Aroma pecel itu enak.

The aroma of that pecel is delicious.

Breakdown of Aroma pecel itu enak.

• itu: that
• enak: delicious
• aroma: the aroma (especially of food)
• pecel: pecel (Javanese salad)

Questions & Answers about Aroma pecel itu enak.

Why is itu placed after pecel instead of before it?

In Indonesian, demonstratives like ini and itu usually come after the noun phrase they describe.

So:

• pecel itu = that pecel
• aroma pecel itu = the aroma of that pecel / that pecel’s aroma

This is different from English, where that comes before the noun.

What does itu mean here—that or the?

Literally, itu means that. But in natural translation, it can sometimes feel closer to the, depending on context.

So Aroma pecel itu enak could be understood as:

• The aroma of that pecel is nice
• or more naturally in context, The aroma of the pecel is nice

Indonesian often uses itu to mark something as specific and already identifiable.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?