Breakdown of Kafe itu terletak di sebelah barat pantai.
itu
that
terletak
to be located
pantai
the beach
kafe
the café
Questions & Answers about Kafe itu terletak di sebelah barat pantai.
What does terletak mean and how does it differ from letak?
Terletak literally comes from letak (“to place”), but it’s used statively to mean “is located” or “lies.” It describes the position of something rather than the action of placing it. For example:
- Saya letak buku di meja. = I place the book on the table.
- Buku itu terletak di atas meja. = The book is located on the table.
Why is itu used after kafe? Is it necessary?
Itu means “that” or acts like “the” to mark definiteness in Malay. Kafe itu = “that/the cafe.” There is no separate article “the” in Malay, so itu often fills that role. You can omit itu if context already makes clear which cafe you mean, but adding it is common when you want to pinpoint “the cafe” you’re talking about.
Why is there only one di in di sebelah barat pantai, and what does it do?
Di is the preposition for location (“at/in/on”). Here it governs the entire phrase sebelah barat pantai (“the side west of the beach”). Grammatically it’s nested as:
[di [sebelah [barat pantai]]]
So you don’t need another di before barat or pantai.
What does sebelah mean, and how is it different from bersebelahan?