Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami berhenti jauh dari tebing supaya tidak jatuh. - We stop far from the cliff so that we do not fall.

Kami berhenti jauh dari tebing supaya tidak jatuh.
→ We (but not you) stopped far from the cliff so we wouldn’t fall.
Kita berhenti jauh dari tebing supaya tidak jatuh.
→ We (including you) stopped far from the cliff so we wouldn’t fall.

Grammatically, both are correct; the choice depends on who is included in we.

Is berhenti transitive or intransitive, and why is there no preposition like di before jauh dari tebing?

Berhenti is an intransitive verb: it means to stop (no direct object).

In the sentence:

berhenti jauh dari tebing
jauh dari tebing works as an adverbial phrase describing where they stopped. Indonesian often puts an adverb or adverbial phrase directly after the verb without adding a preposition like di:
berhenti di sini – stop here
berhenti sebentar – stop for a moment
berhenti jauh dari tebing – stop far from the cliff

Saying berhenti di jauh dari tebing is not natural; di would normally go before a place noun, not before jauh.

How does jauh dari work grammatically? Can I say jauh dengan tebing or just jauh tebing?

Jauh dari is a fixed pattern meaning far from:

jauh dari rumah – far from (the) house
jauh dari kota – far from the city
jauh dari tebing – far from the cliff

You cannot say:

✗ jauh dengan tebing – incorrect for far from the cliff
✗ jauh tebing – incorrect; it sounds like far cliff as a noun phrase

So the natural structure is always:

jauh dari + noun

What exactly does tebing mean? Is it only “cliff”?

Tebing usually refers to a steep side of land. Common translations:

cliff
steep riverbank
steep slope / escarpment

Typical uses:

tebing curam – steep cliff
tebing sungai – riverbank (if it’s high/steep)

It’s normally natural terrain, not the edge of a roof or balcony. For a building’s edge, you’d more likely use words like tepi, pinggir, balkon, etc., depending on context.

What does supaya mean, and how is it different from agar, biar, and untuk?

Supaya introduces a purpose or desired result:

supaya tidak jatuh – so (that we) don’t fall / in order not to fall

Rough comparison:

supaya – so that / in order that (neutral, very common in speech and writing)
agar – so that / in order that (a bit more formal or written, but often interchangeable with supaya)
biar – so that / so (more informal/colloquial)
untuk – for / to (usually followed by a verb in base form or a noun, not a full clause)

Examples:

Kami berhenti jauh dari tebing supaya tidak jatuh.
Kami berhenti jauh dari tebing agar tidak jatuh.
→ practically the same meaning.

With untuk, you’d normally say:

Kami berhenti jauh dari tebing untuk menghindari jatuh.
→ We stopped far from the cliff to avoid falling.

So in this sentence, supaya is the natural choice to link the action to its purpose.

Why is it tidak jatuh and not jangan jatuh?

Tidak and jangan have different functions:

tidak = not (used to negate statements or descriptions)
jangan = don’t (used for commands / prohibitions)

In supaya tidak jatuh, you are stating a purpose:

supaya tidak jatuh – so that (we) do not fall

If you said supaya jangan jatuh, it would sound wrong/unnatural because jangan needs an imperative sense like a command:

Jangan jatuh! – Don’t fall! (telling someone)

So:

supaya tidak jatuh – correct for expressing the result you want to avoid
jangan jatuh – only as a direct command, not inside supaya here.

Could I say supaya kami tidak jatuh instead of just supaya tidak jatuh?

Yes, you can. Both are grammatical:

Kami berhenti jauh dari tebing supaya tidak jatuh.
Kami berhenti jauh dari tebing supaya kami tidak jatuh.

In Indonesian:

When the subject of the second clause is the same as the first (kami), it is very common to omit it in the second clause.
Adding kami again is possible but usually only for emphasis or clarity, for example if multiple possible subjects are involved.

In normal conversation, the shorter supaya tidak jatuh sounds more natural here.

Could I put supaya tidak jatuh at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Both word orders are acceptable:

Kami berhenti jauh dari tebing supaya tidak jatuh.
Supaya tidak jatuh, kami berhenti jauh dari tebing.

Meaning is the same. Putting supaya tidak jatuh at the beginning:

emphasizes the purpose first: In order not to fall, we stopped far from the cliff.
is a bit more formal or written in feel, but still fine in speech.

Is there a tense here? How do I know whether this happened in the past, present, or future?

Indonesian verbs usually do not change form for tense. Berhenti and jatuh are in their basic forms, so the sentence is tense-neutral.

The time reference comes from context or extra words, for example:

Past:
Kemarin kami berhenti jauh dari tebing supaya tidak jatuh.
– Yesterday we stopped…
Future:
Nanti kami akan berhenti jauh dari tebing supaya tidak jatuh.
– Later we will stop…

Without such markers, listeners use context to decide whether it’s past, present, or a general statement.

Are there other natural ways to say the same idea, and do they sound different?

Yes, here are some natural variations and their nuances:

Kami berhenti jauh-jauh dari tebing supaya tidak jatuh.
- jauh-jauh emphasizes well away / a good distance away.
- Slightly more colloquial/emphatic.
Kami berhenti agak jauh dari tebing supaya tidak jatuh.
- agak jauh = rather / somewhat far – softens the distance.
Kami berhenti jauh dari tebing agar tidak jatuh.
- Using agar instead of supaya feels a bit more formal/written, but meaning is essentially the same.
Kami berhenti jauh dari tebing untuk menghindari jatuh.
- More formal; menghindari = to avoid, untuk = to/for (the purpose of).

All of these convey the same core idea; the differences are mostly in formality and emphasis, not in basic meaning.