Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di sudut lain, kami melihat fosil besar yang baru ditemukan oleh arkeolog lokal. - In another corner, we see a large fossil that was just discovered by a local archaeologist.

You need di to mark the location, just like English needs at or in:
Without di, sudut lain would just be a noun phrase (another corner), not a full prepositional phrase (in another corner).

What exactly does sudut lain mean? Is it “another corner” or “the other corner”? What’s the nuance?

sudut lain literally means other corner or another corner. Context decides which is more natural in English:

If there are several corners and you’re just contrasting with the one you mentioned before → another corner
If there are only two relevant corners → the other corner

More explicit alternatives:

sudut yang lain – a bit more explicit: the other corner / the different corner
di sudut lainnya – often feels like in the other corner (more definite)

In everyday speech, di sudut lain is very natural for both “in another corner” and “in the other corner,” depending on context.

What’s the difference between kami and kita, and why is kami used here?

Both mean we, but:

kami = we (not including you) → exclusive
kita = we (including you) → inclusive

In this sentence, kami suggests:

“we” (the speaker’s group) saw it, and the listener is not part of that group.

If the speaker wanted to include the listener in the group that saw the fossil, they would use:

Di sudut lain, kita melihat fosil besar…
= At another corner, we (including you) saw a big fossil…

Why is it fosil besar and not besar fosil? Where do adjectives usually go in Indonesian?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun:

fosil besar = big fossil
arkeolog lokal = local archaeologist
rumah tua = old house

Putting the adjective before the noun (besar fosil) is normally wrong or at least very unnatural.

So, the normal pattern is:

noun + adjective
fosil besar, buku baru, anak kecil, etc.

What does yang do in fosil besar yang baru ditemukan oleh arkeolog lokal?

Yang introduces a relative clause describing the noun before it.

Breakdown:

fosil besar = the big fossil
yang baru ditemukan oleh arkeolog lokal = that was recently discovered by a local archaeologist

So together:

fosil besar yang baru ditemukan oleh arkeolog lokal
= the big fossil that was just discovered by a local archaeologist

Functionally, yang works like that / which / who in English relative clauses.

What does baru mean here? Is it “new” or “just (recently)”?

Baru can mean both:

new (as an adjective):
- baju baru = new clothes
just / recently (as an adverb of time):
- dia baru datang = he/she has just arrived

In yang baru ditemukan, baru has the “just / recently” meaning:

yang baru ditemukan = that has just been discovered / that was recently discovered

If you wanted to emphasize “brand-new” fossil (not old), you’d usually say something like:

fosil yang baru saja ditemukan – has just been discovered
fosil baru – a new fossil (context decides if “new to science,” new in the museum, etc.)

What kind of verb form is ditemukan, and how is it different from menemukan?

Ditemukan and menemukan come from the base temu (find / meet).

menemukan = to find / to discover (active voice)
- arkeolog lokal menemukan fosil besar
  = the local archaeologist discovered a big fossil
ditemukan = to be found / to be discovered (passive voice)
- fosil besar itu ditemukan oleh arkeolog lokal
  = the big fossil was discovered by a local archaeologist

In the original sentence:

yang baru ditemukan oleh arkeolog lokal
= that was just discovered by a local archaeologist

So di-…-kan here is a passive form, focusing on the fossil (the thing discovered) rather than the archaeologist (the discoverer).

Is oleh necessary in ditemukan oleh arkeolog lokal? Can it be left out?

Oleh means by (in passive sentences). It introduces the doer (agent).

ditemukan oleh arkeolog lokal
= discovered by a local archaeologist

You can often omit oleh + agent when:

the agent is obvious
the agent is not important

For example:

Fosil besar itu baru ditemukan.
= The big fossil has just been discovered. (no agent mentioned)

In your sentence, keeping oleh arkeolog lokal makes it clear who discovered it, so oleh is appropriate and natural.

What does arkeolog lokal mean exactly, and why is lokal after arkeolog?

arkeolog = archaeologist
lokal = local

So arkeolog lokal = local archaeologist.

Just like fosil besar, this follows the standard Indonesian pattern:

noun + adjective
arkeolog (noun) + lokal (adjective)

If you say lokal arkeolog, it sounds wrong or at best very odd in Indonesian.

Indonesian doesn’t mark tense like English. How do we know baru ditemukan refers to the recent past?

Indonesian usually uses time words and context, not verb changes, to show tense.

Here:

baru (in this position) = just / recently

So:

baru ditemukan = has just been discovered / was recently discovered

There is no dedicated past-tense form of the verb itself. The “recent past” meaning comes from baru plus context.

Can yang be removed from fosil besar yang baru ditemukan?

No, not in this structure.

fosil besar yang baru ditemukan
= the big fossil that was newly discovered

If you remove yang:

fosil besar baru ditemukan
Now this can be read as:
- “a big fossil has just been discovered” (a whole clause), not
- “the big fossil that was just discovered” (a noun with a relative clause).

Yang is needed here to clearly mark “newly discovered” as a modifier of fosil besar, not as a whole separate predicate.

Could we say di pojok lain instead of di sudut lain? What’s the difference between pojok and sudut?

Both can mean corner, but there’s a nuance:

sudut – more neutral, often used in both everyday and somewhat formal contexts
pojok – very common in everyday speech, a bit more colloquial

In many everyday contexts, di sudut lain and di pojok lain could both work and mean “in another corner”.

However, in a more neutral or slightly formal narrative about archaeology, di sudut lain sounds a bit more standard/neutral than di pojok lain.

Does fosil besar mean one fossil or many fossils? How do we know the number?

Indonesian nouns usually don’t show plural by changing form.

fosil besar could mean:
- a big fossil
- big fossils

Context tells you which is intended. If you want to make it clearly plural, you can say:

fosil-fosil besar = big fossils
banyak fosil besar = many big fossils

In this sentence, English would most naturally interpret it as “a big fossil”, but Indonesian itself doesn’t force singular or plural.

Is the comma after di sudut lain required? How does it affect the sentence?

The comma in:

Di sudut lain, kami melihat fosil besar…

is stylistically helpful but not strictly required in casual writing.

It:

separates the location phrase (di sudut lain) from the main clause (kami melihat…)
makes the sentence easier to read and more natural in formal or written style

Without the comma, it’s still understandable in speech and informal writing, but in formal text, the comma is preferred.