Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota selalu membawa cerita baru dari desa.

The arrival of Grandpa and Grandma in the city always brings new stories from the village.

Breakdown of Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota selalu membawa cerita baru dari desa.

• sebuah: a
• baru: new
• dan: and
• cerita: the story
• ke: to
• datang: to come
• selalu: always
• dari: from
• kota: the city
• membawa: to bring
• desa: the village
• nenek: the grandmother
• nya: his/her/its
• kakek: the grandfather

Questions & Answers about Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota selalu membawa cerita baru dari desa.

What does the suffix -nya in datangnya mean, and why not just say datang?

Datang = to come / to arrive (a verb).
Datangnya = the coming / the arrival (a noun-like phrase).

The suffix -nya on a verb often turns it into something more like a noun or “the act of …”:

• datang → datangnya = the coming / the arrival
• pergi → perginya = the going / the departure

So Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota means “The arrival of grandpa and grandma in the city” (as a thing, an event), not just “Grandpa and grandma come to the city.”

Without -nya, you would normally need a subject:

• Kakek dan nenek datang ke kota… = Grandpa and grandma come to the city… (verb clause)

With -nya, datangnya itself becomes the subject: “Their arrival…”

Is Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota the subject of the sentence?

Yes. In this sentence:

• Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota = subject
• selalu membawa cerita baru dari desa = predicate (what the subject does)

So the structure is:

Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota
selalu membawa cerita baru dari desa.

= The arrival of grandpa and grandma in the city always brings new stories from the village.

Indonesian allows quite long, complex subjects like this. It’s natural and common.

Could we say Kakek dan nenek datang ke kota… instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Kakek dan nenek datang ke kota dan selalu membawa cerita baru dari desa.

Differences in nuance:

• Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota…
  Focuses on “the arrival (as an event)”. It’s like talking about that event as a concept or habit.
• Kakek dan nenek datang ke kota…
  Focuses more directly on the people doing the action.

Both are correct; the original just sounds a bit more “story-like” or slightly more literary, because it treats the arrival as a thing.

What’s the difference between datangnya and kedatangan? Could we say Kedatangan kakek dan nenek ke kota…?

You can say:

• Kedatangan kakek dan nenek ke kota selalu membawa cerita baru dari desa.

But there are nuances:

• datangnya

  • Form: verb datang
    • suffix -nya
  • Feel: a bit more colloquial, flexible, very common in speech and writing.
  • Often refers to “the (specific) act of coming” in context.

• kedatangan

  • Form: noun with ke- … -an
  • Feel: a bit more formal / neutral-nominal, often used in more formal texts or fixed phrases.
  • Stronger sense of “arrival” as a pure noun.

In this sentence, datangnya sounds very natural and slightly more narrative; kedatangan is also correct but a bit more formal/neutral in tone.

Where is the verb “is” in this sentence? Why don’t we need something like “is”?

Indonesian usually does not use a verb like “to be” (is/am/are) in this kind of structure.

Here:

• Subject: Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota
• Predicate: selalu membawa cerita baru dari desa

The predicate already has a main verb: membawa (brings / carries). So no extra “is” is needed. English might feel like:

Their arrival … (is something that) always brings new stories…

In Indonesian, you simply put the subject and then the verb phrase; no linking “is” is inserted.

Why is it membawa and not just bawa? What does the prefix me- do here?

Base verb: bawa = to carry / to bring.

With the meN- prefix, we get membawa:

• meN-
  • bawa → membawa

The meN- prefix:

• marks it as an active verb in standard Indonesian, especially when there is an explicit subject (someone does the action);

• is what you normally use in neutral, correct sentences:

  • Saya membawa buku. = I bring / am bringing a book.
  • Dia membawa oleh-oleh. = He/She brings souvenirs.

Bare bawa can appear:

• in imperatives: Bawa buku itu! = Bring that book!
• in casual speech: Dia bawa tas besar.

In this more neutral sentence, membawa is the standard form.

Why is it cerita baru and not cerita-cerita baru if there are many stories?

In Indonesian, plural is often not marked explicitly. Context tells you if it’s singular or plural.

• cerita can mean story or stories.
• Reduplication (cerita-cerita) can mark plurality, but it’s not required, and often sounds more emphatic or stylistic.

So:

• cerita baru
  
  • can be understood as new stories here, because it’s a habitual situation.
• cerita-cerita baru
  
  • emphasizes many or various new stories; slightly more explicit but can sound heavier.

The original cerita baru is completely natural for “new stories” in normal, flowing Indonesian.

Why do we use ke kota and dari desa? What’s the role of ke and dari here?

Prepositions:

• ke = to / toward (direction, destination)
• dari = from (origin, source)

So:

• ke kota = to the city (where they are going / arriving)
• dari desa = from the village (where the stories originate)

You would not use di here, because:

• di kota = in the city (location, not movement)
• ke kota = to the city (movement/direction)

In this sentence, we are talking about coming to the city and stories from the village, so ke and dari are the correct choices.

Where can selalu go in the sentence? Could I move it around?

In the original:

• Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota selalu membawa cerita baru dari desa.

selalu (always) is placed before the verb membawa, which is very natural.

Other natural options:

• Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota ini selalu membawa cerita baru dari desa.
• Selalu, datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota membawa cerita baru dari desa. (more emphatic, like a comment)

Less natural or incorrect placements:

• ✗ Datangnya kakek dan nenek ke kota membawa selalu cerita baru dari desa.
  (possible but sounds awkward/foreign-influenced)
• ✗ Datangnya selalu kakek dan nenek ke kota membawa cerita baru…
  (changes the meaning and structure)

General rule: for adverbs like selalu, sering, jarang, kadang-kadang, it’s usually safest to put them:

• before the main verb in the predicate:
  • Saya selalu makan pagi.
  • Mereka sering datang terlambat.

Why is it desa here? Could we also use kampung? Is there a difference?

Both desa and kampung can loosely be translated as village, but there are nuances:

• desa

  • more formal / administrative term
  • used in official contexts, maps, documents
  • neutral in tone

• kampung

  • can mean village, or neighborhood, or hometown area
  • often has a more informal, emotional, or nostalgic feel
  • sometimes carries the nuance of being simpler / more rural

So:

• cerita baru dari desa = new stories from the village (neutral)
• cerita baru dari kampung = new stories from back home / from the village (more personal / colloquial feel)

In many contexts both are understandable; the choice affects tone more than basic meaning.

Why doesn’t the verb change for plural? In English we say “arrival … brings” but “arrivals … bring”. Why is it always membawa?

Indonesian verbs do not change for person or number:

• no difference between I / you / he / she / they
• no difference between singular / plural subject

So:

• Saya membawa buku. = I bring a book.
• Mereka membawa buku. = They bring a book/books.
• Datangnya kakek dan nenek… selalu membawa… = Their arrival always brings…

The verb form membawa stays exactly the same. Plurality is expressed (if needed) elsewhere in the sentence, not on the verb itself.