Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami.

peristiwa
- a (usually significant) event or incident
- often used for historical events, important life events, big news, accidents, etc.
- e.g. peristiwa penting, peristiwa bersejarah
kejadian
- literally “happening”
- more neutral, can be big or small, good or bad
- you could say kejadian aneh (a strange occurrence)
acara
- more like “event” in the sense of a planned program or occasion
- e.g. a party, ceremony, meeting: acara ulang tahun, acara konferensi

In this sentence, peristiwa suggests the speaker is talking about a notable incident (e.g. a wedding, a death, an accident, a major turning point) rather than just any casual event or a scheduled program.

What is the function of itu after peristiwa, and can it be omitted?

Itu here functions as a determiner, similar to that in English. It points to a specific event already known from context:

peristiwa itu = that event / the event (already mentioned)

About omitting it:

If you say Peristiwa itu penting..., you’re clearly talking about a specific, known event.
If you say Peristiwa penting bagi keluarga kami, with no itu, it’s more general and can sound like:
- “Important events are important for our family” (general statement), or
- “An important event (unspecified) is important for our family” (context-dependent).

So itu is not grammatically required, but it changes the meaning from “that specific event” to something more general or undefined.

Why is there no word for “is/was” in Peristiwa itu penting?

Indonesian usually does not use a separate verb like “to be” (is/am/are/was/were) when the predicate is:

an adjective (penting, besar, indah), or
a noun phrase in informal style.

So:

Peristiwa itu penting.
Literally: “That event important.”
Meaning: “That event is/was important.”

To show tense, Indonesian typically adds time words instead of changing the verb:

Peristiwa itu dulu penting bagi keluarga kami.
(“That event used to be important to our family.”)
Peristiwa itu sangat penting bagi keluarga kami sampai sekarang.
(“That event has been very important to our family up to now.”)

You almost never say Peristiwa itu adalah penting; that sounds unnatural in everyday Indonesian. The simple Peristiwa itu penting is correct and normal.

Does penting mean “important” in all the same ways as in English?

Penting is a direct equivalent of important, and it’s used broadly, just like in English:

orang yang penting – an important person
keputusan penting – an important decision
sangat penting – very important
tidak penting – not important

It covers both emotional importance and objective importance:

Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami.
Emotional/subjective importance to the family.
Penemuan itu penting bagi ilmu pengetahuan.
Objective/academic importance.

Context tells you what kind of “importance” is meant.

Why does the adjective penting come after the noun peristiwa, and can I say penting peristiwa instead?

In Indonesian, the normal word order is:

noun + adjective

So:

peristiwa penting = important event
rumah besar = big house
buku baru = new book

You cannot say penting peristiwa to mean “important event” — that sounds wrong. Penting must follow peristiwa in this structure.

In your sentence, penting functions as the predicate, so the structure is:

Peristiwa itu (subject) + penting (predicate adjective)

You also can’t switch it to Penting peristiwa itu with the same neutral meaning. That would sound marked / poetic / emphatic, not standard neutral word order.

What does bagi mean here, and how is it different from untuk?

Bagi and untuk can both be translated as for, but there are some tendencies:

bagi
- often slightly more formal or literary
- often used when talking about effects or importance for someone/something:
  - Penting bagi kami (important for us)
  - Baik bagi kesehatan (good for health)
untuk
- very common and neutral; also used for “for/to” in many contexts:
  - purpose: Ini untuk kamu (This is for you)
  - function: obat untuk sakit kepala (medicine for headaches)
  - also can replace bagi in many cases:
    Peristiwa itu penting untuk keluarga kami. (also correct)

In this sentence, bagi emphasizes the importance from the family’s point of view. Using untuk here is also acceptable and common; bagi just sounds a bit more “bookish” or formal.

Could I use buat instead of bagi, like Peristiwa itu penting buat keluarga kami?

Yes, you can, but it changes the register:

bagi – more formal / written / careful speech
untuk – neutral, very common in speech and writing
buat – informal, conversational

So:

Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami. – formal / neutral
Peristiwa itu penting untuk keluarga kami. – neutral, very common
Peristiwa itu penting buat keluarga kami. – casual, spoken Indonesian

All three are grammatically correct; choose based on how formal you want to sound.

What is the difference between keluarga kami and keluarga kita?

Both mean our family, but Indonesian distinguishes inclusive and exclusive “we”:

kami = we / us (excluding the listener)
- keluarga kami = our family, not including you (the listener).
kita = we / us (including the listener)
- keluarga kita = our family, including you; “your and my family (together)” in context.

In your sentence:

Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami.
The speaker is saying the event is important to the speaker’s family, and the listener is not considered part of that family group.

If the listener is part of the same family, the speaker might say:

Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kita.
“That event is important for our (you and my) family.”

Could I just say keluarga without kami, like Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga?

You can say bagi keluarga, but it becomes less specific:

bagi keluarga kami – specifically “for our family” (the speaker’s family).
bagi keluarga – “for (the) family” in a more general/unspecified sense. It might mean “for the family” as a concept, or “for the family” already known from context, but doesn’t show whose family.

Without kami, you lose the clear possessive meaning “our family”. In most cases like this, you want to keep kami to be precise.

Is there any difference between saying Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami and Itu peristiwa penting bagi keluarga kami?

Yes, there’s a nuance difference in structure and emphasis:

Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami.
- Subject: Peristiwa itu (that event)
- Predicate: penting bagi keluarga kami (is important for our family)
- Meaning: “That event is important for our family.”
- Neutral, standard way to state this fact.
Itu peristiwa penting bagi keluarga kami.
- Subject: Itu (“that”)
- Predicate: peristiwa penting bagi keluarga kami (“an important event for our family”)
- Closer to: “That is an important event for our family.”

In practice, both can feel similar, but:

The first focuses on the event as topic (“That event is important…”).
The second focuses on identifying what “that” is (“That is an important event…”).

Both are grammatically correct; the original sentence is the more typical structure for stating importance.

How would I say “Those events are important for our family” instead of “That event”?

To make peristiwa clearly plural, you have a couple of options:

Peristiwa-peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami.
- Duplication (peristiwa-peristiwa) marks the plural explicitly.
- Very clear: “Those events are important for our family.”
Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami.
- With context, peristiwa itu can refer to a set of events already known, and can be understood as plural.
- Indonesian is often flexible about number; singular vs plural is often inferred from context.

If you want to be crystal clear and explicit about “events (plural)”, use peristiwa-peristiwa itu.

Could I say Peristiwa itu sangat penting bagi keluarga kami? Does sangat change the grammar?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct, and sangat doesn’t change the grammar, only the intensity:

penting – important
sangat penting – very important

So:

Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami.
– That event is important for our family.
Peristiwa itu sangat penting bagi keluarga kami.
– That event is very important for our family.

You can also use:

Peristiwa itu penting sekali bagi keluarga kami. – also “very important” (slightly more colloquial).

What if I want to say clearly that the event was important in the past but is not important anymore?

Indonesian doesn’t change the adjective for tense, so you add time markers or other words to show that it’s in the past and no longer true:

Some options:

Dulu, peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami, tapi sekarang tidak lagi.
“In the past, that event was important for our family, but not anymore.”
Peristiwa itu pernah penting bagi keluarga kami, tetapi sekarang sudah tidak penting.
“That event used to be important for our family, but now it’s no longer important.”

The core Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami stays the same; you add dulu, pernah, sekarang, tidak lagi, etc., to express the time and change.

Is peristiwa commonly used in everyday conversation, or does it sound formal?

Peristiwa leans a bit formal and is very common in:

news reports
history writing
serious discussions (accidents, disasters, historical milestones, etc.)

In everyday casual speech, depending on context, people might instead say:

kejadian – “that incident/happening”
- Kejadian itu penting buat keluarga kami. (casual)
acara – if it’s a planned social event
- Acara itu penting buat keluarga kami. (e.g., a wedding, ceremony)

However, Peristiwa itu penting bagi keluarga kami is still perfectly natural in spoken Indonesian, just a bit more formal or serious in tone.