Pindah kos ternyata lebih repot daripada yang saya kira, apalagi kalau barangnya banyak dan jalannya sempit.

Kos (also often written kost) refers to a rented room or boarding-house style accommodation, very common in Indonesia for students and workers.

So pindah kos means to move to another rented room / boarding house, not just to move in a general sense.

A few related words:

• anak kos = someone who lives in a kos
• rumah kos = the boarding house itself
• pindah rumah = move house/home in general
• pindah kos = move from one kos to another

In everyday Indonesian, pindah kos is a very common shorthand expression. It means to move boarding houses / move to a different kos.

You could say pindah ke kos baru if you want to emphasize the destination:

• Saya pindah ke kos baru. = I moved to a new boarding house.

But pindah kos is natural and idiomatic when the idea is simply changing kos.

So:

• pindah kos = move kos / change boarding houses
• pindah ke kos = move to a kos

Indonesian often allows the subject to be omitted when it is obvious from context.

Here, Pindah kos ternyata lebih repot... works like Moving kos turns out to be more troublesome... in English. The whole activity pindah kos acts like the topic or subject of the sentence.

So the structure is roughly:

• Pindah kos = moving kos
• ternyata lebih repot = turns out to be more troublesome
• daripada yang saya kira = than I thought

It is very natural in Indonesian to start a sentence with an activity like this.

Ternyata means something like:

• it turns out
• as it turns out
• apparently
• in fact

It often shows that the speaker discovered something that was different from what they expected.

So:

• Pindah kos ternyata lebih repot...
  = Moving kos turned out to be more troublesome...

It adds a sense of realization or surprise.

Compare:

• Pindah kos lebih repot daripada yang saya kira.
  = Moving kos is more troublesome than I thought.
• Pindah kos ternyata lebih repot daripada yang saya kira.
  = Moving kos turned out to be more troublesome than I thought.

The second one sounds more like I found out this was the case.

This is the standard Indonesian pattern for comparisons:

• lebih = more
• daripada = than

So:

• lebih repot daripada = more troublesome than

Examples:

• Dia lebih tinggi daripada saya. = He is taller than me.
• Bahasa ini lebih sulit daripada yang saya bayangkan. = This language is more difficult than I imagined.

In your sentence:

• lebih repot daripada yang saya kira
  = more troublesome than I thought

Repot is a very common word meaning something like:

• troublesome
• a hassle
• inconvenient
• complicated to deal with

It often suggests that something requires extra effort, causes inconvenience, or is annoying to handle.

So lebih repot here is not just harder, but more like:

• more of a hassle
• more troublesome
• more inconvenient than expected

A useful comparison:

• sulit = difficult
• repot = troublesome / a hassle

Something can be repot even if it is not technically very difficult.

Literally, yang saya kira means what I thought.

Here, yang turns the clause saya kira into something like a noun phrase:

• yang saya kira = what I thought / what I expected

So:

• lebih repot daripada yang saya kira
  = more troublesome than what I thought
  = more troublesome than I expected

This use of yang is very common in Indonesian.

Similar examples:

• Itu lebih mahal daripada yang saya bayangkan.
  = That is more expensive than I imagined.
• Hasilnya tidak seperti yang saya harapkan.
  = The result is not like what I hoped.

Yes. In natural English, we usually translate it as than I thought or than I expected.

Even though the Indonesian is literally closer to than what I thought, the normal English translation is:

• more troublesome than I thought

So the learner should understand both:

• literal structure: than what I thought
• natural meaning: than I thought / than I expected

Apalagi kalau means something like:

• especially if
• all the more so if
• let alone if

It adds an even stronger condition.

So:

• apalagi kalau barangnya banyak dan jalannya sempit
  = especially if there are a lot of things and the الطريق/access path is narrow

The logic is:

1. Moving kos is already troublesome.
2. It is even more troublesome if you have lots of stuff and the access is narrow.

Other examples:

• Naik motor saat hujan sudah berbahaya, apalagi kalau jalannya licin.
  = Riding a motorbike in the rain is already dangerous, especially if the road is slippery.
• Bahasa ini sulit, apalagi kalau gurunya menjelaskan terlalu cepat.
  = This language is difficult, especially if the teacher explains too fast.

The suffix -nya has several uses in Indonesian, and here it does not necessarily mean his/her.

In this sentence, -nya makes the nouns sound more definite or context-specific:

• barangnya banyak = the stuff/items are many, or there is a lot of stuff
• jalannya sempit = the road/path/access way is narrow

So -nya here is often understood as:

• the/the relevant
• the stuff involved
• the road/access involved

It can make the phrase sound more natural and connected to the situation being discussed.

Without -nya, the sentence is still understandable:

• kalau barang banyak dan jalan sempit But it sounds less smooth and less anchored to a specific situation.

It can express both ideas, depending on how natural English is phrased.

In context, barang usually means:

• stuff
• belongings
• items
• things

So barangnya banyak can be translated naturally as:

• there’s a lot of stuff
• the belongings are numerous
• you have a lot of things

In everyday English, there’s a lot of stuff is usually the best translation.

Not necessarily just road in the broad sense.

Jalan can mean:

• road
• street
• way
• path
• access route

In the context of moving house or moving kos, jalannya sempit probably means:

• the street leading there is narrow
• the access lane is narrow
• the way in is narrow

So it could refer to a small alley, a narrow residential lane, or limited access for carrying things.

Usually it means the access route is narrow, which may or may not be a proper street.

In Indonesia, many kos places are in small lanes or alleys, so jalannya sempit often suggests:

• it is hard for vehicles to enter
• carrying furniture is difficult
• the approach to the building is cramped

So the practical meaning is the access is narrow.

Yes. Even though -nya appears on both nouns, the phrase can still describe the general situation being discussed.

It basically means:

• if there’s a lot of stuff and the access is narrow

This does not have to mean a specific person’s belongings or a specific named road. It is just the relevant stuff and the relevant access route in that moving situation.

Both are possible, but they emphasize slightly different things.

• Pindah kos ternyata lebih repot...
  Focuses first on the activity moving kos, then comments on it.
• Ternyata pindah kos lebih repot...
  Starts with it turns out, which foregrounds the speaker’s realization.

Both are natural. The version in your sentence sounds very conversational and flows well.

It is neutral everyday Indonesian, leaning conversational.

A few things that make it feel natural and spoken:

• kos is everyday vocabulary
• repot is common conversational language
• the overall sentence sounds like personal experience

A more formal version might be:

• Pindah tempat kos ternyata lebih merepotkan daripada yang saya kira, terutama jika barang-barangnya banyak dan akses jalannya sempit.

But the original sentence is perfectly normal and natural in daily use.

Yes, but the structure would change slightly.

Your original sentence:

• Pindah kos ternyata lebih repot...

This treats repot as the quality of the situation: moving kos is more of a hassle.

If you use merepotkan, it often means troublesome/bothersome to someone:

• Pindah kos ternyata lebih merepotkan daripada yang saya kira.

This is also correct and natural. It sounds a little more formal or explicit.

In everyday conversation, repot is often preferred because it is short and casual.

A simple breakdown is:

• Pindah kos = moving kos
• ternyata = turns out
• lebih repot = more troublesome
• daripada yang saya kira = than I thought
• apalagi kalau = especially if
• barangnya banyak = there’s a lot of stuff
• dan jalannya sempit = and the access road/path is narrow

So the full logic is:

Moving kos turns out to be more of a hassle than I thought, especially if there’s a lot of stuff and the access is narrow.