Nenek selalu membawa saputangan di tas kecilnya.

Selalu means always, and in Indonesian, adverbs of frequency commonly come before the verb.

So:

• Nenek selalu membawa saputangan... = Grandma always carries a handkerchief...

This is a very normal word order in Indonesian.

Membawa most basically means to carry or to bring. The best English choice depends on context.

In this sentence, carries works very naturally:

• Nenek selalu membawa saputangan... = Grandma always carries a handkerchief...

So yes, membawa can overlap with English bring/carry/take, depending on the situation.

Indonesian usually does not use articles the way English does. That means nouns often appear without words like a or the.

So:

• saputangan can mean a handkerchief or the handkerchief
• tas kecilnya can mean her small bag or sometimes the small bag of hers, depending on context

Context usually makes the meaning clear.

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• tas kecil = small bag
• rumah besar = big house
• buku baru = new book

That is why the sentence has tas kecilnya, not kecil tasnya.

Here, -nya shows possession, so tas kecilnya means her small bag.

A useful thing to know is that -nya often attaches to the last word of the noun phrase, not necessarily the main noun itself.

So:

• tasnya = her bag
• tas kecilnya = her small bag

In this sentence, -nya most naturally means her.

Because in Indonesian, -nya can attach to the end of the whole noun phrase.

So these are both understandable, but they are not identical in feel:

• tasnya yang kecil = her bag that is small / the small one of her bags
• tas kecilnya = her small bag

The sentence uses the smooth, natural noun phrase tas kecilnya.

Because this di is a preposition meaning in, at, or on, so it is written as a separate word.

• di tas kecilnya = in her small bag

This is different from the passive prefix di-, which is attached directly to a verb:

• dibawa = is carried / was carried

So:

• di tas = correct
• ditas = incorrect in this meaning

Both can work, but there is a nuance.

• di tas kecilnya = more general, very natural in everyday Indonesian
• dalam tas kecilnya = more specifically inside her small bag

Since a handkerchief is physically inside the bag, dalam would also make sense. But di is extremely common and natural here.

It mainly gives the location connected with the action: Grandma carries the handkerchief in her small bag.

So the main structure is:

• Nenek = subject
• selalu membawa = verb phrase
• saputangan = object
• di tas kecilnya = location phrase

It does not mean that the bag is the main thing being carried. The main object is saputangan.

No, not in this wording. The direct object of membawa is saputangan.

So the sentence means:

• she always carries a handkerchief
• and the handkerchief is in her small bag

If you wanted to say she always carries her small bag, you would say something like:

• Nenek selalu membawa tas kecilnya.

Yes. It sounds natural and straightforward.

Its structure is very typical:

• Subject: Nenek
• Adverb: selalu
• Verb: membawa
• Object: saputangan
• Location phrase: di tas kecilnya

So it is a good example of basic Indonesian word order.