Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Buaya di sungai liar bisa menyimpan racun di mulutnya, jadi reaksi korban bisa sangat cepat. - Crocodiles in wild rivers can hold poison in their mouths, so the victim’s reaction can be very fast.

Unlike English, Indonesian does not need a separate word like in the or at the; di alone covers in/at/on, and there is no article (the / a).

Why is the adjective liar placed after sungai (in sungai liar) instead of before it, like in English?

In Indonesian, adjectives normally come after the noun:

sungai liar = wild river (literally: river wild)
buaya besar = big crocodile
reaksi cepat = fast reaction

So the natural order is noun + adjective, not adjective + noun as in English.

Does sungai liar mean wild river or river with wild animals? What exactly is wild here?

Literally, sungai liar means wild river – the river itself is wild/natural, not controlled or artificial.

In the full phrase Buaya di sungai liar, a natural reading is:

Crocodiles in wild rivers… (rivers that are in the wild, not man‑made canals or parks)

The adjective liar grammatically describes sungai, not buaya.
If you wanted to clearly describe wild crocodiles, you would usually say:

Buaya liar di sungai = wild crocodiles in the river

Could I move liar to describe buaya instead, like Buaya liar di sungai? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, and it does shift the focus:

Buaya di sungai liar
→ Emphasis: the river is wild.
→ Natural translation: Crocodiles in wild rivers…
Buaya liar di sungai
→ Emphasis: the crocodiles are wild.
→ Natural translation: Wild crocodiles in the river…

Both are grammatical; you choose based on what you want to highlight.

What does bisa mean in this sentence, and is it the same as dapat?

Here bisa means can / be able to:

Buaya … bisa menyimpan racun… = Crocodiles … can store poison…

Bisa and dapat both often mean can:

bisa – common, everyday, can mean ability or possibility.
dapat – a bit more formal or neutral; can also mean receive / get in other contexts.

In this sentence, you could say:

Buaya di sungai liar dapat menyimpan racun di mulutnya…

It would still be correct and natural, just a touch more formal.

I know bisa can also mean venom. Is that related to racun here?

Yes, Indonesian has:

bisa (noun) = venom (especially from animals: snakes, etc.)
racun (noun) = poison (more general)
bisa (verb/modal) = can / be able to

Your sentence uses:

bisa as a modal verb (can)
racun as poison/venom

You could also say:

menyimpan bisa di mulutnya = store venom in its mouth

That would emphasize venom rather than poison, but you must be careful with context, because in the same sentence bisa might then be confused with bisa = can if not clear.

What does menyimpan mean in bisa menyimpan racun? Is it always to store?

Menyimpan is the active verb meaning to keep / to store / to put away.

In this sentence:

bisa menyimpan racun di mulutnya
→ can store/keep poison in its mouth

Common uses:

menyimpan uang di bank = to keep/store money in the bank
menyimpan makanan di lemari es = to store food in the fridge

Depending on context, it can also feel like harbor / hold (e.g., storing something inside a body or object).

What does the -nya in mulutnya mean exactly? Is it his, her, its, or their?

The suffix -nya is a third‑person possessive marker: his / her / its / their. Context decides which one is meant.

mulut = mouth
mulutnya = his/her/its/their mouth

In the sentence, mulutnya refers back to buaya (crocodile), so in natural English:

in its mouth (because we usually say its for animals in neutral description)

Indonesian does not distinguish gender or number here; -nya stays the same.

Why is it di mulutnya and not di dalam mulutnya? What’s the difference?

Both are correct:

di mulutnya = in/at its mouth (can be inside or generally at the mouth area)
di dalam mulutnya = inside its mouth (more explicitly inside)

Di dalam adds a clear sense of inside.
If you want to stress that the poison is actually inside the mouth cavity, you can say:

…menyimpan racun di dalam mulutnya…

But in many contexts, di mulutnya already implies in the mouth and sounds more concise.

What does jadi mean here? Is it to become like menjadi, or does it mean so?

In this sentence, jadi is a conjunction meaning so / therefore:

…di mulutnya, jadi reaksi korban bisa sangat cepat.
→ …in its mouth, so the victim’s reaction can be very fast.

As a verb, jadi (and menjadi) can mean to become:

Dia jadi marah. = He/She became angry.
Air menjadi es. = Water becomes ice.

But here, because of the position and function linking two clauses, it clearly means so / as a result.

What does reaksi korban literally mean, and why not reaksi dari korban?

Literally:

reaksi = reaction
korban = victim
reaksi korban = the victim’s reaction

This is a common noun + noun structure where the second noun works like possession or association:

rumah saya = my house
baju anak = the child’s clothes
reaksi korban = the victim’s reaction

You can say reaksi dari korban, but:

reaksi korban is shorter, more natural, and very common.
reaksi dari korban can sound slightly more formal or explanatory; you might see it in more explicit writing.

Why is it bisa sangat cepat and not bisa cepat sangat? What is the rule for sangat?

Sangat is an intensifier meaning very, and it normally comes before adjectives:

sangat cepat = very fast
sangat besar = very big
sangat penting = very important

So the pattern is:

bisa sangat cepat = can be very fast

Putting sangat after the adjective (cepat sangat) is not natural.
An alternative (especially in speech) is cepat sekali:

bisa cepat sekali = can be very fast

Sangat cepat and cepat sekali are both correct; sangat is slightly more neutral/formal, sekali is very common in speech.

The Indonesian uses buaya without any plural marking. Does it mean a crocodile or crocodiles?

Indonesian nouns normally do not change form for singular vs plural. Buaya can mean:

a crocodile
the crocodile
crocodiles
the crocodiles

Context decides. In your sentence, a natural English translation is plural:

Wild crocodiles in the river can store poison…

If you want to explicitly show plural, you can use:

buaya‑buaya (reduplication, common for countable nouns)
para buaya (para is a plural marker usually for people, so not ideal here)

For animals, buaya‑buaya is more standard than para buaya.

Is there any article like a / the in Buaya di sungai liar? How would I say in a wild river vs in the wild river?

Indonesian does not have articles like a / an / the.
Di sungai liar on its own can be translated depending on context as:

in a wild river
in the wild river
in wild rivers

If you really need to emphasize a (one) river, you can add sebuah:

di sebuah sungai liar = in a wild river (one specific but not previously known river)

But in most natural Indonesian, you simply say di sungai liar and let context determine how to translate the article into English.

Could korban here mean victims (plural)? How would I make that explicit?

Yes. Like buaya, korban does not change form for plural. So reaksi korban can mean:

the victim’s reaction
the victims’ reactions

Context decides if it feels singular or plural.

To make it explicitly plural, you can say:

reaksi para korban = the reactions of the victims
(para is a plural marker, mainly for people)

Or you could reduplicate (less common in this specific phrase, but possible):

korban‑korban = victims
→ reaksi korban‑korban itu = the reactions of those victims