Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Poster di dekat kandang menjelaskan rantai makanan di hutan tempat serigala hidup. - A poster near the enclosure explains the food chain in the forest where wolves live.

Poster di dekat kandang = the subject (noun phrase)
menjelaskan = the verb
rantai makanan di hutan tempat serigala hidup = the object (what is being explained)

So literally:

Poster di dekat kandang – The poster near the enclosure / cage
menjelaskan – explains
rantai makanan di hutan tempat serigala hidup – the food chain in the forest where the wolves live

The word order is the same as English here: Subject – Verb – Object.

Why is di dekat used instead of just dekat?

dekat by itself means near / close (an adjective or adverb).
- Example: Rumah saya dekat. – My house is near / close (by).
di dekat is a prepositional phrase and means at/near, nearby (literally “in the nearness of”).
- Example: Poster di dekat kandang – The poster near the cage.

In this sentence, we want “near the cage” as part of a noun phrase explaining where the poster is, so we use a preposition:

Poster di dekat kandang (correct)
Not:
Poster dekat kandang (this sounds more like “a poster that is near the cage,” but it’s less natural than di dekat here; you’d more often use yang if you drop di: poster yang dekat kandang).

What does kandang mean exactly? Is it “cage” or “enclosure” or something else?

kandang is a general word for a place where animals are kept. Depending on context, it can be:

cage – for small animals: kandang burung (birdcage)
pen / enclosure – for larger animals: kandang kambing (goat pen)
stall / stable – for farm animals: kandang kuda (horse stable)

In a zoo context, kandang is often translated as enclosure or cage, depending on the design. So kandang is more general than the English word cage.

What does rantai makanan literally mean?

rantai makanan is a compound noun:

rantai = chain
makanan = food

So literally, “food chain.”

This is a standard term in biology/ecology in Indonesian, just like food chain in English.
You can also see similar patterns:

jaring makanan = food web (literally “food net”)
siklus hidup = life cycle (literally “cycle of life”)

Why is it di hutan tempat serigala hidup and not something like di hutan di mana serigala hidup?

Both are possible, but di hutan tempat serigala hidup is more natural and concise.

tempat = place
So tempat serigala hidup = the place (where) the wolves live

In Indonesian, tempat is frequently used to introduce a relative clause of place, similar to “where” in English:

desa tempat saya lahir – the village where I was born
rumah tempat kami tinggal – the house where we live

You can say di hutan di mana serigala hidup, but:

It sounds more formal and more written.
Everyday Indonesian usually prefers tempat for this “where” function.

So:

di hutan tempat serigala hidup = in the forest where the wolves live (very natural)
di hutan di mana serigala hidup = grammatically fine, but more formal/literary.

Why is there no yang in tempat serigala hidup? I expected something like tempat yang serigala hidup.

In tempat serigala hidup, the structure is:

tempat = place
serigala = wolves (subject of the clause)
hidup = live (verb)

So it’s literally “the place [where] wolves live.” Indonesian doesn’t need yang here because serigala is directly the subject of hidup.

You would normally use yang in a structure like:

tempat yang sepi – a place that is quiet (adjective phrase)
tempat yang saya sukai – a place that I like (object of a verb)

But when the pattern is [place] + [subject] + [verb], yang can be omitted:

tempat saya bekerja – the place where I work
negara dia lahir (more common: negara tempat dia lahir) – the country where he/she was born

So tempat serigala hidup is natural, and tempat yang serigala hidup is not.

Does serigala mean “wolf” or “wolves”? How do you know if it’s singular or plural?

serigala can mean wolf (singular) or wolves (plural). Indonesian usually does not mark plural on the noun itself.

The meaning is decided by context. Here:

A food chain in a forest ecosystem almost always talks about a species in general, so serigala is naturally interpreted as wolves.

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

banyak serigala – many wolves
para serigala – the wolves (as a group; sounds a bit more literary/formal)

But normally, serigala alone is enough for “wolf/wolves.”

Why is hidup used here instead of tinggal for “live”?

Both hidup and tinggal can be translated as live, but they’re used differently:

hidup = to live, to be alive / to have life in a place
- Focus: existence as living beings in a certain environment.
- Example: Ikan hidup di air. – Fish live in water.
tinggal = to live, stay, reside (as one’s home)
- Focus: residence/address.
- Example: Saya tinggal di Jakarta. – I live in Jakarta.

In an ecological/biological context (like a food chain), we talk about where animals exist naturally in the wild, so hidup is the correct choice:

hutan tempat serigala hidup – the forest where wolves live (as a species/habitat)

How is tense shown in menjelaskan? Does it mean “explains,” “explained,” or “is explaining”?

menjelaskan itself is not marked for tense. It simply means to explain (active, transitive).

Depending on context, it can be:

The poster explains – present/simple fact
The poster explained – past
The poster is explaining – present continuous

Indonesian relies on context or time expressions:

tadi – earlier
kemarin – yesterday
sudah / telah – has/have already (completed)
sedang – is currently (in progress)

For example:

Tadi poster di dekat kandang menjelaskan… – Earlier, the poster explained…
Poster di dekat kandang sedang menjelaskan… – The poster is explaining… (right now)

In your sentence, without extra markers, it’s generally understood as a general statement of fact: The poster near the cage explains the food chain…

Could the sentence be Poster menjelaskan rantai makanan di hutan tempat serigala hidup di dekat kandang? Where can di dekat kandang go?

Word order affects what is modified:

Poster di dekat kandang menjelaskan…
- di dekat kandang modifies poster
- Meaning: The poster that is near the cage explains… (location of the poster)
Poster menjelaskan rantai makanan di hutan tempat serigala hidup di dekat kandang.
- Now di dekat kandang is closest to hidup, so it tends to be read as:
- The poster explains the food chain in the forest where wolves live near the cage.
  (As if the wolves or maybe the forest is near the cage, which is confusing.)

So the original sentence is better because:

It clearly attaches di dekat kandang to Poster, which is what you mean: the poster is near the cage.

Could you say Poster itu di dekat kandang menjelaskan…? What’s the role of itu?

You can say:

Poster itu di dekat kandang menjelaskan rantai makanan…

Here:

itu = that / the (a demonstrative)

But native speakers would usually place itu immediately after the noun it modifies:

Poster itu di dekat kandang menjelaskan…
→ reads as: That poster near the cage explains…

Without itu, Poster di dekat kandang can mean a poster near the cage or the poster near the cage depending on context.
With itu, you’re pointing to a specific poster: that poster.