Di kota besar, trotoar yang lebar penting bagi pejalan kaki.

In big cities, wide sidewalks are important for pedestrians.

Breakdown of Di kota besar, trotoar yang lebar penting bagi pejalan kaki.

• adalah: to be
• di: in
• penting: important
• bagi: for
• yang: that
• besar: big
• kota: the city
• lebar: wide
• trotoar: the sidewalk
• pejalan kaki: the pedestrian

Questions & Answers about Di kota besar, trotoar yang lebar penting bagi pejalan kaki.

What does “di” mean in “di kota besar”, and do I always need it?

Di is a preposition meaning “in / at / on (a place)”.

• di kota besar = in big cities / in a big city
• Without di, kota besar just means big city as a noun phrase, not in a big city.

So yes, you need di here to express location.

Why is it “kota besar” and not “besar kota”?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after nouns:

• kota besar = big city (literally “city big”)
• rumah kecil = small house (“house small”)

Besar kota would sound wrong; it’s not the normal order. So you say kota besar, not besar kota.

Does “kota besar” mean “a big city” or “big cities” (singular or plural)?

Indonesian nouns usually don’t mark singular vs. plural unless it’s important from context:

• di kota besar can mean:
  • in a big city
  • in big cities

If you really want to emphasize plural, you could say:

• di kota-kota besar = in big cities (plural is clear)

But in many sentences, kota besar alone is enough and understood from context.

What exactly is “trotoar”? Is it the same as “street” or “road”?

Trotoar means “sidewalk / pavement (BrE)”, the part of the street where pedestrians walk, usually raised and beside the road.

It is not:

• jalan = road / street
• jalan raya = main road / highway

So in this sentence, trotoar yang lebar = wide sidewalks.

Why do we say “trotoar yang lebar” instead of just “trotoar lebar”?

Both are possible, but “yang lebar” works like a linker or relative marker and makes the phrase more clearly "the sidewalks that are wide":

• trotoar lebar = wide sidewalks (simple noun + adjective)
• trotoar yang lebar = sidewalks that are wide

Yang is often used:

• to attach a description more clearly to a noun
• especially when the description is a bit longer or when we want to emphasize it

Here, trotoar yang lebar sounds very natural and slightly more specific/emphatic than trotoar lebar.

What’s the difference between “lebar” and “luas”? Could I say “trotoar yang luas”?

Both relate to size, but they’re used a bit differently:

• lebar = wide / broad (focus on width)

  • jalan yang lebar = a wide road
  • sungai yang lebar = a wide river

• luas = spacious / extensive / large area

  • rumah yang luas = a spacious house
  • tanah yang luas = a large piece of land

For sidewalks, lebar is more natural, because we care about how wide they are.

Trotoar yang luas sounds a bit odd; you’d normally say trotoar yang lebar.

What does “penting” mean, and why isn’t there a verb like “to be” (am/is/are) in the sentence?

Penting means “important”.

In Indonesian, adjectives can function like predicates without a separate “to be” verb:

• trotoar yang lebar penting
  = literally: “wide sidewalks important”
  = wide sidewalks *are important*

Indonesian usually omits “to be” (am/is/are) in the present tense before adjectives and many nouns. So you don’t say adalah here.

What is the function of “bagi” in “penting bagi pejalan kaki”, and how is it different from “untuk”?

Bagi is a preposition meaning roughly “for” (in relation to, from the perspective of).

• penting bagi pejalan kaki
  = important for pedestrians
  (important from the point of view of pedestrians)

Untuk also means “for”, but is often more about purpose / use:

• buku ini untuk belajar = this book is for studying (for the purpose of study)

In many cases, bagi and untuk overlap, and you could say:

• penting untuk pejalan kaki

It’s still correct and common. Bagi here just feels a bit more like “in terms of / to (someone)”.

What does “pejalan kaki” literally mean, and is it always “pedestrian”?

Pejalan kaki literally breaks down as:

• pe- … -an = a person who does something / doer
• jalan = walk / go / road
• kaki = foot

So literally: “a foot-walker” → pedestrian.

In practice, pejalan kaki is the normal, standard word for pedestrian(s), i.e. people walking on foot in traffic areas.

Can I change the word order, like “Trotoar yang lebar di kota besar penting bagi pejalan kaki” or “Trotoar yang lebar penting bagi pejalan kaki di kota besar”?

Yes, some variations are possible, with slightly different emphasis:

1. Di kota besar, trotoar yang lebar penting bagi pejalan kaki.

   • Emphasis: in big cities (setting).

2. Trotoar yang lebar di kota besar penting bagi pejalan kaki.

   • Emphasis more on the sidewalks in big cities as the topic.

3. Trotoar yang lebar penting bagi pejalan kaki di kota besar.

   • Can mean: wide sidewalks are important for pedestrians in big cities (emphasis on the pedestrians’ location).

All are grammatical; context and what you want to stress will decide which sounds best. The original version is very natural.

Is there anything in the sentence that tells me if we’re talking about “the sidewalks” vs. “sidewalks in general”?

No explicit marker of definiteness is used here. Indonesian usually doesn’t mark “the” vs. “a” unless needed.

• trotoar yang lebar can mean:
  • wide sidewalks (in general)
  • the wide sidewalks (if context makes them specific)

If you want to be clearly definite, you can add itu (“that/that one/those”):

• Trotoar yang lebar itu penting bagi pejalan kaki.
  = Those wide sidewalks are important for pedestrians.

But in this sentence, it’s naturally read as a general statement about sidewalks in big cities.

Why is there a comma after “Di kota besar,”? Is it required?

Not strictly required, but very common and recommended.

• Di kota besar, trotoar yang lebar penting bagi pejalan kaki.

Di kota besar is a fronted location phrase (“In big cities”), and Indonesian often uses a comma to separate such an introductory phrase from the main clause, especially in written form.

Without the comma it’s still understandable, but the comma makes the structure clearer and is good style in writing.

Where does the word “trotoar” come from, and how is it pronounced?

Trotoar is a loanword, ultimately from French “trottoir” (via Dutch).

Pronunciation in Indonesian (roughly):

• tro-to-ar → three syllables
• All vowels are pronounced clearly: /tro.to.ar/
• The r at the end is usually a tapped or rolled r, not silent.

So it’s not exactly like English “trot-wahr”; you pronounce each vowel distinctly.