Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di beberapa daerah, masih ada mitos bahwa rumah di dekat sungai selalu membawa keberuntungan. - In some areas, there is still a myth that a house near a river always brings good luck.

di = a basic locative preposition (in / at / on), used for physical locations.
beberapa = several / some.
daerah = area / region / locality.

So di beberapa daerah = in some areas.

Using di is natural because daerah is a place. You are saying where something happens or exists.

You could also say:

di beberapa wilayah – similar meaning, wilayah is more like region/territory.
di beberapa tempat – in some places, more general.

Pada with places is possible but often sounds more formal or bookish; di is the default for concrete locations.

Why is there no word like a before mitos? Should it be sebuah mitos?

Indonesian does not require an article like a or the, so mitos alone can mean:

a myth
the myth
myths (in general, depending on context)

In masih ada mitos, the meaning is there is still a myth / there are still myths, and context decides whether you imagine one or more.

You can say:

masih ada sebuah mitos – there is still one (particular) myth
masih ada beberapa mitos – there are still several myths

But sebuah is only used when you want to emphasize one single myth. Here, the sentence is speaking more generally, so plain mitos is natural.

What does masih add to ada mitos? What is the difference between ada mitos and masih ada mitos?

ada mitos = there is / there are myths
masih ada mitos = there is still / there are still myths

masih means still / yet, and it adds the idea that:

the myth has not disappeared yet,
people continue to believe it, even now.

If you remove masih, the sentence just states existence, without the nuance that the myth has survived over time.

Is mitos the same as takhayul or kepercayaan? Why use mitos here?

They are related but not identical:

mitos = myth (often a traditional story or belief explaining something, not necessarily religious)
takhayul = superstition, usually clearly irrational beliefs about bad luck, omens, etc.
kepercayaan = belief / faith, very general and can be neutral or positive.

In this sentence:

masih ada mitos suggests a cultural or traditional belief that people repeat (a “myth” about lucky houses).
If you said masih ada takhayul, it would sound more like you are judging it as superstition.
masih ada kepercayaan is more neutral and doesn’t specifically mean “myth”; it could be any belief.

So mitos is appropriate because it carries the nuance of a widely told belief or story, not just any belief.

How does bahwa work here? Can it be omitted or replaced with kalau?

bahwa introduces a that-clause, like that in English:

mitos bahwa … = the myth that …

In this sentence:

masih ada mitos bahwa rumah di dekat sungai selalu membawa keberuntungan
= there is still a myth that houses near rivers always bring good luck.

About alternatives:

Omitting bahwa
In spoken Indonesian, you can often drop bahwa:
- masih ada mitos rumah di dekat sungai selalu membawa keberuntungan
This is understandable, but without bahwa, it can sound more spoken/informal and a bit less clear in long sentences. In writing, bahwa is preferred for clarity.
Using kalau
Many speakers say:
- masih ada mitos kalau rumah di dekat sungai selalu membawa keberuntungan
Here kalau functions like informal that.
Nuance:
- bahwa = more formal / standard / written
- kalau = more colloquial / conversational

All three are possible, but bahwa is the most neutral and standard in written Indonesian.

What is the structure of rumah di dekat sungai? Why not rumah yang dekat sungai?

rumah di dekat sungai is a noun phrase:

rumah = house
di dekat sungai = near the river / at a place near the river

So it literally means houses at locations near the river.

Comparisons:

rumah di dekat sungai
- Focus on location: the house is at a place near the river.
- Sounds very natural.
rumah yang dekat sungai
- yang introduces a descriptive clause: houses that are near the river.
- Grammatically okay, but sounds a bit less natural here; it feels like you are categorizing which houses, not just describing a typical location.

In practice, for physical location, rumah di dekat sungai is more idiomatic than rumah yang dekat sungai.

Why is it di dekat sungai and not just dekat sungai or dekat dengan sungai?

All three are possible, but with slightly different feels:

di dekat sungai
- di = at/in
- dekat = near
- Literally: at near the river
- Very common and natural; treats dekat sungai as a place.
dekat sungai (without di)
- Here dekat is more like an adjective: houses near the river.
- You could say:
  - Rumah dekat sungai biasanya murah. (Houses near the river are usually cheap.)
- In the original sentence, di dekat sungai sounds slightly better because it strongly marks a location with di.
dekat dengan sungai
- Literally: near to the river.
- Also correct; can sound a bit more careful or explicit.

So in this sentence, di dekat sungai is a very standard way to express near the river as a specific location.

What does selalu add here? Why say selalu membawa keberuntungan?

selalu means always.

membawa keberuntungan = brings good luck
selalu membawa keberuntungan = always brings good luck

Adding selalu reflects the content of the myth:

The belief is that in every case, any house near a river brings good luck.
Without selalu, it would just mean brings good luck, which could sound more like a general tendency rather than a strong, absolute belief.

So selalu matches the “absolute” nature of most myths and superstitions: they are believed to always work, not just sometimes.

Why use membawa keberuntungan instead of something like mendatangkan keberuntungan?

Both are acceptable, but they differ slightly in nuance and style:

membawa keberuntungan
- Literally: to bring luck
- Very common, neutral, and clear.
- Sounds natural in both spoken and written Indonesian.
mendatangkan keberuntungan
- Literally: to bring in / cause luck to come
- Slightly more formal or literary.
- Often used in more serious or written contexts (articles, speeches).

In everyday language, membawa keberuntungan is the most natural choice. Using mendatangkan would not be wrong; it would just sound a bit more formal.

What is the difference between beruntung and keberuntungan?

They are related but different word types:

beruntung = lucky (adjective / stative verb)
- Saya beruntung. = I am lucky.
- Orang itu sangat beruntung. = That person is very lucky.
keberuntungan = luck / good fortune (noun)
- Saya mendapat banyak keberuntungan. = I got a lot of luck.
- Keberuntungan itu tidak selalu datang. = That luck does not always come.

In the sentence:

membawa keberuntungan uses the noun: bring luck.
If you used beruntung, you’d have to restructure, for example:
- rumah di dekat sungai selalu membuat penghuninya beruntung
  (houses near the river always make their occupants lucky).

So keberuntungan is the right choice after membawa.

Why is the word order masih ada mitos bahwa … and not ada masih mitos?

masih is an adverb that normally comes before the verb, and ada here functions like a verb meaning exists / there is.

Correct pattern:

masih ada mitos
- masih (still) + ada (exists) + mitos (myth)

ada masih mitos is ungrammatical because:

It would be like saying there is still myth but with still in the wrong place.
In Indonesian, adverbs like masih, sudah, belum typically come before the main verb:
- masih ada (still exist)
- sudah ada (already exist)
- belum ada (do not exist yet)

So masih ada mitos is the correct and natural order.

Can bahwa be completely omitted so the sentence is masih ada mitos rumah di dekat sungai selalu membawa keberuntungan?

Yes, especially in casual spoken Indonesian, people often omit bahwa after mitos, fakta, berita, isu, etc.

So:

masih ada mitos bahwa rumah di dekat sungai selalu membawa keberuntungan
masih ada mitos rumah di dekat sungai selalu membawa keberuntungan

Both are understandable.

However:

With bahwa, the structure is clearer and more formal, especially in writing.
Without bahwa, the listener/reader has to parse the phrase mitos rumah di dekat sungai selalu membawa keberuntungan as “the myth [that] houses near rivers always bring luck”, which is fine in conversation but looks a bit compressed in writing.

So:

Spoken / informal: omitting bahwa is common and okay.
Written / standard: keeping bahwa is preferred.