Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Anak kecil itu memperbaiki roda mainan dengan sabar. - That small child repairs the toy wheel patiently.

If you say anak itu, it’s just “that child / the child”, without emphasizing that the child is small or young. Anak kecil itu specifically highlights that this is a little child.

Could “anak kecil itu” also mean “those little children”, or is it always singular?

Indonesian usually doesn’t mark plural on nouns, so anak kecil itu can technically refer to either one little child or several little children, depending on context.

In most everyday contexts, people will assume singular unless something else clearly indicates plural (like anak-anak kecil itu = those little children).
To be clearly plural, you’d often see anak-anak kecil itu (reduplication marks plural).

What’s the difference between “anak kecil itu” and “anak itu kecil”?

They look similar but have different structures and uses:

Anak kecil itu = “that small child / the little child”
- This is a noun phrase (NP): [child + small + that]. It’s used as the subject of the sentence_here.
Anak itu kecil = “That child is small”
- This is a full sentence: “that child” (subject) + “small” (predicate).

So anak kecil itu names which child, while anak itu kecil describes the child.

What exactly does “itu” do here, and can we just leave it out?

Itu is a demonstrative that often works like “that / the” in English. In anak kecil itu:

With itu: anak kecil itu = “that little child / the little child” (specific, known child)
Without itu: anak kecil = “a little child” or “little children” (more general / indefinite, depending on context)

So yes, you can leave it out, but then you lose the sense that we’re talking about a specific, identified child.

How is the verb “memperbaiki” formed, and what is its general meaning?

The root here is baik = good. From that we get:

memperbaiki = to make something good again / to fix / to repair / to improve

Morphologically (simplified):

memper-
- baik
  - -i → memperbaiki

In this sentence, memperbaiki means “to fix / repair” the toy’s wheel.

What’s the difference between “memperbaiki” and “membetulkan”? Could we use membetulkan here?

Both can mean “to fix / to correct”, and you can say:

Anak kecil itu membetulkan roda mainan dengan sabar.

Nuance:

memperbaiki is slightly more formal / neutral, often used in writing, technical contexts, and general “repair/improve” meanings.
membetulkan is a bit more informal / everyday, literally from betul = correct, so more like “to make correct / to put right.”

In everyday speech, both are fine here; memperbaiki just sounds a bit more neutral/formal.

What does “roda mainan” mean exactly? Is it “toy wheel” or “the wheel of the toy”?

Roda mainan is a noun + noun combination:

roda = wheel
mainan = toy (literally “play-thing”; from main = play)

So roda mainan can be understood as:

“a toy wheel” (a wheel that belongs to / is part of a toy)
or
“the wheel of the toy”

In practice, it just means the wheel on a toy, and context fills in the rest.

Why is it “roda mainan” and not “roda dari mainan” or “roda mainannya”?

Indonesian usually expresses relationships like “X of Y” simply by putting two nouns together:

roda mainan = “(the) toy wheel” or “the wheel of the toy”

Other possibilities:

roda dari mainan = literally “the wheel from the toy” – grammatically correct but sounds more clumsy / explicit; used only when you really want to emphasize “from”.
roda mainannya can mean “its wheel / the toy’s wheel” with -nya adding definiteness or a possessive sense (“its / his / her / their”).

For a basic sentence like this, roda mainan is the most natural.

Could “mainan” by itself just mean “toy”?

Yes.

main = to play
mainan (verb + -an) = something for playing → “toy”

So mainan alone is “toy”, and roda mainan is “toy’s wheel / toy wheel.” You could also say mainan itu = “that toy / the toy.”

What does “dengan sabar” mean, and why use “dengan”?

Dengan sabar means “patiently”.

dengan = with
sabar = patient

Indonesian often forms adverb-like expressions by using dengan + adjective:

dengan sabar = with patience → patiently
dengan hati-hati = carefully

So memperbaiki … dengan sabar = “fix (it) patiently.”

Could we just say “sabar” instead of “dengan sabar”, like “Anak kecil itu sabar memperbaiki roda mainan”?

Yes, that’s possible, and it’s grammatical:

Anak kecil itu sabar memperbaiki roda mainan.

Here sabar functions more directly as a description of the child while they do the action.

dengan sabar is a very clear, standard way to express “patiently” (manner adverb).
sabar memperbaiki… sounds a bit more like “(being) patient, the little child repairs…”, emphasizing the child’s character.

Both are understandable; dengan sabar is the safest, most textbook-like choice for “patiently.”

Does the adverbial phrase “dengan sabar” have to go at the end, or can it be placed elsewhere?

It doesn’t have to be at the end, but that position is very natural:

Anak kecil itu memperbaiki roda mainan dengan sabar. (very natural)
Dengan sabar, anak kecil itu memperbaiki roda mainan. (also natural, adds emphasis to “patiently”)

Putting it between the verb and its object, like memperbaiki dengan sabar roda mainan, sounds awkward. The usual pattern is:
Subject + Verb + Object + (Manner) Adverbial → exactly what you see in the original sentence.

There’s no word like “did” or “was” in “memperbaiki”. How do we know the tense (past, present, future) in this sentence?

Indonesian verbs generally don’t change form for tense. Memperbaiki by itself is neutral; it just means “fix / is fixing / fixed / will fix”. The actual time is understood from:

context, or
time words like:
- tadi (earlier, a while ago) → past
- sedang (in the middle of) → ongoing
- akan (will) → future

So depending on context, the sentence could be translated:

“The little child fixed the toy’s wheel patiently.” (past)
“The little child is fixing the toy’s wheel patiently.” (present, maybe with sedang added: sedang memperbaiki).