Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu dipajang di ruang tamu. - That small orange-colored wooden statue is displayed in the living room.

Patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu dipajang di ruang tamu.

That small orange-colored wooden statue is displayed in the living room.

Breakdown of Patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu dipajang di ruang tamu.

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Questions & Answers about Patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu dipajang di ruang tamu.

Why is the order patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu and not something like kecil patung kayu?

In Indonesian, the head noun usually comes first, and most descriptions come after it.

patung = statue (head noun)
kayu = (of) wood / wooden (material)
kecil = small (size)
berwarna oranye = orange-colored (color)
itu = that / the (demonstrative)

So the structure is:

Noun + material + size + color + determiner
patung + kayu + kecil + berwarna oranye + itu

Putting kecil or kayu before patung (e.g. kecil patung kayu) is ungrammatical in standard Indonesian. Adjectives and modifiers normally follow the noun, not precede it, unlike in English.

What is the function of kayu here? Is it an adjective like wooden, or a noun like wood?

Grammatically, kayu is a noun meaning wood, but in a noun phrase like patung kayu, it functions very much like an English adjective (wooden).

Literally, patung kayu is more like a statue (made) of wood:

patung = statue
kayu = wood → statue of wood → wooden statue

So even though kayu is technically a noun, Indonesian often uses a noun after another noun to indicate material, type, or category, where English might use an adjective or of-phrase:

meja kayu = wooden table / table of wood
tas kulit = leather bag / bag of leather
rumah batu = stone house / house of stone

Can I say patung kecil kayu instead of patung kayu kecil?

Patung kecil kayu is not natural Indonesian.

The more natural orders are:

patung kayu kecil (most common)
patung kecil dari kayu (less compact, but still fine)

Why?

kayu (material) tends to come right after the noun it describes.
- patung kayu = wooden statue
Then come other adjectives like kecil (small).

So:

✅ patung kayu kecil = small wooden statue
✅ patung kecil dari kayu = small statue made of wood
❌ patung kecil kayu (sounds wrong/unnatural)

What exactly does itu do here? Is it that or the?

Itu is a demonstrative that can mean:

that (pointing to something specific)
and very often functions like the (definite, known item)

In patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu, it means something like:

that small orange wooden statue
or the small orange wooden statue (one we both know about)

Important points:

In Indonesian, itu normally comes after the noun phrase:
- patung itu = that/the statue
- patung kayu kecil itu = that/the small wooden statue
It marks the noun as specific/definite, not just any statue.

If you said just patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye, it would be more like a small orange wooden statue (not clearly specific).

Can I put itu before the noun, like itu patung kayu kecil?

You can, but the nuance changes.

patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu
– Neutral, standard way to say that/the small orange wooden statue.
itu patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye
– More like: that small orange wooden statue (there), often with a feeling of pointing out, emphasizing or contrasting, similar to English that statue… in a more topical or emphatic way.

So:

After the noun phrase (patung ... itu) → normal “that/the X”
Before the noun (itu patung ...) → more emphatic/topical, like “that X (as opposed to others)”.

For basic sentences, it’s safest to keep itu at the end of the noun phrase.

What does dipajang mean exactly, and why is it in the passive form?

Dipajang comes from the root pajang (to display, to put on display).

memajang = to display (active)
dipajang = be displayed (passive)

In the sentence:

Patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu dipajang di ruang tamu.
That small orange wooden statue is displayed in the living room.

The statue is the thing being acted on, so Indonesian naturally uses the di- passive:

Active: (Seseorang) memajang patung itu di ruang tamu.
(Someone displays the statue in the living room.)
Passive: Patung itu dipajang di ruang tamu.
(The statue is displayed in the living room.)

Indonesian uses the passive very frequently, especially when:

the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context, or
the focus is on the object (here, the statue) rather than the person who did the action.

Where is the “doer” of the action? How would I say “displayed by my mother”?

In the original sentence, the doer is simply not mentioned. That’s normal in Indonesian.

To add the doer, you can use oleh:

Patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu dipajang oleh ibu saya di ruang tamu.
= That small orange wooden statue is displayed by my mother in the living room.

Or you can make an active sentence:

Ibu saya memajang patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu di ruang tamu.
= My mother displays / put that small orange wooden statue on display in the living room.

Both are correct; the passive version focuses more on the statue, the active version on ibu saya (my mother).

What’s the difference between dipajang and diletakkan / ditaruh?

All three involve putting something somewhere, but the nuances differ:

dipajang
- From pajang = to display
- Emphasis: on display, meant to be seen.
- Often used for decorations, collections, items in a shop, etc.
diletakkan (from letak) and ditaruh (from taruh)
- Both mean placed/put (somewhere), more neutral.
- Do not automatically imply display.

Compare:

Patung itu dipajang di ruang tamu.
= The statue is displayed in the living room. (as decoration)
Patung itu diletakkan/ditaruh di ruang tamu.
= The statue is placed/put in the living room. (just its location, not necessarily as “display”)

Why do we say berwarna oranye instead of just oranye?

Both are possible, but they have slightly different feels:

patung kayu kecil oranye itu
- Grammatically okay.
- oranye functions like a regular adjective: orange.
patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu
- More explicit: having the color orange / orange-colored.
- berwarna = to have the color…

Berwarna + color is often a bit more formal/explicit or descriptive.
In many daily situations, just using the color adjective is fine:

mobil merah = red car
baju biru = blue shirt

In this sentence, berwarna oranye highlights the color as a property of the statue. It can sound a bit more descriptive or written-style, but it’s very natural.

Is there any difference between oranye and jingga?

Both mean orange (color), but:

oranye
- Very common in everyday speech.
- Feels more informal and modern (borrowed from European languages).
jingga
- More formal or literary.
- Often found in written Indonesian, poetry, or formal contexts.

In daily conversation, people are more likely to say:

warna oranye rather than warna jingga,

but both are correct.

So you could also say:

Patung kayu kecil berwarna jingga itu dipajang di ruang tamu.
(More formal/literary flavor.)

What does di in di ruang tamu correspond to in English: in or at?

Di is a general location preposition and can correspond to in, at, or sometimes on, depending on context.

di ruang tamu can be translated as:
- in the living room (most natural here)
- sometimes at the living room (if you focus more on the area as a point)

If you want to emphasize “inside”, you can say:

di dalam ruang tamu = inside the living room

But usually, di ruang tamu is enough and natural for in the living room.

Why is it ruang tamu and not kamar tamu for “living room”?

In Indonesian:

ruang = room / space / area (more general)
kamar = room primarily used for sleeping or private use (bedroom, private room)

So:

ruang tamu = living room / guest area (where you receive guests)
kamar tamu = guest bedroom (a bedroom meant for guests to sleep in)

That’s why the correct phrase for living room is ruang tamu, not kamar tamu.

Why is there no word like is (e.g. adalah) in this sentence?

The verb dipajang already serves as the main predicate, so you don’t need a linking verb like is.

Structure:

Patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu = subject
dipajang = verb (is displayed)
di ruang tamu = location phrase

In Indonesian, adalah is mainly used in equational sentences (X = Y), often when both sides are nouns or noun-like phrases:

Dia adalah guru. = He/She is a teacher.
Rumah ini adalah rumah saya. = This house is my house.

Here, since we already have a proper verb (dipajang), adding adalah would be incorrect:

❌ Patung itu adalah dipajang di ruang tamu. (ungrammatical)

Can this sentence be plural, like those small orange wooden statues?

Yes. Indonesian usually does not mark plural on nouns unless needed for clarity. So:

Patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu dipajang di ruang tamu.

can mean:

That small orange wooden statue is displayed in the living room.
or, from context:
Those small orange wooden statues are displayed in the living room.

If you want to make the plural explicit, you can add a quantifier:

Beberapa patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu dipajang di ruang tamu.
= Several of those small orange wooden statues are displayed in the living room.

Or:

Banyak patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye dipajang di ruang tamu.
= Many small orange wooden statues are displayed in the living room. (here often you’d drop itu, since it’s more general)

Could I split the information into two sentences, like:
Patung kayu kecil itu berwarna oranye dan dipajang di ruang tamu. Is that correct?

Yes, that is correct and natural.

Patung kayu kecil itu berwarna oranye dan dipajang di ruang tamu.

Here:

Patung kayu kecil itu = subject
berwarna oranye = has the color orange
dan dipajang di ruang tamu = and is displayed in the living room

The original packs the color into the noun phrase:

patung kayu kecil berwarna oranye itu (all description before dipajang)

Your version treats berwarna oranye as part of the predicate, but the overall meaning is essentially the same. Both forms are natural Indonesian.