Arkeolog perempuan itu bercerita bagaimana timnya menyelidiki gua tua di pulau kecil.

That female archaeologist tells how her team investigates an old cave on a small island.

Breakdown of Arkeolog perempuan itu bercerita bagaimana timnya menyelidiki gua tua di pulau kecil.

• itu: that
• kecil: small
• di: on
• nya: his/her
• pulau: the island
• perempuan: female
• tim: the team
• bagaimana: how
• tua: old
• arkeolog: the archaeologist
• bercerita: to tell
• menyelidiki: to investigate
• gua: the cave

Questions & Answers about Arkeolog perempuan itu bercerita bagaimana timnya menyelidiki gua tua di pulau kecil.

What does arkeolog perempuan itu literally mean, and why is the word order like that?

Arkeolog perempuan itu literally means “that female archaeologist / that woman archaeologist.”

• arkeolog = archaeologist
• perempuan = woman / female
• itu = that / the (pointing to a specific one already known in context)

In Indonesian, it is very common to put a general noun first and then a more specific noun after it. So:

• arkeolog perempuan = an archaeologist who is a woman (female archaeologist)

The demonstrative itu usually comes at the end of the noun phrase:

• arkeolog perempuan itu = that (specific) female archaeologist

You could say perempuan itu alone for “that woman”, but when specifying a profession, arkeolog perempuan itu is the natural order.

Could you also say perempuan arkeolog itu instead of arkeolog perempuan itu?

Perempuan arkeolog itu is not wrong, but it sounds less natural and less common than arkeolog perempuan itu.

• arkeolog perempuan naturally reads as “woman archaeologist” (profession first, then gender).
• perempuan arkeolog sounds more like “woman who is an archaeologist”, but this pattern is not used as frequently in everyday Indonesian.

For describing someone’s profession with gender, Indonesians usually say:

• dokter perempuan = female doctor
• guru laki-laki = male teacher
• arkeolog perempuan = female archaeologist

So arkeolog perempuan itu is the most typical phrasing.

What is the difference between perempuan and wanita here?

Both perempuan and wanita can mean “woman / female.”

Nuances (in modern usage, especially in Indonesia):

• perempuan
  
  • Very common and neutral in everyday speech.
  • Used in both casual and formal contexts.
• wanita
  
  • Slightly more formal or bookish.
  • Common in names of organizations, slogans, or formal writing (e.g., hak-hak wanita = women’s rights).

In this sentence, arkeolog perempuan itu and arkeolog wanita itu would both be understood as “that female archaeologist.”
Using perempuan just sounds more neutral, natural, and current in many contexts.

What does bercerita mean exactly, and how is it different from menceritakan?

Both come from the root cerita (story).

• bercerita

  • Intransitive; often “to tell a story, to talk about something” in general.
  • Does not usually take a direct object right after it.
  • Example: Dia bercerita tentang liburannya. = He/She told (a story) about his/her vacation.

• menceritakan

  • Transitive; “to tell (something), to relate (something)” and normally followed by an object.
  • Example: Dia menceritakan liburannya kepadaku. = He/She told me about his/her vacation.

In your sentence:

• Arkeolog perempuan itu bercerita bagaimana…
  = “That female archaeologist told (a story about) how…”

Here bercerita is followed by a clause (bagaimana timnya menyelidiki…) instead of a simple noun object, which is natural with bercerita.

What is bagaimana doing here? I thought it meant “how” in questions.

Yes, bagaimana normally means “how” in questions:

• Bagaimana kabarmu? = How are you?

But bagaimana can also introduce an embedded clause that describes the manner or process of something, similar to English “how” in “She told me how they did it.”

In the sentence:

• … bercerita bagaimana timnya menyelidiki gua tua …
  = “… told (the story of) how her team investigated the old cave …”

So bagaimana here introduces the content of what she told: the way / process by which the team investigated the cave.

What does timnya mean exactly? Is it “her team,” “his team,” or “their team”?

Timnya consists of:

• tim = team
• -nya = a clitic that can mean his / her / their / its / the (depending on context)

So timnya is context-dependent. In this sentence:

• The subject is arkeolog perempuan itu (that female archaeologist),
  so timnya is very naturally understood as “her team.”

But grammatically, timnya alone could mean:

• her team, his team, their team, the team

Indonesian does not mark gender in -nya, and it can also function like “the” or “that …’s” in some contexts. We rely on context (here, a specific female archaeologist) to understand it as “her team.”

What is the root of menyelidiki, and what does the prefix meN- do?

The verb menyelidiki comes from the root:

• selidik = to investigate / to examine (root form)

With the prefix:

• meN- + selidik → menyelidiki
  (the N becomes ny before s)

Function:

• meN- is a very common active verb prefix in Indonesian.
• It usually turns a root into a transitive active verb that takes a direct object.

So menyelidiki means “to investigate (something)”:

• Timnya menyelidiki gua tua itu.
  = Her team investigated the old cave.

No tense is marked in the verb itself; time is understood from context or added time words (like kemarin, sudah, etc.).

How can I tell this sentence is talking about the past if the verb doesn’t change?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense (past, present, future). Tense is almost always expressed by:

• Context: we might already be talking about a past expedition.
• Time expressions: kemarin (yesterday), tadi (earlier), tahun lalu (last year).
• Aspect markers like sudah (already), pernah (ever), sedang (in the process of).

In your sentence:

• Arkeolog perempuan itu bercerita bagaimana timnya menyelidiki gua tua…

A natural translation is “told how her team investigated…”, which is past in English, but Indonesian itself does not force past; it could also be present:

• … is telling how her team investigates…

Only wider context or added words (e.g., kemarin arkeolog perempuan itu bercerita…) will explicitly mark it as past.

Why is it gua tua, not tua gua? How does adjective order work?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they modify.

• gua = cave
• tua = old
• gua tua = old cave

Other examples:

• rumah besar = big house
• orang kaya = rich person
• buku baru = new book

So:

• gua tua = old cave
• tua gua would sound wrong in standard Indonesian.

Does di pulau kecil mean “on a small island” or “in a small island”? Why is di used?

di is a very general preposition for location and can translate as “in / on / at” depending on context:

• di rumah = at home
• di meja = on the table
• di kota = in the city

For pulau (island), English prefers “on” an island, but Indonesian still just uses di:

• di pulau kecil = on a small island

So di is the standard preposition; the English preposition (in / on / at) is decided when translating and depends on natural English usage, not on different Indonesian words.

Does di pulau kecil describe the cave, or the place where they investigated it?

In menyelidiki gua tua di pulau kecil, the most natural reading is:

• “investigated an old cave on a small island”
  → di pulau kecil describes the location of the cave.

Why?

• In Indonesian, a prepositional phrase right after a noun usually modifies that noun:
  • gua tua di pulau kecil = an old cave (located) on a small island

If you wanted to emphasize that the investigating activity took place on a small island (not specifically that the cave is on a small island), you might rephrase or add clarity:

• … menyelidiki gua tua itu ketika mereka berada di sebuah pulau kecil.
  = … investigated the old cave when they were on a small island.

But in your original sentence, the default interpretation is that the cave is on a small island.

How would I say “The female archaeologist told us how her team investigated the old cave on the small island”?

You can add an indirect object phrase like kepada kami (to us) and make the cave and island definite:

• Arkeolog perempuan itu bercerita kepada kami bagaimana timnya menyelidiki gua tua di pulau kecil itu.

Breakdown:

• arkeolog perempuan itu = that female archaeologist
• bercerita kepada kami = told us / told (a story) to us
• bagaimana timnya menyelidiki = how her team investigated
• gua tua = the old cave
• di pulau kecil itu = on that small island

If the cave is also specific, you could say gua tua itu di pulau kecil itu (that old cave on that small island), depending on context.