Karena selokan di ujung gang sempit, air hujan sering meluap ke jalan.

Karena means because and introduces the reason.

So the sentence is structured like this:

• Karena selokan di ujung gang sempit = because the drain at the end of the alley is narrow
• air hujan sering meluap ke jalan = rainwater often overflows onto the road

A very common pattern in Indonesian is:

• Karena + reason, result.

You can also reverse the order:

• Air hujan sering meluap ke jalan karena selokan di ujung gang sempit.

Both are natural.

The comma separates the reason clause from the main clause.

• Karena selokan di ujung gang sempit, = reason
• air hujan sering meluap ke jalan. = main statement

This is similar to English when a because-clause comes first. In Indonesian, the comma is commonly used here.

No. In Indonesian, gang often means a small alley, lane, or narrow passage, especially in neighborhoods.

So:

• ujung gang = the end of the alley / lane

This is a very common word in Indonesian and is not usually understood as criminal gang in everyday local-address contexts.

Selokan means a drain, ditch, or gutter, usually one that carries away water.

In this sentence, it refers to a drainage channel near the alley. Because it is sempit (narrow), the water cannot flow away well, so it overflows.

Di ujung gang means at the end of the alley.

Breakdown:

• di = at / in / on
• ujung = end, tip
• gang = alley, lane

So:

• selokan di ujung gang = the drain at the end of the alley

This whole phrase describes which drain we are talking about.

In this sentence, sempit describes the whole noun phrase selokan di ujung gang — in other words, the drain is narrow.

So the clause means:

• selokan di ujung gang sempit = the drain at the end of the alley is narrow

A learner might wonder whether it means the alley is narrow, but that is not the most natural reading here.

Why? Because Indonesian often works like this:

• [noun phrase] + adjective
• meaning: the noun phrase is adjective

So here:

• selokan di ujung gang = the drain at the end of the alley
• sempit = narrow

If you specifically wanted to say the alley is narrow, you would usually make that clearer in another way.

Indonesian often leaves out the verb to be in simple statements.

So:

• selokan ... sempit literally looks like drain ... narrow
• but it means the drain ... is narrow

This is very normal in Indonesian.

Other examples:

• Rumah itu besar. = That house is big.
• Jalannya macet. = The road is congested.
• Airnya kotor. = The water is dirty.

Air hujan means rainwater, while hujan means rain.

That distinction matters here:

• hujan = the weather event
• air hujan = the water produced by the rain

Since the sentence is talking about water overflowing, air hujan is the more precise choice.

Sering means often. It modifies the verb phrase meluap ke jalan.

In this sentence:

• air hujan sering meluap ke jalan
• = rainwater often overflows onto the road

A very common Indonesian word order is:

• Subject + sering + verb

So:

• air hujan = subject
• sering = often
• meluap = overflow

Meluap means to overflow.

In this sentence, it is intransitive, meaning it does not take a direct object.

So:

• air hujan sering meluap ke jalan
• = rainwater often overflows onto the road

Notice that it is followed by ke jalan (onto/to the road), not by a direct object.

Common related patterns:

• Sungainya meluap. = The river overflowed.
• Air meluap ke rumah warga. = Water overflowed into residents’ houses.

Ke shows movement toward a place.

So:

• meluap ke jalan = overflow onto / into the road

By contrast, di jalan would indicate location: on the road.

Here the idea is that the water moves from the drain area onto the road, so ke is the right choice.

This is a very important spelling point.

In di ujung, di is a preposition meaning at / in / on, so it is written separately:

• di ujung = at the end
• di jalan = on the road
• di rumah = at home

But di- can also be a prefix used to form passive verbs, and then it is written attached:

• dibuka = opened
• ditutup = closed
• dilihat = seen

So in this sentence:

• di ujung gang → separate, because it is a location phrase

Yes. Adding itu can make the noun phrase feel more definite:

• Karena selokan di ujung gang itu sempit, air hujan sering meluap ke jalan.

This can sound like:

• Because that drain at the end of the alley is narrow... or
• Because the drain at the end of the alley is narrow...

Without itu, the sentence is still completely natural. Indonesian often leaves definiteness less explicit than English does.

It can be rearranged.

The original sentence starts with the reason:

• Karena selokan di ujung gang sempit, air hujan sering meluap ke jalan.

You can also put the main clause first:

• Air hujan sering meluap ke jalan karena selokan di ujung gang sempit.

Both mean the same thing. The first version gives slightly more emphasis to the cause first, while the second sounds a bit more straightforward and conversational in some contexts.

Yes, it sounds natural.

It uses several very ordinary Indonesian patterns:

• karena for cause
• no overt is
• subject + sering + verb
• meluap ke for overflow toward a place
• location phrase with di

So it is a good example of normal, everyday Indonesian.