Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang.

My father grills chicken in the backyard.

Breakdown of Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang.

• di: in
• ayah: the father
• halaman belakang: the backyard
• ayam: the chicken
• membakar: to burn

Questions & Answers about Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang.

What exactly does Ayah mean here? Is it father or my father?

In Indonesian, ayah literally means father, but in real use it often functions like my father / my dad when you are talking about your own father.

• If I say Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang, it will usually be understood as My dad is grilling chicken in the backyard, unless context clearly shows I’m talking about someone else’s father.
• Indonesian frequently uses kinship words (ayah, ibu, kakak, etc.) instead of my father / your mother / his older sibling. Possession is often understood from context, not said explicitly.

If you really need to make it explicit, you can say:

• ayah saya = my father
• ayahnya = his / her / their father

Why is there no word for is in this Indonesian sentence?

Indonesian does not use a separate verb like to be (am/is/are) before a main verb.

• In English: Dad is burning / grilling chicken…
• In Indonesian: Ayah membakar ayam… (no word for is)

The verb membakar already carries the idea of the action. If you want to emphasize that it’s happening right now, you can add sedang:

• Ayah sedang membakar ayam di halaman belakang.
  = Dad is in the middle of grilling chicken in the backyard.

So: no is is needed; you just use the verb.

Does membakar mean to cook (grill) or to burn (destroy)?

Literally, membakar means to burn. The precise meaning depends on what you’re talking about and the context:

• For food (like ayam, ikan, sate), membakar usually means to grill / to barbecue / to roast over fire.
  • membakar ayam → grilling/barbecuing chicken.
• For things like rumah (house), kertas (paper), hutan (forest), it usually means to burn / set fire to / destroy by fire.
  • membakar rumah → to set a house on fire.

So this sentence is normally understood as Dad is grilling chicken in the backyard, not Dad is burning chicken (by accident), unless you add extra words like sampai hangus (until it’s charred).

Does ayam refer to a live chicken or chicken meat here?

Ayam can mean either chicken (the animal) or chicken (the meat), and context tells you which one.

In this sentence:

• Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang.

Because membakar is a cooking action and this is in the backyard, the natural interpretation is chicken meat (chicken pieces for grilling), not a live chicken.

If you want to be clearer, you can say:

• daging ayam = chicken meat
  Ayah membakar daging ayam.
• ayam hidup = live chicken
  Ayah memelihara ayam hidup di halaman belakang. (Dad keeps live chickens in the backyard.)

Why is there no a or the before ayam or halaman belakang?

Indonesian has no articles like a, an, the. Nouns just appear without them:

• ayam → can be chicken / a chicken / the chicken / some chicken
• halaman belakang → can be (the) backyard

Definiteness (a vs the) is usually understood from context. If you really need to specify:

• seekor ayam = a chicken (one chicken, as an animal)
• ayam itu = that/the chicken
• di halaman belakang rumah = in the (house’s) backyard
• di halaman belakang rumah itu = in that house’s backyard

But in ordinary conversation, Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang is fully natural and clear without any articles.

What is the tense of membakar? Is this present, past, or future?

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. Membakar itself is not marked for past, present, or future. The sentence could mean:

• Dad burns / grills chicken in the backyard (habitual)
• Dad is burning / grilling chicken in the backyard (right now)
• Dad burned / grilled chicken in the backyard (past), if the context clearly refers to the past.

To be more specific, you add time or aspect words:

• sedang → ongoing now
  Ayah sedang membakar ayam di halaman belakang.
• tadi / tadi pagi → earlier / this morning
  Tadi, ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang.
• akan / nanti → will / later
  Nanti sore, ayah akan membakar ayam di halaman belakang.

What does di mean, and how is it different from ke and dari?

Di, ke, and dari are basic prepositions:

• di = at / in / on (location, where something is)
  • di halaman belakang = in the backyard
• ke = to / toward (movement to a place)
  • ke halaman belakang = to the backyard
• dari = from (movement from a place)
  • dari halaman belakang = from the backyard

In this sentence, di is correct because we’re talking about where Dad is doing the action:

• Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang.
  = Dad is grilling chicken in the backyard.

Why is the word order Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang and not something else? Can I move di halaman belakang?

The normal, neutral word order in Indonesian is:

Subject – Verb – Object – (Adverbials)

Here:

• Subject: Ayah
• Verb: membakar
• Object: ayam
• Place phrase: di halaman belakang

So the basic structure is: > Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang.

You can move di halaman belakang for emphasis or style:

• Di halaman belakang, ayah membakar ayam.
  (In the backyard, Dad grills chicken.) – focusing on place.

  That’s natural, especially in written or narrative style. But something like:

• Ayah di halaman belakang membakar ayam.

is possible but sounds less natural and can feel slightly awkward; Indonesian usually keeps Subject–Verb together unless there’s a special reason.

What is the role of belakang in halaman belakang? Is it like an adjective?

Yes. In halaman belakang:

• halaman = yard
• belakang = back / behind

Belakang behaves like an adjective that comes after the noun:

• halaman belakang = back yard / backyard
• literally: yard back

Indonesian usually puts describing words after the noun:

• rumah besar = big house
• kucing hitam = black cat
• pintu depan = front door
• halaman belakang = backyard

Belakang can also be used on its own:

• di belakang = at the back / behind
• di belakang rumah = behind the house

Why is Ayah capitalized? Is that always required?

In the given sentence it’s capitalized mainly because it’s the first word of the sentence.

In general:

• ayah (lowercase) is normal when you’re using it as a common noun (father).
• Some style guides say to capitalize kinship terms like Ayah, Ibu, Bapak when used as a form of address or proper name, similar to Dad, Mom in English:
  • Ayah, sini sebentar. = Dad, come here for a moment.

So you might see both ayah and Ayah, depending on:

1. Position in the sentence (beginning = capital anyway), and
2. Whether the writer treats it like a name/title.

Could the subject Ayah be omitted? For example, just Membakar ayam di halaman belakang?

You can omit the subject in Indonesian, but only if it’s very clear from context who you’re talking about.

• Membakar ayam di halaman belakang. on its own sounds like a fragment:
  • Burning/grilling chicken in the backyard. (Who is doing it?)

In everyday conversation, you might drop the subject if it’s obvious, for example as a short answer:

• A: Ayah di mana? (Where is Dad?)
• B: (Beliau) membakar ayam di halaman belakang.
  (He’s) grilling chicken in the backyard.

So, in a full, standalone sentence, it’s more natural to keep the subject:
Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang.

Are there more common or alternative ways to say Dad in Indonesian? How is ayah different from bapak or papa?

Yes, there are several common words for dad/father, each with a slightly different feel:

• ayah – neutral, a bit formal/standard, common in writing and in some families.
• bapak / pak – respectful, also used like sir / Mr.
  
  • Bapak can mean you (sir) when addressing an older man or a father figure.
• papa / papi – more informal/modern, often used in urban/middle-class families.
• abi, ayahanda, etc. – more specific to certain regions, cultures, or more formal/literary styles.

In the sentence:

• Ayah membakar ayam di halaman belakang.
  you could also have:
• Papa membakar ayam di halaman belakang.
• Bapak membakar ayam di halaman belakang.

The grammar is the same; only the style and family preference change.

Is halaman belakang the only way to say backyard, or are there alternatives?

Halaman belakang is the most straightforward way to say backyard:

• halaman = yard
• belakang = back

Common alternatives include:

• belakang rumah = the back of the house / behind the house
  
  • Ayah membakar ayam di belakang rumah.
• halaman rumah belakang is technically understandable but less natural than halaman belakang (rumah).

For normal conversation, halaman belakang or belakang rumah are the usual choices.