Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dia pegang payung untuk melindungi kepala dari hujan deras. - He/She holds an umbrella to protect his/her head from the heavy rain.

Indonesian usually does not mark gender in pronouns. If you really need to specify gender, you normally do it by context (previous sentences) or by adding a noun:

dia perempuan itu = that woman, she
dia laki‑laki itu = that man, he

But in everyday Indonesian, just dia is enough, and people understand from context.

Why is it dia pegang payung and not dia memegang payung? Is pegang correct?

Both are correct, but they differ in style/level of formality:

Dia memegang payung – more standard / formal / written Indonesian.
Dia pegang payung – more informal / conversational.

Pegang is the root verb. In standard Indonesian, many active verbs normally take the prefix me- (here: memegang from pegang). In everyday speech, the me- prefix is often dropped, especially in casual Indonesian, producing forms like:

makan → makan (no change, already common without prefix)
ambil → (mengambil) → ambil in casual speech
pegang → (memegang) → pegang in casual speech

So dia pegang payung sounds like natural spoken Indonesian. If you’re writing an essay, you’d more likely use dia memegang payung.

What part of speech is pegang here? Is it a noun or a verb?

In this sentence, pegang is a verb meaning to hold / to grip.

Indonesian verbs don’t change for tense (no -ed, -ing, etc.), and they often appear as the bare root in informal speech:

pegang – to hold
makan – to eat
minum – to drink

So dia pegang payung = he/she holds an umbrella or he/she is holding an umbrella, depending on context.

Why is there no word for “a” or “an” before payung? Should it be sebuah payung?

Indonesian generally has no articles like a/an/the.

payung can mean a(n) umbrella or the umbrella, depending on context.

You can add a classifier or numeral if you want to emphasize “one umbrella”:

sebuah payung – one umbrella (neutral)
satu payung – one umbrella (numerical emphasis)

But in a normal sentence, just payung is completely natural and does not feel incomplete:

Dia pegang payung – He/She is holding an umbrella / the umbrella.

How is “his/her” expressed? Why isn’t it kepalanya instead of just kepala?

There’s no explicit his/her in the sentence. Indonesian often omits possession when it’s obvious from context.

melindungi kepala – literally: to protect (the) head
→ understood as his/her head here, because the subject is dia.

If you want to make possession explicit, you can add ‑nya:

melindungi kepalanya – protect his/her head (or their head).

Both are grammatically fine.

melindungi kepala feels a bit more general or neutral (protect the head area).
melindungi kepalanya clearly points to that person’s head.

In many real contexts, speakers use either; context usually makes it clear.

What does untuk do in untuk melindungi kepala? Is it like “for” or “to”?

Here untuk introduces a purpose clause; it’s close to “to” or “in order to”:

dia pegang payung untuk melindungi kepala
→ he/she holds an umbrella *to protect his/her head*.

You can think of the pattern:

[main action] + untuk + [purpose]

Examples:

Saya belajar keras untuk lulus ujian.
I study hard to pass the exam.
Dia kerja lembur untuk mendapatkan uang tambahan.
He/She works overtime to get extra money.

You usually keep untuk here; dropping it (dia pegang payung melindungi kepala) sounds odd or at least very compressed.

What is the structure of melindungi? Is it related to lindung?

Yes. Melindungi is built from the root lindung with an affix:

lindung – root meaning protection / to shelter (not often used alone as a verb)
me- + lindung + -i → melindungi – to protect (someone/something)

So:

melindungi kepala – to protect (the) head
melindungi anak-anak – to protect the children
melindungi lingkungan – to protect the environment

The me‑…‑i pattern often makes a transitive verb that takes a direct object (what is being protected, in this case kepala).

Could you also say melindung kepala, without ‑i?

In modern standard Indonesian, melindungi is the normal and most natural form.

You might occasionally see melindung in older texts or as part of fixed expressions (e.g., tempat berlindung – place of shelter), but as a verb taking a direct object (protect something), speakers overwhelmingly use melindungi:

✅ melindungi kepala – correct, natural
⚠️ melindung kepala – not standard; sounds wrong to most native speakers today.

What is the function of dari in dari hujan deras? Is it the same as “from”?

Yes. Here dari means “from”, indicating the source of something or what you’re protecting yourself from:

melindungi kepala dari hujan deras
→ protect the head from heavy rain.

Other examples:

melindungi kulit dari matahari – protect the skin from the sun
melarikan diri dari bahaya – escape from danger

Don’t confuse dari with daripada, which is often used for comparisons or some other special structures:

lebih besar daripada itu – bigger than that

What does hujan deras literally mean, and why is deras after hujan?

Literally:

hujan – rain
deras – heavy, intense (for rain, flow of water, etc.)

So hujan deras = heavy rain.

In Indonesian, adjectives normally follow the noun:

hujan deras – heavy rain
rumah besar – big house
air panas – hot water

So hujan deras (noun + adjective) is the normal order. You could also say hujan lebat, which also means heavy rain and is very common.

The English translation might be “He/She is holding an umbrella…”. Why is there no word like “is” or “-ing” in Indonesian?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense or aspect. There is no direct equivalent of is holding / held / will hold built into the verb.

Dia pegang payung can mean:
- He/She holds an umbrella.
- He/She is holding an umbrella.
- He/She was holding an umbrella.
  The exact time/aspect is understood from context or time words.

To make the time/aspect clearer, you can add adverbs:

Dia sedang memegang payung. – He/She is currently holding an umbrella.
Tadi dia memegang payung. – Earlier, he/she was holding an umbrella.
Besok dia akan memegang payung. – Tomorrow he/she will hold an umbrella.

But mechanically, the verb itself (pegang/memegang) doesn’t change.

Could the sentence be reordered, like Dia pegang payung dari hujan deras untuk melindungi kepala?

That reordering is not natural and changes the relationships between the parts.

The original:

Dia pegang payung / untuk melindungi kepala / dari hujan deras.
→ Subject + verb + object + purpose
- what you’re protecting from.

If you move dari hujan deras right after payung, it starts to sound like:

He/She holds an umbrella from heavy rain…
which is confusing in Indonesian too, because it suggests the umbrella comes from heavy rain, not that it protects from it.

The most natural patterns are:

Dia pegang payung untuk melindungi kepala dari hujan deras.
Dia memegang payung untuk melindungi kepalanya dari hujan deras.

You can sometimes move dari hujan deras earlier as long as it clearly attaches to melindungi, but the safest and most normal spot is right after the verb phrase melindungi kepala:

…untuk melindungi kepala dari hujan deras. ✅