Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di museum sejarah, saya melihat bendera lama yang dipakai dalam perang melawan penjajah. - In the history museum, I see an old flag that was used in the war against the colonizers.

Indonesian does not have articles like “a/an” or “the”.
Whether something is specific or not is understood from context, or shown in other ways (like adding itu or sebuah).

di museum sejarah
→ can mean “at the history museum” or “at a history museum”, depending on context.
To make it clearly specific, you can say:
di museum sejarah itu = at that history museum / at the history museum (we both know about).
To make it clearly non‑specific / one of many, you can say:
di sebuah museum sejarah = at a history museum.

So the sentence is natural as it is; Indonesian simply doesn’t need an article there.

What is the function of di in di museum sejarah?

di is a preposition meaning “at / in / on” (location).

di museum sejarah = at the history museum
di rumah = at home / in the house
di meja = on the table

Note: di- as a prefix on verbs (like dipakai) is different from di as a preposition.

di + noun → preposition of place
di- + verb → passive verb prefix

What does museum sejarah literally mean, and how is it different from museum bersejarah?

museum sejarah
- sejarah = history
- Literally: “history museum”
- Means: a museum about history.
museum bersejarah
- bersejarah = historic (has historical value)
- Literally: “historic museum”
- Means: a museum that itself is historically important.

So in the sentence, museum sejarah correctly means a museum whose theme is history, not a building that is historically significant.

Why is bendera lama and not lama bendera?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun:

bendera lama = old flag
- bendera = flag
- lama = old (in terms of age / long time existing)

Putting lama before bendera (lama bendera) is not natural for “old flag”.
Lama before a noun often doesn’t work the way English “old/long” does; you normally place it after the noun for the descriptive meaning.

Compare:

rumah besar = big house
buku baru = new book
mobil merah = red car

So bendera lama follows this same pattern: noun + adjective.

What does yang do in bendera lama yang dipakai dalam perang?

yang introduces a relative clause, similar to English “that / which / who”.

bendera lama = the old flag
yang dipakai dalam perang = that was used in the war

Put together:

bendera lama yang dipakai dalam perang
= the old flag that was used in the war

Key points about yang:

It does not change form (no plural, no gender, always yang).
It can refer to people, things, or abstract ideas:
- orang yang saya lihat = the person (who) I saw
- buku yang kamu beli = the book (that) you bought

What is dipakai, and how is it related to memakai?

Root verb: pakai = to use / to wear.

memakai = active voice
- to use / wear something
- Saya memakai baju biru. = I wear/am wearing a blue shirt.
dipakai = passive voice
- is/was used / is/was worn
- Bendera itu dipakai dalam perang. = The flag was used in the war.

In the sentence:

bendera lama yang dipakai dalam perang
= the old flag that was used in the war

So di- + pakai → dipakai = “to be used” (passive).

Why is dalam used in dalam perang, and can I use di perang or pada perang instead?

dalam can mean “in / inside / within / during (the context of)”.
In dalam perang, it means “in (the context of) war” / “during the war”.

dalam perang = in the war / during the war
Sounds natural and standard.

di perang is not natural in standard Indonesian for this meaning.
pada perang is grammatical but sounds more formal/literary and less common in everyday speech.

For events or situations, dalam is very common:

dalam rapat = in the meeting
dalam pertandingan itu = in that match
dalam sejarah = in history

So dalam perang melawan penjajah is the usual way to say “in the war against the colonizers.”

What does melawan mean in perang melawan penjajah, and how is it different from lawan?

Root: lawan

as a noun: lawan = opponent/enemy
as a verb: melawan = to fight (against), to oppose

In the phrase:

perang melawan penjajah
- perang = war
- melawan = against / to fight
- penjajah = colonizers

So it means “war against the colonizers”.

Differences:

melawan (verb):
- Kami melawan penjajah. = We fought the colonizers.
lawan (noun):
- Dia lawan yang kuat. = He is a strong opponent.

So in perang melawan penjajah, you need the verb form melawan, not the noun lawan.

What does penjajah mean, and how is it formed?

Root verb: jajah = to colonize.

With the peN- prefix, verbs often become nouns for people who do that action.

jajah (to colonize) → penjajah (colonizer)
Other examples:
- ajar (to teach) → pengajar (teacher)
- bantu (to help) → pembantu (helper/maid)
- curi (to steal) → pencuri (thief)

So penjajah = colonizer(s).
Indonesian doesn’t usually mark plural on the noun, so penjajah can mean colonizer or colonizers, depending on context.

Why is there no past tense marker like “saw” in Indonesian for saya melihat?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense (past/present/future).
Melihat can mean see / sees / saw / will see, depending on context or on extra time words.

Saya melihat bendera lama.
→ I see / I saw an old flag.
Kemarin saya melihat bendera lama.
→ Yesterday I saw an old flag.
Besok saya akan melihat bendera lama.
→ Tomorrow I will see an old flag.

In your sentence, the museum visit is naturally understood as something that already happened, so saya melihat is translated as “I saw.”

Can I drop saya and just say Di museum sejarah, melihat bendera lama …?

With an active transitive verb like melihat (to see), you normally need an explicit subject before it:

Saya melihat bendera lama … ✔️
Dia melihat bendera lama … ✔️
Di museum sejarah, saya melihat bendera lama … ✔️

If you drop the subject and say:

Di museum sejarah, melihat bendera lama … ❌

it sounds incomplete or ungrammatical in standard Indonesian.

To avoid mentioning the subject, you would usually switch to a passive construction:

Di museum sejarah, terlihat bendera lama …
= At the history museum, an old flag could be seen / was visible.
Di museum sejarah, bendera lama itu terlihat.

So with melihat in the active voice, keep saya.