Locative prepositions indicates position and direction.
di, dari, ke
- di(in, at, on) – indicates that the action occurs in the place indicated by the following noun; there is no movement. It is also used for some references to time. The word ‘pada‘ is usually used instead of ‘di‘ when location in time is referred to. ‘Pada‘ is also used in other contexts of figurative space.
- dari(from) – indicates movement from or the origin of something. It is also used for figurative direction away.
- ke(to) – indicates movement toward a place. It is often coupled with the word “pergi”, which means to go. When the following noun refers to a person, ‘ke‘ is replaced by ‘kepada‘(to).
| Dia tinggal di kota. Dia lahir di tahun 1995. Dia datang pada jam tiga. Saya tertarik pada pelajaran itu. Dia berangkat/pergi ke kota. Dia memberikan surat itu kepada saya. Dia jatuh cinta kepadaku. Dia berangkat dari kota. Baju saya terbuat dari katun. Mereka melindungi anaknya dari tentara. | He lives in the city. He was born in 1995. He came at three o’clock. I am interested in that subject. He goes to the city. He gave that letter to me. He’s falling in love with me. He set off from the city. My dress is made of cotton. They protected their children from the army. |
In spoken Indonesian it is acceptable to use ‘di‘ to indicate the existence of a noun at someone. In formal Indonesian it is not correct to say: “Bukumu ada di saya” to mean “Your book is with me”. Rather, you should use the particle “pada”, i.e. “Bukumu ada pada saya”.
Mana
Meaning: where. The above three locative prepositions can be combined with ‘mana’.
- ke mana – to where
- di mana – at where
- dari mana – from where