Jalan di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar.

The road in front of Grandma's house is quite wide.

Breakdown of Jalan di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar.

• adalah: to be
• rumah: the house
• di depan: in front of
• cukup: quite
• jalan: the road
• nenek: the grandmother
• lebar: wide

Questions & Answers about Jalan di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar.

How does the word order of Jalan di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar compare to English?

In English, we’d say: “The road in front of Grandma’s house is quite wide.”

Word by word:

• Jalan = road / street
• di depan = in front (literally: at the front)
• rumah = house
• nenek = grandmother / grandma
• cukup = quite / fairly / enough
• lebar = wide

The Indonesian structure is:

[Subject] [Location phrase] [Description]
Jalan (road) di depan rumah nenek (in front of Grandma’s house) cukup lebar (quite wide)

In English, we also put the main description at the end:
The road [in front of Grandma’s house] is [quite wide].

So the overall order is surprisingly similar; the main difference is that Indonesian doesn’t need a separate word for “is” here.

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

Indonesian often drops the “to be” verb (is/are/am) when linking a subject to an adjective or a noun.

• Jalan … cukup lebar
  literally: The road … quite wide
  meaning: “The road … is quite wide.”

You could insert adalah as a kind of “is,” but it is usually used before nouns, not adjectives, and it would sound unnatural here:

• ✗ Jalan di depan rumah nenek *adalah cukup lebar* → sounds off / not natural

So with adjectives like lebar, tinggi, besar, etc., you normally just put the subject directly before the adjective:

• Rumah itu besar. = That house (is) big.
• Jalan ini sempit. = This road (is) narrow.

No extra word for “is” is needed.

What exactly does jalan mean here, and how is it different from other uses like jalan-jalan?

In this sentence, jalan is a noun meaning:

• road
• street
• way

So Jalan di depan rumah nenek = The road in front of Grandma’s house.

But jalan is very flexible:

1. Noun: road/street

   • Jalan ini ramai. = This road is busy.

2. Verb: to walk / to go

   • Saya jalan ke sekolah. = I walk to school / I go to school (on foot).

3. Reduplication: jalan-jalan

   • jalan-jalan = to stroll around, to go out for a walk, to go out (for fun)
   • Saya mau jalan-jalan di mall. = I want to walk around / hang out at the mall.

In your sentence, context and position at the start show jalan is functioning as a noun: “road.”

What does di mean in di depan rumah nenek, and how is it different from the prefix di- in other words?

Here, di is a preposition meaning “in / at / on” (location):

• di depan = at the front / in front (of)
• di rumah = at home / at the house
• di sekolah = at school

So di depan rumah nenek = in front of Grandma’s house.

Indonesian also has di- as a prefix attached directly to verbs to form the passive voice, for example:

• makan (to eat) → dimakan (is eaten / was eaten)
• lihat (to see) → dilihat (is seen / was seen)

Key differences:

• Preposition di: written separately from the next word
  
  • di depan, di rumah, di meja
• Prefix di-: written attached to a verb
  
  • dimasak, dibaca, dibawa

In Jalan di depan rumah nenek, di is definitely the preposition of location, not the passive prefix.

Why is it di depan rumah nenek and not something like di depan dari rumah nenek for “in front of Grandma’s house”?

In Indonesian, the standard way to say “in front of X” is simply:

• di depan + [noun]

So:

• di depan rumah = in front of the house
• di depan sekolah = in front of the school
• di depan rumah nenek = in front of Grandma’s house

You don’t need dari (“from”) here. Using di depan dari rumah nenek is possible in some spoken varieties, but it usually sounds redundant or colloquial; textbook/standard Indonesian prefers di depan rumah nenek.

So the phrase di depan rumah nenek is the natural, correct way to say “in front of Grandma’s house.”

How does possession work in rumah nenek? Why is it not like English word order?

In English, you say:

• Grandma’s house = possessor (Grandma) + ’s + thing (house)

In Indonesian, the order is usually reversed:

• rumah nenek
  literally: house grandma
  meaning: Grandma’s house

Pattern:

• [thing] [owner]
  • rumah saya = my house
  • buku Ali = Ali’s book
  • mobil ayah = Dad’s car
  • rumah nenek = Grandma’s house

No apostrophe, no extra word like “of” or “’s”; you just put the possessed thing first, then the owner.

What does nenek mean exactly? Is it formal like “grandmother” or informal like “grandma”?

Nenek basically means “grandmother”, but in everyday use it often feels like “grandma / granny”, depending on context and tone.

Some points:

• As a family term:

  • nenek = grandma / grandmother

• As a polite form of address to an elderly woman (not necessarily your real grandmother):

  • Permisi, Nek. = Excuse me, Grandma. (said to an old lady, politely)

So in rumah nenek, it’s natural to understand it as “Grandma’s house”, not a very stiff “the house of the grandmother”. The exact English translation (grandma vs grandmother) depends on how formal you want to sound in English, not on a big difference in Indonesian.

What does cukup mean here, and does it always mean “quite”?

In this sentence, cukup means “quite / fairly / rather”:

• cukup lebar = quite wide / fairly wide

But cukup basically means “enough / sufficient(ly)”, and from that it can take on two common shades of meaning:

1. Enough / sufficient

   • Uangnya cukup. = The money is enough.
   • Saya sudah cukup makan. = I’ve eaten enough.

2. Quite / rather / pretty (to a moderate degree)

   • Film itu cukup bagus. = That movie is quite good.
   • Jalan ini cukup lebar. = This road is quite wide.

Whether it sounds more like “enough” or “quite” depends on context and intonation. In your sentence, we’re describing a positive quality, so “quite wide / fairly wide” is the natural reading.

What does lebar mean exactly, and how is it different from besar or luas?

Lebar specifically means “wide” (referring to width).

Comparisons:

• lebar = wide (focus on width across)

  • Jalan ini lebar. = This road is wide.
  • Mejanya tidak terlalu lebar. = The table is not very wide.

• besar = big / large (overall size, not just width)

  • Rumah itu besar. = That house is big.
  • Anjingnya besar. = The dog is big.

• luas = broad / spacious / wide area (2D space, area)

  • Halaman rumah itu luas. = The yard of that house is spacious.
  • Negara ini sangat luas. = This country is very large (in area).

For a road, you normally talk about its width, so lebar is the most natural choice:

• Jalan di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar.
  = The road in front of Grandma’s house is quite wide.

Could I change the word order, like Jalan cukup lebar di depan rumah nenek or add yang: Jalan yang di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar?

1. Jalan cukup lebar di depan rumah nenek

   This is not wrong, but it sounds a bit awkward and less clear.
   Indonesian tends to keep location phrases closer to the noun they describe:

   • Jalan di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar. → most natural.

   Jalan cukup lebar di depan rumah nenek might be interpreted as:

   • “The road is quite wide when (you are) in front of Grandma’s house” rather than clearly identifying which road you mean.

2. Jalan yang di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar

   This is grammatically correct and natural.
   yang di depan rumah nenek forms a relative clause:

   • Jalan yang di depan rumah nenek
     = The road that is in front of Grandma’s house
   • So the full sentence:
     Jalan yang di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar.
     = The road that is in front of Grandma’s house is quite wide.

   The original sentence simply omits “yang”, which Indonesian often does when the meaning is clear. Both are acceptable; the version with yang can feel a bit more explicit or formal.

Is there any tense in this sentence? How would I say “was quite wide” instead of “is quite wide”?

Indonesian verbs and adjectives do not change form for tense. Jalan di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar could mean:

• The road is quite wide.
• The road was quite wide.
• The road will be quite wide. (less likely, but possible with context)

To make the time clearer, Indonesians usually add time words:

• Dulu, jalan di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar.
  = In the past / Before, the road in front of Grandma’s house was quite wide.

• Sekarang, jalan di depan rumah nenek cukup lebar.
  = Now, the road in front of Grandma’s house is quite wide.

• Nanti, jalan di depan rumah nenek akan cukup lebar.
  = Later, the road in front of Grandma’s house will be quite wide.

So the base sentence is tenseless; context and time markers show whether you mean was, is, or will be.