Pedagang kaki lima itu ramah.

Yes, literally kaki means foot/leg and lima means five, so the expression looks strange at first.

But pedagang kaki lima is a fixed expression meaning street vendor, sidewalk seller, or hawker. In real usage, you should learn it as one unit.

• pedagang = trader, seller, vendor
• pedagang kaki lima = street vendor

There are different stories about why kaki lima came to mean this, but for a learner, the important thing is that it is an idiomatic expression, not something you should translate word by word.

Indonesian often leaves out the verb to be in simple present-time sentences.

So:

• Pedagang kaki lima itu ramah. = That/The street vendor is friendly.

There is no need to add a word meaning is here. This is completely normal in Indonesian when you are describing someone or something with a noun, adjective, or phrase.

Here, itu comes after the noun phrase and points to a specific person:

• pedagang kaki lima itu = that street vendor / the street vendor

So the structure is:

• Pedagang kaki lima itu = the subject
• ramah = the description

In Indonesian, demonstratives like ini and itu often come after the noun:

• buku itu = that book / the book
• orang itu = that person

It can feel like either one in English, depending on context.

In many sentences, itu literally means that, but in actual usage it also often helps mark something as specific, so English may translate it as the.

So this sentence could be understood as:

• That street vendor is friendly
• The street vendor is friendly

The best translation depends on the situation.

Because ramah is the predicate adjective, the part that describes the subject.

The sentence pattern is:

• Pedagang kaki lima itu = subject
• ramah = friendly

So Indonesian commonly says:

• Orang itu baik. = That person is kind.
• Anaknya pintar. = The child is smart.
• Pedagang kaki lima itu ramah. = The street vendor is friendly.

This is a very basic and common Indonesian sentence pattern.

By itself, Indonesian nouns usually do not show singular or plural clearly.

So pedagang kaki lima could mean:

• a street vendor
• street vendors

In this sentence, because of itu, it most naturally refers to one specific vendor:

• pedagang kaki lima itu = that/the street vendor

If you wanted a clearly plural meaning, context would usually show it, or you could use other words if needed.

Yes, but the meaning becomes less specific.

• Pedagang kaki lima itu ramah. = That/The street vendor is friendly.
• Pedagang kaki lima ramah. = Street vendors are friendly / A street vendor is friendly, depending on context

Without itu, the sentence sounds more general or less anchored to one specific vendor.

So itu is useful when you want to point to a particular person.

No. Ramah is often used for people, but it can also describe service, staff, places, or behavior in a broader sense.

Common uses include:

• orang yang ramah = a friendly person
• pelayanannya ramah = the service is friendly
• stafnya ramah = the staff are friendly

In this sentence, ramah means the vendor is friendly, warm, or pleasant.

You use tidak before the adjective:

• Pedagang kaki lima itu tidak ramah. = That/The street vendor is not friendly.

A useful pattern is:

• subject + tidak
  • adjective

For example:

• Dia tidak sibuk. = He/She is not busy.
• Tempat itu tidak mahal. = That place is not expensive.

Yes. It is natural, grammatical, and standard.

It sounds like normal everyday Indonesian and would be understood easily in both speech and writing. It is also a good example of a very common pattern:

• noun phrase + adjective

So it is a useful model sentence for beginners.