Beberapa zat kimia berbahaya bagi tubuh.

Some chemical substances are dangerous for the body.

Breakdown of Beberapa zat kimia berbahaya bagi tubuh.

• adalah: to be
• bagi: for
• beberapa: some
• tubuh: the body
• berbahaya: dangerous
• zat: the substance
• kimia: chemical

Questions & Answers about Beberapa zat kimia berbahaya bagi tubuh.

What does beberapa mean exactly, and does it imply a specific number?

Beberapa means some, several, or a few. It does not imply a precise number; it just indicates more than one, but not many.

• It’s vague, like English some.
• It doesn’t change form based on gender or number (there’s no plural agreement in Indonesian).

Examples:

• beberapa orang – some people
• beberapa hari – several days

Why doesn’t zat kimia look plural if the sentence means “Some chemicals are dangerous…”?

Indonesian nouns generally don’t change form for plural. Plurality is understood from:

1. Context
2. Words like beberapa (some), banyak (many), para (for people)

Here, beberapa already signals plurality, so zat kimia stays in its base form.

• zat kimia can mean a chemical or chemicals, depending on context.
• You don’t say zats kimia or zat-zat kimia in normal everyday speech here; beberapa zat kimia is enough.

Reduplication (zat-zat kimia) is possible to emphasize plurality, but with beberapa it sounds redundant or overly formal.

What exactly is zat kimia? Is it the same as bahan kimia?

Both are close, but there is a nuance:

• zat = substance, material at a more “scientific” or abstract level
• bahan = material, ingredient (often more practical/usable)

So:

• zat kimia – chemical substances (more neutral/technical)
• bahan kimia – chemical materials/chemicals (often in practical use, e.g. in industry, labs, products)

In everyday conversation, zat kimia and bahan kimia can often both be translated as chemicals, and both are understandable. Your sentence with bahan kimia would still be fine:

• Beberapa bahan kimia berbahaya bagi tubuh.

What is berbahaya grammatically? Is it a verb or an adjective?

Berbahaya is a stative verb that functions like an adjective in English.

• bahaya = danger (noun)
• ber- + bahaya → berbahaya = to be dangerous / dangerous (stative)

So berbahaya both:

• describes a state (being dangerous)
• and acts like an adjective in noun phrases.

In Indonesian:

• Zat ini berbahaya. – This substance is dangerous.
  (no separate “to be” verb needed)

You don’t normally say zat ini adalah berbahaya; that sounds unnatural, because berbahaya itself already contains the idea of “is dangerous”.

Why doesn’t the sentence use adalah? Could I say Beberapa zat kimia adalah berbahaya bagi tubuh?

In this sentence, adalah is unnecessary and usually not used:

• Beberapa zat kimia berbahaya bagi tubuh. – natural
• Beberapa zat kimia adalah berbahaya bagi tubuh. – grammatical but sounds awkward / overly formal or influenced by English.

Rule of thumb:

• If the predicate is a stative verb or adjective-like verb (e.g. berbahaya, besar, tinggi, mahal), you normally don’t use adalah.
• Adalah is mainly used before nouns or noun phrases:
  • Dia adalah dokter. – He/She is a doctor.
  • Indonesia adalah negara kepulauan. – Indonesia is an archipelagic country.

What’s the difference between bahaya and berbahaya?

• bahaya = danger (noun)
  
  • Ini adalah bahaya besar. – This is a big danger.
• berbahaya = to be dangerous / dangerous (stative verb/adjective)
  
  • Ini berbahaya. – This is dangerous.

So in your sentence, you must use berbahaya, not bahaya:

• ✅ Beberapa zat kimia berbahaya bagi tubuh.
• ❌ Beberapa zat kimia bahaya bagi tubuh. (incorrect in standard Indonesian)

What does bagi mean here, and could I use untuk instead of bagi?

In this context, bagi means for / to (in relation to), indicating who/what is affected:

• berbahaya bagi tubuh = dangerous for the body

You can often replace bagi with untuk, but there’s a nuance:

• bagi – a bit more formal, often used with abstract relations:
  
  • berbahaya bagi kesehatan – dangerous to health
• untuk – very common, more general “for” (purpose, beneficiary, effect):
  
  • berbahaya untuk tubuh – dangerous for the body (also acceptable and common)

So:

• Beberapa zat kimia berbahaya bagi tubuh. – neutral, slightly formal.
• Beberapa zat kimia berbahaya untuk tubuh. – also fine, very natural.

Does tubuh automatically mean “the human body”? Why not say tubuh manusia?

Tubuh by default is understood as the (human) body in most everyday contexts.

• If context is people, tubuh alone is enough.
• tubuh manusia = the human body (more specific/emphatic or more scientific).

Your sentence:

• Beberapa zat kimia berbahaya bagi tubuh.
  is normally understood as: “Some chemical substances are dangerous for the human body.”

If you want to be explicitly clear:

• Beberapa zat kimia berbahaya bagi tubuh manusia. – Some chemicals are dangerous for the human body.

Why is the word order zat kimia berbahaya, not zat kimia yang berbahaya or berbahaya zat kimia?

Standard word order in Indonesian noun phrases is:

• [Noun] + [Adjective / descriptor]

So:

• zat kimia berbahaya – dangerous chemical substances

You don’t need yang here because berbahaya is just describing the noun, not forming a relative clause.

• zat kimia yang berbahaya is also grammatical, but it usually feels like:
  “the chemical substances that are dangerous”, often when contrasting with other ones that aren’t.

berbahaya zat kimia is incorrect; adjectives/stative verbs don’t come before the noun like English.

Is there a more casual or everyday way to say this?

In everyday conversation, people might say:

• Beberapa bahan kimia berbahaya untuk tubuh.
• Ada bahan kimia yang berbahaya buat tubuh.
  
  • buat = casual form of untuk/bagi

Or, shorter if context is clear:

• Beberapa bahan kimia itu berbahaya. – Those few chemicals are dangerous.

How would I intensify berbahaya, like “very dangerous” or “quite dangerous”?

You can add degree words before berbahaya:

• sangat berbahaya – very dangerous
• cukup berbahaya – quite/pretty dangerous
• sangat-sangat berbahaya – extremely dangerous (emphatic)
• terlalu berbahaya – too dangerous

For your sentence:

• Beberapa zat kimia sangat berbahaya bagi tubuh. – Some chemicals are very dangerous for the body.
• Beberapa zat kimia cukup berbahaya bagi tubuh. – Some chemicals are quite dangerous for the body.