Kehidupan di desa kami tenang.

Life in our village is calm.

Breakdown of Kehidupan di desa kami tenang.

• adalah: to be
• di: in
• tenang: calm
• kami: our
• desa: the village
• kehidupan: the life

Questions & Answers about Kehidupan di desa kami tenang.

What does kehidupan mean exactly, and how is it related to hidup?

Hidup means alive / to live / life (in a general sense).

The word kehidupan is formed from hidup + the prefix–suffix ke- … -an, which often turns adjectives or verbs into abstract nouns. So:

• hidup = live, alive
• kehidupan = life (as a concept, the way of living, everyday life)

In this sentence, Kehidupan di desa kami tenang = Life in our village is peaceful/calm.
It talks about the general way of living, not just the fact that people are alive.

Why is there no word for “is” in this sentence?

Indonesian often does not use a separate verb for “to be” (am / is / are) when linking a noun to an adjective.

Structure here:

• Kehidupan di desa kami = the subject (Life in our village)
• tenang = the predicate (peaceful / calm)

So Indonesian just says:

• Kehidupan di desa kami tenang.
  Literally: Life in our village peaceful.

English needs “is”, but Indonesian doesn’t. Adding adalah here (Kehidupan di desa kami adalah tenang) is not natural.

What exactly does di mean in di desa kami, and is it like “in” or “at”?

Di is a preposition of place, usually translated as in, at, or on, depending on context.

• di desa kami = in our village

Some rough equivalents:

• di rumah = at home / in the house
• di sekolah = at school
• di Jakarta = in Jakarta

Unlike English, Indonesian uses di in all these cases; you don’t need to choose between in and at.

Pada can also mean “at/on/in” in some contexts but is used more for:

• abstract things (pada saat itu = at that time)
• certain formal expressions

Here, di is the correct, normal choice.

What does desa mean, and how is it different from kampung?

Both desa and kampung are often translated as village, but there are nuances:

• desa

  • More formal/administrative: an official village as a government unit.
  • Common in writing, maps, official documents.

• kampung

  • More informal and colloquial.
  • Can mean “village” in a general sense, or a neighborhood / residential area, especially in cities (e.g. kampung nelayan = fishing village).

In desa kami, the sentence feels a bit more neutral/formal: our village in the official/settlement sense.
You could say kampung kami in many contexts, especially in conversation, to sound more homely or informal.

Why is it desa kami and not kami desa for “our village”?

In Indonesian, the typical order for possession is:

[thing owned] + [possessor pronoun]

So:

• desa kami = our village
• rumah saya = my house
• buku mereka = their book(s)

Putting the pronoun first (kami desa) is not grammatical.
Also:

• kami = we/us/our (exclusive “you are not included”)
• kita = we/us/our (inclusive “you are included”)

What’s the difference between kami and kita here? Could we say desa kita?

Yes, you could say desa kita, but it changes who is included.

• kami = we / our, excluding the person spoken to.

  • desa kami = our village (but not yours; you’re an outsider/listener not from that village).

• kita = we / our, including the person spoken to.

  • desa kita = our village (yours and mine; we both belong to that village).

So:

• Talking to a tourist about your home village:
  Kehidupan di desa kami tenang. (our village, not including you)
• Talking to a fellow villager:
  Kehidupan di desa kita tenang. (our village, yours and mine)

Could I say “Kehidupan di desa kami sangat tenang” or use sekali? What’s the nuance?

Yes, both are natural and they intensify tenang:

• Kehidupan di desa kami tenang.
  = Life in our village is peaceful/calm.

• Kehidupan di desa kami sangat tenang.
  = Life in our village is very peaceful.

• Kehidupan di desa kami tenang sekali.
  = Life in our village is very / extremely peaceful.

sangat goes before the adjective; sekali goes after it.
Both sound natural; sekali feels a bit more conversational in many contexts.

What exactly does tenang mean? Is it “quiet,” “calm,” or “peaceful”?

Tenang covers several related ideas, depending on context:

• calm / peaceful (atmosphere, life)
• quiet (not noisy)
• calm (emotionally, not anxious or agitated)

Examples:

• Air di danau itu sangat tenang. = The water in that lake is very calm.
• Dia tetap tenang dalam situasi darurat. = He/She remains calm in an emergency.
• Suasananya tenang. = The atmosphere is peaceful/quiet.

In Kehidupan di desa kami tenang, it suggests both peaceful and not hectic/noisy – a calm lifestyle.

Is the word order fixed? Can I say “Di desa kami, kehidupan tenang” instead?

Yes, that alternative is grammatically correct and natural:

• Kehidupan di desa kami tenang.
• Di desa kami, kehidupan tenang.

Both mean “Life in our village is peaceful.”

The difference is emphasis:

• Starting with Kehidupan di desa kami emphasizes “life in our village” as one unit.
• Starting with Di desa kami gives a slight topical focus on “in our village” (as opposed to somewhere else).

In everyday speech, both word orders are fine. The original is slightly more straightforward.

How would I say simply “Our village is peaceful,” without talking about “life”?

You can say:

• Desa kami tenang.
  = Our village is peaceful/calm.

Structure is the same:

• Desa kami (our village) as the subject
• tenang (peaceful) as the predicate

If you really wanted to be more descriptive:

• Desa kami adalah desa yang tenang.
  Literally “Our village is a village that is peaceful.”
  This is grammatical but more formal/wordy.
  In most situations, Desa kami tenang is enough and very natural.

Indonesian doesn’t show plurals here. Could desa mean “villages” and kehidupan mean “lives”?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural unless it needs to be clear or emphasized. Context normally tells you.

In this sentence, it is naturally understood as:

• kehidupan = life (as a general concept)
• desa kami = our village (singular, one specific village)

To make plurals explicit, you can:

• Use reduplication:
  • desa-desa = villages
  • orang-orang = people
• Or use a number / quantifier:
  • banyak desa = many villages
  • beberapa desa = several villages

So if you really meant “Lives in our villages are peaceful”, you might say:

• Kehidupan di desa-desa kami tenang.
  But the original sentence is naturally taken as singular in normal context.