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Adik saya menempel origami berbentuk burung di jendela kamar.

Adik saya menempel origami berbentuk burung di jendela kamar.
My younger sibling sticks bird-shaped origami on the bedroom window.
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Questions & Answers about Adik saya menempel origami berbentuk burung di jendela kamar.

Does adik saya mean “my little brother” or “my little sister”?

Adik saya literally means “my younger sibling.”
Indonesian does not specify gender here.

If you need to be clear:

  • adik laki-laki saya / adik lelaki saya = my younger brother
  • adik perempuan saya = my younger sister

In everyday conversation, people often just say adik saya, and the gender is understood from context.

Why is it adik saya and not saya adik?

In Indonesian, the normal order for possession is:

possessed + possessor

So:

  • adik saya = my younger sibling (literally “younger sibling my”)
  • kamar saya = my room

Saya adik would mean something like “I am the younger sibling” (a predicate), not “my younger sibling.”

Another common way to say “my younger sibling” is:

  • adikku (adik + -ku), more informal and friendly.
What is the difference between menempel and menempelkan? Which is more correct here?

Base word: tempel (stick / attach).

  • menempel
    Usually intransitive: “to be stuck / to stick (by itself)”

    • Kertas itu menempel di dinding. = The paper is stuck on the wall.

  • menempelkan
    Usually transitive: “to stick something onto something”

    • Dia menempelkan kertas itu di dinding. = He/She sticks the paper on the wall.

Textbook-style Indonesian would prefer:

Adik saya menempelkan origami berbentuk burung di jendela kamar.

However, in everyday spoken Indonesian, people very often use menempel transitively as in your sentence, and it is widely accepted in informal contexts.

Could the sentence also be said with the origami as the subject, like “The origami is stuck on the window”?

Yes. That would be:

Origami berbentuk burung itu menempel di jendela kamar.
The bird-shaped origami is stuck on the bedroom window.

Key differences:

  • Your original: Adik saya menempel origami…
    Focuses on what my younger sibling does (an action).
  • Alternative: Origami … menempel di jendela…
    Focuses on the state of the origami (it is in a stuck position).
What exactly does berbentuk mean in origami berbentuk burung?

Berbentuk comes from:

  • bentuk = shape, form
  • prefix ber- = “to have / to be in the state of”

So berbentuk roughly means “having the shape (of)” or “shaped (like)”.

origami berbentuk burung = origami that is bird-shaped / origami in the shape of a bird.

You can also say:

  • origami yang berbentuk burung – fully explicit, with yang.
    In everyday speech, dropping yang as in the original sentence is very common and natural.
Why is it origami berbentuk burung and not berbentuk burung origami?

In Indonesian, descriptions normally follow the noun:

  • kamar besar = big room
  • buku merah = red book
  • origami berbentuk burung = bird-shaped origami

So the pattern is:

noun + (describing word / phrase)

Putting berbentuk burung before origami (berbentuk burung origami) would sound wrong to native speakers.

What does kamar mean here: just “room” or specifically “bedroom”?

Literally, kamar means “room.”

But in normal conversation, if you say just kamar in a home context, most people will understand it as “bedroom”, unless another type of room is specified.

Some common compounds:

  • kamar tidur = bedroom
  • kamar mandi = bathroom
  • kamar tamu = guest room

So di jendela kamar here is very naturally understood as “on the bedroom window.”

Does di jendela kamar mean “on the bedroom window” or “at the window in the bedroom”? How does di work?

Di is a general location preposition that can correspond to in / at / on in English, depending on the noun.

  • di jendela = at / on the window (usually means attached to the window surface)
  • di kamar = in the room

So:

  • di jendela kamar literally: “at/on the window (of the) room”
    Natural English: “on the bedroom window.”

Indonesian does not need to change di the way English changes between “in/at/on”; context and the noun determine the best English equivalent.

There is no tense marking in the sentence. How do we know if it’s past, present, or future?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Time is shown by context or by time words such as:

  • tadi = earlier / just now
  • kemarin = yesterday
  • besok = tomorrow
  • sudah = already
  • sedang = currently, in the middle of
  • akan = will

Your sentence:

Adik saya menempel origami berbentuk burung di jendela kamar.

can mean:

  • My younger sibling stuck origami… (past)
  • My younger sibling is sticking origami… (present)
  • My younger sibling will stick origami… (future — if the context makes that clear)

To be explicit:

  • Past: Tadi adik saya menempel(origami…) / Adik saya sudah menempel…
  • Present progressive: Adik saya sedang menempel…
  • Future: Adik saya akan menempel…
Whose room is it? Does di jendela kamar mean “on the window of my room” or “on my sibling’s room”?

As written, di jendela kamar is ambiguous; it just says “on the window of the room,” and the owner is not specified. In real conversation, context usually clarifies.

To be explicit:

  • di jendela kamar saya = on the window of my room
  • di jendela kamar adik saya = on the window of my younger sibling’s room
  • di jendela kamarnya = on his/her room’s window
    (if it’s already clear that -nya refers to the younger sibling)

So the given sentence does not tell us whose room it is; we infer it from context.

How do we show that there are many origami birds? This sentence looks singular—can it also mean plural?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural on nouns. Context does the work. So:

Adik saya menempel origami berbentuk burung di jendela kamar.

can mean:

  • My younger sibling is sticking a bird-shaped origami…
  • My younger sibling is sticking bird-shaped origami (more than one)…

If you want to emphasize plural, you can say:

  • banyak origami berbentuk burung = many bird-shaped origami (pieces)
  • origami-origami berbentuk burung = origami pieces that are bird-shaped (reduplication; more formal-written feel or used for emphasis)
Can adik be used for people who are not actually my sibling?

Yes. Adik is both:

  1. A family term: younger brother/sister.
  2. A polite way to refer to or address a younger person (often a child, teenager, or young adult), especially by someone older.

Examples:

  • To a child in a shop: “Adik mau beli apa?” = What would you like to buy, kid?
  • Talking about a much younger person: “Adik itu pintar sekali.” = That kid is very smart.

In your sentence, without extra context, adik saya is naturally understood as “my younger sibling.”

Why is it di jendela and not ke jendela or something else?

Basic difference:

  • di = at / in / on (static location)
  • ke = to / toward (movement to a place)

Your sentence focuses on the final position (the origami ends up on the window), not the movement toward it, so di jendela is correct.

  • di jendela = on/at the window (location)
  • ke jendela = to the window (direction, e.g., “Dia berjalan ke jendela” – He walked to the window)

So for “stick (something) on the window,” Indonesian normally uses di jendela, just as in the sentence.