Breakdown of Di puncak, udara begitu tipis sehingga beberapa orang harus duduk sebentar untuk mengatur napas.
Questions & Answers about Di puncak, udara begitu tipis sehingga beberapa orang harus duduk sebentar untuk mengatur napas.
di is a preposition meaning at / in / on (a location).
So di puncak = at the peak / on the summit.
- di puncak → location: at the top
- ke puncak → direction: to the top
- dari puncak → origin: from the top
You normally cannot just say puncak by itself here; you need a preposition for a place phrase. So:
- Di puncak, udara… = At the top, the air… ✅
- Puncak, udara… ❌ (sounds incomplete/wrong in standard Indonesian)
begitu … sehingga … is a pattern that means “so … that …”:
- udara begitu tipis → the air is so thin
- sehingga beberapa orang harus duduk… → that some people have to sit…
So the whole part is: “the air is so thin that some people have to sit for a while to catch their breath.”
Compare:
- udara sangat tipis = the air is very thin (just a strong description; no result clause)
- udara begitu tipis sehingga … = the air is so thin that … (explicit cause → result)
In spoken Indonesian, you might also hear:
- udara sangat tipis sampai beberapa orang harus duduk… (similar meaning; sampai used like sehingga, more colloquial)
Literally, tipis means thin (not thick):
- kertas tipis = thin paper
- buku tipis = thin book
By extension, udara tipis is a very natural and common phrase meaning “thin air”, i.e. low-oxygen / low-density air at high altitude. It’s metaphorical but completely standard.
Other examples of this extended use:
- rambutnya tipis = their hair is thin (not much hair)
- kabutnya tipis = the fog is thin / light
So udara begitu tipis is exactly how you’d say “the air is so thin” in Indonesian.
beberapa already indicates “several / some (plural)”, so you do not add -orang twice.
- orang = person / people (depends on context)
- orang-orang = people (plural, often “people in general”)
- beberapa orang = several people / some people ✅
- beberapa orang-orang ❌ (redundant / incorrect)
Very common patterns:
- tiga orang = three people
- banyak orang = many people
- beberapa orang = several people
Indonesian usually does not need a separate plural marker when a word like beberapa, banyak, tiga, etc., already gives the idea of “more than one”.
harus generally means must / have to / be obliged to.
In this sentence:
- beberapa orang harus duduk sebentar
→ some people have to sit for a while
It suggests necessity, not just a suggestion. Because the air is thin, they need to sit down (to recover), not just “it would be nice if they did”.
Rough comparison:
- harus duduk = must / have to sit (necessary)
- sebaiknya duduk = should sit (advisable, softer)
- boleh duduk = may / allowed to sit (permission)
sebentar means for a short time / briefly.
So duduk sebentar = sit for a moment / sit briefly.
Nuances:
duduk sebentar
Neutral, just says the sitting won’t be long.duduk sejenak
Very similar to sebentar, maybe a bit more literary/formal, but both are common.duduk dulu
Literally “sit first”. Often used as a friendly suggestion like “why don’t you sit (for now)”. Focus is less on duration and more on doing this action before something else.
In this sentence, duduk sebentar focuses on the short duration they need to rest because of the thin air.
Yes. mengatur napas literally is “to regulate/arrange one’s breath”, and it’s used very much like “to catch your breath / control your breathing”.
Breakdown:
- atur = arrange, regulate, set in order
- mengatur = to arrange / regulate / control
- napas = breath
Common expressions:
- mengatur napas = control/catch (one’s) breath
- menahan napas = hold (one’s) breath
- mengambil napas = take a breath
- bernapas = to breathe
So duduk sebentar untuk mengatur napas = sit for a moment to catch (their) breath.
The official modern spelling is napas.
- napas = standard Indonesian (KBBI, official usage)
- nafas = older / non-standard spelling, but still very common informally (especially online, in song lyrics, etc.)
Meaning is the same; for formal or correct writing, use napas.
sehingga introduces a result clause, similar to “so that / to the point that / as a result”.
In the sentence:
- udara begitu tipis → cause
- sehingga beberapa orang harus duduk… → result
Rough English: “the air is so thin that some people have to sit…”
Comparison:
sehingga
More formal/neutral, often used in writing; directly links cause → result, especially after begitu … patterns.jadi
Very common in speech, like “so / so then”.
Udara sangat tipis, jadi beberapa orang harus duduk… (colloquial, fine in conversation.)karena itu
Literally “because of that / for that reason”; emphasizes reasoning, slightly more formal than jadi.
Udara sangat tipis; karena itu, beberapa orang harus duduk…
In this specific pattern begitu … sehingga …, sehingga is the most natural choice.
Indonesian verbs usually don’t change form for tense. Time is understood from context or from time words.
The sentence as given could be:
- a description of a specific past trip
- a general description of what it’s like at that summit
- a report of something happening right now
To mark time more clearly, you add time expressions, for example:
Waktu kami sampai di puncak, udara begitu tipis sehingga beberapa orang harus duduk sebentar untuk mengatur napas.
When we arrived at the summit, the air was so thin that some people had to sit for a while to catch their breath. (clearly past)Di puncak, udara biasanya begitu tipis sehingga beberapa orang harus duduk sebentar untuk mengatur napas.
At the summit, the air is usually so thin that some people have to sit for a while to catch their breath. (general habit/situation)
The verb forms stay the same; the adverbs / context do the tense work.