Breakdown of Pelancong asing bertanya arah ke taman kota di dekat stasiun.
Questions & Answers about Pelancong asing bertanya arah ke taman kota di dekat stasiun.
Pelancong asing literally means foreign traveler / foreign tourist.
- pelancong = traveler / tourist (a bit more literary/formal)
- asing = foreign
You can usually replace it with turis asing, which sounds more colloquial and is very common in everyday speech:
- Pelancong asing bertanya arah…
- Turis asing bertanya arah…
Both are correct; turis is just more common in casual modern Indonesian.
In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.
- pelancong asing = tourist foreign → foreign tourist
- taman kota = park city → city park
- stasiun besar = station big → big station
So the pattern is:
noun + adjective
That’s why asing comes after pelancong. Putting asing pelancong would be wrong.
Indonesian normally does not use articles like a/an or the. Context decides whether it’s specific or general.
- Pelancong asing bertanya arah…
→ could be translated as A foreign tourist asked for directions…
or The foreign tourist asked for directions… depending on context.
If you really want to make it clearly “a foreign tourist,” you can say:
- Seorang pelancong asing bertanya arah… (one / a foreign tourist)
If you want “the foreign tourist” (already known in the conversation), you can say:
- Pelancong asing itu bertanya arah… (itu = that/the)
But in many cases, the simple Pelancong asing… is enough and natural.
Bertanya arah is a common, natural phrase meaning to ask for directions.
- bertanya = to ask (a question)
- arah = direction(s)
Putting them together:
- bertanya arah ≈ “ask (about) directions / ask for directions”
You normally do not say bertanya tentang arah here. It sounds more like a theoretical discussion “ask about the concept of direction,” not practical directions.
Natural options:
- Pelancong asing bertanya arah ke taman kota.
- Pelancong asing menanyakan arah ke taman kota. (a bit more formal)
Both mean: The foreign tourist asked for directions to the city park.
Ke is a preposition meaning to / toward, indicating destination.
In this sentence:
- bertanya arah ke taman kota
= ask for directions to the city park
Breakdown:
- arah ke taman kota = directions to the city park
- ke marks where the person wants to go.
Other examples:
- Saya pergi ke sekolah. = I go to school.
- Dia mencari jalan ke bandara. = He/she is looking for the way to the airport.
Di dekat stasiun means near the station.
- di = at / in / on (location marker)
- dekat = near
Combined:
- di dekat = at a place near (something)
- di dekat stasiun = at a place near the station
Compare:
- di stasiun = at the station
- di dekat stasiun = near the station (not necessarily inside it)
You can sometimes drop di in very casual speech (dekat stasiun), but di dekat stasiun is more standard and clear.
Break it down:
- taman kota = city park
- taman = park
- kota = city
- di dekat stasiun = near the station
Put together:
- taman kota di dekat stasiun
= the city park that is near the station
= the city park near the station
The structure is:
[noun phrase] + [location phrase]
taman kota + di dekat stasiun
So the sentence means that the city park being asked about is the one located near the station.
They’re related but not identical:
taman kota
- Literally: city park
- Often refers to a specific kind of park managed by the city, or the main/official city park.
- Sounds like a set phrase, similar to “city park” as a type of place.
taman di kota
- Literally: park in the city
- More general: any park that happens to be within a city (not countryside).
So:
Dia pergi ke taman kota.
→ He/she goes to the (or a) city park (a city-managed/public park).Ada banyak taman di kota ini.
→ There are many parks in this city.
Pelancong asing bertanya arah ke taman kota dekat stasiun is understandable and often used in speech, but:
With di: taman kota di dekat stasiun
- Feels slightly clearer and more standard: “the city park that is near the station.”
Without di: taman kota dekat stasiun
- Feels a bit more compressed and casual: “the city park near the station.”
Both are grammatical. Adding di explicitly marks it as a location phrase and is a bit more careful/standard, especially in writing.
Yes, you can say:
- Pelancong asing di dekat stasiun bertanya arah ke taman kota.
This shifts what di dekat stasiun is describing:
Original:
Pelancong asing bertanya arah ke taman kota di dekat stasiun.
→ The city park is near the station.Moved phrase:
Pelancong asing di dekat stasiun bertanya arah ke taman kota.
→ The foreign tourist is near the station (that’s where he/she is when asking).
So the location information attaches to different nouns:
- After taman kota → describes the park
- After pelancong asing → describes the tourist
You can add kepada if you want to specify whom the tourist asks:
- Pelancong asing bertanya arah kepada polisi.
= The foreign tourist asked the police for directions.
In your original sentence, the focus is on:
- what was asked (directions)
- and to where (the park near the station),
not on whom it was asked, so kepada … is simply omitted, not wrong or missing grammatically.
Basic pattern:
- bertanya (sesuatu) kepada (seseorang)
ask (something) to (someone)
The original:
- Pelancong asing bertanya arah ke taman kota di dekat stasiun.
sounds neutral and suitable for narration, news, or written Indonesian.
In more casual, spoken Indonesian, you might hear:
- Ada turis asing nanya arah ke taman kota deket stasiun.
- Ada (there is)
- turis (colloquial)
- nanya (colloquial for bertanya)
- deket (colloquial for dekat)
Meaning is the same, but the style is softer and more conversational.