Breakdown of Jam buka perpustakaan ada di papan pengumuman.
Questions & Answers about Jam buka perpustakaan ada di papan pengumuman.
Literally:
- jam = hour / o’clock / time (clock time)
- buka = open / to open
So jam buka literally is “opening time” or “hours when it is open.”
Indonesian often makes meanings by putting two words together without changing their form. English might use a single word (opening hours) or a noun with -ing (opening time), but Indonesian just combines jam + buka.
Yes, you can.
- jam buka perpustakaan = opening hours of the library (focus on clock time)
- waktu buka perpustakaan = time when the library is open (slightly more general)
In practice, they’re very close in meaning and both sound natural. Jam buka is a bit more common for shop/office/library hours.
In Indonesian, the common pattern is:
[Head noun] + [modifier]
Here the head noun is jam (the thing you’re talking about), and buka perpustakaan modifies it.
- jam = head noun
- buka perpustakaan = “(for the) library’s opening”
So jam buka perpustakaan is like “the opening hours (of the library).”
Jam perpustakaan buka would sound more like:
- “the time (when) the library opens” but the word order is odd/ungrammatical in this form; you’d normally say jam perpustakaan buka adalah … or perpustakaan buka jam …, not pack it all into one noun phrase.
Ada basically means:
- to exist / to be (there) / there is/are / to be located
In this sentence:
Jam buka perpustakaan ada di papan pengumuman.
it works like English “is/are located”:
- “The library’s opening hours are (there) on the noticeboard.”
So it’s an existence/location verb: it tells you that the thing exists in that place (the noticeboard).
Yes, you often can.
Jam buka perpustakaan di papan pengumuman.
is something you would hear in everyday speech, and it’s understandable.
However:
- With ada, the sentence feels a bit clearer and more complete, especially in writing or in more careful speech.
- Without ada, it’s a bit more “telegraphic,” like spoken shorthand.
So both are possible; with ada is slightly more explicit and standard.
Indonesian nouns usually do not show singular/plural by changing their form.
So jam can mean:
- hour
- hours
- o’clock
Context tells you which one it is.
In jam buka perpustakaan, it’s best translated as “opening hours”, even though Indonesian just uses the singular form jam.
Indonesian doesn’t use articles like the, a, or an.
Definiteness (whether it’s “the” or “some”) is inferred from context. Here:
- We’re talking about the specific library and its particular opening hours, so in English we naturally say “the opening hours of the library.”
- Indonesian just says jam buka perpustakaan and leaves it to context.
If you really wanted to make it clearly definite, you could add itu or -nya, for example:
- Jam buka perpustakaan itu ada di papan pengumuman.
- Jam buka perpustakaannya ada di papan pengumuman.
Both sound more like “the library’s opening hours” in a specific sense.
Literally:
- papan = board / plank
- pengumuman = announcement (from the verb mengumumkan = to announce)
So papan pengumuman is “announcement board,” which in natural English is “noticeboard” or “bulletin board.”
Both di and pada can be used for locations, but their usage differs:
- di = basic, neutral preposition for physical location (“in, at, on” depending on context)
- pada = more formal, often for abstract locations (in time, in a text, in a situation) or in very formal writing
Here we’re talking about a physical board, so:
di papan pengumuman
is the natural, everyday choice. Pada papan pengumuman would sound overly formal or awkward in normal conversation.
Yes, that’s correct and natural.
Di papan pengumuman ada jam buka perpustakaan.
Literally: “On the noticeboard there are the library’s opening hours.”
Indonesian allows fairly flexible word order, especially with location phrases. Putting di papan pengumuman first:
- Puts more emphasis on the place (“As for the noticeboard, it has the opening hours on it”).
- The basic meaning stays the same.
Indonesian doesn’t always need an extra verb where English does.
- English: “The opening hours are written / are posted on the noticeboard.”
- Indonesian: “Jam buka perpustakaan ada di papan pengumuman.”
Ada already covers the idea “they are there (located there).”
If you want to be more explicit or formal, you can add a verb:
- Jam buka perpustakaan tertulis di papan pengumuman.
“The library’s opening hours are written on the noticeboard.” - Jam buka perpustakaan tertera di papan pengumuman.
(very formal; used in documents/signs)
Yes. Indonesian often indicates relationships between nouns just by putting them side by side:
jam buka perpustakaan
= literally “opening time library”
This can represent:
- “the library’s opening hours”
- “opening hours for the library”
English shows this with ’s or of (“library’s,” “of the library”). Indonesian just puts the nouns together in a noun + modifier structure.
You could say:
Waktu buka perpustakaan tertulis di papan pengumuman.
(no ada needed here)
or:
Jam buka perpustakaan tertulis di papan pengumuman.
These are grammatically correct and sound a bit more formal or more written, because tertulis (“is written”) is a passive/formal verb form.
If you use tertulis, you normally don’t need ada, because tertulis already functions as the verb:
- Jam buka perpustakaan tertulis di papan pengumuman. ✅
- Jam buka perpustakaan ada tertulis di papan pengumuman. ❌ (sounds clumsy)
The sentence is neutral and widely usable:
- Appropriate in everyday conversation:
- “Jam buka perpustakaan ada di papan pengumuman.”
- Also fine in fairly neutral written contexts (emails to students, school information, etc.).
For very formal documents, you might see something like:
- Jam operasional perpustakaan tertera pada papan pengumuman.
But for most real-life situations, the original sentence is completely natural.