Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di gedung yang sama dengan teater, ada pameran patung modern yang bisa dikunjungi gratis oleh mahasiswa. - In the same building as the theater, there is a modern sculpture exhibition that students can visit for free.

Indonesian often puts a place expression at the beginning of the sentence to set the scene.
Here, Di gedung yang sama dengan teater (“In the same building as the theater”) comes first to tell you where before telling you what exists there.

The core of the sentence is actually ada pameran patung modern… (“there is a modern sculpture exhibition…”).
So the structure is basically:

Di gedung yang sama dengan teater, ada X = In the same building as the theater, there is X.

This is very natural and common in Indonesian.

What is the function of yang in gedung yang sama dengan teater?

Here, yang works like a relative pronoun (similar to that/which in English).

gedung yang sama dengan teater = the building that is the same as the theater / the same building as the theater

The implied full form would be something like:

gedung yang (adalah) sama dengan teater
The verb adalah is usually dropped in this kind of structure, so yang sama dengan teater acts like a descriptive clause attached to gedung.

Does yang sama dengan teater mean the building is the theater, or just in the same place as the theater?

It means the same building as the theater—that is, the exhibition is located in the same building where the theater is.

So the idea is not “the building is the theater,” but:

There is a theater in a certain building.
In that same building, there is also a modern sculpture exhibition.

Context usually makes this clear: Di gedung yang sama dengan teater is understood as “in the building that is the same one as (the one that has) the theater.”

What does ada mean here? Is it like “is/are” or “there is/there are”?

In this sentence, ada works like there is/there are in English.

Ada pameran patung modern… = There is a modern sculpture exhibition…

Ada can also mean “to exist,” “to have,” or just “is/are” depending on context, but in existential sentences like this (introducing something that exists in a place), it’s usually best translated as there is/there are.

Can ada be left out here, like Di gedung yang sama dengan teater, pameran patung modern…?

No, in this kind of existential sentence you normally need ada.

Ada pameran patung modern… introduces something: There is a modern sculpture exhibition…

If you drop ada, the sentence sounds incomplete or like you’re starting a noun phrase without a verb. So ada is important to show that you’re stating the existence of something in that location.

How is pameran patung modern structured? Does modern describe pameran (exhibition) or patung (sculptures)?

Normally, the structure is:

pameran (exhibition)
patung (sculpture)
modern (modern)

In Indonesian noun phrases, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe. Here, modern most naturally attaches to patung:

pameran [patung modern] = an exhibition of modern sculptures

If you wanted to emphasize that the exhibition itself is modern (not necessarily the sculptures), you might say pameran modern patung-patung or rephrase more clearly, but context usually makes pameran patung modern easy to understand as “modern sculpture exhibition.”

Why is the passive form bisa dikunjungi used instead of an active form like mahasiswa bisa mengunjungi?

Indonesian often prefers the passive voice when:

The thing being talked about is the focus (here: pameran patung modern), and
The doer (here: mahasiswa) is less important or comes later.

bisa dikunjungi literally means “can be visited.”

pameran … yang bisa dikunjungi gratis oleh mahasiswa
= an exhibition that can be visited for free by university students

You could say …yang bisa dikunjungi gratis oleh mahasiswa or …yang bisa dikunjungi mahasiswa secara gratis, or use active: …yang bisa dikunjungi mahasiswa secara gratis, but the chosen passive form is very natural and emphasizes the exhibition.

What does the prefix di- do in dikunjungi?

di- is a passive prefix.

mengunjungi = to visit (active)
dikunjungi = to be visited (passive)

So:

mahasiswa mengunjungi pameran itu = students visit the exhibition
pameran itu dikunjungi mahasiswa = the exhibition is visited by students

In the sentence, yang bisa dikunjungi… = that can be visited…

Why is oleh used before mahasiswa? Can it be omitted?

In passive sentences, oleh marks the agent (the doer of the action).

dikunjungi oleh mahasiswa = visited by university students

You can often omit oleh in casual speech when the agent is clear, for example:

pameran itu bisa dikunjungi mahasiswa gratis

However, oleh mahasiswa is more standard and clearer, especially in written or formal Indonesian, and it fits the more neutral/formal tone of this sentence.

Is gratis an adjective or an adverb? And why is it placed after dikunjungi?

Gratis can function like both an adjective (“free”) and an adverb (“for free”) in Indonesian.

Here it modifies the way the exhibition can be visited:

bisa dikunjungi gratis = can be visited for free

It comes after the verb phrase because Indonesian often puts manner-like words (how something is done) after the verb:

makan pelan-pelan = eat slowly
masuk gratis = enter for free
dikunjungi gratis = visited for free

Could the word order be changed, for example: yang bisa dikunjungi oleh mahasiswa gratis or yang gratis bisa dikunjungi oleh mahasiswa?

Some changes are possible, but they can sound unnatural or change the nuance.

yang bisa dikunjungi oleh mahasiswa gratis is understandable but slightly awkward; gratis feels too far from the verb it describes.
yang gratis bisa dikunjungi oleh mahasiswa makes gratis sound like a property of the exhibition (a free exhibition), not specifically that the visiting is free.

The original yang bisa dikunjungi gratis oleh mahasiswa is the most natural and clearly means can be visited for free by university students.

What’s the difference between mahasiswa, pelajar, and murid?

mahasiswa: specifically university / college students (tertiary education).
pelajar: students in general, usually non-university (elementary, junior high, high school), but can be broad.
murid: pupils, often elementary or middle school, or a student of a particular teacher (e.g. murid saya = my pupil).

In this sentence, mahasiswa is used because the free entry applies to university students.

Why is there no word like “the” or “a” before gedung or pameran?

Indonesian does not use definite or indefinite articles like the or a/an.

Whether something is definite or indefinite is understood from context, word order, and sometimes extra words (like itu for “that/the”).

Here:

Di gedung yang sama dengan teater → context makes it feel like “in the same building as the theater”.
ada pameran patung modern → naturally reads as “there is a modern sculpture exhibition” (an indefinite, newly introduced thing).

Is dengan in yang sama dengan teater the same as “with,” or does it mean “as” here?

Literally, dengan means with, but in the structure sama dengan, it often translates better as as or as … as / the same as.

sama dengan = the same as
So:
gedung yang sama dengan teater = the same building as the theater

You’ll see sama dengan a lot in comparisons and equality:

tingginya sama dengan saya = his/her height is the same as mine.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral in tone?

The sentence is neutral to slightly formal.

The vocabulary (pameran, patung modern, dikunjungi, mahasiswa) is standard and not slangy.
The passive form bisa dikunjungi gratis oleh mahasiswa is quite typical for written information, announcements, brochures, etc.

You could use this sentence in a brochure, a campus announcement, or in polite spoken Indonesian without any problem.