Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Adik perempuan saya suka bermain dengan rambut keriting temannya. - My younger sister likes to play with her friend’s curly hair.

If you say perempuan adik saya, it sounds like “the woman (who is) my younger sibling”, which is odd and rarely used. The natural way to say my younger sister is adik perempuan saya.

What does temannya mean? How does the -nya ending work here?

Temannya is teman + -nya.

teman = friend
-nya = a third-person marker that often works like his / her / their / the (depending on context)

So temannya can mean:

his friend
her friend
their friend
or the friend (a specific friend already known in the context)

Indonesian does not show gender in -nya, so we can’t tell from this sentence alone if it’s his or her friend. The context (previous sentences or situation) would decide that.

In rambut keriting temannya, whose curly hair is it? My sister’s or the friend’s?

In normal interpretation, rambut keriting temannya means:

the curly hair of the friend (the friend’s curly hair)

Structure:

rambut = hair
keriting = curly (adjective, describing the hair)
temannya = his/her/their friend (possessor of the hair)

So the phrase is like:
[hair] [curly] [of the friend] → the friend’s curly hair

The sentence overall means:

My younger sister likes to play with her/his friend’s curly hair.

It does not usually mean “my sister’s friend plays with my sister’s curly hair.” The word order doesn’t support that reading.

What role does dengan play in bermain dengan rambut keriting temannya? Can we drop it?

dengan means with.

bermain = to play
bermain dengan X = to play with X

In this sentence, dengan is natural and expected:

suka bermain dengan rambut keriting temannya
likes to play with her/his friend’s curly hair

If you say bermain rambut keriting temannya without dengan, it sounds ungrammatical or at least very awkward. For “play with [object]”, you normally say bermain dengan [object].

Can I just say suka bermain rambut keriting temannya without dengan like in English “like playing hair”?

No, you shouldn’t omit dengan here.

In English you can say “play with hair” or sometimes colloquially “play hair” (less common), but in Indonesian:

bermain dengan [something] = correct/natural
bermain [something] = usually “play (some kind of game/sport)” (e.g. bermain bola = play ball / play soccer)

Since rambut keriting temannya is an object being fiddled with, you want the structure bermain dengan rambut keriting temannya → “play with her/his friend’s curly hair”.

Is suka followed by a verb like bermain normal, or do I need untuk?

Yes, suka + verb is completely normal and very common. You do not need untuk here.

Patterns:

Saya suka makan. = I like eating / I like to eat.
Dia suka membaca. = He/She likes reading.
Adik perempuan saya suka bermain… = My younger sister likes to play…

Using suka untuk bermain is grammatical but sounds more formal or stiff; it’s usually unnecessary in everyday speech. The natural form is exactly what you have: suka bermain.

How does adjective and possession order work in rambut keriting temannya? Why is keriting after rambut?

Indonesian word order for noun phrases is generally:

[noun] + [adjective] + [possessor]

Here:

rambut = hair (noun)
keriting = curly (adjective describing rambut)
temannya = his/her/their friend (possessor of the hair)

So:

rambut keriting = curly hair
rambut keriting temannya = the curly hair of her/his friend

This parallels many other examples:

buku baru saya = my new book
rumah besar mereka = their big house
mobil merah ayah saya = my father’s red car

So keriting comes after rambut because adjectives typically follow the noun in Indonesian.

Does suka here express a habit like “she often does this”, or just that she enjoys it? There’s no tense marker.

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense, so suka is neutral by itself. But in context, suka + verb usually implies:

a preference or liking
often also a habitual action

So:

Adik perempuan saya suka bermain dengan rambut keriting temannya.
→ My younger sister likes playing with her/his friend’s curly hair.
(implies she enjoys it and tends to do it regularly)

If you wanted a single event in the past, you’d usually add a time word:

Kemarin adik perempuan saya bermain dengan rambut keriting temannya.
= Yesterday my younger sister played with her/his friend’s curly hair.

Could temannya mean “their friend” (plural), or does it only mean one person’s friend?

-nya itself does not mark number; it’s number-neutral. So temannya could mean:

his friend
her friend
their friend (singular group having one friend)
their friends (less common interpretation, but possible with context)

Indonesian relies on context to clarify number. If the context mentioned a group before, temannya can naturally be read as their friend. If the context is about one person, it’s usually read as his/her friend. The sentence alone doesn’t specify.

If I have more than one younger sister, how would I say “My younger sisters like to play with their friend’s curly hair”?

You’d normally mark the plural on adik:

adik-adik perempuan saya suka bermain dengan rambut keriting teman mereka.

Changes:

adik-adik perempuan saya = my younger sisters
- -adik repetition marks plural: several younger siblings
teman mereka = their friend
- mereka = they / their (clear plural)

If you keep temannya, it’s still grammatical but more ambiguous and often reads as “his/her friend”. Using teman mereka makes the plural “their” explicit.