Di tasik itu ada beberapa burung kuning.

There are several yellow birds at that lake.

Breakdown of Di tasik itu ada beberapa burung kuning.

• itu: that
• di: at
• beberapa: several
• tasik: the lake
• burung: the bird
• kuning: yellow
• ada: to be

Questions & Answers about Di tasik itu ada beberapa burung kuning.

Why does the sentence start with Di tasik itu? Can I put the location at the end instead?

Starting with Di tasik itu (“At that lake”) is a way to emphasize the place. It’s a common structure in Malay:

• Di tasik itu ada beberapa burung kuning.
  At that lake, there are some yellow birds. (emphasis: the lake)

You can also move the location to the end:

• Ada beberapa burung kuning di tasik itu.
  This is also very natural and sounds closer to English word order: There are some yellow birds at that lake.

Both are correct; it’s mainly a difference of emphasis, not grammar.

What does ada do in this sentence? Is it always necessary?

Here ada works like English “there is / there are”. It introduces the existence of something:

• Ada beberapa burung kuning…
  There are some yellow birds…

In existential sentences (“there is/are …”), ada is normally required. Without ada, the sentence would feel incomplete or ungrammatical:

• ❌ Di tasik itu beberapa burung kuning. (wrong as a full sentence)

So in this kind of structure describing existence, keep ada.

Why isn’t burung marked as plural? How do I know it means “birds” and not “bird”?

Malay usually does not change the noun form for plural. Burung by itself can mean “bird” or “birds”, depending on context.

Here you have beberapa burung:

• beberapa = some / several
• burung = bird(s)

Because beberapa is a plural-like quantifier, we automatically understand burung as “birds”.

You do not say ❌beberapa burung-burung. Reduplication (burung-burung) already marks plurality; combining it with beberapa is redundant and ungrammatical here.

What exactly does beberapa mean? Is it “some”, “a few”, or “several”?

Beberapa is a general quantifier for more than one but not a lot. In English it often corresponds to:

• some
• a few
• several

It does not usually mean “many”; it suggests a smallish number. Examples:

• beberapa burung – some / several birds
• beberapa orang – a few people

It only works with countable things, not with uncountable nouns like “water”, “sand”, etc.

What does itu mean in tasik itu? Is it “that” or “the”?

Itu is a demonstrative that basically means “that”, but in many contexts it also functions like “the” (definite, already known).

• tasik itu
  – literally: that lake
  – often: the lake (we both know about)

Choice of itu vs ini:

• tasik ini – this lake (near the speaker)
• tasik itu – that lake (farther away, or just “the” known lake)

So Di tasik itu… is like “At that lake / At the lake…”, depending on context.

Why is it burung kuning and not kuning burung?

In Malay, adjectives normally come after the noun:

• burung kuning – yellow bird(s)
• tasik besar – big lake
• rumah baru – new house

So:

• ✅ burung kuning = yellow birds
• ❌ kuning burung – this is ungrammatical as a normal noun phrase.

If you want to say “The birds are yellow” as a full sentence, you’d use a different structure, for example:

• Burung-burung itu kuning. – The birds are yellow.

Can I say Tasik itu ada beberapa burung kuning instead? Is that correct?

Yes, Tasik itu ada beberapa burung kuning is grammatically correct and understandable.

Nuance of three versions:

• Di tasik itu ada beberapa burung kuning.
  Emphasis on the place: At that lake, there are some yellow birds.

• Ada beberapa burung kuning di tasik itu.
  Emphasis on the existence of the birds, place comes after (close to English order).

• Tasik itu ada beberapa burung kuning.
  Focuses on the lake as the topic: That lake has some yellow birds.

All three are acceptable; choice depends on what you want to highlight.

Shouldn’t there be a classifier like ekor for animals? Is beberapa ekor burung kuning better?

Malay often uses classifiers (like ekor for animals), but they are not always required.

• beberapa burung kuning – perfectly natural in everyday speech
• beberapa ekor burung kuning – more explicit/precise, often a bit more careful or formal

So you may use:

• Di tasik itu ada beberapa burung kuning.
• Di tasik itu ada beberapa ekor burung kuning.

Both are correct. Adding ekor never makes it wrong; it just sounds more like “several individual birds” in a counted sense.

Could I say burung yang kuning or burung berwarna kuning instead of burung kuning?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly:

• burung kuning – simple adjective, “yellow birds”; most common and natural.
• burung yang kuning – literally “birds that are yellow”; sometimes used for contrast (e.g. not the blue ones).
• burung berwarna kuning – “birds that are yellow in colour”; more formal or descriptive, used in writing or scientific contexts.

In everyday speech, burung kuning is normally the best choice.

What exactly does di mean here? Can it mean both “in” and “at”?

Yes. Di is a general preposition for location and can often correspond to:

• at
• in
• on (depending on context)

Here:

• Di tasik itu can be understood as either:
  • At that lake (somewhere in/around the lake area), or
  • In that lake (if you mean physically in the water)

Malay does not always make a sharp distinction between “in” and “at” for places; context decides the best English translation.

Is tasik used in both Malay and Indonesian? I’ve seen danau too.

• In Malay (Malaysia / Brunei / Singapore), tasik is the normal, everyday word for “lake”.
• In Indonesian, the common word is danau, while tasik is much less common and can sound old-fashioned or regional.

So:

• Malay: tasik
• Indonesian: danau

The rest of the sentence (di, ada, beberapa, burung kuning) works in both Malay and Indonesian with almost the same meaning.