Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di kandang belakang rumah, kambing makan jerami sambil berdiri di bawah pohon. - In the pen behind the house, the goats eat straw while standing under a tree.

kandang belakang rumah sounds like a set phrase, “the back-of-the-house pen” (as if that’s its usual label or location).
kandang di belakang rumah is more explicitly “the pen that is behind the house,” with di belakang rumah clearly a separate location phrase.

In everyday speech, both would normally be understood the same way.

What does sambil mean, and how is it different from sementara or ketika?

sambil = while (doing something at the same time), with the same subject for both actions.

In the sentence:

kambing makan jerami sambil berdiri di bawah pohon
= the goat(s) eat hay while standing under the tree.
(Eating and standing are both done by the goat(s).)

Compare:

sementara = while, during, often used when two different subjects act at the same time.
- Saya makan, sementara dia bekerja. = I eat while he works.
ketika = when (a point or period in time), more neutral about simultaneity.
- Ketika saya makan, dia datang. = When I was eating, he came.

With sambil, you normally do Verb1 sambil Verb2 for one subject doing two actions simultaneously.

In kambing makan jerami, where is the verb “to be” (is/are)? Do we need sedang to show “is eating”?

Indonesian has no separate verb “to be” before ordinary verbs. You just say:

kambing makan jerami = the goat(s) eat / are eating hay.

About sedang:

sedang is an aspect marker similar to “currently / in the middle of doing,” often used to emphasize the action is happening right now:
- kambing sedang makan jerami = the goat(s) are in the middle of eating hay.

Without sedang, makan can mean:

eat (habitually / generally), or
be eating (right now),

depending on context. So sedang is optional and only needed if you want to make the “right now” aspect very explicit.

Is kambing singular or plural here? How do you say “a goat” vs “goats”?

By itself, kambing is number-neutral:

kambing makan jerami can mean a goat is eating hay or goats are eating hay.

To clarify:

One goat:
- seekor kambing makan jerami (seekor = one animal classifier)
Several goats:
- beberapa kambing makan jerami = several goats eat / are eating hay
- banyak kambing makan jerami = many goats eat / are eating hay
- kambing-kambing makan jerami = the goats eat / are eating hay (reduplication often implies plurality or a group)

Context usually tells you whether singular or plural is meant.

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” before kambing, kandang, or pohon?

Indonesian normally has no articles like the, a, or an.

Nouns such as kambing, kandang, pohon are inherently vague in definiteness and number. They can mean:

a goat / the goat / goats / the goats
a pen / the pen
a tree / the tree

Specificity (the vs a) is shown by:

context, or
additional words:
- seekor kambing = a goat
- kambing itu = that/the goat
- pohon itu = that/the tree

What is the function of berdiri here? What would change if we removed it?

berdiri = to stand / be standing.

In the sentence:

kambing makan jerami sambil berdiri di bawah pohon
= the goat(s) eat hay while standing under the tree.

If you remove berdiri:

kambing makan jerami di bawah pohon
= the goat(s) eat hay under the tree.

Now you still know the location (under the tree), but you no longer know that they are standing (they could be sitting, lying down, etc.). So berdiri adds the posture / manner of the action.

What does di bawah pohon literally mean? Could we just say di pohon?

Literally:

di = at / in / on / under (general location preposition)
bawah = under, below
pohon = tree

So di bawah pohon = under the tree / below the tree.

di pohon usually means in the tree / on the tree (e.g. a bird in a tree). For something on the ground beneath the tree, di bawah pohon is the natural phrase.

So here di bawah pohon is exactly right for goats standing under a tree’s shade.

In kambing makan jerami, what is the basic word order? Could we say jerami dimakan kambing instead?

The default Indonesian word order is S–V–O (Subject–Verb–Object):

kambing (Subject)
makan (Verb)
jerami (Object)

So kambing makan jerami = goat(s) eat hay.

You can say jerami dimakan kambing:

jerami (new Subject)
dimakan = is eaten (passive form of makan)
kambing = by the goat(s)

This means the hay is eaten by (the) goat(s) and uses a passive construction. It shifts the focus from the doer (goat) to what is affected (hay).

Both are grammatical, but kambing makan jerami is the more neutral, active sentence.

In this sentence there are two di: di kandang and di bawah pohon. Is this the same di as the passive prefix di-?

No. In this sentence, both di are prepositions, not a prefix:

di kandang = in the pen
di bawah pohon = under the tree

As prepositions, di is written separately from the following word.

The passive prefix di- is attached directly to a verb:

dimakan (di- + makan) = is eaten
dibaca (di- + baca) = is read

Spelling tip:

di
- space + noun/pronoun = preposition (location)
di-
- verb (no space) = passive prefix