Ayam kami tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah.

Our chickens sleep in a small coop behind the house.

Breakdown of Ayam kami tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah.

• sebuah: a
• rumah: the house
• di: in
• kecil: small
• tidur: to sleep
• kami: our
• ayam: the chicken
• di belakang: behind
• kandang: the pen

Questions & Answers about Ayam kami tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah.

Does ayam mean chicken or chickens here? How do I know if it’s singular or plural?

Ayam by itself is number-neutral in Indonesian. It can mean chicken or chickens, depending on the context.

• Ayam kami tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah.
  → could be Our chicken sleeps… or Our chickens sleep…

To make it clearly plural, you can use:

• ayam-ayam (reduplication):
  Ayam-ayam kami tidur… = Our chickens sleep…
• a number + classifier:
  Tiga ekor ayam kami tidur… = Our three chickens sleep…

If the context is about more than one chicken, ayam will normally be understood as chickens even without a plural marker.

Why is it ayam kami and not kami ayam for our chickens?

In Indonesian, the possessor usually comes after the noun it possesses.

• ayam kami = our chicken(s) (literally: chicken we)
• rumah saya = my house
• mobil mereka = their car

So the pattern is:

[NOUN] + [PRONOUN] = [NOUN] + my/your/our/their

Kami ayam is not grammatical in this sense.
If you want to say we (are) chickens (which is odd, but grammatically possible), you would just say kami ayam in an appropriate context, but that’s a subject + predicate pattern, not possession.

What is the difference between kami and kita? Why do we use kami here?

Both kami and kita mean we / us / our, but:

• kami = we (excluding the listener)
  → the listener is not part of the group
• kita = we (including the listener)
  → the listener is part of the group

In Ayam kami tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah, kami implies:

• our chickens (but not yours), or
• the speaker’s group is separate from the listener

If the speaker wanted to include the listener (for example, family members talking to each other about their shared chickens), they could say:

• Ayam kita tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah.
  → Our (yours and mine) chickens sleep in a small coop behind the house.

Why is there no word for are or is in Ayam kami tidur?

Indonesian generally does not use a separate verb for "to be" (am/is/are) in simple present sentences with verbs.

• Ayam kami tidur.
  Literally: Our chicken(s) sleep.

You don’t say ayam kami adalah tidur or ayam kami itu tidur for the basic Our chickens are sleeping idea.

Indonesian structure is simply:

[Subject] + [Verb]

Examples:

• Saya makan. = I eat / I am eating.
• Dia kerja di kantor. = He/She works at an office.

Adalah is used for noun–noun or noun–adjective definitions, not with normal action verbs like tidur.

Where do adjectives go? Why is it kandang kecil instead of kecil kandang?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe:

• kandang kecil = small coop (literally: coop small)
• rumah besar = big house
• baju merah = red shirt

So the pattern is:

[NOUN] + [ADJECTIVE]

Saying kecil kandang would be wrong as a normal noun phrase.
You can insert yang for emphasis or clarification:

• kandang yang kecil = the coop that is small
  (more specific or contrastive)

Why is di repeated twice: di kandang kecil di belakang rumah? Can I drop one of them?

Each di introduces a separate location phrase:

1. di kandang kecil = in a small coop
2. di belakang rumah = behind the house

Putting them together:

• tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah
  = sleep in a small coop behind the house

You cannot drop either di here, because:

• kandang kecil di belakang rumah is one noun phrase:
  the small coop behind the house
• But the verb tidur needs its own preposition: tidur di (where?)

So you need both:

• tidur di [kandang kecil di belakang rumah]
  → sleep in [the small coop behind the house]

What exactly does di belakang rumah mean? Is it at the back of the house or behind our house?

Di belakang rumah literally means at the back (behind) of a/the house.

• di = at / in / on (location preposition)
• belakang = back / behind
• rumah = house

In practice, if the context is clear, rumah will usually be understood as our house / the house we’re talking about.

You can be more explicit:

• di belakang rumah kami = behind our house
• di belakang rumah itu = behind that house
• di belakang rumahnya = behind his/her/their house

Could this sentence also mean Our chicken is sleeping in the small coop behind the house (with the instead of a)?

Yes. Indonesian does not have articles like a/an/the.
Kandang kecil by itself can be translated as:

• a small coop
• the small coop

Which one you choose in English depends entirely on context, not on any change in Indonesian form.

If the coop is already known and specific in the conversation, you’d naturally translate:

• Ayam kami tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah.
  → Our chicken is sleeping in the small coop behind the house.

If I want to clearly say our chickens (plural), how would I change the sentence?

To make the plural explicit, the most common options are:

1. Reduplication (ayam-ayam):

   • Ayam-ayam kami tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah.
     = Our chickens sleep in a small coop behind the house.

2. Number + classifier:

   • Tiga ekor ayam kami tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah.
     = Our three chickens sleep in a small coop behind the house.

3. Combine both (more emphatic or stylistic):

   • Ayam-ayam kami itu tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah.
     = Those chickens of ours sleep in the small coop behind the house.

Is kandang only used for chickens? What exactly does it mean?

Kandang is a general word for animal enclosure, such as:

• kandang ayam = chicken coop
• kandang sapi = cow shed
• kandang kambing = goat pen
• kandang kucing = cat cage (e.g., at a vet or pet shop)

In your sentence, since ayam is mentioned, kandang is naturally understood as a chicken coop, even without saying kandang ayam.

How would I say Our chickens are sleeping in a small coop behind our house more explicitly?

You can make both possession and plurality explicit:

• Ayam-ayam kami tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah kami.

Breakdown:

• Ayam-ayam kami = our chickens
• tidur = (are) sleeping
• di kandang kecil = in a small coop
• di belakang rumah kami = behind our house

This removes most ambiguity about whose house and how many chickens.

Can I add something like sedang to show the action is happening right now?

Yes. Sedang is often used to mark a progressive action, similar to am/is/are …ing.

• Ayam kami sedang tidur di kandang kecil di belakang rumah.
  = Our chicken(s) are (right now) sleeping in a small coop behind the house.

Without sedang, tidur can be understood as sleep / are sleeping depending on context; sedang just makes the “in progress now” meaning more explicit.