Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dia memukul bola di lapangan.

You find out the gender only from context (who you are talking about) or from extra words, for example dia laki‑laki (he, literally “male person”) or dia perempuan (she, literally “female person”).

Why doesn’t the verb show tense? How do I know if memukul means hit, hits, or is hitting?

The verb memukul itself has no tense. Indonesian verbs usually don’t change form for past, present, or future.

The time is understood from:

Context, or
Time expressions, for example:
- Dia memukul bola di lapangan kemarin. → He/She hit the ball on the field yesterday.
- Sekarang dia memukul bola di lapangan. → Now he/she is hitting the ball on the field.
- Besok dia akan memukul bola di lapangan. → Tomorrow he/she will hit the ball on the field.

So dia memukul bola di lapangan can be translated as he hits / is hitting / hit the ball on the field, depending on context.

What’s the difference between pukul and memukul?

Pukul is the root (base) form, meaning hit / strike.

Memukul is the active transitive verb form built from pukul with the prefix meN-:

meN-
- pukul → memukul (the p changes and merges into mem-).

Usage:

pukul on its own is used in some fixed expressions (e.g. pukul tiga = three o’clock) or in commands (Pukul bola! = Hit the ball!).
memukul is the normal active form in sentences with a clear subject and object:
- Dia memukul bola. → He/She hits the ball.

So in a regular statement like this sentence, memukul is the correct form.

Why is there no word for a or the before bola and lapangan?

Indonesian has no articles like a / an / the. Nouns appear without them, and definiteness is understood from context.

If you need to be more specific, you add other words:

sebuah bola → a ball (literally “one ball”, with a classifier)
bola itu → the ball / that ball
lapangan itu → the field / that field

But Dia memukul bola di lapangan is perfectly natural and can mean:

He/She hit a ball on a/the field, depending on the context.

What exactly does di mean in di lapangan, and how is it different from ke?

Di is a preposition meaning at / in / on (location, no movement).

di lapangan → at / on the field (showing where something happens)

Ke means to / towards (movement or direction):

Dia pergi ke lapangan. → He/She goes to the field.
Dia memukul bola ke lapangan lawan. → He/She hits the ball to the opponent’s field/side.

So:

Use di for where something is or happens.
Use ke for where something is going.

In your sentence, di is correct because it describes where the action happens.

Is the word order always Subject – Verb – Object – Place like in this sentence?

The default word order in Indonesian is indeed Subject – Verb – Object – (Adverbials like place/time):

Dia (Subject)
memukul (Verb)
bola (Object)
di lapangan (Place phrase)

You can move some parts for emphasis, especially time or place:

Di lapangan dia memukul bola. (On the field, he/she hit the ball.)
Kemarin dia memukul bola di lapangan. (Yesterday he/she hit the ball on the field.)

But you normally do not move the object in front of the verb in an active sentence unless you change the construction (for example to a passive).

Can I drop dia and just say Memukul bola di lapangan?

You can drop dia in some contexts, but it changes the feel of the sentence.

Dia memukul bola di lapangan.
Clear full sentence: He/She hits / hit the ball on the field.
Memukul bola di lapangan.
- Could sound like a fragment or title: Hitting a ball on the field.
- Could be part of a longer sentence: Hobinya adalah memukul bola di lapangan. (His/Her hobby is hitting the ball on the field.)

In everyday conversation, speakers often drop pronouns when the subject is already very clear, but in isolation, the version without dia does not sound like a complete, neutral sentence referring to a specific person.

What does lapangan mean exactly? Is it always a sports field?

Lapangan generally means an open area of ground. Common senses include:

A sports field or pitch:
- lapangan sepak bola → soccer field
- lapangan tenis → tennis court
A general open field / yard / square:
- lapangan upacara → ceremonial field (for flag ceremonies, etc.)

So in this sentence, lapangan most naturally suggests a sports field or open playing field, but by itself it just means an open ground area; the exact type is given by context or extra words.

Is there any nuance difference between di lapangan and di dalam lapangan?

Di lapangan means simply on/at the field and is the normal expression.

Di dalam means inside, so di dalam lapangan literally means inside the field, emphasizing being within its area, as opposed to outside it. Because lapangan is already an open area, di dalam lapangan sounds unusual in many situations; people more often say:

di lapangan → on the field
di tengah lapangan → in the middle of the field

So for your sentence, di lapangan is the natural choice.

How would I say this in the passive voice, like “The ball was hit on the field (by him/her)”?

A common passive version is:

Bola itu dipukul dia di lapangan.
→ The ball was hit by him/her on the field.

More natural Indonesian uses a clitic -nya for “by him/her”:

Bola itu dipukulnya di lapangan.

Breakdown:

bola itu → the ball
di-
- pukul → dipukul (passive “is/was hit”)
-nya → by him/her (attached to the verb)
di lapangan → on the field

Another explicit form is:

Bola itu dipukul oleh dia di lapangan.
(using oleh = “by”)

Could di ever be written together with lapangan as one word, like dilapangan?

No. In di lapangan, di is a preposition meaning at / in / on, and it is always written separately from the noun:

di + lapangan → di lapangan (correct)
dilapangan → incorrect as a location phrase

When di- is written together as a prefix, it marks the passive verb form, for example:

dipukul (from pukul) → is/was hit

So:

di lapangan (with a space) = at/on the field (preposition + noun)
dipukul (no space) = is/was hit (prefix + verb root)

How can I say that the ball was hit many times, not just once?

The verb memukul itself doesn’t say whether the action is once or repeated. You add adverbs or other words:

Dia berkali-kali memukul bola di lapangan.
He/She hit the ball on the field repeatedly / many times.
Dia terus-menerus memukul bola di lapangan.
He/She kept on hitting the ball on the field.
Dia hanya sekali memukul bola di lapangan.
He/She hit the ball on the field only once.

So aspect (single vs repeated action) is shown with extra words, not by changing memukul itself.

Does memukul sound violent, like hitting a person, or is it neutral in a sports context?

Memukul is quite neutral and just means to hit / strike. The object determines whether it sounds violent:

Dia memukul bola. → He/She hits the ball. (sports, neutral)
Dia memukul orang itu. → He/She hit that person. (clearly violent)

So in Dia memukul bola di lapangan, it is naturally understood as a sports / game action, not an act of violence.