Peternak itu tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai.

That livestock farmer lives in a small village near the river.

Breakdown of Peternak itu tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai.

• itu: that
• di: in
• dekat: near
• kecil: small
• desa: the village
• sungai: the river
• tinggal: to live
• peternak: the livestock farmer

Questions & Answers about Peternak itu tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai.

What exactly does peternak mean, and how is it different from petani?

Peternak means a livestock farmer / animal breeder – someone who raises animals like cows, goats, chickens, etc.

Petani means a (crop) farmer – someone who works the fields, growing rice, vegetables, etc.

So:

• peternak → focuses on animals (livestock)
• petani → focuses on plants/crops

In your sentence, Peternak itu = that/the livestock farmer (or just the farmer, if context is clear).

What does itu do after peternak? Is it “the” or “that”? Can I leave it out?

Itu after a noun works like a demonstrative (that) and often functions similarly to the in English.

• peternak itu
  Literally: that farmer
  In many contexts: the farmer (a specific farmer already known in the conversation)

You can often omit it:

• Peternak tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai.
  → A farmer / (some) farmer lives in a small village near the river. (more general or newly introduced)

So:

• with itu → more specific, refers to a known or identifiable farmer
• without itu → more general or newly mentioned farmer

Does tinggal mean “live” or “stay”? How is it used?

Tinggal can mean:

1. to live / reside (permanently or long-term)

   • Saya tinggal di Jakarta. → I live in Jakarta.

2. to stay (temporarily), depending on context

   • Kami tinggal di hotel itu selama seminggu. → We stayed at that hotel for a week.

In your sentence, tinggal clearly means to live / reside:

• Peternak itu tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai.
  → The farmer lives in a small village near the river.

Indonesian does not change the verb form for tense, so tinggal itself is neutral: lives / lived / is living, depending on context or added time words (like dulu, sekarang, akan).

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” in desa kecil and sungai?

Indonesian has no articles like a, an, the. Nouns by themselves are neutral; they can mean a or the, depending on context:

• desa kecil → a small village or the small village
• sungai → a river or the river

Specificity is usually shown by:

• context, or
• demonstratives like itu (that/the) and ini (this), or
• classifiers like sebuah, seorang, etc.

For example:

• sebuah desa kecil → a small village (emphasizing it’s one village)
• desa kecil itu → that small village / the small village

Why is it desa kecil, not kecil desa? How does adjective order work?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun:

• desa kecil → small village
• rumah besar → big house
• orang tua → old person / parents (depending on context)

So:

• desa = village
• kecil = small
• desa kecil = small village

Putting the adjective before the noun (kecil desa) is wrong in standard Indonesian.

Could I say desa yang kecil instead of desa kecil? What is the difference?

You can say desa yang kecil, but it’s less common in a simple description like this.

• desa kecil
  → natural, compact: a small village

• desa yang kecil
  → more like the village that is small, slightly more emphatic or contrastive, often used:

  • when you want to emphasize the adjective
  • in longer relative clauses, e.g. desa yang kecil itu sangat sepi (that village which is small is very quiet)

In your sentence, desa kecil is the most natural and typical form.

Is dekat a preposition or an adjective here? Why is there no di before it?

Dekat can behave both as:

1. an adjective = near / close

   • Rumah saya dekat. → My house is near/close.

2. a preposition = near / close to

   • Rumah saya dekat sungai. → My house is near the river.

In your sentence:

• dekat sungai = near the river

You can also say:

• di dekat sungai = at a place near the river

Both are acceptable. Di dekat sungai can feel a bit more explicit about location. Dekat sungai is slightly shorter and more colloquial, but still very common and correct.

What is the structure of di desa kecil dekat sungai? How is it grouped?

The phrase can be parsed like this:

• di = at / in
• desa kecil = a small village
• dekat sungai = near the river

So overall:

• tinggal di [desa kecil [dekat sungai]]
  → live in a small village [near the river]

You could think of it in English as:
live in a small village that is near the river – but Indonesian expresses it more compactly without extra words.

Can I change the order to dekat sungai di desa kecil, or is the order fixed?

You can move phrases around, but the most natural, neutral order here is:

• tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai

If you say:

• tinggal dekat sungai di desa kecil

it’s still understandable, but it may sound slightly less smooth or slightly more marked. In everyday speech, people usually put di + place first, then modifiers like dekat sungai after it.

So for learners, it’s best to stick with:

• di + main place → desa kecil
• then extra location detail → dekat sungai

How would I say “The farmers live in a small village near the river”? How do I make peternak plural?

Indonesian often does not mark plural explicitly if context makes it clear. So:

• Peternak tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai.
  Could mean Farmers live in a small village near the river.

If you want to emphasize that it’s more than one farmer, you can use:

1. para (a plural marker, mainly for people):

   • Para peternak tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai.
     → The farmers live in a small village near the river.

2. Reduplication of the noun (more colloquial here):

   • Peternak-peternak itu tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai.
     → Those farmers live in a small village near the river.

Both clearly show it’s plural.

How do I say “used to live” or “will live” instead of just “live”? There’s no tense on tinggal.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. You add time words or particles to show time.

• used to live

  • Peternak itu dulu tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai.
    → That farmer used to live in a small village near the river.
    (dulu = in the past / formerly)

• will live

  • Peternak itu akan tinggal di desa kecil dekat sungai.
    → That farmer will live in a small village near the river.
    (akan = will)

Without such words, tinggal is time-neutral; context tells you if it’s present, past, or future.

Could I say Peternak itu tinggal di sebuah desa kecil dekat sungai? What does sebuah do?

Yes, that sentence is correct.

• sebuah is a classifier that often corresponds roughly to a / one (thing) for objects or places (like a house, a village, a book).

So:

• di desa kecil dekat sungai
  → in a small village near the river (articleless, context decides)

• di sebuah desa kecil dekat sungai
  → in a small village near the river, with a clearer sense of one specific village, similar to stressing a in English:
  in one small village near the river

The difference is subtle; both are natural. Sebuah adds a slight sense of “one particular village” or is sometimes used when first introducing something.