Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Fosil itu berasal dari hewan laut purba yang hidup di sekitar terumbu karang. - That fossil comes from an ancient sea animal that lived around coral reefs.

Fosil itu can be translated as:
- “that fossil” (if you’re contrasting it with other fossils or pointing at it), or
- “the fossil” (if both speaker and listener already know which fossil is meant).

Indonesian does not have a separate word for “the” and “that”; itu can cover both meanings depending on context.

You could also say:

Fosil ini = “this fossil” (closer to the speaker)
Plain fosil (no itu/ini) = can mean “a fossil” or “fossils” in general, depending on context.

What does berasal dari mean exactly, and why not just use dari?

Berasal dari is a common phrase meaning “to originate from / to come from / to be from.”

berasal comes from asal (origin, source) + prefix ber-, giving the idea of “to have as an origin.”
dari = “from.”

So berasal dari literally feels like “to have its origin from,” which is why it translates well as “comes from / originated from.”

Compare:

Fosil itu berasal dari hewan laut purba.
= “That fossil comes/originates from ancient sea animals.”
Fosil itu dari hewan laut purba.
This is more casual and shortened; understandable, but less formal or complete.

You can also sometimes see:

Asalnya dari … (informal)
e.g. Fosil itu asalnya dari hewan laut purba.

How is the phrase hewan laut purba structured? Which word modifies which?

The structure is:

hewan = animal
hewan laut = sea animal / marine animal (laut “sea” modifies hewan)
hewan laut purba = ancient sea animal (purba “ancient” modifies the whole hewan laut phrase)

So it’s like:

[hewan laut] purba = an ancient [sea animal]

In English we use several adjectives in front (ancient marine animals), but in Indonesian the basic rule is:

Noun + (Classifier) + Descriptors (adjectives, specifying nouns, etc.) placed AFTER

So:

hewan laut besar = big sea animal
hewan laut purba = ancient sea animal
hewan laut purba besar = big ancient sea animal

What is the role of yang in yang hidup di sekitar terumbu karang?

Yang introduces a relative clause—a phrase that describes the noun before it.

hewan laut purba = ancient sea animals
yang hidup di sekitar terumbu karang = that lived around coral reefs

Together: > hewan laut purba yang hidup di sekitar terumbu karang
> = “ancient sea animals that lived around coral reefs”

Yang is like English “that / which / who” in relative clauses:

orang yang bekerja di sini = the person who works here
buku yang saya baca = the book that I read
hewan laut purba yang hidup... = ancient sea animals that lived...

Why is hidup used here, and not another verb like tinggal?

Hidup literally means “to live / to be alive” and is often used for:

an organism’s existence in a place or time
general living, not in the sense of “reside in a house” but “live (biologically)”

Here, hewan laut purba yang hidup di sekitar terumbu karang is about animals that lived (existed) around coral reefs, so hidup is natural.

Tinggal usually means “to stay / to reside (live) in a place” (like humans in cities/houses):

Saya tinggal di Jakarta. = I live in Jakarta.
Mereka tinggal di desa. = They live in a village.

For animals in a habitat, hidup is normally used:

Harimau Sumatra hidup di hutan. = Sumatran tigers live in the forest.

How is past tense expressed here? Why does hidup not change form for “lived”?

Indonesian verbs typically do not change form for tense. There is no past tense conjugation like English live → lived.

Hidup can mean live or lived, depending on context:

Sekarang, banyak ikan hidup di sini.
= Now, many fish live here.
Jutaan tahun yang lalu, dinosaurus hidup di bumi.
= Millions of years ago, dinosaurs lived on Earth.

In Fosil itu berasal dari hewan laut purba yang hidup di sekitar terumbu karang, the ideas of “ancient” (purba) and the fact it’s a fossil already tell you it’s in the past. So:

yang hidup = that lived

If you really want to emphasize the past, you might add time words:

yang dulu hidup di sekitar terumbu karang = that used to live around coral reefs

What does di sekitar mean, and how is it different from just sekitar?

Di sekitar is a prepositional phrase meaning “around / in the area around / near.”

di = at / in / on
sekitar = around / approximately / the area surrounding

Together:

di sekitar terumbu karang
= around the coral reefs / in the vicinity of the coral reefs

Difference:

di sekitar + noun
- physical location around something
- Mereka tinggal di sekitar sungai. = They live around the river.
sekitar without di can mean:
- around/approximately (with numbers):
  sekitar 10 orang = around 10 people
- “the surroundings” / “around (as a noun)” in some contexts

So here you need di sekitar terumbu karang (with di) to say “around the coral reefs.”

What does terumbu karang literally mean, and is it singular or plural?

Literally:

terumbu = reef
karang = coral / rock (in this context, coral)

So terumbu karang = coral reef.

About number:

Indonesian usually doesn’t mark singular vs plural explicitly.
terumbu karang can mean “a coral reef” or “coral reefs” depending on context.

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

banyak terumbu karang = many coral reefs
terumbu-terumbu karang = coral reefs (with reduplication to stress plurality, but this can sound a bit heavy; more natural is to use banyak or other quantifiers).

How does Indonesian show plural and articles like “a / an / the” in this sentence?

Indonesian does not have direct equivalents of “a / an / the.” Also, plural is often not marked.

In the sentence:

Fosil itu
- could be “the fossil” or “that fossil”
hewan laut purba
- could be “an ancient sea animal” or “ancient sea animals” (plural)

Plural is understood from context. If you want to make it explicit:

hewan-hewan laut purba = ancient sea animals (emphasized plural)
banyak hewan laut purba = many ancient sea animals

Articles are also inferred from context:

sebuah fosil = a fossil (using a classifier sebuah)
fosil itu = the/that fossil (definite, known one)

Can we say purba hewan laut instead of hewan laut purba?

No, that would be ungrammatical or at least very unnatural.

In Indonesian, descriptors (adjectives, describing nouns) almost always come after the main noun they describe:

hewan purba = ancient animal
hewan laut = sea animal
hewan laut purba = ancient sea animal

Putting purba in front, purba hewan laut, does not follow the normal pattern and sounds wrong.

General rule: > Noun + (specifier nouns) + adjectives (including words like purba, besar, merah)
> not the other way around.

Could we replace hewan with binatang here? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

Fosil itu berasal dari binatang laut purba yang hidup di sekitar terumbu karang.

This is understandable and not wrong.

Differences:

hewan: slightly more formal/neutral, often used in scientific or educational contexts.
binatang: also means “animal,” but can feel a bit more colloquial or everyday.

In a sentence about fossils and ancient sea life, hewan laut purba sounds a bit more neutral/scientific than binatang laut purba, which might sound more casual.

Is there any difference in nuance between fosil itu and fosil tersebut?

Both can be translated as “that fossil” / “the fossil,” but they differ in tone:

fosil itu
- very common, neutral
- used in both spoken and written Indonesian
- can feel a bit more immediate, like “that fossil (we’re talking about / seeing).”
fosil tersebut
- more formal, often found in written texts, reports, academic writing
- feels like “the said fossil” / “the aforementioned fossil.”

So in casual speech:

Fosil itu berasal dari hewan laut purba... is natural.

In a formal report or scientific article:

Fosil tersebut berasal dari hewan laut purba... might be preferred.

What is the overall word order compared to English, and why does the Indonesian sentence look so different?

The English idea is:

“That fossil comes from ancient sea animals that lived around coral reefs.”

Indonesian word order is mostly Subject – Predicate – (Details), like English, but modifiers come after nouns:

Fosil itu = that/the fossil (Subject)
berasal dari = comes from (Predicate)
hewan laut purba = ancient sea animals (Object of “from”)
yang hidup di sekitar terumbu karang = that lived around coral reefs (relative clause modifying hewan laut purba)

So structurally it’s:

[Fosil itu] [berasal dari] [hewan laut purba [yang hidup di sekitar terumbu karang]].

The main differences from English:

No verb tense changes (hidup doesn’t become “lived”).
Adjectives and descriptive elements go after the noun (hewan laut purba, not purba hewan laut).
yang introduces relative clauses instead of English “that/which/who.”

But the basic flow (Subject – Verb – from + Noun + relative clause) is actually quite parallel once you get used to modifier placement.