Breakdown of Anak kedua saya suka membaca di perpustakaan.
suka
to like
di
in
membaca
to read
anak
the child
Questions & Answers about Anak kedua saya suka membaca di perpustakaan.
Why is it anak kedua saya and not saya anak kedua? What is the normal word order for possession here?
In Indonesian, the typical pattern is:
- possessed noun + owner pronoun
So:
- anak saya = my child
- rumah saya = my house
- mobil mereka = their car
When you add an ordinal number (first, second, third, etc.), it comes between the noun and the pronoun:
- anak pertama saya = my first child
- anak kedua saya = my second child
- anak ketiga saya = my third child
Saya anak kedua would more naturally mean “I am the second child” (in my family), not “my second child.”
So the original sentence uses the normal word order for “my second child.”
Does anak kedua saya always mean “my second child,” or could it mean “my two children” or “both my children”?
Anak kedua saya means “my second child” (the child who is number 2 in birth order).
This is different from:
- kedua anak saya = both of my children
- dua anak saya = my two children
So:
- anak kedua saya → one child, the second one
- kedua anak saya → two children, all of them, both
- dua anak saya → two of my children (maybe I have more than two in total)
Could I also say anak saya yang kedua? Is that the same as anak kedua saya?