Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Pendaki pemula itu nyaris terpeleset di dekat jurang, tetapi temannya memegang tangannya. - That beginner hiker almost slipped near the ravine, but her/his friend held her/his hand.

So pendaki pemula is literally climber beginner, which in English becomes beginner climber. The demonstrative itu comes at the end of the whole noun phrase: pendaki pemula itu (not itu pendaki pemula in this meaning).

What is the role of itu here? Is it like “the”, “that”, or “this”?

Itu can function as:

a demonstrative: that
or something close to a definite article: the

In pendaki pemula itu, it’s mostly marking that we’re talking about a specific known climber: that beginner climber / the beginner climber.

Compare:

seorang pendaki pemula = a beginner climber (indefinite)
pendaki pemula itu = the/that beginner climber (definite, specific one)

What’s the difference between nyaris and hampir? Could we say hampir terpeleset instead of nyaris terpeleset?

Both nyaris and hampir mean almost / nearly, and hampir would also be fine here:

Pendaki pemula itu hampir terpeleset…

Differences:

hampir is more common and neutral.
nyaris can feel slightly more dramatic or emphatic in many contexts, often used in writing or storytelling.

In this sentence, nyaris terpeleset gives a bit of a “narrow escape” feeling, but hampir terpeleset is grammatically correct and natural too.

What does terpeleset mean exactly, and what does the prefix ter- do here?

Terpeleset comes from:

ter- (prefix)
peleset (root, related to slipping)

Meaning: to slip / to almost slip / to be slipping accidentally (usually feet losing grip).

The prefix ter- here often indicates:

an unintentional or accidental event
something that happens without deliberate control

So terpeleset suggests slipping accidentally, not on purpose. Compare:

jatuh = fall
terjatuh = accidentally fall (often similar in meaning; context decides)

Is terpeleset passive or active? The prefix ter- often looks passive.

In practical usage here, terpeleset works like an intransitive verb / verb phrase describing what happened to the subject:

Pendaki pemula itu nyaris terpeleset
= The beginner climber almost slipped.

There’s no direct object, and we don’t usually think of it as a passive in this context. It’s more like a state or event that happened to the subject, especially accidentally.

So you can treat terpeleset here as simply “to slip (accidentally)” rather than worrying about passive/active.

Why is it di dekat jurang and not just dekat jurang? What’s the function of di and dekat here?

Breakdown:

di = at / in / on (location preposition)
dekat = near / close to
jurang = cliff / ravine / precipice

Di dekat jurang literally = at near the cliff → near the cliff.

You can sometimes say dekat jurang without di, especially in more informal speech, but di dekat jurang is very standard and clear.

Compare:

di jurang = in the ravine (already over the edge)
di dekat jurang = near the ravine (dangerously close, but not in it)

What does tetapi mean, and how is it different from tapi or namun?

All of these contrast two clauses and are often translated as but / however:

tetapi = but (neutral, slightly formal)
tapi = but (more informal, very common in speech)
namun = however / but (more formal, often in writing)

In this sentence:

…, tetapi temannya memegang tangannya.

You could also say:

…, tapi temannya memegang tangannya. (more conversational)
…, namun temannya memegang tangannya. (more formal / literary)

What does temannya mean exactly? Does it mean “his friend”, “her friend”, or “their friend”?

Temannya = teman (friend) + -nya (third-person marker/possessive).

It can mean:

his friend
her friend
their friend
or just the friend (specific, contextually known)

Indonesian does not mark gender, so temannya is gender‑neutral. You understand whose friend it is from context. Here, it’s understood as the beginner climber’s friend.

What about tangannya? Whose hand is that, and could it be ambiguous?

Tangannya = tangan (hand) + -nya (his/her/their/that).

So tangannya = his hand / her hand / their hand / the hand (that person’s).

In temannya memegang tangannya, there are two -nya forms:

temannya = the climber’s friend
tangannya = the climber’s hand (by default reading)

Technically, it could be ambiguous (the friend’s hand vs the climber’s hand), but context and typical storytelling logic make it natural to understand it as:

The climber almost slipped, but his friend grabbed *his hand (the climber’s hand).*

If you wanted to remove ambiguity, you could say:

… tetapi teman pendaki itu memegang tangan pendaki itu.
(… but that climber’s friend held that climber’s hand.)

Why doesn’t the sentence repeat a pronoun like dia (“he / she”)? Why not say tetapi temannya memegang tangannya dia?

Indonesian usually avoids unnecessary pronouns. Once the person is clear, you typically don’t repeat dia or a name unless needed.

temannya memegang tangannya is already clear and natural.
tangannya dia is grammatically possible, but often sounds redundant or less smooth here.
Saying temannya memegang tangan dia is understandable but not as natural as just tangannya in this context.

So dropping dia is normal and preferred.

Could we change the word order, like Tangannya dipegang temannya? How would that sound?

Yes, that’s possible and changes the structure:

Temannya memegang tangannya.
→ active voice, normal word order: Subject – Verb – Object
Tangannya dipegang temannya.
→ passive-like structure: Object – di-verb – Agent

Both mean roughly:

His/her hand was held by his/her friend.

Differences:

Temannya memegang tangannya
→ more neutral, everyday, focusing on what the friend did.
Tangannya dipegang temannya
→ focuses more on the hand (what happened to it), slightly more formal or descriptive.

How do we know this sentence is in the past? There’s no past tense marker.

Indonesian does not have verb tenses like English. Time is usually understood from context or from time adverbs.

This sentence feels past because:

It describes a completed event (a near accident and rescue).
In a narrative, this kind of structure is usually about something that has already happened.

If you want to make the past time explicit, you can add time words, for example:

Tadi pendaki pemula itu nyaris terpeleset di dekat jurang, tetapi temannya memegang tangannya.
= Earlier, the beginner climber almost slipped near the cliff, but his/her friend held his/her hand.