Vokalis band kampus itu sangat ramah.

to be

Breakdown of Vokalis band kampus itu sangat ramah.

• itu: that
• sangat: very
• ramah: friendly

Questions & Answers about Vokalis band kampus itu sangat ramah.

What does each word in the sentence Vokalis band kampus itu sangat ramah. mean literally?

Word by word:

• vokalis = vocalist, singer (usually the lead singer in a band)
• band = band (borrowed from English; music group)
• kampus = campus (here: the university/college environment)
• itu = that / the (used to point to or specify something already known)
• sangat = very
• ramah = friendly

So the whole thing is literally: “vocalist band campus that very friendly”, which corresponds to “The vocalist of that campus band is very friendly.”

Why is there no word for “is” in this sentence?

In Indonesian, when the predicate is an adjective, there is usually no verb “to be” (no equivalent of “is/are/am”).

Structure here:

• Subject: Vokalis band kampus itu
• Predicate (adjective): sangat ramah

Indonesian simply places the adjective (often with an intensifier like sangat) after the subject:

• Vokalis band kampus itu sangat ramah.
  = That campus band’s vocalist very friendly.

You only use a linking verb like adalah or ialah when the predicate is typically a noun or noun phrase, not a plain adjective. Even then, in everyday speech, Indonesians often drop adalah too.