Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Setiap pagi, para petani pergi ke sawah di mana padi mereka tumbuh. - Every morning, the farmers go to the rice fields where their rice plants grow.

Using para emphasizes that we are talking about a group of people.
You could say just petani pergi ke sawah and it would still be understood as farmers go to the rice field, but para petani highlights the group of farmers more clearly or more formally.

Is para petani-petani correct if I want to emphasize plural?

No. That is incorrect or at least very unnatural.

You should choose one way to mark plural, not both:

✅ para petani
✅ petani-petani
✅ just petani (context often shows it’s plural)
❌ para petani-petani

In formal standard Indonesian, para + base noun (no reduplication) is the pattern.

There is no word like the or a/an in this sentence. How do Indonesians know if it means the farmers or farmers in general?

Indonesian has no articles like the, a, or an. The specificity is usually understood from context.

para petani can mean the farmers (a known group) or farmers in general, depending on the situation.
sawah can be the rice field, a rice field, or rice fields from an English perspective.

In this sentence, given the typical real‑world context, para petani pergi ke sawah is naturally understood as the farmers go to the (their) rice fields every morning.

Why is it pergi ke sawah and not pergi di sawah?

Ke and di have different functions:

ke = to (movement toward a place)
di = at / in / on (location, no movement)

So:

pergi ke sawah = go to the rice field (movement)
di sawah = in/at the rice field

That’s why the sentence has pergi ke sawah (they move to the field) and later di mana padi mereka tumbuh (location where the rice grows).

What exactly is a sawah? Is it just any field?

Sawah is a specific kind of field: a rice paddy, usually flooded or irrigated and used for growing rice.

Other words for fields/gardens:

ladang – dry field / non‑irrigated farmland (e.g., corn, cassava)
kebun – garden/orchard/plantation (fruits, vegetables, tea, etc.)

In this sentence, sawah clearly means rice paddy field.

What is the difference between padi, beras, and nasi?

All three relate to rice, but at different stages:

padi – rice as a plant in the field; rice still with husk, unharvested or just harvested
beras – uncooked rice grains (after the husk is removed), what you buy in a bag
nasi – cooked rice, ready to eat

So in a field, you say padi:

padi mereka tumbuh = their rice plants grow / their rice grows (in the field)

In padi mereka, why does mereka (their) come after the noun instead of before, like in English?

In Indonesian, possessive pronouns often follow the noun:

padi mereka = their rice
rumah saya = my house
mobil kami = our car

Order:

English: their rice = [possessive] + [noun]
Indonesian: padi mereka = [noun] + [possessive pronoun]

You can also express possession with punya:

mereka punya padi = they have rice / they own rice

But in this sentence, padi mereka is the natural, concise way.

How is di mana used here? Is it the same as the question word where?

Di mana can do two jobs:

As a question phrase:
- Di mana kamu tinggal? = Where do you live?
As a relative where, introducing a clause that describes a place:
- ke sawah di mana padi mereka tumbuh
  = to the rice field where their rice grows

In this sentence, di mana is not a question; it functions like the English relative word where. It links sawah to the descriptive clause padi mereka tumbuh.

Could I replace di mana with something else, like tempat?

Yes, there are alternative ways to express where as a relative:

ke sawah tempat padi mereka tumbuh
(to the rice field, the place where their rice grows)

You can even drop di mana and use yang:

ke sawah yang padi mereka tumbuh di sana (less elegant, but possible in speech)

However, ke sawah di mana padi mereka tumbuh is natural, clear, and quite standard.

Why is the verb tumbuh at the end of padi mereka tumbuh? Can I change the word order?

In Indonesian, the basic order is Subject – Verb – (Object/Complement), similar to English.

padi mereka tumbuh
Subject: padi mereka
Verb: tumbuh (grow)

This is already normal word order.
You can’t move tumbuh before padi mereka in standard Indonesian:

❌ tumbuh padi mereka (not correct here, except in poetic or special styles)

So the clause literally parallels their rice (subject) grows (verb).

There is no separate word for the present tense go or are growing. How do we know the time in Indonesian?

Indonesian verbs generally do not change form for tense. Time is shown by:

context
time expressions (like setiap pagi)

So:

pergi can mean go, went, will go, are going, depending on context.

Here, setiap pagi (every morning) tells us this is a regular, habitual action in the present:

Setiap pagi, para petani pergi ke sawah...
= Every morning, the farmers go to the rice field...

If you needed to be more explicit, you could add adverbs like:

kemarin (yesterday)
besok (tomorrow)
sedang (currently, in progress), etc.

But they’re not necessary in this sentence.

Is the comma before para petani and before di mana required?

The comma after Setiap pagi is standard and recommended:

Setiap pagi, para petani pergi...
Time expression first, then a comma.

The comma before di mana is more flexible. Many writers include it to set off the relative clause:

...ke sawah, di mana padi mereka tumbuh.

In less formal writing, people might omit it:

...ke sawah di mana padi mereka tumbuh.

Both are acceptable; the version with the comma is slightly clearer, especially in writing.