Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Buku itu tentang perjuangan keluarga kami. - That book is about the struggle of our family.

Buku itu can mean:
- that book (a specific book, not near the speaker), or
- the book (a specific book both speaker and listener already know about).

Indonesian doesn’t have a separate word for “the,” so itu often fills that role when you’re referring to something already known or already mentioned. Context usually decides whether you’d translate it as the or that in English.

Why is there no verb like is in the sentence? Why isn’t it Buku itu adalah tentang perjuangan keluarga kami?

In Indonesian, you usually don’t need a linking verb like is when the predicate is:

a noun,
an adjective, or
a prepositional phrase (like tentang ...).

So:

Buku itu tentang perjuangan keluarga kami.
Literally: “That book about our family’s struggle.”
The “is” is understood and not said.

Using adalah here (Buku itu adalah tentang...) is grammatically possible but sounds more formal and a bit unnatural in casual speech. Native speakers almost always drop adalah in this kind of sentence.

What does tentang mean, and how is it used?

Tentang means about or regarding.

It’s a preposition that must be followed by a noun phrase or a clause:
- Buku itu tentang sejarah Indonesia. – The book is about Indonesian history.
- Dia bercerita tentang masa kecilnya. – He/She told a story about his/her childhood.

In your sentence, tentang introduces the topic of the book: perjuangan keluarga kami (“our family’s struggle”).

What is perjuangan exactly? How is it formed, and what nuance does it have?

Perjuangan means struggle, fight, or striving (often with a serious or emotional tone).

Morphology:

Root: juang (related to fighting/struggling, as in berjuang = to struggle/fight).
Pattern: per- + juang + -an → perjuangan (a noun meaning “the act or process of struggling/fighting”).

Nuance:

It often has a strong, sometimes heroic or emotional feel, e.g.:
- perjuangan kemerdekaan – the struggle for independence
- perjuangan hidup – life’s struggle

So perjuangan keluarga kami suggests significant difficulties, efforts, or hardships the family went through, not just minor problems.

Why is it keluarga kami, not keluarga kita or keluarga saya? What’s the difference?

Indonesian distinguishes between exclusive and inclusive “we/our”:

kami = we/our, excluding the person spoken to
kita = we/our, including the person spoken to

So:

keluarga kami = our family (but not yours)
keluarga kita = our family (including you)

In this sentence, keluarga kami implies:

The speaker’s family is being talked about.
The listener is probably not part of that family.

If the listener were also part of the family, keluarga kita would often feel more natural.

How should I understand the structure of perjuangan keluarga kami? Which word is the “main” noun?

In Indonesian noun phrases, the head noun usually comes first, and modifiers follow it.

Head noun: perjuangan (struggle)
Modifier: keluarga kami (our family)

So perjuangan keluarga kami literally reads as:

“the struggle of our family” → our family’s struggle

This is the opposite order of English, where the possessive (our family’s) usually comes before the noun (struggle).

Is perjuangan singular or plural here? Does it mean one struggle or many struggles?

Indonesian nouns usually don’t mark number (singular vs plural) unless needed for clarity.

perjuangan can mean struggle (singular) or struggles (plural), depending on context.

In Buku itu tentang perjuangan keluarga kami, it could be translated as either:

“the struggle of our family”
“the struggles of our family”

English forces you to choose, but Indonesian leaves it unspecified unless you add something like banyak (many) or use reduplication.

How would you clearly say “many struggles” or “various struggles” in Indonesian?

You can make the plurality explicit in a few ways:

Reduplication:
- perjuangan-perjuangan – struggles (plural, formal/written style)
Using a quantifier:
- banyak perjuangan – many struggles
- berbagai perjuangan – various struggles

Example with your sentence:

Buku itu tentang berbagai perjuangan keluarga kami.
→ The book is about the various struggles of our family.

Could I move itu to the end and say Buku tentang perjuangan keluarga kami itu? Does it mean the same thing?

Yes, Buku tentang perjuangan keluarga kami itu is grammatical, but the feel is slightly different.

Buku itu tentang perjuangan keluarga kami.
– Neutral statement: “That book / The book is about our family’s struggle.”
Buku tentang perjuangan keluarga kami itu ...
– Sounds like you’re picking out that specific book from a known set. It’s often used when:
- You’ve already been talking about books about your family’s struggle, and now you specify that one.
- Or you’ll add more information after it, e.g.:
  - Buku tentang perjuangan keluarga kami itu sangat menyentuh.
    – That book about our family’s struggle is very touching.

So the meaning is related, but the second version feels more like “that particular book (which is about our family’s struggle)”.

Can tentang be followed by a whole clause, or only by a noun phrase like perjuangan keluarga kami?

Tentang can be followed by:

A noun or noun phrase:
- tentang sejarah kota ini – about this city’s history
A clause, usually introduced by bahwa (that) or a question word like bagaimana (how), mengapa (why), etc.:
- Dia bicara tentang bagaimana mereka bertahan hidup.
  – He/She talked about how they survived.
- Artikel ini tentang mengapa harga naik.
  – This article is about why prices are rising.

In your sentence, it’s followed by a noun phrase perjuangan keluarga kami, which is the most straightforward pattern.

Is there any difference between tentang and mengenai in this kind of sentence? Could I say Buku itu mengenai perjuangan keluarga kami?

Yes, you can say:

Buku itu mengenai perjuangan keluarga kami.

Tentang and mengenai often overlap in meaning (about/regarding), but there are slight differences in feel:

tentang
- Very common, neutral, used in both spoken and written language.
mengenai
- Slightly more formal, common in writing, news, official or academic contexts.

In everyday conversation, tentang is more typical. In a formal article or report, mengenai might appear more often. The basic meaning in this sentence doesn’t change.