Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Beberapa penonton setia sudah menunggu sejak sore di depan pagar konser. - Several loyal audience members have been waiting since the afternoon in front of the concert fence.

Beberapa usually corresponds to “some” / “a few” / “several” in English. It’s vague, but implies more than one and not a very large number.

Beberapa penonton setia ≈ “some loyal audience members” / “a few loyal fans”.
It doesn’t specify exactly how many; it just tells you it’s a smallish, indefinite number.

If you want to emphasize “only a few” (quite small number), you might use hanya beberapa or sedikit in the right context.

Why is it penonton setia and not setia penonton?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

penonton setia = “loyal audience members”
- penonton = audience member(s), spectator(s)
- setia = loyal, faithful

Setia penonton would sound wrong or, at best, very unusual. The normal pattern is:

noun + adjective
penonton setia, rumah besar, film baru, buku lama, etc.

What exactly does penonton mean? Is it “audience”, “viewer”, or “spectator”?

Penonton is a general word for someone who watches something. It can mean:

audience members / spectators at a concert, match, show, etc.
viewers of TV or YouTube (e.g. penonton TV, penonton YouTube).

Context clarifies which English word is best.
In penonton setia … di depan pagar konser, the natural translation is “loyal fans / loyal audience members” waiting at a concert venue.

What nuance does setia add to penonton?

Setia means loyal, faithful, devoted.

So penonton setia means people who:

regularly attend the artist’s concerts,
consistently support or follow them,
are “die-hard” or “devoted” fans.

It’s stronger than just “regular” and more emotional, like “loyal fans”.

Why is sudah used with menunggu and sejak? Isn’t that redundant?

Sudah is an aspect marker meaning already / has/have (done).

In sudah menunggu sejak sore, it does two things:

It marks the action as already ongoing / started in the past.
With sejak (“since”), it emphasizes that the waiting began earlier and has lasted until now (or until the main time of reference).

You can say:

Menonton setia menunggu sejak sore.
This is still understandable.

But:

sudah menunggu sejak sore feels more natural and highlights the duration and the sense of “they’ve already been waiting (for quite some time).”

It’s similar to English nuance between:

“They wait there since the afternoon.” (odd)
“They have been waiting there since the afternoon.” (natural)

Sudah helps create that “have been waiting” feel.

Could you use telah instead of sudah here? What’s the difference?

You could say:

Beberapa penonton setia telah menunggu sejak sore …

Telah is more formal / written and often used in news, reports, official writing. Sudah is neutral and very common in speech.

Meaning-wise in this sentence, sudah and telah are very close; the main difference is register (formality), not tense.

Can menunggu be used without an object, like in this sentence? Don’t you need “wait for something”?

Yes, menunggu can be:

intransitive: without an object
- Kami menunggu di sini. – “We are waiting here.”
transitive: with an object
- Kami menunggu kamu. – “We are waiting for you.”
- Penonton menunggu konser dimulai. – “The audience is waiting for the concert to start.”

In sudah menunggu sejak sore di depan pagar konser, the object is understood from context (“waiting for the concert / for the gates to open”). It’s natural in Indonesian to omit it when it’s obvious.

What does sejak sore mean exactly? Is it “since afternoon” or “since this afternoon”?

Sejak means “since” (starting point in time).
Sore is the late afternoon / early evening period.

So sejak sore ≈ “since the afternoon” or “since this afternoon” (context tells you which).

You can make it more explicit:

sejak sore hari – since the afternoon (more formal / explicit)
sejak sore tadi – since earlier this afternoon (today)
sejak sore kemarin – since yesterday afternoon

In everyday storytelling, sejak sore often implies “since this afternoon (today)”.

What’s the difference between sejak sore and dari sore?

Both sejak and dari can be translated as “since / from”, but:

Sejak is the standard, safest choice for “since (a time)”.
Dari literally means “from” and is the everyday preposition used in many contexts, including time.

In spoken Indonesian, many people say:

dari sore tadi – from this afternoon

But in careful or formal usage, for “since” (ongoing from a point in time), sejak is more precise:

sejak sore – since the afternoon (implies duration until now)
dari sore – can sound more like just “from the afternoon”, and sometimes needs more context.

In this sentence, sejak sore is the most natural “correct” choice.

What exactly is pagar in di depan pagar konser? Is it a “gate” or a “fence”?

Pagar is usually a fence, railing, barrier, or gate structure marking a boundary. At a concert venue, pagar konser would typically be:

the fencing / crowd barrier around the concert area,
or
the gated fence people wait outside of.

So di depan pagar konser ≈ “in front of the concert fence/gate area”, in English often translated as “in front of the concert gates”.

Why is it di depan pagar konser and not just di depan konser?

Di depan konser would sound odd, because konser is the event, not the physical structure. You’re in front of a place / gate / building, not in front of an abstract event.

So Indonesian specifies the physical reference point:

di depan pagar konser – in front of the concert fence/gates
di depan pintu masuk konser – in front of the concert entrance
di depan gedung konser – in front of the concert hall/building

These sound natural; di depan konser does not.

Is di depan one unit meaning “in front of”, or is depan a noun by itself?

Di depan is the common phrase for “in front of”:

di = at/in/on (location preposition)
depan = front

So literally it’s “at the front (of)”, which corresponds to “in front of” in English.

Depan can also stand alone in some contexts (like “front” or “next (upcoming)”):

Rumahnya di depan. – His/Her house is in front / ahead.
Tahun depan – next year
Minggu depan – next week

But when you see di depan [noun], treat it as one unit: “in front of [noun]”.

Can the word order of the time and place phrases be changed in this sentence?

Yes, Indonesian allows some flexibility with adverbials (time/place), as long as the meaning is clear and the sentence still sounds natural.

Original:

Beberapa penonton setia sudah menunggu sejak sore di depan pagar konser.

Possible variations:

Beberapa penonton setia sudah menunggu di depan pagar konser sejak sore.
(Time moved to the end; still natural.)
Sejak sore, beberapa penonton setia sudah menunggu di depan pagar konser.
(Time phrase at the start; a bit more emphasis on “since the afternoon”.)

I wouldn’t normally move the place phrase to the very front in this case:

Di depan pagar konser, beberapa penonton setia sudah menunggu sejak sore.
This is grammatically correct, but feels a bit more like written style or for emphasis on the location.