Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Panduan itu berisi gambar teleskop dan penjelasan tentang alat-alat astronomi. - The guide contains pictures of telescopes and explanations of astronomical tools.

Panduan itu berisi gambar teleskop dan penjelasan tentang alat-alat astronomi.

The guide contains pictures of telescopes and explanations of astronomical tools.

Breakdown of Panduan itu berisi gambar teleskop dan penjelasan tentang alat-alat astronomi.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Indonesian grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Indonesian now

Questions & Answers about Panduan itu berisi gambar teleskop dan penjelasan tentang alat-alat astronomi.

What does Panduan itu literally mean, and why is itu after panduan, not before it like in English?

Panduan itu literally is “guide that”, but functionally it means “that guide” or “the guide”.

In Indonesian, demonstratives like ini (this) and itu (that/the) usually come after the noun:

panduan itu = that/the guide
buku ini = this book
meja itu = that/the table

In English, we put that or this before the noun, but in Indonesian they mostly come after. Context decides whether you translate itu as that or the; often it’s just “the guide” if the guide is already known in the conversation.

What exactly does berisi mean, and how is it formed?

berisi means “contains / has … as its contents”.

Base word: isi = content, contents, filling
With prefix ber- → berisi = to contain, to have as contents

It’s an intransitive verb (it doesn’t take an object with me- like memakai etc.). Instead you just follow it directly with what is contained:

Panduan itu berisi gambar teleskop.
= The guide contains pictures of telescopes.
Kotak itu berisi makanan.
= That box contains food.

It doesn’t change form for singular/plural or person; same berisi for I/you/they/it. Context tells you if you should say “contains” or “contained.”

Could I use other verbs like memiliki or mengandung instead of berisi? Are they interchangeable?

Sometimes you can replace berisi, but the nuance changes:

berisi – contains, has as its contents
- Natural for books, guides, boxes, messages, etc.
- Panduan itu berisi gambar dan penjelasan.
  (Very natural)
memiliki – has/owns/possesses
- More like “to own / possess” rather than “to contain”.
- Panduan itu memiliki banyak gambar.
  = The guide has many pictures. (OK, but focuses on possession, not “contents”)
mengandung – contains, to contain
- Very common with chemical/physical content or pregnancy.
- Minuman ini mengandung gula. (This drink contains sugar.)
- Dia mengandung. (She is pregnant.)
- Panduan itu mengandung gambar… sounds overly formal/technical, and not as natural as berisi.

For this sentence, berisi is the most idiomatic choice.

How should I understand gambar teleskop? Is it “telescope picture” or “pictures of telescopes”?

gambar teleskop is best understood as “pictures of telescopes”.

In Indonesian, when you put two nouns together like gambar + teleskop, the second noun often plays an “of” role:

gambar teleskop = picture(s) of telescope(s)
foto keluarga = photo of (the) family
peta kota = map of the city

You usually don’t need a preposition like dari (of/from) here. gambar dari teleskop would sound more like “a picture from a telescope” (e.g., taken by a telescope), which is a different meaning.

So in this context, gambar teleskop naturally means pictures of telescopes.

Why isn’t gambar pluralized as gambar-gambar if it’s “pictures”? How does plural work here?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural with -s like English. Plurality is:

Often unmarked and understood from context, or
Shown by reduplication (repeating the noun): gambar-gambar

In this sentence:

Panduan itu berisi gambar teleskop…
We know a guide will usually have multiple pictures, so “pictures” is a natural translation even without gambar-gambar.

If you say:

gambar-gambar teleskop
that emphasizes that there are many pictures, or a variety of them.

So:

gambar teleskop → picture(s) of telescopes (number not specified, often many)
gambar-gambar teleskop → clearly many pictures of telescopes

Both are grammatically correct; the original just doesn’t stress “many.”

Is penjelasan singular or plural here: “explanation” or “explanations”?

penjelasan itself is number-neutral. It can be “explanation” or “explanations”, depending on context.

Dia memberi penjelasan singkat.
= He/She gave a brief explanation.
Buku ini berisi penjelasan dan contoh.
= This book contains explanations and examples.

In the sentence:

… dan penjelasan tentang alat-alat astronomi.

It’s natural in English to say “explanations about astronomical instruments”, because a guide would usually have several explanations. If you wanted to emphasize “many explanations” in Indonesian, you could say banyak penjelasan (many explanations).

What does tentang mean, and could I replace it with something like mengenai?

tentang means “about / regarding / concerning”.

penjelasan tentang alat-alat astronomi
= explanation(s) about astronomical instruments

You can often replace tentang with:

mengenai – about/regarding (slightly more formal)
soal – about/concerning (more informal, can sound like “on the topic of”)

Examples:

penjelasan tentang alat-alat astronomi
penjelasan mengenai alat-alat astronomi
penjelasan soal alat-alat astronomi (more conversational)

In this sentence, tentang is the most neutral and widely used option.

Could I just say penjelasan alat-alat astronomi without tentang? What difference would that make?

You can say penjelasan alat-alat astronomi, and it’s understandable, but the nuance shifts a bit.

penjelasan tentang alat-alat astronomi
→ explanations about astronomical instruments (topic marker is clear)
penjelasan alat-alat astronomi
→ can sound like “the astronomical-instruments explanations” (as if alat-alat astronomi is labeling the type of explanations), and might feel slightly less smooth in many contexts.

In practice:

In careful, clear Indonesian (like in a textbook), penjelasan tentang … is very common and sounds more natural for “explanations about …”.
Dropping tentang is more common in shorter labels or titles, e.g., penjelasan tata surya on a diagram (Explanations of the solar system).

In your sentence, penjelasan tentang alat-alat astronomi is the safest and most natural version.

Why is it alat-alat astronomi, not astronomi alat-alat? What’s the word order rule here?

In Indonesian, the head noun comes first, and modifiers (including other nouns used like adjectives) usually come after it.

alat-alat = tools/instruments (head noun)
astronomi = astronomy (modifier; tells what kind of tools)

So:

alat-alat astronomi = astronomical tools / instruments of astronomy
buku astronomi = astronomy book
alat musik = musical instrument (literally “music tool”)

Putting it as astronomi alat-alat is not normal word order and sounds wrong. Think of the pattern as:

[Thing] + [What kind / related to what?]
alat-alat + astronomi
buku + astronomi
peta + kota

What does the reduplication in alat-alat do? Could I say just alat astronomi?

Repeating the noun (alat → alat-alat) is a common way to show plurality or variety.

alat astronomi = an astronomical instrument / astronomical instruments (number not specified)
alat-alat astronomi = instruments of astronomy (clearly more than one, usually several types)

Both are grammatically correct here:

penjelasan tentang alat astronomi
penjelasan tentang alat-alat astronomi

The original sentence uses alat-alat to make it clearer that the guide covers multiple instruments, not just one.

Why don’t we use adalah in this sentence, like Panduan itu adalah …?

adalah is often used like a copula (“to be”) between two nouns or noun phrases:

Dia adalah guru. = He/She is a teacher.
Ini adalah panduan astronomi. = This is an astronomy guide.

In your sentence:

Panduan itu berisi gambar teleskop dan penjelasan…

The predicate is a verb (berisi = contains), not a noun phrase, so you don’t use adalah here.

You could make a different sentence that uses adalah:

Panduan itu adalah panduan yang berisi gambar teleskop dan penjelasan…
= That guide is a guide that contains pictures of telescopes and explanations…

But for the original structure with berisi as the main verb, you simply don’t put adalah in front of it.

Is there any reason to prefer teleskop instead of teropong here?

Both teleskop and teropong refer to instruments you look through, but their usage differs:

teleskop
- Direct borrowing from “telescope”.
- Very common in scientific/astronomy contexts.
- Fits perfectly with alat-alat astronomi.
teropong
- More general term: binoculars or viewing device (teropong laut, teropong burung, etc.).
- Not automatically “astronomical telescope”; can be any viewing tool.

In a sentence about astronomy and astronomical instruments, teleskop is the more precise and natural word.