Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Nenek sering bercerita tentang adat lama yang melarang orang berbicara kasar di depan orang tua. - Grandmother often tells about old customs that forbid people to speak rudely in front of elders.

In Indonesian, kinship terms like Nenek, Ibu, Ayah, Kakak, etc. often imply possession from context, especially in spoken or informal language.

So Nenek sering bercerita… is most naturally understood as “My grandmother often told/used to tell…” if the speaker is talking about their own family story.

You can say nenek saya (my grandmother) for clarity or emphasis, but it is not required. Saying just Nenek is very natural if it’s obvious whose grandmother you mean from context (usually the speaker’s).

What is the difference between sering bercerita, sering cerita, and sering menceritakan?

All are related to telling stories / telling about something, but they differ in formality and structure:

sering bercerita
- bercerita = to tell stories / to talk about something in a storytelling way
- Neutral and standard.
- sering bercerita tentang adat lama… = often tells stories about old customs…
sering cerita
- cerita is basically a noun (story), but in informal speech it is used as a verb: to tell (stories).
- More casual; common in conversation.
- Meaning is very close to sering bercerita.
sering menceritakan
- menceritakan is a transitive verb: to tell (something), to relate (something).
- It must have a direct object.
- Example: Nenek sering menceritakan adat lama itu kepada kami.
  - Grandma often told us about those old customs.

In your sentence, sering bercerita tentang… is natural because tentang adat lama… is a prepositional phrase, not a direct object.

Why do we use tentang here? Could we say mengenai or soal instead?

Tentang, mengenai, and soal can all mean about / concerning, but they differ in tone:

tentang
- Neutral, standard, widely used in both spoken and written language.
- Fits perfectly: bercerita tentang adat lama…
mengenai
- Slightly more formal or written.
- Still correct: bercerita mengenai adat lama…
soal
- More colloquial, often used in relaxed speech.
- Nenek sering bercerita soal adat lama… sounds more informal/familiar.

All three are grammatically fine here; tentang is the safest, most neutral choice.

What exactly does adat mean here, and how is it different from kebiasaan or tradisi?

In this sentence, adat refers to social customs / customary rules, often tied to tradition, morality, and community norms.

adat
- Traditional customs and norms of behavior in a society or ethnic group.
- Often carries the sense of rules that people feel obliged to follow.
- Example: adat melarang orang berbicara kasar di depan orang tua = customary rules forbid people from speaking rudely in front of elders.
kebiasaan
- Means habit or habitual practice.
- Focuses more on what people usually do, not necessarily with strong moral/communal authority.
- kebiasaan lama = old habits.
tradisi
- Closer to English tradition.
- Often used for rituals, ceremonies, festive practices.
- tradisi Tahun Baru, tradisi pernikahan.

So adat lama suggests traditional customs / old customary rules, not just personal habits.

What is the role of yang in adat lama yang melarang orang...?

Yang introduces a relative clause, just like “that/which/who” in English.

Structure here:

adat lama = old customs
yang melarang orang berbicara kasar di depan orang tua
= that forbid people to speak rudely in front of elders

So yang links adat lama to the clause melarang orang berbicara kasar di depan orang tua, giving you:

adat lama yang melarang…
= the old customs that forbid…

Without yang, the sentence would be ungrammatical or unclear, because melarang… needs to be clearly attached to adat lama.

Why is it melarang orang berbicara kasar and not melarang orang untuk berbicara kasar or just melarang berbicara kasar?

All of these patterns are possible, but they have slightly different focuses:

melarang orang berbicara kasar
- Structure: melarang [someone] [to do something]
- orang = the people who are being forbidden.
- Focus: the rule applies to people.
- Very natural here because the custom targets people’s behavior.
melarang orang untuk berbicara kasar
- Adds untuk, which is acceptable but often unnecessary.
- More explicit but slightly heavier in style; still correct.
melarang berbicara kasar
- Structure: melarang [action] without specifying who.
- Focuses more on the action itself being forbidden, less on specific people.

In everyday usage, melarang [object] [bare verb] (no untuk) is very common and feels natural:

melarang anak bermain di jalan
melarang karyawan merokok di kantor

So melarang orang berbicara kasar is a standard pattern.

What does berbicara kasar literally mean? Is kasar about the words, the tone, or physical roughness?

Berbicara kasar literally means “to speak roughly”, but in practice it means:

using rude / impolite / harsh language,
possibly with a rough tone as well.

Kasar by itself can mean:

coarse / rough (texture or behavior),
rude / impolite / vulgar (behavior, words).

In this context, kasar clearly refers to rudeness in speech, not physical roughness. So berbicara kasar ≈ to speak rudely / to use rude language.

Does orang in melarang orang berbicara kasar mean specific people or people in general?

Here, orang is generic and means people (in general).

Indonesian often uses singular nouns to talk about groups generically. So:

orang berbicara kasar ≈ people speak rudely (in general)
melarang orang berbicara kasar ≈ forbids people from speaking rudely

It is not about one specific person, but about anyone / everyone.

In di depan orang tua, what does orang tua mean? Parents, old people, or elders?

Orang tua can mean two main things in Indonesian:

Parents (as a pair: mother + father)
- orang tua saya = my parents
Older people / elders
- Especially in contexts of respect and politeness.

In this sentence about a rule of politeness, di depan orang tua is naturally understood as:

in front of elders / older people,
i.e. people who are older than you and deserve respect.

Depending on context, it could also be understood specifically as in front of your parents, but the idea of respecting older people / elders is central.

Why is it di depan orang tua and not kepada orang tua or di hadapan orang tua? Are these interchangeable?

They are related but not identical:

di depan orang tua
- Literally: in front of elders/parents (in physical space).
- Very common and natural here: you must not speak rudely in their presence.
di hadapan orang tua
- Similar meaning to di depan, but di hadapan is a bit more formal or literary.
- Also means in the presence of / before.
- di hadapan orang tua would also be correct and slightly more formal.
kepada orang tua
- Means to the elders/parents, focusing on the direction/recipient of the speech.
- berbicara kasar kepada orang tua = to speak rudely to elders (as addressees).
- This slightly changes the meaning: from in front of them to toward them.

Your sentence wants to emphasize the setting / presence (you shouldn’t be rude when they’re there), so di depan is a good choice.

There is no past tense marker, but in English this feels like “Grandma often told (us)…”. How does tense work here with sering bercerita?

Indonesian does not change verb forms for tense. Time reference is usually understood from:

context (are we talking about now, the past, or a general truth?),
time words like dulu (in the past), sekarang (now), nanti (later), etc.

Sering bercerita literally = often tell / often tells / often told / often used to tell.

So:

If the context is a childhood memory, you can translate it as:
- Grandma often told us about…
- Grandma used to tell us about…
If the context is present habit, you might translate:
- Grandma often tells stories about…

The Indonesian phrase does not change; the English translation’s tense depends on the larger context.