Langit oranye terlihat indah saat matahari terbenam.

The orange sky looks beautiful when the sun sets.

Breakdown of Langit oranye terlihat indah saat matahari terbenam.

• indah: beautiful
• saat: when
• matahari terbenam: the sunset
• langit: the sky
• terlihat: to look
• oranye: orange

Questions & Answers about Langit oranye terlihat indah saat matahari terbenam.

Why does oranye come after langit, when in English we say orange sky, not sky orange?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

• langit oranye
  
  • langit = sky (noun)
  • oranye = orange (adjective)

So the structure is:

• Indonesian: noun + adjective → langit oranye
• English: adjective + noun → orange sky

Other examples:

• rumah besar = big house
• baju merah = red shirt

What exactly does terlihat mean here? Is it like looks, seems, or is seen?

Terlihat is a stative verb built from lihat (to see) with the prefix ter-.

In this sentence, terlihat is closest to English looks or appears:

• Langit oranye terlihat indah
  → The orange sky looks beautiful / appears beautiful.

It can also mean is visible, depending on context:

• Gunung itu terlihat dari sini.
  → That mountain is visible from here.

So the core idea is a state of being seen / appearing a certain way.

Could I use kelihatan instead of terlihat? What is the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Langit oranye kelihatan indah saat matahari terbenam.

Both terlihat and kelihatan can mean looks / appears / is visible.

Nuances (very general and context‑dependent):

• terlihat
  
  • slightly more neutral or formal
  • common in writing and spoken Indonesian
• kelihatan
  
  • sounds a bit more casual/colloquial in many regions
  • very common in everyday speech

In this sentence, both are natural. If you are unsure, terlihat is a safe, standard choice.

Where is the verb to be (like is) in this sentence? Why is it missing?

Indonesian usually does not use a separate to be verb (like is/are) in simple descriptive sentences.

Instead, you can have:

• [subject] + [stative verb/adjective]

Examples:

• Dia cantik. → She is beautiful. (literally: she beautiful)
• Makanannya enak. → The food is delicious.

In your sentence:

• Langit oranye terlihat indah
  → The orange sky looks beautiful.

Here, terlihat already carries the verbal meaning looks/appears, so no extra to be is needed, and Indonesian would never add one.

What is the function of indah here? Is it an adjective or an adverb?

Indah is an adjective meaning beautiful (visually pleasing, often poetic or scenic).

In terlihat indah:

• terlihat = looks / appears
• indah = beautiful

So the pattern is:

• [stative verb] + [adjective]
  → terlihat indah = looks beautiful

Indah is not an adverb; Indonesian does not change its form like English beautiful → beautifully. Context tells you whether it is describing a noun or modifying a verb-like word such as terlihat.

What is the difference between indah, cantik, and bagus? Could I replace indah here?

All three can involve a positive meaning, but they are used differently:

• indah

  • often for scenery, nature, views, landscapes, abstract beauty
  • poetic or elevated tone
  • fits very well with langit (sky)

• cantik

  • mostly for people (especially women), faces, or sometimes objects that are pretty
  • Langit oranye cantik is understandable, but less natural than indah for a sky.

• bagus

  • general good / nice / great / fine
  • often for performance, quality, ideas, work
  • Langit oranye bagus sounds odd; we don’t usually describe the sky with bagus.

So in this sentence, indah is by far the most natural choice.

What does saat mean here, and can I replace it with something else like ketika or waktu?

In this sentence, saat means when or at the time (that).

• saat matahari terbenam
  → when the sun sets / at sunset

You can replace saat with:

• ketika

  • neutral, very common:
    
    • Langit oranye terlihat indah ketika matahari terbenam.

• waktu

  • more colloquial in this usage:
    
    • Langit oranye terlihat indah waktu matahari terbenam.

All three are correct here. Saat and ketika are a bit more neutral/formal; waktu is very common in speech.

Is matahari terbenam a verb phrase (the sun is setting) or a noun (sunset)?

It can function as both, depending on the sentence.

Here, in saat matahari terbenam:

• matahari = the sun
• terbenam = set / has set (stative form of benam, to sink)

The whole phrase is like:

• when the sun is (in the state of) having set / is setting

Semantically, it is very close to English at sunset, but grammatically it is a clause:

• [saat] + [subject: matahari] + [stative verb: terbenam]

So it is not a fixed noun like sunset, but it often translates that way.

What does the ter- prefix in terbenam and terlihat actually do?

The prefix ter- has several functions in Indonesian, but in these verbs it mainly marks a stative or resulting state:

• lihat → terlihat

  • base: see
  • with ter-: be seen, appear, look (in a certain way)

• benam → terbenam

  • base: sink, go down
  • with ter-: be in the state of having sunk / set (for the sun), be submerged

In this sentence:

• terlihat = is in a state of being seen as X → looks / appears
• terbenam = is in the state of having gone down → has set / is setting (depending on context)

Could we move saat matahari terbenam to the front of the sentence? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can move the time clause to the front:

• Saat matahari terbenam, langit oranye terlihat indah.

This is fully natural and keeps the same meaning:

• At sunset, the orange sky looks beautiful.

Indonesian word order is quite flexible for time expressions; putting the time clause first can give it a bit more emphasis (focusing on when it happens), but it does not change the basic meaning.

Do we need something like sedang (progressive marker) before terbenam to mean is setting?

No, you do not need sedang here.

• saat matahari terbenam already covers the idea when the sun sets / is setting.

You could say:

• saat matahari sedang terbenam

but it sounds more explicit and less idiomatic for a simple, general statement about sunsets. In many natural sentences about regular phenomena (like sunrise/sunset), Indonesian omits sedang and relies on context.

Why is there no word like the or a before langit and matahari? How do we know if it is the sky or just sky?

Indonesian does not use articles like the, a, or an.

• langit can mean the sky or sky
• matahari can mean the sun or sun

Context decides whether you translate it with the in English. Here, because we are talking about a specific, known sky and sun (the one we see at sunset), English naturally uses the:

• Langit oranye terlihat indah saat matahari terbenam.
  → The orange sky looks beautiful when the sun sets.

Indonesian simply leaves definiteness to context rather than grammar.