Nenek selalu membawa saputangan kecil, dan dia memberikannya kepada saya ketika kening saya berkeringat.

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

• saputangan = handkerchief
• kecil = small

So:

• saputangan kecil = a small handkerchief

This is the normal Indonesian word order. English does the opposite: small handkerchief.

Nenek means grandmother or grandma.

In Indonesian, family words are often used without an explicit possessive when the relationship is already clear from context. So Nenek can naturally mean:

• Grandma
• my grandmother

If needed, you could say:

• nenek saya = my grandmother

But in many sentences, just Nenek sounds perfectly natural.

Selalu means always, and adverbs like this commonly come before the verb in Indonesian.

So:

• Nenek selalu membawa... = Grandma always carries...

This is a very common pattern:

• Dia selalu datang tepat waktu. = He/She always comes on time.
• Saya sering membaca. = I often read.

Membawa means to bring or to carry.

It comes from the root bawa and the prefix meN-, which often forms an active verb.

• bawa = bring/carry
• membawa = to bring / carries / is carrying, depending on context

In your sentence, membawa saputangan kecil means carries a small handkerchief.

Yes. Dia can mean both he and she.

Indonesian does not normally mark gender in third-person singular pronouns.

So:

• dia = he / she

In this sentence, because Nenek is grandma, we understand dia as she.

Memberikannya can be broken into parts:

• meN- = active verb prefix
• beri = give
• -kan = suffix often used when something is being given, sent, shown, etc.
• -nya = it in this sentence

So memberikannya means to give it.

Here, -nya refers to saputangan kecil.

So the sentence means that Grandma gave it to me.

Both memberi and memberikan can mean to give, but they are used a little differently.

A useful beginner-level way to think about it:

• memberi seseorang sesuatu = give someone something
• memberikan sesuatu kepada seseorang = give something to someone

So these are both natural:

• Nenek memberi saya saputangan itu.
• Nenek memberikan saputangan itu kepada saya.

Your sentence uses the second pattern:

• memberikannya kepada saya = gave it to me

That is why kepada saya fits very naturally here.

Here, -nya means it.

In Indonesian, -nya can have several functions depending on context. It can mean things like:

• his/her
• him/her
• it
• sometimes a definite sense like the

In memberikannya, it means it, referring back to saputangan kecil.

So:

• memberikan = give
• memberikannya = give it

Because this sentence uses the pattern memberikan sesuatu kepada seseorang.

• kepada = to

So:

• memberikannya kepada saya = gave it to me

You could also make a different structure with memberi:

• Nenek memberi saya saputangan kecil.

That would also mean Grandma gave me a small handkerchief.

So both are possible, but the grammar pattern changes slightly.

Kepada usually means to and marks the recipient of an action.

• memberikan sesuatu kepada seseorang = give something to someone

Untuk usually means for and often shows purpose or benefit.

• Ini untuk saya. = This is for me.

In your sentence, Grandma is handing something to the speaker, so kepada saya is the right choice.

Ketika means when.

It introduces a time clause:

• ketika kening saya berkeringat = when my forehead was sweating

Yes, it can often be replaced by similar words such as:

• saat
• waktu

For example:

• ... kepada saya saat kening saya berkeringat.

That would still be natural.

Kening means forehead.

It is very close in meaning to dahi, and in many contexts they overlap. For a learner, it is usually safe to understand both as forehead.

So:

• kening saya = my forehead

Berkeringat means to sweat or be sweaty.

It is built from:

• ber- = a common verb-forming prefix
• keringat = sweat

So:

• keringat = sweat
• berkeringat = sweating / to sweat

In the sentence:

• kening saya berkeringat = my forehead was sweating

Because they mean two different things in the sentence:

• kepada saya = to me
• kening saya = my forehead

So the first saya is the indirect object, and the second saya is a possessive.

In Indonesian, possession is often shown by putting the possessor after the noun:

• kening saya = my forehead
• literally: forehead I

You could also say keningku in a more informal or personal style, but kening saya is standard and neutral.

Yes. Membawa can often be translated as either bring or carry, depending on context.

Possible natural translations include:

• Grandma always carries a small handkerchief...
• Grandma always brings a small handkerchief with her...

In this sentence, carries is often the most natural English choice, because it describes something she habitually has with her.

It is mostly neutral standard Indonesian.

A few notes:

• saya is neutral/polite for I/me/my
• dia is standard for he/she
• kepada sounds a bit more formal or careful than just dropping it, but it is still perfectly normal
• The full form memberikannya kepada saya is grammatically clear and natural

So overall, the sentence sounds like standard written or careful spoken Indonesian.