Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Nenek saya tinggal bersama kakek di desa kecil dekat sungai. - My grandmother lives with my grandfather in a small village near the river.

Putting saya before the noun (saya nenek) would sound wrong; it would be interpreted more like “I am a grandmother” (and even then you would normally say saya adalah nenek).

So, for possession:

[noun] + saya = my [noun]

Does kakek here mean “my grandfather”? Should it be kakek saya?

Literally, kakek just means grandfather.

In conversation, if you already said nenek saya (“my grandmother”), then saying just kakek right after it will usually be understood as her husband / my grandfather. The context makes it clear.

If you want to be explicit (for example in a textbook sentence or when clarity is important), you can say:

Nenek saya tinggal bersama kakek saya di desa kecil dekat sungai.
= My grandmother lives with my grandfather in a small village near the river.

Both versions are grammatically fine; the original is just more natural and less repetitive.

What is the role of bersama here? Can I replace it with dengan?

Bersama means together (with). In this sentence:

tinggal bersama kakek = lives together with grandfather

You can replace it with dengan:

Nenek saya tinggal dengan kakek di desa kecil dekat sungai.

In everyday speech, dengan is very common. Subtle nuance:

bersama: slightly more formal, emphasizes togetherness
dengan: neutral, just “with”

Both are correct in this sentence.

Why is there no word for “a” in di desa kecil dekat sungai (“in a small village near the river”)?

Indonesian has no articles like a, an, or the. The phrase:

di desa kecil dekat sungai

can mean:

in a small village near a river
in the small village near the river

The exact English translation (“a” vs “the”) depends on context, but Indonesian does not mark this with a separate word.

Why is it desa kecil and not kecil desa for “small village”?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun:

desa kecil = small village
rumah besar = big house
buku baru = new book

So the pattern is:

[noun] + [adjective]

Putting the adjective before the noun (kecil desa) is ungrammatical in standard Indonesian.

Does dekat sungai describe the village or the grandmother?

It describes the village. The structure is:

Nenek saya (my grandmother)
tinggal (lives)
bersama kakek (with grandfather)
di desa kecil (in a small village)
dekat sungai (near the river)

So the place where they live is:

desa kecil dekat sungai = a small village near the river.

dekat sungai attaches to desa kecil, not to tinggal.

Is dekat sungai correct without dengan, or should it be dekat dengan sungai?

Both are acceptable:

dekat sungai
dekat dengan sungai

In modern Indonesian, it’s very common to drop dengan after dekat unless you need extra clarity or formality.

So in this sentence:

di desa kecil dekat sungai is fully natural and correct.

What’s the difference between tinggal and hidup for “live”?

Both can translate as “live” in English, but they’re used differently:

tinggal = to reside, to stay, to live (somewhere)
- Saya tinggal di Jakarta. = I live in Jakarta.
hidup = to be alive, to live (in the existential sense)
- Dia masih hidup. = He/She is still alive.

In your sentence, we’re talking about where someone lives, so tinggal is the correct verb:

Nenek saya tinggal … = My grandmother lives …

You would not use hidup here.

How do we know if this means “lives” (present) or “lived” (past)? There’s no tense.

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. Tinggal by itself can mean:

lives
lived
will live

The time is usually clear from context or from time words:

dulu = in the past / used to
sekarang = now
nanti = later

Examples:

Dulu, nenek saya tinggal bersama kakek di desa kecil dekat sungai.
= In the past, my grandmother lived with my grandfather in a small village near the river.
Sekarang nenek saya tinggal bersama kakek di desa kecil dekat sungai.
= Now my grandmother lives with my grandfather in a small village near the river.

Could I say Nenek saya tinggal di desa kecil bersama kakek dekat sungai instead?

Yes, that’s also grammatical. The meaning is still clear: she lives with grandfather in a small village near the river.

However, the original:

tinggal bersama kakek di desa kecil dekat sungai

flows more naturally and keeps the whole location phrase di desa kecil dekat sungai together.

Your version slightly separates bersama kakek from the location phrase and may sound a bit less smooth, but it’s understandable.

Can I drop saya and just say Nenek tinggal bersama kakek di desa kecil dekat sungai?

Yes, you can. Then it means:

Grandmother lives with grandfather in a small village near the river.

Whether listeners interpret that as “my” grandparents depends on context.

If you are already talking about your own grandparents, Indonesian speakers often drop saya and just say nenek and kakek. If you need to be clear it’s yours, keep saya.

Is nenek and kakek only for “grandmother / grandfather,” or also generic “old lady / old man”?

Primarily:

nenek = grandmother
kakek = grandfather

But in everyday speech, Indonesians sometimes use them like English grandma/grandpa or even like old lady / old man as a casual, somewhat affectionate way to refer to an elderly woman/man (especially in stories or informal contexts).

In your sentence, with nenek saya, it clearly means my grandmother, not just any old woman.