Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Wisma kecil di tepi danau itu dipakai untuk retret keluarga setiap tahun. - That small guest house by the lake is used for a family retreat every year.

a place for guests, groups, or organizations to stay
sometimes a retreat or training center (e.g. church retreats, company outings, government guesthouses)

So wisma kecil here is better understood as a small lodge / small retreat house, not just any small house.

Why is it wisma kecil and not kecil wisma?

In Indonesian, most adjectives come after the noun they describe.

wisma kecil = small lodge
rumah besar = big house
danau indah = beautiful lake

Putting kecil before wisma (kecil wisma) is ungrammatical in standard Indonesian. The normal pattern is:

[Noun] + [Adjective]
wisma + kecil → wisma kecil

What does di tepi danau itu literally mean? And what does itu refer to?

Literally:

di = at / on / in
tepi = edge / shore / bank (for lakes, rivers, etc.)
danau = lake
itu = that

So di tepi danau itu = on the shore of that lake or at the edge of that lake.

Grammatically, itu is attached to danau, so it means that lake, not that lodge.

The whole chunk:

wisma kecil di tepi danau itu = the small lodge on the shore of that lake

If you wanted to say that small lodge (making wisma explicitly that), you would say something like:

wisma kecil itu di tepi danau
(that small lodge is by the lake), or
wisma kecil yang di tepi danau itu
(that small lodge which is by the lake).

Could I say di tepi dari danau itu instead of di tepi danau itu?

No; that sounds unnatural in Indonesian.

di tepi danau itu is the correct, natural form.
Adding dari (→ di tepi dari danau itu) is influenced by English “at the edge of the lake”, but in Indonesian you normally just put the nouns together:

tepi danau = the edge/shore of the lake
puncak gunung = the peak of the mountain
halaman rumah = the yard of the house

So:
✔ di tepi danau itu
✘ di tepi dari danau itu

What is the difference between tepi and pinggir here?

Both can mean edge / side, but their usual uses differ slightly.

tepi
- often used for the edge/bank/shore of natural things:
  - tepi danau (lake shore)
  - tepi sungai (river bank)
- also for edges of flat things: tepi meja (edge of a table)
pinggir
- more general “side/edge”:
  - pinggir jalan (roadside)
  - pinggir kota (outskirts of town)
- can be used for water too, but tepi danau is more standard/formal.

So di tepi danau itu sounds a bit more neutral/standard than di pinggir danau itu.

Why is the verb dipakai here and not memakai or menggunakan?

Dipakai is the passive form of pakai (to use):

pakai = to use
memakai = active: to use (someone uses it)
dipakai = passive: to be used

In this sentence:

Wisma kecil di tepi danau itu dipakai untuk retret keluarga setiap tahun.
= That small lodge by the lake is used for family retreats every year.

No subject like we or they is mentioned. This is common in Indonesian: passive is used when:

the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context
the focus is on the object (the lodge) and what happens to it

An active version would need a subject:

Kami memakai wisma kecil di tepi danau itu untuk retret keluarga setiap tahun.
= We use the small lodge by the lake for a family retreat every year.

What is the difference between dipakai, digunakan, and dipergunakan?

They all mean roughly “is used”, but differ in formality and nuance:

dipakai
- from pakai
- common, everyday word
- neutral, slightly informal
digunakan
- from guna (use)
- more formal, often in writing, news, official texts
- sounds a bit more technical or official than dipakai
dipergunakan
- from pergunakan (a more elaborate form)
- very formal, often legal or ceremonial language
- e.g. tidak dapat dipergunakan untuk tujuan komersial

In this sentence, you could also say:

Wisma kecil di tepi danau itu digunakan untuk retret keluarga setiap tahun.
(slightly more formal)

Dipakai fits well in everyday storytelling or conversation.

How does untuk retret keluarga work grammatically? Is retret a verb or a noun here?

Here retret is a noun meaning retreat (as in a spiritual or group retreat).

The structure is:

untuk = for / for the purpose of
retret = retreat (noun)
keluarga = family

So untuk retret keluarga = for a family retreat / for family retreat(s).

Patterns to notice:

untuk + noun:
- untuk rapat (for a meeting)
- untuk makan malam (for dinner)
untuk + verb (infinitive):
- untuk beristirahat (to rest)
- untuk belajar (to study)

Here it’s untuk + noun phrase (retreat + family).

What exactly does retret mean in Indonesian? Is it common?

Retret is a borrowing from English retreat, adapted to Indonesian spelling and pronunciation.

Meaning:

usually a spiritual, religious, or reflective retreat
or an organized time away for reflection / training / bonding, often for:
- church groups
- school or campus groups
- companies (team-building)
- families

It’s quite common in contexts like:

retret rohani (spiritual retreat)
retret kantor (company retreat)
retret keluarga (family retreat)

It does not mean a regular holiday (liburan) or vacation trip by default; it implies some organized, often purposeful time away.

Why is it retret keluarga and not retret keluarga-keluarga or retret-retret keluarga to show plural?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural on nouns if the plural meaning is clear from context.

retret keluarga can mean:
- a family retreat (singular, in general)
- family retreats (in general, repeated over time)

In this sentence, setiap tahun (every year) already implies repetition, so:

dipakai untuk retret keluarga setiap tahun
= (is) used for a family retreat every year
or more naturally: used for family retreats every year

Reduplication (doubling the noun) is possible but not needed here:

keluarga-keluarga = families (many families)
retret-retret = several retreats (emphasizing number)

You would only use those if you really wanted to stress many different families or many different retreat events in a special context.

Where can setiap tahun go in the sentence? Can I move it to the beginning?

Yes. Setiap tahun (every year) is a time expression and is quite flexible in position.

Original:

Wisma kecil di tepi danau itu dipakai untuk retret keluarga setiap tahun.

Other natural options:

Setiap tahun, wisma kecil di tepi danau itu dipakai untuk retret keluarga.
(Putting the time at the front for emphasis or topic setting.)
Wisma kecil di tepi danau itu setiap tahun dipakai untuk retret keluarga.
(Possible, but a bit heavier; less common in casual speech.)

The most common positions are:

at the beginning: Setiap tahun, ...
at the end, as in the original sentence.

What is the difference between setiap tahun and tiap tahun or setiap tahunnya?

They are very close in meaning:

setiap tahun
- neutral, standard: every year
tiap tahun
- slightly more casual/colloquial, but still very common
- same meaning: every year
setiap tahunnya
- -nya can give a slightly more specific or narrative feel, like “every single year” / “every year (as usual)”
- often used in storytelling or descriptive text

In your sentence, you could say:

Wisma kecil di tepi danau itu dipakai untuk retret keluarga tiap tahun.
Wisma kecil di tepi danau itu dipakai untuk retret keluarga setiap tahunnya.

All are understandable; the original setiap tahun is the most neutral.