Breakdown of Saya takut jalan di jalan gelap kalau hujan deras.
Questions & Answers about Saya takut jalan di jalan gelap kalau hujan deras.
No, it has two different functions here:
First jalan = a verb: to walk
- Saya takut jalan… = I am afraid to walk…
Second jalan = a noun: road / street
- …di jalan gelap = …on a dark road / street
Indonesian often uses the same basic word as both verb and noun, and context shows which meaning is intended.
Yes, you can. Both are correct:
- Saya takut jalan di jalan gelap…
- Saya takut berjalan di jalan gelap…
Differences:
- jalan (verb) is a bit more casual and very common in speech.
- berjalan is slightly more formal / explicit, and often used in writing or careful speech.
Meaning-wise in this sentence, they’re the same: I’m afraid to walk on a dark street when it’s raining heavily.
You don’t repeat saya because:
hujan here is not a verb with a subject; it’s more like a weather expression:
- hujan = it’s raining
- hujan deras = it’s raining heavily
Indonesian normally does not say saya hujan for I rain. Rain is impersonal.
So the structure is:
- Saya takut [jalan di jalan gelap] [kalau hujan deras].
- Saya = subject
- takut = predicate (am afraid)
- jalan di jalan gelap = what I’m afraid of (walking on a dark street)
- kalau hujan deras = the condition (when/if it’s raining heavily)
You could add saya in another way, for example:
- Kalau hujan deras, saya takut jalan di jalan gelap.
but you still don’t put saya before hujan.
Both can often be translated as when, but there is a nuance:
kalau
- Basic meaning: if / when (in the case that)
- Can express condition or repeated/general situations.
- kalau hujan deras = if / when it rains heavily
ketika
- More like when (at the time that)
- Focuses on a specific time or event.
- ketika hujan deras = when it was raining heavily (at that time)
In your sentence:
- Saya takut jalan di jalan gelap kalau hujan deras.
suggests a general or conditional situation: I don’t like / I’m afraid of doing that in that kind of weather.
If you say:
- Saya takut jalan di jalan gelap ketika hujan deras.
it still works, but can feel more like referring to specific occasions, especially in a narrative. In everyday speech, kalau is more common.
In Indonesian, adjectives normally come after the noun:
- jalan gelap = dark road
- jalan = road
- gelap = dark (adjective)
Putting gelap before jalan (gelap jalan) does not work. The default pattern is:
- Noun + Adjective
- rumah besar = big house
- orang kaya = rich person
- malam panjang = long night
So jalan gelap follows the normal pattern.
Indonesian usually does not need a separate verb like is / am / are between a noun and an adjective. So:
- English: The street is dark.
- Indonesian: Jalan itu gelap. (literally: That street dark.)
In your sentence, jalan gelap is a noun phrase (dark street), not a full clause (the street is dark). If you wanted a full sentence, you could say:
- Jalan itu gelap kalau hujan deras.
= The street is dark when it rains heavily.
But inside your original sentence, jalan gelap just modifies jalan.
takut basically means afraid / scared. The strength depends on context and tone:
- It can be real fear:
- Dia takut anjing. = He/She is afraid of dogs.
- It can also be softer, like uncomfortable / reluctant:
- Saya takut terlambat. = I’m afraid (I might) be late.
In Saya takut jalan di jalan gelap kalau hujan deras, it most naturally means you feel fear or strong discomfort about doing that. In casual conversation, it can range from I really hate it to it genuinely scares me, depending on how you say it.
Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. takut, jalan, hujan all stay the same. Time is understood from context or from time words.
Your sentence by itself could mean:
- Present habit / general truth:
- I (generally) feel afraid to walk on a dark street when it rains heavily.
- Future (with context):
- I’ll be afraid to walk on a dark street if it rains heavily (later).
If you want to be more explicit, you can add time markers:
- Tadi malam saya takut jalan di jalan gelap kalau hujan deras.
(Last night I was afraid…) - Besok saya pasti takut jalan di jalan gelap kalau hujan deras.
(Tomorrow I’ll definitely be afraid…)
It can mean if or when, depending on context:
As if (conditional): imagining a situation:
- If it rains heavily, I’m afraid to walk on a dark street.
As when (typical situation): talking about what usually happens in that condition:
- When it rains heavily, I’m (always) afraid to walk on a dark street.
Indonesian kalau covers both if and when in that situation, so context decides which English translation fits better.
Yes, very natural:
- Kalau hujan deras, saya takut jalan di jalan gelap.
This keeps the same meaning. In Indonesian, clauses with kalau (if/when) can appear:
- At the end:
- Saya takut jalan di jalan gelap kalau hujan deras.
- At the beginning (usually followed by a comma in writing):
- Kalau hujan deras, saya takut jalan di jalan gelap.
Both are common and correct.
Both are correct, but with a nuance:
di jalan gelap
- gelap directly modifies jalan.
- Feels a bit more general: on a dark street / on dark streets.
di jalan yang gelap
- yang gelap = that is dark / which is dark
- Feels a bit more specific, like on the street that is dark (a particular street or a clearly identified situation).
In many contexts they are interchangeable, and the difference is subtle. yang often adds a feeling of specific or emphasized description.
Same pattern as jalan gelap: noun + adjective.
- hujan = rain (noun)
- deras = heavy (adjective, for rain/water flow)
So:
- hujan deras = heavy rain / it’s raining heavily
- deras hujan is not correct in normal Indonesian.
General rule: Noun + Adjective (adjective comes after the noun).