Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya menulis keluhan singkat di aplikasi kota tentang lubang besar di jalan dekat rumah. - I write a short complaint on the city app about a big hole in the road near my house.

Putting the adjective before the noun (singkat keluhan) is wrong in standard Indonesian (except in a few fixed expressions or poetic language).

More examples:

buku baru = new book
jalan panjang = long road
rumah besar = big house

So keluhan singkat follows the standard pattern: noun first, then adjective.

What is the difference between menulis and menuliskan? Could I say Saya menuliskan keluhan singkat?

Both menulis and menuliskan come from the root tulis (to write).

menulis = to write (neutral, very common)
menuliskan can:
- Emphasize writing something for someone (benefactive)
- Sound a bit more formal or slightly heavier than menulis

In your sentence:

Saya menulis keluhan singkat... is the most natural, everyday choice.
Saya menuliskan keluhan singkat... is grammatically correct, but sounds a bit more formal or “wordy,” and might suggest more focus on the act of putting it into writing.

For a simple statement like this, Indonesians overwhelmingly prefer menulis.

Why is it di aplikasi kota and not pada aplikasi kota? What’s the nuance of di here?

Both di aplikasi kota and pada aplikasi kota are grammatically possible, but they differ in style:

di aplikasi kota
- Very common in everyday speech and writing
- di usually marks location (in/on/at)
- Sounds natural and casual–neutral
pada aplikasi kota
- More formal; more common in official or written bureaucratic style
- pada is often used in formal contexts instead of di, especially with abstract locations (e.g., pada dokumen ini)

In the context of a normal story or conversation, di aplikasi kota is exactly what native speakers would say. Pada would not be wrong, but would feel more official or stiff.

Could I say melalui aplikasi kota instead of di aplikasi kota?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly:

di aplikasi kota = on/in the city app
- Focuses on the location where you wrote the complaint.
melalui aplikasi kota = through/via the city app
- Focuses on the means or channel you used to submit the complaint.

Both are natural. For many contexts they’re interchangeable:

Saya menulis keluhan singkat di aplikasi kota.
Saya mengirim keluhan singkat melalui aplikasi kota.

Note that melalui usually goes better with verbs like mengirim (to send) or menyampaikan (to convey), while di feels more natural with menulis (to write).

How do we know this means “I wrote” (past) and not “I write” (present)? There’s no tense marker.

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. Menulis can mean:

I write / am writing / wrote / will write

The time is usually clear from:

Context
Additional time words (kemarin = yesterday, tadi = earlier, besok = tomorrow, etc.)

In your sentence:

Saya menulis keluhan singkat di aplikasi kota tentang lubang besar di jalan dekat rumah.

In English, we naturally interpret this as a completed action (I wrote), because it sounds like a report of something that already happened. But in Indonesian, the sentence by itself is tenseless; context tells you whether it’s past, present, or future.

If you want to make the past absolutely explicit, you can add a time word:

Kemarin saya menulis keluhan singkat... = Yesterday I wrote a short complaint...

Why is it lubang besar di jalan and not lubang besar pada jalan? How is di used here?

Di is the normal preposition for physical location:

di jalan = on the road / in the street
di rumah = at home
di sekolah = at school

Pada can theoretically mark location too, but in modern Indonesian:

di is used for concrete, physical places.
pada is more often used in formal writing, abstract relations, or with pronouns (e.g. pada saya = to me / on me).

So:

lubang besar di jalan = a big hole in the road (natural)
lubang besar pada jalan would sound very stiff or unnatural in normal conversation.

Use di for regular “in/on/at (a place)” most of the time.

Does lubang specifically mean a pothole, or just any hole? Is there a more specific word for a pothole in the road?

Lubang literally means “hole” in general:

lubang di tanah = a hole in the ground
lubang di dinding = a hole in the wall

In context, lubang besar di jalan is naturally understood as a pothole, because:

It’s a big hole
It’s in the road
You’re complaining to the city

If you want to be very explicit, you could say:

lubang di jalan raya = a hole in the main road
lubang jalan yang besar = a big road hole
jalan yang berlubang parah = a road that is badly full of holes

But usually lubang besar di jalan is enough; people will understand it as a pothole.

Why is it di jalan dekat rumah, not dekat rumah di jalan? Does word order matter here?

Word order gives a more natural flow and clearer grouping.

di jalan dekat rumah
- Literally: on the road near (the) house
- The main location is jalan (road), and dekat rumah (“near the house”) describes which road.

di [jalan dekat rumah] is one unit: “on the road that is near the house”.

If you say:

di dekat rumah di jalan
- This sounds awkward and unclear: are we talking about “near the house, (somewhere) on the road” or something else?

Native speakers normally say:

di jalan dekat rumah
di jalan depan rumah = on the road in front of the house
di jalan samping rumah = on the road beside the house

So the sentence follows the most natural pattern.

Why is it dekat rumah and not dekat rumah saya? How do Indonesians show possession here?

Both are possible:

dekat rumah
- Literally “near (the) house”
- Often context makes it clear whose house it is. If you’re telling a story about your area, people will usually assume it’s your house.
dekat rumah saya
- Explicitly “near my house”
- Slightly longer, more explicit, and also very natural.

In everyday conversation, Indonesians often omit possessive pronouns when:

The owner is obvious from context, or
It’s not important to emphasize whose it is.

So:

dekat rumah
- Quite natural if we already know we’re talking about your neighborhood.
If you want zero ambiguity, say dekat rumah saya or dekat rumahku (more casual, with -ku).

Could we omit Saya and just say Menulis keluhan singkat di aplikasi kota...?

Yes, you can omit Saya in the right context.

Saya menulis keluhan singkat...
- Explicitly says I wrote a short complaint.
Menulis keluhan singkat...
- Literally just “wrote a short complaint...”
- The subject I is understood from context (e.g. if you’re telling your own story).

Indonesian often drops pronouns when:

It’s clear who the subject is, and
The speaker doesn’t need to emphasize it.

However, in a standalone sentence (like in a textbook example), Saya menulis... is clearer and more typical.

What’s the difference between keluhan and komplain? Could I say komplain singkat?

Both are used, but they differ in origin, tone, and style.

keluhan
- Native/standard Indonesian word
- Sounds more formal or neutral
- Common in official contexts: keluhan pelanggan (customer complaints), formulir keluhan (complaint form)
komplain
- Borrowed (from English “complain/complaint”)
- Feels more informal/colloquial
- Very common in speech: Saya mau komplain, banyak komplain dari warga

In your sentence:

keluhan singkat sounds appropriate and slightly formal/neutral.
komplain singkat is understandable and not wrong in casual speech but less standard in formal writing.

For a sentence that could appear in a news article or formal text, keluhan is the better choice.

Why is it di aplikasi kota and not di aplikasi kota itu or di aplikasi kota kami? How specific is it?

Indonesian often omits articles and possessives where English would use the or our:

di aplikasi kota can mean:
- on the city app
- on the city’s app
- on our city’s app

Context tells you which.

You can make it more specific:

di aplikasi kota itu = on that city app (a specific one already known in the conversation)
di aplikasi kota kami = on our city app
di aplikasi resmi kota = on the official city app

But if there is only one obvious “city app” people know about, di aplikasi kota is usually enough and sounds natural.

Is the phrase order keluhan singkat di aplikasi kota tentang... fixed, or could I move things around? For example, can I say Saya menulis keluhan tentang lubang besar... di aplikasi kota?

You can move some parts around; Indonesian word order is flexible as long as the meaning stays clear.

Original:

Saya menulis keluhan singkat di aplikasi kota tentang lubang besar di jalan dekat rumah.

You could also say:

Saya menulis keluhan singkat tentang lubang besar di jalan dekat rumah di aplikasi kota.

Differences:

...di aplikasi kota tentang lubang besar...
- Slightly emphasizes where you wrote it first, then what it was about.
...tentang lubang besar... di aplikasi kota.
- First tells what the complaint is about, then adds where it was submitted.

Both are acceptable and natural; Indonesian speakers don’t find either order strange. The original is slightly smoother, but this is more about style than strict grammar.