Di hutan itu, kami nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.

In that forest, we see a big rock by the river.

Breakdown of Di hutan itu, kami nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.

• itu: that
• di: in
• besar: big
• sungai: the river
• kami: we
• di tepi: by
• nampak: to see
• hutan: the forest
• batu: the rock

Questions & Answers about Di hutan itu, kami nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.

Why does the sentence start with Di hutan itu instead of starting with Kami?

Malay is quite flexible with word order, especially for adverbial phrases (time/place).

Both of these are grammatically correct:

• Di hutan itu, kami nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.
• Kami nampak batu besar di hutan itu, di tepi sungai.

The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Starting with Di hutan itu puts focus on the location (in that forest). It’s like saying: “As for that forest, there, we saw a big rock...”
• Starting with Kami focuses more on the subject (we).

Fronting the place phrase (Di hutan itu) is very natural in Malay when you want to set the scene first, especially in storytelling or descriptions.

What is the difference between kami and kita?

Both can be translated as we, but they are not interchangeable:

• kami = we (but not you) – excludes the listener
• kita = we (including you) – includes the listener

In this sentence:

• Di hutan itu, kami nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.

The speaker is saying that they (the group) saw the rock, but the listener was not part of that group.

If the listener had also been there, it would more naturally be:

• Di hutan itu, kita nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.

What exactly does nampak mean? How is it different from lihat, melihat, or tengok?

Nampak basically means to see / to notice / to spot. It’s common and fairly neutral in everyday speech.

Rough comparison:

• nampak – to see, to notice (often unintentional or general seeing)
  
  • Kami nampak batu besar. → We saw / noticed a big rock.
• lihat / melihat – to look at, to see (more deliberate, a bit more formal, especially melihat)
  
  • Kami melihat batu besar. → We looked at / saw a big rock.
• tengok – to look, to watch (very colloquial)
  
  • Kami tengok batu besar. → We looked at a big rock.

In your sentence, nampak suggests they happened to see / noticed the big rock, not necessarily that they intentionally studied it.

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” before batu besar?

Malay does not use articles like a / an / the. A bare noun phrase like batu besar can mean:

• a big rock
• the big rock
• big rocks (if context suggests plural)

Context usually tells you whether it should be understood as a or the or plural in English.

If you really want to stress that it’s one rock, you could say:

• sebiji batu besar → one big rock (with a classifier)

But in everyday speech, batu besar is enough, and the exact English article is inferred from context.

Why is it batu besar and not besar batu? Where do adjectives go in Malay?

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

Structure:
Noun + Adjective

Some examples:

• batu besar → big rock
• rumah baru → new house
• kereta merah → red car

So:

• batu besar = rock big (literally), but means big rock

Putting the adjective first (besar batu) would be wrong in standard Malay for this meaning.

Why is di used twice: Di hutan itu and di tepi sungai? What exactly does di mean?

di is a preposition meaning at / in / on (location, not movement).

In your sentence:

• Di hutan itu → In that forest
• di tepi sungai → at/by the river bank / at the side of the river

Some quick contrasts:

• di = at, in, on (static location)
  
  • di rumah → at home
• ke = to, towards (movement)
  
  • ke rumah → to the house
• dari = from
  
  • dari rumah → from the house

So it’s natural to have di for both places in the sentence since both are locations, not directions.

What does tepi in di tepi sungai mean exactly? Is it the same as “bank” of a river?

tepi literally means edge / side / margin.

So:

• di tepi sungai = at the side/edge of the river → by the river / at the river bank

Other related words:

• tebing sungai – specifically the river bank (often the raised earth at the side)
• pinggir sungai – the edge/outskirts of the river area

In everyday speech, di tepi sungai is a very common way to say by the river / at the river’s side.

How do we know this sentence is in the past? There’s no past tense marker.

Malay verbs do not change form for tense (no -ed, no -s). nampak is the same for past, present, or future.
The time is usually understood from:

• context
• time words like semalam (yesterday), tadi (earlier), nanti (later), etc.

So:

• Di hutan itu, kami nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.
  Could mean:
  • We saw a big rock… (past)
  • We see a big rock… (present, in the right context)
  • We will see a big rock… (future, with time words)

In most storytelling contexts, this kind of sentence is naturally understood as past in English.

What is the function of itu in Di hutan itu? How is it different from ini?

itu and ini are demonstratives:

• itu = that (farther away in space, time, or just already known)
• ini = this (nearer or just mentioned recently)

In your sentence:

• Di hutan itu → In that forest (a specific forest, already known in the conversation or mentally “further away”)

If you said:

• Di hutan ini, kami nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.
  → In this forest, we saw a big rock by the river. (the forest close to us or currently being visited / pointed at / discussed)

If you drop itu:

• Di hutan, kami nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.
  → More general: In the forest, we saw a big rock... (not clearly which forest).

Does batu besar mean one big rock or big rocks (plural)?

On its own, batu besar is number-neutral. It can mean:

• a big rock
• big rocks

We understand singular vs plural from context. If the speaker clearly means one rock, English will use a/the. If several, English uses rocks.

If you really want to mark it clearly:

• sebiji batu besar → one big rock
• beberapa batu besar → several big rocks
• banyak batu besar → many big rocks

But in everyday speech, batu besar alone is very common, and the number is inferred.

Is the comma after Di hutan itu necessary in Malay?

In writing, it is common and stylistically nice to put a comma after a fronted phrase like Di hutan itu, but it’s not absolutely mandatory.

• Di hutan itu, kami nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.
• Di hutan itu kami nampak batu besar di tepi sungai.

Both are acceptable. The comma mainly reflects a slight pause in speech and makes the sentence easier to read. Many writers (especially in formal contexts) will include it.