Burung kecil itu hinggap di pagar rumah kami.

That small bird perches on the fence of our house.

Breakdown of Burung kecil itu hinggap di pagar rumah kami.

• itu: that
• rumah: the house
• kecil: small
• di: on
• kami: our
• burung: the bird
• pagar: the fence
• hinggap: to land

Questions & Answers about Burung kecil itu hinggap di pagar rumah kami.

Why is it burung kecil itu and not itu burung kecil or kecil burung itu?

Indonesian noun phrases usually follow this order:

NOUN + ADJECTIVE + DEMONSTRATIVE (ini/itu)

So:

• burung = bird (noun)
• kecil = small (adjective)
• itu = that / the (demonstrative)

Therefore, burung kecil itu is the normal way to say that small bird / the small bird.

Other orders mean something different:

• Burung itu kecil.
  = The/that bird is small.
  Here kecil is a predicate (“is small”), not part of the noun phrase.

• Itu burung kecil.
  = That is a small bird.
  Here itu is a pronoun (“that”), and burung kecil describes what “that” is.

• kecil burung itu is ungrammatical as a noun phrase. Adjectives normally do not go before the noun in Indonesian.

What exactly does itu mean here? Is it “that” or “the”?

Itu is a demonstrative that usually means that (as opposed to ini = this), but it also often works like a definite article (“the”).

In burung kecil itu:

• It suggests a specific small bird that the speaker and listener both know about or can see.
• In English, you might translate it as either:
  • that small bird (if you want to keep the demonstrative feel), or
  • the small bird (if the context already makes the bird clear).

So, functionally, itu here means “that/the” and marks that the noun is definite, not just any small bird.

Does burung kecil itu mean one bird or several birds?

By itself, burung kecil itu is number-neutral: it could be understood as “that small bird” or “those small birds”, depending on context.

Indonesian nouns usually don’t change form for plural. To show plural clearly, you can use:

• Reduplication:
  
  • burung-burung kecil itu = those small birds
• A number or quantifier:
  
  • tiga burung kecil itu = those three small birds
  • beberapa burung kecil = several small birds

Without these, context (what was said before, what people can see, etc.) tells you whether it’s singular or plural.

What is the nuance of the verb hinggap? Is it just “to land”?

Hinggap means to land / perch / alight on something, typically after flying. It’s used especially for:

• Birds
• Insects
• Sometimes light objects blown by the wind

Nuance:

• It suggests a light, temporary landing on a surface.
• It almost always implies the subject came from the air.

Other verbs:

• mendarat = to land (for planes, large vehicles, also people arriving somewhere; less specific to perching)
• duduk = to sit (physical sitting, not used for birds landing)
• bertengger = to perch (also for birds; stylistically a bit more literary or descriptive)

In this sentence, hinggap is very natural: a small bird lightly lands/perches on the fence.

Why is it di pagar when in English we say “on the fence”? Shouldn’t it be di atas pagar?

Indonesian di is a general preposition of location, and can translate as in / at / on, depending on the noun and context.

• di pagar can naturally be understood as “on the fence”, because that’s how things usually relate to a fence.
• You can say di atas pagar (“on top of the fence”), which emphasizes being on the top surface, but it’s more specific.

In everyday speech:

• Burung kecil itu hinggap di pagar rumah kami.
  = That small bird perched on our fence.
  (very normal)

• Burung kecil itu hinggap di atas pagar rumah kami.
  = That small bird perched on top of our fence.
  (slightly more descriptive; foregrounds the top)

Is di here the same di- that forms the passive voice, or is it something different?

It is different:

1. di (separate word) = preposition meaning in/at/on

   • Always written separately, e.g.
     
     • di pagar (at/on the fence)
     • di rumah (at home)
     • di sekolah (at school)

2. di- (prefix attached to a verb) = passive voice marker

   • Always written attached to the verb, e.g.
     
     • ditulis (is/was written)
     • dibaca (is/was read)

In hinggap di pagar rumah kami, the di before pagar is clearly the location preposition, not the passive prefix. The main verb is hinggap (active).

How is pagar rumah kami structured? Is it like “our house’s fence” or “the fence at our house”?

pagar rumah kami is literally:

• pagar = fence
• rumah kami = our house

So the structure is:

[pagar] [rumah kami]
fence house our

This is equivalent to:

• “the fence of our house”, or
• “the fence at our house”

In Indonesian, the possessor / modifier (here, rumah kami) usually comes after the thing possessed (pagar). You don’t need an extra word like “of”:

• pagar rumah kami
  ≈ our house’s fence / the fence of our house

What’s the difference between rumah kami and rumah kita?

Both mean “our house”, but they differ in inclusiveness:

• kami = we / us, excluding the listener

  • rumah kami = our house (not your house; the speaker’s group only)

• kita = we / us, including the listener

  • rumah kita = our house (yours and mine; we share it)

So:

• If the speaker and the listener live in that house:
  Burung kecil itu hinggap di pagar rumah kita.

• If only the speaker’s group lives there, not the listener:
  Burung kecil itu hinggap di pagar rumah kami.

Could we just say rumahku instead of rumah kami? How would that change the meaning?

Yes, but the meaning changes:

• rumah kami = our house (belonging to “us” but not including the listener)
• rumahku = my house (belonging to me personally)

So:

• di pagar rumah kami
  = at/on the fence of our house (mine + some others, not yours)

• di pagar rumahku
  = at/on the fence of my house (just mine)

Which one you use depends on who actually owns or lives in the house.

What changes if we remove itu and just say Burung kecil hinggap di pagar rumah kami?

Without itu, the noun phrase becomes less specific / less definite.

• Burung kecil itu hinggap di pagar rumah kami.
  = That small bird / the small bird perched on our fence.
  (refers to a particular, known small bird)

• Burung kecil hinggap di pagar rumah kami.
  = A small bird / small birds perched on our fence.
  (more general; introduces the idea of some small bird(s) we haven’t identified before)

So itu helps mark definiteness and often corresponds to English that/the.

How do we know if this sentence is past, present, or future? There’s no tense marking.

Indonesian verbs usually do not change form for tense. Hinggap itself doesn’t tell you when the action happened.

The time is understood from:

• Context (what was said before, what’s going on)
• Time words you can add:

Examples:

• Tadi, burung kecil itu hinggap di pagar rumah kami.
  = Earlier, that small bird perched on our fence. (past)

• Sekarang burung kecil itu hinggap di pagar rumah kami.
  = Right now that small bird is perched on our fence. (present)

• Nanti burung kecil itu akan hinggap di pagar rumah kami.
  = Later that small bird will perch on our fence. (future)

Without such words, the bare sentence could be interpreted as past, present, or even a narrative description, depending on context.

Can adjectives like kecil ever come before the noun, like in English “small bird”?

In standard Indonesian, adjectives normally come after the noun:

• burung kecil = small bird
• rumah besar = big house
• meja panjang = long table

Putting the adjective before the noun (e.g. kecil burung) is not grammatical as a standard noun phrase.

There are a few special fixed expressions where something that looks like an adjective comes first (e.g. maha in Mahakuasa), but for everyday adjectives like kecil, you should always put them after the noun.