now:
Teman saya sedang belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.
(sedang marks an ongoing action.)
Past:
Dulu teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.
(dulu = in the past / used to.)
Future:
Nanti teman saya akan belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.
(akan = will.)

What exactly does jurusan mean here? Is it like “major”, “department”, or “faculty”?

Jurusan is close to major or department in a university context.

In this sentence:

jurusan hukum ≈ the Law department / Law major

Rough guide:

jurusan
Often used for a program / major / specialization, especially at university or high-school level.
Example: jurusan teknik informatika, jurusan akuntansi.
fakultas
Closer to faculty/school in a university.
Example: Fakultas Hukum = Faculty of Law (which may contain several programs/jurusan).

So:

jurusan hukum = the specific law program / department.
Fakultas Hukum = the whole Faculty of Law as an organizational unit.

In everyday speech, people may be a bit loose with these terms, but this is the basic idea.

Why is there di twice: di jurusan hukum di universitas itu? Is that okay?

Yes, that’s perfectly natural and correct.

di jurusan hukum = in the law department
di universitas itu = at that university

You’re basically saying: > in the law department, (which is) at that university.

In Indonesian, it’s normal to repeat di for each location phrase:

Saya tinggal di kamar di lantai dua.
I live in a room on the second floor. (literally: in a room in floor two)
Dia bekerja di kantor di pusat kota.
He works in an office in the city center.

You don’t normally drop the second di.

Could I just say Teman saya belajar hukum di universitas itu without jurusan? Is that different?

Yes, you can say:

Teman saya belajar hukum di universitas itu.

This literally means My friend studies law at that university.

Difference:

belajar di jurusan hukum
More specific: in the Law department/program. It strongly implies they are enrolled as a Law student.
belajar hukum
More general: studying law as a subject. It still usually implies formal study, but it doesn’t highlight the “department” structure.

In everyday conversation, many people would just say belajar hukum to mean they are a law student, unless they specifically want to mention jurusan.

What is the difference between belajar and kuliah in this kind of sentence? Could I use kuliah instead?

You can say:

Teman saya kuliah di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.

or more naturally:

Teman saya kuliah di universitas itu, jurusan hukum.

Differences:

belajar = to study (very general, can be any level: school, self-study, etc.)
kuliah = to attend university / to be a college student (specifically tertiary education, more about being enrolled and attending classes)

So:

Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum...
Grammatically fine; means “my friend studies in the law department...”
Teman saya kuliah di jurusan hukum...
Emphasizes that your friend is a university student in that program.
Very natural in spoken Indonesian when talking about what someone is studying at university.

Why is it universitas itu and not itu universitas for “that university”?

In Indonesian, demonstratives like ini (this) and itu (that) usually come after the noun:

rumah itu = that house
buku ini = this book
universitas itu = that university

So the normal pattern is:

[noun] + ini/itu

Putting itu before the noun (e.g. itu universitas) is possible but has a different function: it’s more like “that one is a university” in a sentence:

Itu universitas. = That is a university.

So:

universitas itu = that university (noun phrase)
itu universitas = that is a university (a full clause)

Is itu necessary? How would I say just “My friend studies law at a university” (not a specific one)?

No, itu is not necessary. Itu makes the noun definite (specific, known).

With itu:
universitas itu = that university / the university (we both know).
Without itu:
di universitas by itself can be interpreted more generally as at university or at a university (generic).

Examples:

Specific university (already known):
> Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.
My friend studies in the Law department at that university.
Non-specific / general:
> Teman saya belajar hukum di universitas.
My friend studies law at university / at a university.

If you want to be very clear that it’s non-specific, context usually does the job; Indonesian doesn’t have a direct equivalent of English “a/an”.

Does teman here mean exactly one friend, or could it be “my friends”?

Teman by itself is number-neutral. It can mean:

a friend
the friend
friends

depending on context.

In this sentence:

Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.

It will usually be understood as one friend, unless the context makes it clearly plural.

To make it explicitly plural, you can use:

teman-teman saya = my friends (reduplication)
para teman saya = my friends (more formal/written)

So:

Teman-teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.
My friends study in the law department at that university.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move parts around, like Teman saya di jurusan hukum belajar di universitas itu?

Indonesian word order is relatively flexible, but not all permutations sound natural.

Your original:

Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.
(Subject) (Verb) (Location phrase 1) (Location phrase 2)

Possible and natural variants:

Emphasizing where they study:
> Teman saya belajar di universitas itu, jurusan hukum.
Dropping one location:
> Teman saya belajar di universitas itu.
> Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum.

Less natural / a bit clunky:

Teman saya di jurusan hukum belajar di universitas itu.
Grammatically understandable, but sounds awkward. The di jurusan hukum phrase is better placed after the verb or at the end.

In general, keep:

Subject + Verb + [other info (place, time, manner)]

and avoid splitting subject and verb with too many phrases unless you have a special reason.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would I say the same thing in casual conversation?

The sentence is neutral and fine in most contexts:

Teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.

In casual conversation, people might make it sound more colloquial by:

Changing saya (I/my) to a more informal form:
- Teman gue, Teman aku, Teman saya (neutral), depending on region and style.
Using kuliah instead of belajar to emphasize university context:
- Teman gue kuliah di universitas itu, jurusan hukum.

So in casual speech you might hear:

Teman gue kuliah di universitas itu, jurusan hukum.

But your original sentence is perfectly natural in both spoken and written Indonesian.

If I want to say “One of my friends studies law at that university,” how would I change the sentence?

You can add salah satu (one of):

Salah satu teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu.

Breakdown:

salah satu = one of
teman saya = my friends (here understood as plural because of one of)

So the full meaning is: One of my friends studies in the law department at that university.

How would I say “My friend used to study law at that university, but not anymore”?

You can mark the past / “used to” idea with dulu and add a contrast:

Dulu teman saya belajar di jurusan hukum di universitas itu, tapi sekarang tidak lagi.

Breakdown:

dulu = in the past / used to
tapi sekarang tidak lagi = but now no longer / not anymore

This clearly tells the listener that it was true before, but isn’t true now.