Pulau buatan kecil itu indah.

That small artificial island is beautiful.

Breakdown of Pulau buatan kecil itu indah.

• adalah: to be
• itu: that
• indah: beautiful
• kecil: small
• pulau: the island
• buatan: artificial

Questions & Answers about Pulau buatan kecil itu indah.

What does itu mean here? Is it “that” or “the”?

Itu is a demonstrative that literally means “that”, but in real usage it often works like “the” in English.

• Pulau buatan kecil itu indah.
  = That small artificial island is beautiful.
  = The small artificial island is beautiful.

Whether you translate it as “that” or “the” depends on context and how specific/contrastive you want to sound in English. Indonesian doesn’t have a true word for “the”, so itu often fills that role when you’re talking about a specific known thing.

Why is there no word like “is” (e.g. adalah) in the sentence?

In Indonesian, you usually don’t need a copula like “is/are” when linking a noun (subject) to an adjective:

• Pulau buatan kecil itu indah.
  Literally: That small artificial island beautiful.
  Natural English: That small artificial island *is beautiful.*

This pattern is normal and correct. You only use adalah in more formal situations, typically before a noun or noun phrase, not before a plain adjective:

• Pulau itu adalah pulau buatan.
  That island *is an artificial island.* (noun = pulau buatan)

But:

• ❌ Pulau buatan kecil itu adalah indah. (wrong / very unnatural)

What exactly does buatan mean, and how is it formed?

Buatan comes from the verb buat (to make) plus the suffix -an.

• buat = to make
• buatan = made, manufactured, artificial, man‑made

In pulau buatan, it means “artificial island” or “man-made island.”
So:

• pulau buatan = artificial island
• gula buatan = artificial sugar
• produk buatan Indonesia = product made in Indonesia

The nuance is that the thing is created by people, not natural.

Why is the order pulau buatan kecil, not pulau kecil buatan? Is there a rule for adjective order?

Indonesian usually puts descriptive words after the noun, but several modifiers can stack, and the most typical / inherent characteristic tends to come closest to the noun.

Basic pattern:

Noun + (Type/Category) + (Size/Quality/Opinion)

In pulau buatan kecil:

• pulau = island (noun)
• buatan = made / artificial (type/category of island)
• kecil = small (size)

So the order matches the pattern pulau (noun) + buatan (type) + kecil (size).

Is pulau kecil buatan wrong?

• It’s grammatically possible, but it can sound a bit odd or marked; it may be understood as “an island that is small and (somehow) made” rather than the more natural fixed idea “artificial island (that happens to be small)”.
• Pulau buatan kecil sounds more natural when “artificial island” is treated as one concept.

In practice, for this meaning, pulau buatan kecil is the more natural word order.

What is the difference between indah, cantik, and bagus? Why use indah here?

All three can be translated as “beautiful/good/nice”, but they’re used in different contexts:

• indah

  • Used for scenery, places, views, nature, sounds, abstract beauty.
  • e.g. pemandangan indah (beautiful scenery), pulau yang indah (a beautiful island).

• cantik

  • Often for physical beauty of people (especially women) or pretty objects.
  • e.g. wanita cantik (beautiful woman), baju cantik (pretty dress).

• bagus

  • More general: good, nice, of good quality, impressive.
  • e.g. film bagus (good movie), ide bagus (good idea).

For an island or landscape, indah is the most natural choice, because it focuses on scenic / aesthetic beauty.
So Pulau buatan kecil itu indah = That small artificial island is (scenically) beautiful.

Where is the “a” or “the” in this sentence? How do you say “a small artificial island” vs “the small artificial island” in Indonesian?

Indonesian does not have articles like “a/an/the”. The noun pulau by itself is neutral; context decides whether it’s “a(n)” or “the”.

To express “the small artificial island”, you typically use itu:

• Pulau buatan kecil itu indah.
  = That/the small artificial island is beautiful.

To express “a small artificial island”, you often just drop itu:

• Pulau buatan kecil indah.
  As a standalone sentence this sounds unfinished; more natural in context:
  
  • Di sana ada pulau buatan kecil yang indah.
    There is a beautiful small artificial island there.

You can add sebuah (a classifier) if you really want to emphasize “one island / a single island”:

• Sebuah pulau buatan kecil itu indah.
  This is unusual; more natural:
  
  • Ada sebuah pulau buatan kecil yang indah.
    There is a beautiful small artificial island.

So, Indonesian doesn’t mark a/the directly; it uses context and sometimes itu (for definiteness) or sebuah (for “one / a piece of”).

Can Pulau buatan kecil itu indah also mean “Those small artificial islands are beautiful”?

Yes, it can, depending on context. Indonesian usually does not mark plural on the noun:

• pulau
  can mean island or islands.

To make plural more explicit, you can:

1. Use reduplication (often but not always):

   • pulau-pulau buatan kecil itu indah.
     Those small artificial islands are beautiful.

2. Add a plural marker like para or banyak, but those don’t fit here very well.

Without extra markers, Pulau buatan kecil itu indah could be translated as:

• That small artificial island is beautiful.
• Those small artificial islands are beautiful.

The correct English translation depends on what the previous context is talking about (one island or several).

Can I omit itu and just say Pulau buatan kecil indah?

As a complete sentence, Pulau buatan kecil indah sounds unnatural or at least incomplete to native speakers.

You usually need something to clearly mark it as a statement. Common patterns are:

• Pulau buatan kecil itu indah.
  That small artificial island is beautiful.

• Pulau buatan kecil ini indah.
  This small artificial island is beautiful.

• Pulau buatan kecil itu indah sekali.
  That small artificial island is very beautiful.

Without itu/ini or some other element, “Pulau buatan kecil indah” feels more like a fragment than a full sentence, unless it’s part of a larger structure (e.g. Saya suka pulau buatan kecil indah seperti itu.).

Is there any difference between pulau buatan kecil itu and pulau kecil buatan itu?

Both are grammatically possible, but they have slightly different feel:

1. Pulau buatan kecil itu

   • Most natural reading: “that small artificial island”.
   • Treats pulau buatan (“artificial island”) as a tighter unit, then adds kecil (“small”).

2. Pulau kecil buatan itu

   • Sounds a bit less natural in this meaning.
   • Could be heard as: that island which is small and made/produced, with less emphasis on “artificial island” as a fixed concept.
   • Native speakers might still understand your intention, but it’s not the default phrasing.

For describing the common concept “small artificial island,” pulau buatan kecil itu is the more idiomatic order.

How would you say “This small artificial island is beautiful” instead?

You just change itu (“that/the”) to ini (“this”):

• Pulau buatan kecil ini indah.
  = This small artificial island is beautiful.

Pattern:

• [Noun + modifiers] + ini → this …
• [Noun + modifiers] + itu → that/the …