Sopir taksi itu menepi dekat apotek karena saya belum menyiapkan ongkos pas.

Here itu marks sopir taksi as a specific, identifiable person: that taxi driver or more naturally in English, the taxi driver.

In Indonesian, itu after a noun often works like:

• that
• the one we’re talking about
• a marker of something already known in the context

So sopir taksi itu is not just a taxi driver, but the taxi driver / that taxi driver.

Both are possible, but they feel a little different.

• sopir taksi = the most everyday, natural way to say taxi driver
• pengemudi taksi = more formal, more like vehicle operator/driver

So in normal speech, sopir taksi sounds very natural.

Also, sopir is the standard everyday word for a driver of a car, taxi, truck, etc.

Menepi means to move to the edge/side, and in traffic contexts it usually means to pull over.

It comes from tepi, meaning edge or side.

So:

• Sopir taksi itu menepi = The taxi driver pulled over

It specifically suggests moving the vehicle toward the roadside or edge of the street, not just stopping randomly.

Both are possible.

• dekat apotek = near the pharmacy
• di dekat apotek = at/near the pharmacy

In many sentences, dekat can already function naturally as near, so dekat apotek is fine and common.

Adding di can make the location feel a little more explicitly marked, but the meaning is basically the same here.

So:

• menepi dekat apotek = natural
• menepi di dekat apotek = also natural

Apotek means pharmacy or drugstore.

It refers to the place where medicine is sold.
Farmasi is related, but it is usually more technical and often refers to:

• the field of pharmacy
• pharmaceutical matters
• sometimes a pharmacy department or profession

So in an everyday location sentence like this, apotek is the normal choice.

Belum means not yet.

That is different from tidak, which simply means not.

Compare:

• Saya belum menyiapkan ongkos pas = I haven’t prepared the exact fare yet
• Saya tidak menyiapkan ongkos pas = I didn’t prepare the exact fare / I do not prepare the exact fare

So belum implies that the action may still happen later. It focuses on something that has not happened yet.

This is a very common and important distinction in Indonesian.

The base is siap, meaning ready.

From that, Indonesian forms the verb menyiapkan, which means:

• to prepare
• to get something ready

So:

• siap = ready
• menyiapkan = to prepare something

The -kan ending often makes the verb transitive, meaning it takes an object:

• menyiapkan ongkos pas = to prepare the exact fare

There is also mempersiapkan, which also means to prepare, but menyiapkan is often simpler and very common in everyday language.

Ongkos means fare, transport cost, or money for the ride.

Pas means exact, just right, or with no difference.

So ongkos pas means:

• the exact fare
• the exact amount of money needed for the ride
• in practical terms, the right amount so no change is needed

This is very natural in transportation contexts.

Because pas is describing ongkos.

In Indonesian, descriptive words often come after the noun:

• ongkos pas = exact fare
• rumah besar = big house
• air panas = hot water

So the order is normal Indonesian word order:

• noun first
• description after

Some of those are possible in related contexts, but they are not all equally natural here.

• ongkos = very natural for transport fare
• tarif = more formal, like an official rate or tariff
• biaya = cost/expense in a broader sense
• bayar is usually a verb meaning to pay, not the fare itself

So in this sentence, ongkos pas sounds the most natural.

You might also hear:

• uang pas = exact money / exact change
• ongkosnya pas = the fare is exact / the amount is exact

Karena means because.

It introduces the reason:

• Sopir taksi itu menepi dekat apotek = the main event
• karena saya belum menyiapkan ongkos pas = the reason for it

So the structure is:

• main clause + karena + reason clause

Very straightforwardly:

• because I hadn’t prepared the exact fare yet

Not directly. Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So menepi and menyiapkan do not themselves mean past, present, or future.

Time is understood from:

• context
• time words
• aspect words like belum

In this sentence, English will usually translate it in the past because the event sounds like a completed situation:

• The taxi driver pulled over... because I hadn’t prepared the exact fare yet

But Indonesian itself does not mark past tense on the verb.

Yes, it is very normal.

The structure is:

• Sopir taksi itu = subject
• menepi = verb
• dekat apotek = location
• karena saya belum menyiapkan ongkos pas = reason clause

So it follows a very common pattern:

Subject + Verb + Place + Reason

That is one reason the sentence sounds natural and clear.

Not with exactly the same meaning.

• belum menyiapkan ongkos pas = haven’t prepared the exact fare yet
• belum siap = not ready yet

If you say ongkos pas belum siap, that would sound like the exact fare isn’t ready yet, which is less natural in this context.

So if you want to express that I had not gotten the money ready, belum menyiapkan ongkos pas is much better.

It is mostly neutral everyday Indonesian.

Parts of it are very common in daily speech:

• sopir taksi
• menepi
• apotek
• karena
• belum
• ongkos pas

In casual conversation, some speakers might choose slightly different wording, such as:

• driver taksi itu
• minggir instead of menepi
• uang pas instead of ongkos pas

But the original sentence is natural and standard.