Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek sering kami lihat bersama saat perayaan keluarga. - The collection of old photos at Grandpa’s house is often looked at together during family celebrations.

Koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek = the object (put at the beginning for emphasis / topic)
sering = adverb (often)
kami = subject (we)
lihat = verb (look at / see)
bersama = manner adverb (together)
saat perayaan keluarga = time expression (during family celebrations)

A more “neutral” word order would be:

Kami sering melihat koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek bersama saat perayaan keluarga.

So the original sentence is a case of topicalization: the object is moved to the front to highlight it, but the subject is still kami.

Can I also say Kami sering melihat koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek bersama saat perayaan keluarga? Is there any difference?

Yes, that sentence is correct too.

Difference in nuance:

Koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek sering kami lihat bersama...
- Emphasizes the photo collection as the topic:
  - “As for the collection of old photos at Grandpa’s house, we often look at it together...”
- Sounds a bit more written or narrative.
Kami sering melihat koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek bersama saat perayaan keluarga.
- Emphasizes kami (we) as the starting point:
  - “We often look at the collection of old photos at Grandpa’s house together...”
- Sounds very neutral and common in spoken Indonesian.

Both are natural; the first one just highlights the object more.

Why is it lihat and not melihat here? Is there a difference?

Both lihat and melihat can be used with a similar meaning:

melihat = the standard me- active form of the verb “to see / to look at”.
lihat = the base form; in practice, it’s very common in everyday Indonesian as an active verb too.

Compare:

Kami melihat koleksi foto lama.
Kami lihat koleksi foto lama.

Both mean “We look at / see the collection of old photos.”

In the given sentence:

sering kami lihat is very natural and somewhat more compact than sering kami melihat.
sering kami melihat would also be grammatically possible, but in this exact structure it sounds less natural than:
- Kami sering melihat koleksi foto lama... (subject first).

So:

lihat here is just a common, perfectly correct alternative to melihat, especially in spoken and narrative Indonesian.

What is the difference between kami and kita? Why is kami used here?

Both mean we, but:

kami = we (not including the person you’re talking to) → exclusive
kita = we (including the person you’re talking to) → inclusive

Here, kami is used because the speaker is talking about their own family group, not necessarily including the listener:

“We (my family and I) often look at the photos…”

If the speaker wanted to include the listener as part of that group (e.g., talking to a sibling who is also part of the family), kita could be used in that context:

Koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek sering kita lihat bersama...
= “We (you and I / all of us) often look at the old photo collection together...”

Does kakek mean “my grandfather” here even though there is no saya or ku?

Yes, in context it usually does.

In Indonesian, family terms can imply possession without an explicit possessive pronoun, especially when the relationship is obvious from context:

kakek = grandfather / grandpa (often understood as “my/our grandpa” in a family context)
kakek saya / kakekku = my grandfather (more explicit)
rumah kakek = Grandpa’s house (usually our grandpa, from the speaker’s point of view)

So di rumah kakek will normally be interpreted as at my/our grandpa’s house unless the context says otherwise.

What exactly does di rumah kakek modify? The photos, the collection, or the seeing?

By default, di rumah kakek attaches to the noun phrase right before it:

koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek
→ “the collection of old photos at Grandpa’s house”

So the most natural reading is that the collection of old photos is located at Grandpa’s house.

However, in real use, listeners can also understand it more loosely as:

We often look at them at Grandpa’s house.

If you want to be clearer that the place is where you do the looking, not where the photos are stored, you could put it later:

Kami sering melihat koleksi foto lama itu di rumah kakek bersama saat perayaan keluarga.

Even then, both interpretations are still possible, so context is important. But in the original sentence, the primary attachment is to the noun phrase koleksi foto lama.

What is the difference between saat, waktu, and ketika? Can I replace saat with them?

All three can introduce a time when something happens, and in many cases they are interchangeable.

saat = “at the time of / during / when”
- Slightly more formal/neutral, very common in writing.
waktu = “(the) time (when)”
- Very common in spoken language.
ketika = “when” (as a conjunction)
- Often used in narratives, can sound a bit more formal/literary.

In your sentence:

saat perayaan keluarga
waktu perayaan keluarga
ketika perayaan keluarga

All are understandable and acceptable. saat perayaan keluarga feels nicely natural and slightly more neutral/formal than waktu.

Why is there no preposition before saat perayaan keluarga? Should it be pada saat perayaan keluarga?

Both are correct:

saat perayaan keluarga
pada saat perayaan keluarga

pada is a preposition often used with time expressions:

pada hari Minggu = on Sunday
pada malam hari = at night
pada saat perayaan keluarga = at the time of family celebrations

In modern Indonesian, especially in less formal style, pada can be dropped when it’s clear we are talking about time:

saat perayaan keluarga
waktu perayaan keluarga

So the sentence without pada is fully natural. Adding pada makes it slightly more formal or explicit, but it’s not necessary.

How does perayaan keluarga work? Is keluarga possessive here?

Yes, keluarga here functions like a possessor or a classifier that specifies the type of celebration:

perayaan = celebration
keluarga = family
→ perayaan keluarga = a family celebration / family gathering celebration

This structure is extremely common in Indonesian: Noun + Noun where the second noun modifies the first:

rumah sakit = hospital (literally “sick house”)
hari ulang tahun = birthday (literally “day of repeating year”)
perayaan tahun baru = New Year’s celebration
perayaan keluarga = family celebration(s)

You don’t need any preposition like dari (of) here; just placing keluarga after perayaan is enough.

Why is it koleksi foto lama, not koleksi foto-foto lama or koleksi foto lama-lama?

In Indonesian, plurality is often not marked, especially when it’s obvious from context or from words like koleksi (“collection”).

foto = photo / photos (singular or plural, depending on context)
foto-foto = explicitly plural (“photos”), often used when you want to highlight “many photos”
lama = old
lama-lama = usually means something like “gradually / over time”, not “very old photos”

Because koleksi already implies multiple items, foto does not need to be repeated:

koleksi foto lama
→ understood as “a collection of old photos”

You could say koleksi foto-foto lama to strongly emphasize that there are many photos, but it’s not necessary and can sound a bit heavy for a normal sentence.

Can bersama be placed in a different position in the sentence?

Yes, bersama (“together”) is flexible, but some positions sound more natural than others.

Original:

Koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek sering kami lihat bersama saat perayaan keluarga.

Other natural options:

Koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek sering kami lihat saat perayaan keluarga bersama. (also okay, but sounds slightly less smooth)
Kami sering melihat koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek bersama saat perayaan keluarga.
Kami sering melihat koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek saat perayaan keluarga bersama.

Less natural or odd:

Sering kami bersama melihat koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek... (understandable but not the most natural order)

Safest patterns are:

Verb + bersama: melihat bersama, makan bersama, belajar bersama
Or place bersama right after the object or after the subject group:
- Kami sekeluarga sering melihat koleksi foto lama bersama.
- Kami sering melihat koleksi foto lama bersama.

Does the overall sentence sound more formal, neutral, or informal?

It sounds neutral to slightly formal, mainly because of:

The fronted object: Koleksi foto lama di rumah kakek
The use of saat instead of waktu

A more casual spoken version, for example, could be:

Kami sering lihat-lihat foto lama di rumah kakek bareng waktu acara keluarga.

But the original sentence is very natural for narrative text, storytelling, or semi-formal written Indonesian.