Jangan jalan sambil melihat ponsel di pasar atau di terminal, karena kamu bisa kecopetan tanpa sadar.

Jangan is used for a negative command or prohibition, like don’t in English.

So jangan jalan means don’t walk or don’t go walking.

A useful pattern is:

• jangan + verb

For example:

• Jangan makan di sini. = Don’t eat here.
• Jangan lari. = Don’t run.

By contrast, tidak usually negates statements, not commands:

• Saya tidak jalan. = I’m not walking / I don’t go.

So in this sentence, jangan is exactly what you would expect at the start of a warning.

Both jalan and berjalan can relate to walking, but jalan is much more common in everyday speech.

• jalan = everyday, natural, conversational
• berjalan = more formal, more textbook-like, sometimes broader in meaning

So:

• Jangan jalan sambil melihat ponsel sounds very natural.
• Jangan berjalan sambil melihat ponsel is also grammatical, but more formal.

In casual Indonesian, many verbs appear in a shorter form where English learners might expect a prefixed form.

Sambil means while or while doing something else at the same time.

So:

• jalan sambil melihat ponsel = walking while looking at your phone

It connects two actions happening simultaneously.

Some examples:

• Dia makan sambil menonton TV. = He eats while watching TV.
• Jangan bicara sambil mengunyah. = Don’t talk while chewing.

In this sentence, sambil highlights that the dangerous thing is doing both actions together.

Melihat is the meN- form of lihat and is more standard or neutral in full sentences.

• lihat = casual, spoken
• melihat = more standard, slightly more formal

Both are very common, and both can mean to look at or to see, depending on context.

So these are both possible:

• Jangan jalan sambil melihat ponsel.
• Jangan jalan sambil lihat ponsel.

The version with melihat sounds a bit more polished.

Ponsel means mobile phone / cell phone.

It is a standard Indonesian word, but in everyday speech many people also say:

• HP
• handphone

So all of these may refer to the same thing:

• ponsel
• HP
• handphone

A public-safety message may prefer ponsel because it sounds standard and clear.

It is repeated because each noun phrase is being marked as a location:

• di pasar = at/in the market
• di terminal = at/in the terminal

Repeating di is very normal and clear in Indonesian.

You may sometimes hear people shorten things in casual speech, but in a careful sentence, repeating it is best:

• di pasar atau di terminal

It makes the structure easy to understand and avoids any ambiguity.

In Indonesian, terminal usually means a bus terminal or a public transport terminal, not a computer terminal.

So in this context, it refers to a busy transport area where pickpocketing might happen.

For an English speaker, that is worth noticing because terminal in English can refer to several different things, but in Indonesian everyday usage it often points to a transport terminal.

Karena means because.

It introduces the reason for the warning:

• Jangan jalan sambil melihat ponsel ... karena kamu bisa kecopetan tanpa sadar.
• Don’t walk while looking at your phone ... because you could get pickpocketed without noticing.

So the structure is:

• command/warning
• karena
• reason

This is very common in Indonesian.

Here bisa means can / could / may, but specifically in the sense of possibility, not skill.

So:

• kamu bisa kecopetan = you could get pickpocketed

It does not mean you have the ability to get pickpocketed. It means it is a real risk.

Compare:

• Saya bisa berenang. = I can swim. → ability
• Kamu bisa terlambat kalau macet. = You could be late if there’s traffic. → possibility

In this sentence, it clearly expresses danger or risk.

Kecopetan means to get pickpocketed or to have something stolen by a pickpocket.

This is a very useful pattern in Indonesian:

• ke-...-an

It often shows that someone experiences something unexpectedly, often something unfortunate.

Here:

• copet = pickpocket
• kecopetan = suffer pickpocketing / get pickpocketed

This form focuses on the victim’s experience.

By comparison:

• dicopet is a more straightforward passive form: was pickpocketed / was stolen by a pickpocket
• kecopetan often sounds more like fell victim to pickpocketing

So kamu bisa kecopetan is a very natural way to say you could get pickpocketed.

Tanpa sadar means without realizing it or unconsciously / unknowingly.

That is the natural expression here.

• tanpa sadar = without being aware of it
• tidak sadar can mean not conscious, unaware, or even unconscious

So in this warning:

• kamu bisa kecopetan tanpa sadar = you could get pickpocketed without realizing it

That sounds much more natural than tidak sadar in this context.

Not absolutely, but it helps make the warning direct and personal.

• karena kamu bisa kecopetan = because you could get pickpocketed

If you remove kamu, the sentence can still work in some contexts:

• karena bisa kecopetan

But that sounds more general or less directly addressed to the listener.

Including kamu makes it clear that the warning is aimed at you, the person being spoken to.

It is best described as neutral everyday Indonesian.

Why:

• jangan is normal in all kinds of warnings
• jalan feels everyday and natural
• melihat is standard
• ponsel is standard
• kamu makes it less formal than something addressed to Anda

So this would sound natural in conversation or in a practical warning. A more formal public notice might use slightly different wording, such as Anda instead of kamu, or berjalan instead of jalan.

For example, a more formal version could be:

• Jangan berjalan sambil melihat ponsel di pasar atau terminal, karena Anda bisa kecopetan tanpa sadar.

But the original sentence is very natural and easy to understand.