Murid-murid tertib menunggu di gerbang sekolah.

The students wait in an orderly manner at the school gate.

Breakdown of Murid-murid tertib menunggu di gerbang sekolah.

• di: at
• menunggu: to wait
• murid: the student
• gerbang sekolah: the school gate
• tertib: orderly

Questions & Answers about Murid-murid tertib menunggu di gerbang sekolah.

Why is murid written as murid-murid here? How does plural work in Indonesian?

Indonesian doesn’t need a special plural ending like -s in English. Instead, it has several ways to show “more than one”:

• Reduplication: murid-murid = “students” (clearly plural)
• Context only: murid can mean “a student” or “students” depending on context
• Para + singular: para murid = “the students” (more formal, often written language)
• Number word: tiga murid = “three students” (no reduplication)

In this sentence, murid-murid is used to clearly emphasize that we are talking about more than one student. You could also say para murid with a slightly more formal flavor. Plain murid would technically be grammatical, but it would be less clear that it’s plural if there were no other context.

Is tertib an adjective (“orderly”) or an adverb (“orderly / in an orderly way”) here?

Grammatically, tertib is an adjective, but Indonesian adjectives can often function like adverbs without any change in form.

In this sentence, tertib describes the way the students are waiting, so it behaves like an adverb of manner:

• murid-murid tertib menunggu ≈ “the students orderly wait / are waiting in an orderly way”

You could also say:

• murid-murid menunggu dengan tertib

Here dengan tertib is a more explicit adverbial phrase (“in an orderly way”). Both are correct; murid-murid tertib menunggu feels a bit more compact and is very natural.

Why is the word order murid-murid tertib menunggu, not murid-murid menunggu tertib?

Both patterns exist in Indonesian, but they don’t feel exactly the same.

1. murid-murid tertib menunggu

   • tertib comes right after the subject, so it can be understood as describing the students as they perform the action:
   • “The students, (who are) orderly, are waiting.”

2. murid-murid menunggu tertib

   • This sounds less natural and a bit awkward; if you want tertib after the verb, speakers usually prefer:
   • murid-murid menunggu dengan tertib

So the common natural patterns are:

• murid-murid tertib menunggu
• murid-murid menunggu dengan tertib

Placing tertib immediately after the subject is a normal way to show that the action is done in that manner.

What is the difference between menunggu and tunggu? Why do we use menunggu here?

Tunggu is the base verb “wait,” and menunggu is the meN- prefixed form.

Main points:

• tunggu is:

  • used as an imperative: Tunggu sebentar! “Wait a moment!”
  • used in certain fixed expressions or after auxiliaries / modal verbs

• menunggu is:

  • the normal “dictionary” form used as a main verb in sentences:
    • Saya menunggu teman saya.
    • Murid-murid menunggu di gerbang.

In this sentence, we need a normal active verb form in a statement, so menunggu is the natural choice. Using murid-murid tunggu di gerbang would sound incomplete or non-standard in most contexts.

How do we know if the sentence means “are waiting” (now) or “waited” (in the past)? There’s no tense marker.

Indonesian verbs do not change form to mark tense. Menunggu itself can mean:

• “wait / are waiting / will wait / waited”

The time is understood from context or from time words that you add:

• tadi murid-murid tertib menunggu = they waited earlier
• sekarang murid-murid tertib menunggu = they are waiting now
• besok murid-murid akan tertib menunggu = they will wait tomorrow

Without any time word, the sentence is time-neutral. In a typical narrative or description, it’s often understood as present or a general description, depending on the surrounding sentences.

Why do we use di in di gerbang sekolah and not ke?

di and ke have different functions:

• di = at / in / on (location, where something is)
• ke = to (direction, movement toward a place)

Here, the students are already at the school gate and are waiting there, so di gerbang sekolah is correct.

Contrast:

• Murid-murid berjalan ke gerbang sekolah.
  They walk to the school gate.
• Murid-murid menunggu di gerbang sekolah.
  They wait at the school gate.

What is the structure of gerbang sekolah? Why is there no word like “of”?

In Indonesian, a common way to express “X of Y” is:

• [Head noun] + [Modifier noun]

So:

• gerbang = gate
• sekolah = school
• gerbang sekolah = the school gate / the gate of the school

Other examples:

• pintu kamar = the room door / door of the room
• buku pelajaran = a textbook / book for lessons

You don’t need a word like “of” (dari) in these noun–noun combinations; using dari here (gerbang dari sekolah) would sound unnatural.

Can I say para murid tertib menunggu di gerbang sekolah instead? What is the difference from murid-murid?

Yes, you can.

• murid-murid: plural marked by reduplication; neutral and very common in both spoken and written Indonesian.
• para murid: plural marked by para; feels more formal or a bit more written style, often used in news, speeches, or formal writing.

So:

• murid-murid tertib menunggu...
• para murid tertib menunggu...

Both mean “the students” (plural); the difference is mainly style/register, not meaning.

Is murid the same as siswa? Which one is better here?

Murid and siswa are very close in meaning, but there are some tendencies:

• murid:

  • general term for “pupil / student”
  • often associated with primary or secondary school, but can be broader

• siswa:

  • commonly used for school students (especially elementary to high school)
  • sounds a bit more formal/administrative, often used in official contexts (documents, regulations, news, etc.)

In everyday speech about school kids, both murid and siswa are understood. In this sentence, murid-murid feels perfectly natural. You could also say:

• Para siswa tertib menunggu di gerbang sekolah.

That would sound a bit more like a school report or news article.

Is the word tertib absolutely necessary? What changes if we remove it?

If you remove tertib, you get:

• Murid-murid menunggu di gerbang sekolah.

This simply states the fact that they are waiting at the gate, with no information about how they are waiting.

With tertib, you add an important nuance: they are orderly, not chaotic, not pushing each other, etc. So tertib adds a positive evaluation of their behavior and discipline.

Can I move di gerbang sekolah to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. You can say:

• Di gerbang sekolah, murid-murid tertib menunggu.

This is fully grammatical. The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Murid-murid tertib menunggu di gerbang sekolah.
  • More neutral; starts with the students as the topic.
• Di gerbang sekolah, murid-murid tertib menunggu.
  • Emphasizes the location first: “At the school gate, the students are waiting in an orderly way.”

Indonesian allows some flexibility in word order for emphasis as long as the relationships are clear.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral in style?

The sentence is neutral and can be used in many contexts:

• A teacher describing what the students are doing
• A narrative in a storybook
• An observation in a school report

There are no slang words or very formal bureaucratic terms. To make it more formal, you might choose para murid or para siswa, or add more formal vocabulary around it. But as written, it’s standard, neutral Indonesian.

How would I make the action explicitly “in progress,” like English “are waiting” with emphasis on “right now”?

You can add the aspect marker sedang before the verb:

• Murid-murid sedang tertib menunggu di gerbang sekolah.

or, more common:

• Murid-murid tertib sedang menunggu di gerbang sekolah.
• Murid-murid sedang menunggu dengan tertib di gerbang sekolah.

Sedang signals that the action is ongoing at the current time, similar to the English present continuous “are waiting.”