Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya dengan ponsel baru.

He/She takes a photo of his/her handsome rabbit with a new phone.

Breakdown of Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya dengan ponsel baru.

• sebuah: a
• dia: he/she
• baru: new
• dengan: with
• nya: his/her
• ponsel: the phone
• kelinci: the rabbit
• ganteng: handsome
• memfoto: to take a photo

Questions & Answers about Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya dengan ponsel baru.

What does memfoto mean, and how is it different from mengambil foto or memotret?

Memfoto is a verb meaning to take a photo / to photograph.

• memfoto = to take a photo (from the noun foto)
• mengambil foto = literally to take a photo (slightly longer/more neutral)
• memotret = to take a picture / to photograph (from potret, “portrait”)

All three are correct and common. Roughly:

• Dia memfoto kelinci… = He/She photographed the rabbit…
• Dia mengambil foto kelinci… = He/She took a photo of the rabbit…
• Dia memotret kelinci… = He/She took a picture of the rabbit…

Style/feel:

• memfoto and mengambil foto are very common in everyday speech.
• memotret can sound slightly more formal or “photography-related,” but it’s also used in daily conversation.

Why is it memfoto and not mengfoto or mefoto?

Indonesian uses the meN- prefix to turn many nouns or roots into active verbs. The form of meN- changes depending on the first consonant of the root:

• For roots starting with f, meN- becomes mem-.
• Root: foto
• meN- + foto → memfoto

So:

• memfoto = correct
• mengfoto and mefoto are not standard forms (though you might hear them in casual speech as mistakes or regional variants).

Similar patterns:

• fitnah → memfitnah (to slander)
• vonis → memvonis (to sentence, in a legal sense)

What does gantengnya mean here? Does the -nya mean “his/her”?

In kelinci gantengnya, the -nya is a 3rd person possessive marker, equivalent to his/her/their (singular).

Structure:

• kelinci = rabbit
• ganteng = handsome
• -nya = his/her

So kelinci gantengnya ≈ his/her handsome rabbit.

In Indonesian, the possessive -nya is attached to the end of the noun phrase, and that noun phrase can end in an adjective. So:

• kelinci gantengnya ≈ kelinci ganteng dia (“the rabbit that is handsome of him/her” → his/her handsome rabbit)

So yes, in this sentence -nya is best understood as “his/her”, referring back to dia.

Could gantengnya ever mean “so handsome” instead of “his/her handsome”?

Yes. Gantengnya can mean different things depending on its position and context.

1. Possessive “his/her” (as in your sentence):

   • kelinci gantengnya
     → his/her handsome rabbit
     (noun phrase where -nya = “his/her”)

2. Exclamative “so handsome!”:

   • Gantengnya kelinci itu!
     → How handsome that rabbit is! / That rabbit is so handsome!
   • Here gantengnya comes at the start and functions like “so handsome!” with an emotional tone.

So:

• kelinci gantengnya (inside a noun phrase) → likely “his/her handsome rabbit”.
• Gantengnya kelinci… (sentence-initial exclamation) → “how handsome the rabbit is!”.

In your sentence, gantengnya is part of the noun phrase kelinci gantengnya, so it’s naturally read as possessive.

Why is it kelinci gantengnya and not kelincinya ganteng if the meaning is “his/her handsome rabbit”?

Both are grammatical, but they do different things:

1. kelinci gantengnya

   • This is one noun phrase.
   • kelinci (rabbit) + ganteng (handsome) + -nya (his/her).
   • Together: his/her handsome rabbit (as a single object).

2. kelincinya ganteng

   • This sounds more like a clause: “the rabbit is handsome”.
   • kelincinya = the rabbit (with -nya used as a definite marker: the rabbit, that rabbit)
   • ganteng = is handsome
   • This would usually appear as a separate statement, not as the object inside another verb phrase.

In Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya…, we need a direct object of memfoto.
Kelinci gantengnya fits that role as a single noun phrase meaning his/her handsome rabbit.

Could I say Dia memfoto kelincinya yang ganteng dengan ponsel baru instead? What’s the difference?

You can, and it’s also correct. Nuance:

1. Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya dengan ponsel baru.

   • Feels slightly more compact and colloquial.
   • gantengnya directly carries the “his/her” sense.
   • Emphasis is more on possession
     • appearance: his/her handsome rabbit.

2. Dia memfoto kelincinya yang ganteng dengan ponsel baru.

   • kelincinya = his/her rabbit / the rabbit.
   • yang ganteng = that is handsome.
   • Literally: He/She photographed his/her rabbit that is handsome with a new phone.
   • Feels a bit more “spelled out” and sometimes a touch more formal/explicit: “his rabbit, which is handsome”.

Both are natural; (1) is more compact, (2) is more explicitly “the rabbit that is handsome.”

Does dia mean “he” or “she”? How do Indonesians show gender if needed?

Dia can mean he or she. Indonesian 3rd person singular pronouns do not mark gender.

To make gender explicit, speakers usually rely on:

• Context (who they are talking about)
• Names: Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya… (if we already know “dia” is, say, Andi, we infer a gender)
• Extra words:
  • dia laki-laki itu / dia cowok itu = that male / that guy
  • dia perempuan itu / dia cewek itu = that female / that girl

But in many sentences, gender is simply left unspecified, and that’s completely normal.

What is the basic word order in Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya dengan ponsel baru.?

The structure is:

• Dia = Subject (S)
• memfoto = Verb (V)
• kelinci gantengnya = Direct Object (O)
• dengan ponsel baru = Prepositional phrase (instrument: “with a new phone”)

So the order is S – V – O – (instrumental phrase):

Dia (S) memfoto (V) kelinci gantengnya (O) dengan ponsel baru (instrument)

What does dengan mean here? Can I use pakai instead?

Here dengan means “with” in the sense of “using (something) as a tool / instrument”.

• dengan ponsel baru = with a new phone (as the device used to take the photo)

You can also say:

• Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya pakai ponsel baru.

Differences:

• dengan → more neutral and acceptable in formal and informal contexts.
• pakai → very common in speech, slightly more casual/colloquial, but still widely used in writing too.

Both are natural; dengan is a bit more standard/neutral.

What’s the difference between ponsel baru and ponsel yang baru?

Both can translate as “new phone”, but there is a nuance:

1. ponsel baru

   • Default way to say a new phone / new cell phone.
   • The adjective baru simply describes the noun ponsel.
   • No special emphasis.

2. ponsel yang baru

   • Literally “the phone that is new”.
   • yang baru acts like a small relative clause: “which is new”.
   • Can give a bit more focus or contrast, for example:
     • Bukan ponsel yang lama, dia memfoto dengan ponsel yang baru. → Not the old phone, he took the photo with the one that is new.

In your sentence, ponsel baru is the most natural, straightforward choice.

Could this sentence mean “He photographed his handsome rabbit that had a new phone”?

No. In Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya dengan ponsel baru, the most natural and structurally correct reading is:

• dengan ponsel baru = using a new phone (instrument)

It does not mean that:

• The rabbit has the new phone, or
• The rabbit is together with the new phone, as in “rabbit with a new phone”.

To say “his handsome rabbit that had a new phone”, you would need a different structure, for example:

• Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya yang punya ponsel baru.
  (He/She photographed his/her handsome rabbit that has a new phone.)

So in the original sentence, dengan ponsel baru clearly describes how he/she took the photo, not what the rabbit has.

Can I drop the prefix and just say Dia foto kelinci gantengnya dengan ponsel baru?

Yes, in casual spoken Indonesian, people often use foto directly as a verb:

• Dia foto kelinci gantengnya…
  (He/She photos / takes a photo of his/her handsome rabbit…)

However:

• memfoto is more standard and correct in formal writing or careful speech.
• foto as a bare verb is fine in everyday conversation, chats, social media, etc.

So:

• Formal/neutral: Dia memfoto kelinci gantengnya dengan ponsel baru.
• Informal: Dia foto kelinci gantengnya pakai ponsel baru.