Ibu bilang saya jangan menaruh dompet di saku belakang supaya tidak kecopetan di pasar yang ramai.

Ibu can mean different things depending on context:

• mother / mom
• Mrs. / ma’am as a respectful form of address

In this sentence, Ibu bilang ... most naturally means Mom said ... if the speaker is talking about their own mother.

A native speaker could also use ibu to refer to a woman respectfully, but without more context, learners will usually understand it here as Mother/Mom.

Bilang is a very common everyday word meaning to say / to tell.

Rough comparison:

• bilang = casual, common in speech
• mengatakan = more formal, more written
• berkata = to speak / to say, often used in writing or narration

So:

• Ibu bilang ... = very natural in conversation
• Ibu mengatakan ... = more formal
• Ibu berkata ... = possible, but less common in this exact everyday situation

For spoken Indonesian, bilang is probably the most natural choice here.

Indonesian often leaves out things that are understood from context.

So Ibu bilang saya jangan menaruh ... literally looks like:

• Mom said I don’t / shouldn’t put ...

But the actual sense is:

• Mom told me not to put ...

A fuller version could be:

• Ibu bilang kepada saya jangan menaruh dompet di saku belakang ...
• Ibu bilang sama saya jangan menaruh dompet di saku belakang ...

Both kepada saya and sama saya mean to me, but they are often omitted when the meaning is already clear.

Yes, jangan is used for negative commands:

• Jangan pergi! = Don’t go!

In this sentence, it is part of reported speech:

• Ibu bilang saya jangan menaruh dompet ...
• Mom said I shouldn’t put my wallet ...
• literally, Mom said: “Don’t put your wallet ...”

So jangan is still a prohibition, but it is being reported indirectly.

A learner may expect something like Ibu bilang bahwa saya tidak boleh ... and that is also possible:

• Ibu bilang bahwa saya tidak boleh menaruh dompet di saku belakang ...

That version sounds a bit more explicit. The original is more conversational and direct.

This is a very important distinction.

• tidak negates statements
  
  • Saya tidak tahu = I don’t know
• jangan is used for prohibitions / negative commands
  
  • Jangan pergi = Don’t go

So in this sentence, jangan menaruh is correct because the mother is giving advice or a warning in the form of don’t put ...

You would not normally say:

• Ibu bilang saya tidak menaruh dompet ...

because that would sound like Mom said I do not put the wallet ..., which is a statement, not a prohibition.

Menaruh means to put / to place.

Here:

• menaruh dompet di saku belakang = to put a wallet in the back pocket

It is a good general verb for placing something somewhere.

Similar verbs:

• meletakkan = to place, to set down; often a bit more formal or deliberate
• menyimpan = to keep/store/put away
• taruh = the base form often used casually in speech instead of menaruh

So in casual spoken Indonesian, you may also hear:

• Ibu bilang saya jangan taruh dompet di saku belakang ...

That is very natural in conversation.

Di is the usual preposition for location: in / at / on, depending on context.

So:

• di saku belakang = in the back pocket

Breakdown:

• saku = pocket
• belakang = back / rear
• saku belakang = back pocket

Indonesian often uses noun + modifier order:

• saku belakang = literally pocket back

This is normal Indonesian word order.

Good question. Indonesian often omits possessive words when the owner is obvious from context.

Here, English would usually say my wallet, but Indonesian can simply say:

• menaruh dompet di saku belakang

because it is already clear that the speaker means their own wallet.

If you want to make it explicit, you can say:

• Ibu bilang saya jangan menaruh dompet saya di saku belakang ...

But that is not necessary unless you want extra clarity or emphasis.

Supaya means so that / in order that.

In this sentence:

• supaya tidak kecopetan = so that (I) won’t get pickpocketed / so as not to get pickpocketed

It introduces the purpose or reason for the advice.

Very similar words are:

• agar = so that, a bit more formal
• biar = so that, often more casual

So these are close in meaning:

• supaya tidak kecopetan
• agar tidak kecopetan
• biar tidak kecopetan

The original sentence with supaya is completely natural.

Kecopetan is a very useful but slightly tricky word.

It comes from copet = pickpocket / to steal by pickpocketing.

The pattern ke- -an often gives the sense of:

• being affected by something
• experiencing something unpleasant or unexpected
• becoming the victim of something

So:

• kecopetan = to get pickpocketed / to become a victim of pickpocketing

This is slightly different from dicopet:

• Dompet saya dicopet = My wallet was stolen by a pickpocket
• Saya kecopetan = I got pickpocketed

So:

• dicopet focuses more on the thing stolen or the action done to it
• kecopetan focuses more on the person as the victim of the incident

That is why tidak kecopetan is very natural here.

The subject is understood from context.

• Ibu bilang saya jangan menaruh dompet di saku belakang supaya tidak kecopetan ...

The understood subject of tidak kecopetan is the same saya from earlier.

So the full meaning is roughly:

• Mom told me not to put my wallet in my back pocket so that I wouldn’t get pickpocketed ...

Indonesian often omits repeated subjects when they are obvious.

A fuller, more explicit version could be:

• Ibu bilang saya jangan menaruh dompet di saku belakang supaya saya tidak kecopetan ...

That is grammatically fine, but the shorter version is more natural.

Di pasar yang ramai means in the busy market or at the crowded market.

Breakdown:

• di = in / at
• pasar = market
• yang ramai = that is busy / crowded

Here yang introduces a relative clause, similar to English that / which / who.

So:

• pasar yang ramai = the market that is crowded
• more naturally in English: the crowded market or the busy market

This is a very common structure in Indonesian:

• orang yang baik = the person who is kind
• buku yang baru = the book that is new / the new book
• jalan yang panjang = the road that is long / the long road

It can mean all of those depending on context.

Common meanings of ramai:

• crowded
• busy
• lively
• full of activity/noise

In pasar yang ramai, the best English choices are usually:

• a crowded market
• a busy market

The idea is that there are many people there, which increases the risk of pickpocketing.

Yes, it is natural, especially in conversational Indonesian.

The sentence is compact and sounds like everyday speech. A more explicit or formal version might be:

• Ibu bilang kepada saya supaya jangan menaruh dompet di saku belakang agar tidak kecopetan di pasar yang ramai.

Or:

• Ibu mengatakan bahwa saya tidak boleh menaruh dompet di saku belakang supaya tidak kecopetan di pasar yang ramai.

But those feel more formal and less conversational.

The original sentence is a good example of how spoken Indonesian often works:

• common verb (bilang)
• omitted elements that are understood from context
• natural everyday warning/advice structure

Yes, Indonesian word order is somewhat flexible.

Original:

• ... supaya tidak kecopetan di pasar yang ramai

This is natural and means so as not to get pickpocketed in a crowded market.

You could also say:

• ... supaya di pasar yang ramai tidak kecopetan

This is possible, but it sounds a little less smooth in everyday speech.

The original order is more natural because the location phrase comes after the event:

• not get pickpocketed
• where? in the crowded market

So the sentence flows very naturally as written.

In normal usage, kecopetan usually describes the person as the victim:

• Saya kecopetan = I got pickpocketed

So here the natural interpretation is:

• so that I don’t get pickpocketed

If you wanted to focus directly on the wallet, Indonesian would more likely say something like:

• supaya dompetnya tidak dicopet
• supaya dompet tidak hilang
• supaya dompet tidak dicuri

So the original sentence mainly focuses on the speaker’s experience as a victim, not just on the wallet as an object.

Yes. In context, it sounds like practical advice or a warning, not just a one-time instruction.

So it can feel like:

• Don’t put your wallet in your back pocket
• You shouldn’t keep your wallet in your back pocket

Because the reason is general:

• supaya tidak kecopetan di pasar yang ramai

So the mother is not only talking about one specific motion of putting the wallet there; she is warning against that habit or choice in that kind of situation.