Serigala itu tinggal di hutan lebat.

that

Breakdown of Serigala itu tinggal di hutan lebat.

• di: in
• hutan: the forest
• lebat: dense

Questions & Answers about Serigala itu tinggal di hutan lebat.

What exactly does itu mean in serigala itu? Is it that wolf or the wolf?

Itu is a demonstrative that literally means that, but very often functions like English the when you’re talking about a specific, known thing.

• Serigala itu can be:
  • that wolf (the one over there / just mentioned), or
  • the wolf (a specific wolf already known in the context).

So serigala itu tinggal di hutan lebat is most naturally The wolf lives in the dense forest or That wolf lives in the dense forest, depending on context.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence? Why not something like serigala itu adalah tinggal di hutan lebat?

Indonesian usually doesn’t use a separate verb to be (like is/are) before a main verb.

• Tinggal itself is the verb to live / to reside.
• You do not say adalah tinggal; that’s ungrammatical.

Correct patterns:

• Serigala itu tinggal di hutan lebat.
  → The/That wolf lives in the dense forest.
• Serigala itu adalah hewan buas.
  → Here adalah links a noun to a noun (wolf = a wild animal), not to a verb.

Use adalah only to link a subject to a noun phrase, not before an action verb like tinggal.