Breakdown of Polisi meminta kami menunjukkan kartu identitas di gerbang sekolah.
Questions & Answers about Polisi meminta kami menunjukkan kartu identitas di gerbang sekolah.
Indonesian commonly uses S–V–O order, so Polisi (subject) + meminta (verb) + kami (object) is the most neutral pattern.
That said, Indonesian is flexible. For example, you can foreground the object/topic:
- Kami diminta polisi menunjukkan kartu identitas... (less common than the passive form below)
- More natural: Kami diminta (oleh) polisi... (passive)
Polisi can work like the police (institution/collective) or refer to officers generally. Context decides.
If you want to clearly mark plurality, you can add para (formal-ish) or specify:
- Para polisi meminta... (several officers)
- Seorang polisi meminta... (one officer)
Both mean to ask/request.
- meminta = standard/formal, with the meN- verb prefix
- minta = more informal/colloquial (often used in speech)
In writing or formal situations like dealing with police, meminta is very common.
This uses a common Indonesian structure:
meminta + person (object) + verb/action
So: meminta kami menunjukkan = asked us to show.
Indonesian can also use connectors like:
- Polisi meminta agar/supaya kami menunjukkan... (asked that we show...)
- Polisi meminta kami untuk menunjukkan... (asked us to show...)
The version without untuk is already correct and often sounds more direct.
Indonesian has two words for we/us:
- kami = we/us (excluding the listener)
- kita = we/us (including the listener)
Here, kami implies the speaker and their group, not including the person being spoken to (e.g., the narrator telling someone else about it).
They come from the same base tunjuk (point/show), but they differ in form and use:
- menunjukkan = active verb, neutral narrative: to show
- tunjukkan = imperative/command form: show! (or sometimes a shortened colloquial form)
Because the sentence reports what happened (not a direct command quote), menunjukkan fits.
Base: tunjuk (point/show)
Affixes: meN- ... -kan → menunjukkan
- meN- marks an active verb (roughly “to do X”)
- -kan often makes the verb causative/applicative, and with tunjuk it yields the common meaning to show (something) (to someone)
So menunjukkan kartu identitas = to show an ID card.
Not in this structure. meminta + person + verb is already complete:
- Polisi meminta kami menunjukkan... ✅
You can use kepada in other patterns, especially when asking for a thing:
- Saya meminta bantuan kepada dia. (I asked him for help.)
But meminta kepada kami menunjukkan... sounds awkward; the cleaner options are: - meminta kami menunjukkan...
- meminta agar kami menunjukkan...
- meminta kami untuk menunjukkan...
Indonesian doesn’t have articles like a/the. Nouns are often bare unless you need to specify:
- quantity: sebuah kartu identitas (an ID card)
- definiteness/context: kartu identitas itu (that/the ID card)
In this context, kartu identitas is naturally understood as our ID.
kartu identitas is general: identity card/ID card.
KTP is specific to Indonesia: Kartu Tanda Penduduk (national ID card for citizens/residents).
At a school gate, they might mean any acceptable ID (student card, staff card, driver’s license), depending on context.
It most naturally tells the location of the whole event: the request/showing happened at the school gate.
Indonesian often puts place phrases at the end like this. If you want to emphasize location earlier, you can also say:
- Di gerbang sekolah, polisi meminta kami...
Yes, and passive is very common in Indonesian when focusing on what happened to us:
- Kami diminta (oleh) polisi menunjukkan kartu identitas di gerbang sekolah.
This often sounds very natural because it foregrounds kami (the affected party). The active version you have is also correct; it just focuses more on polisi as the actor.