Taman kanak-kanak di sebelah rumah saya punya halaman luas untuk anak bermain.

The kindergarten next to my house has a large yard for children to play.

Breakdown of Taman kanak-kanak di sebelah rumah saya punya halaman luas untuk anak bermain.

• rumah: the house
• punya: to have
• untuk: for
• bermain: to play
• halaman: the yard
• anak: the child
• taman kanak-kanak: the kindergarten
• di sebelah: next to
• luas: large

Questions & Answers about Taman kanak-kanak di sebelah rumah saya punya halaman luas untuk anak bermain.

In the sentence, what exactly does taman kanak-kanak mean? Is it literally a “children’s park”?

Taman kanak-kanak is a fixed expression that means kindergarten / pre‑school, not just any park for children.

• taman = park / garden
• kanak-kanak = children (a somewhat formal/old-fashioned word, mostly used in this phrase)

So taman kanak-kanak together refers to the school for young children, not an open public playground.

Why is kanak-kanak repeated with a hyphen? Does that just make it plural?

The repetition with a hyphen is called reduplication, and it often indicates:

• plurality: anak (child) → anak-anak (children)
• or a special, fixed meaning: kanak-kanak is basically a set word for “children”

In kanak-kanak, you do not use the singular kanak by itself in normal speech; the doubled form kanak-kanak is the standard form. It does suggest plurality, but more importantly, it is simply the lexical form of the word.

Is taman kanak-kanak singular or plural? How do I know if it means “kindergarten” or “kindergartens”?

By itself, taman kanak-kanak is number‑neutral: it can mean “a kindergarten” or “kindergartens” depending on context.

Indonesian usually does not mark singular/plural on nouns. To make it explicitly plural, you could say:

• banyak taman kanak-kanak = many kindergartens

In the given sentence, the context (di sebelah rumah saya = next to my house) strongly suggests one specific kindergarten.

There’s no word for “the” or “a” before taman kanak-kanak or rumah. How do you show “the” vs “a” in Indonesian?

Indonesian generally has no articles like “the” or “a/an”. Nouns are usually bare:

• rumah = house / a house / the house (context decides)

Definiteness is shown through:

• context: previously mentioned, obvious in the situation
• demonstratives:
  
  • itu = that / the
  • ini = this / this … here

For example:

• Taman kanak-kanak di sebelah rumah saya itu…
  → That kindergarten next to my house… (more clearly “that specific one”)

What is the function of di sebelah in taman kanak-kanak di sebelah rumah saya?

di sebelah is a prepositional phrase meaning next to / beside.

• di = at / in / on (general location preposition)
• sebelah = side

So di sebelah rumah saya = next to my house or beside my house.

It acts as a postmodifier of taman kanak-kanak, specifying which kindergarten:
> the kindergarten next to my house.

What is the difference between sebelah and samping? Could I say di samping rumah saya instead?

Both sebelah and samping can mean beside / next to, and in many everyday contexts they are interchangeable.

• di sebelah rumah saya
• di samping rumah saya

Both can mean: next to my house.

Nuance (very slight):

• sebelah literally “side”, sometimes used more for relative position (the one on the side of…)
• samping also “side”, often used in everyday speech for beside / by the side of

In this sentence, either one would sound natural.

Why does the sentence use punya for “has”? How is that different from memiliki or mempunyai?

punya is the most common, informal/neutral way to say to have in spoken Indonesian.

• Taman kanak-kanak … punya halaman luas…
  → The kindergarten has a large yard…

Other options:

• memiliki = to possess (more formal / written, sounds a bit stiff in casual speech)
• mempunyai = to have (also more formal or neutral written style)

You could say:

• Taman kanak-kanak … mempunyai halaman luas…

This is correct but sounds more formal than punya, which fits everyday conversation better.

In halaman luas, why does the adjective luas come after the noun halaman and not before, like in English?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

Structure:

• noun + adjective

So:

• halaman luas = spacious/large yard
• rumah besar = big house
• mobil baru = new car

Putting the adjective before the noun (like luas halaman) would be incorrect in standard Indonesian.

What exactly does halaman mean here? How is it different from taman or lapangan?

In this sentence, halaman means a yard / compound / open space attached to a house or building.

Rough distinctions:

• halaman
  
  • yard/courtyard/compound around a house, school, office, etc.
  • e.g. halaman rumah = house yard
• taman
  
  • park or garden (often with plants, landscaping)
  • e.g. taman kota = city park
• lapangan
  
  • open field or court, often for sports
  • e.g. lapangan sepak bola = soccer field

So halaman luas at a kindergarten is the big yard/grounds where the kids can play.

Why is it untuk anak bermain and not untuk anak-anak bermain? Does anak here mean “a child” or “children”?

anak can be generic and number‑neutral, so anak here means children in general.

• untuk anak bermain ≈ for children to play

Using anak-anak would also be correct:

• untuk anak-anak bermain

The difference is nuance:

• anak (generic) = children as a general category
• anak-anak = explicitly plural, “the kids”

Both sound natural; anak alone is often enough to convey “children” from context.

Grammatically, what is untuk anak bermain? Is anak bermain a clause? Should there be yang?

Yes, anak bermain is a clause:

• anak = subject
• bermain = verb “to play”

untuk introduces a purpose clause:

• untuk anak bermain = for children to play

You do not need yang here. yang is typically used for relative clauses (to describe a noun):

• halaman yang luas = a yard that is spacious
• anak yang bermain = the child(ren) who play

In the original sentence, untuk anak bermain describes the purpose of the yard, not specifying which child, so no yang is required.

Does bermain change for tense or subject (like “plays”, “played”)? How do you know the time reference?

bermain does not change for tense or subject. Indonesian verbs are not conjugated for person or tense.

• anak bermain can mean:
  
  • children play
  • children are playing
  • children played
  • children will play

Time is shown by time words or context, for example:

• tadi anak bermain = earlier the children played
• sekarang anak bermain = now the children are playing
• besok anak bermain = tomorrow the children will play

In the original sentence, it’s describing a general function: a yard for children to play (in), not a specific time.

Could I make the sentence more formal by changing some words? How would a more formal version look, and is the meaning different?

A more formal version could be:

• Taman kanak-kanak di sebelah rumah saya mempunyai halaman yang luas untuk anak-anak bermain.

Changes:

• punya → mempunyai (more formal “have”)
• add yang: halaman yang luas (common in formal style, though halaman luas is already correct)
• anak → anak-anak (explicitly plural “children”)

Meaning is essentially the same; the difference is mainly register: the original sentence sounds more natural in everyday speech, while this version fits better in written/formal contexts, such as an essay or report.