The ajar family forces Indonesian speakers to decide what is structurally central in a teaching event. Mengajar can profile teaching as an activity or take the learner directly; mengajarkan selects the content taught; mengajari selects the learner who receives instruction. Their passive forms preserve those choices. English often translates all three with teach, so the Indonesian suffix carries information that English word order may leave implicit.
The family also contains lexical members such as pengajar “instructor,” ajaran “teachings/doctrine,” and terpelajar “educated.” This page explains their established valency and usage; the general formation of meN-, -kan, -i, and ter- belongs on the corresponding Word Formation and Voice pages.
No person or tense paradigm
Teaching verbs do not conjugate for the teacher's person or for tense. Here mengajar remains identical across subjects and time frames.
| Frame | Indonesian | Where the information appears |
|---|---|---|
| first person | Saya mengajar siswa itu. | saya |
| third person | Dia mengajar siswa itu. | dia; same verb |
| plural | Mereka mengajar siswa itu. | mereka; same verb |
| past period | Dulu saya mengajar di sana. | separate dulu |
| ongoing | Dia sedang mengajar. | separate sedang |
| future | Kami akan mengajar besok. | separate akan |
Dulu Bu Ratna mengajar di sekolah dasar dekat rumah kami.
Ms. Ratna used to teach at the elementary school near our home.
Pak Amir sedang mengajar, jadi beliau belum bisa menerima telepon.
Mr. Amir is teaching, so he cannot take a call yet.
Semester depan saya akan mengajar kelas malam.
Next semester I will teach an evening class.
Ajar is not an infinitive. As a noun or root, it occurs in compounds such as bahan ajar “teaching material”; the same base also appears in imperatives, often with attached -lah, as in Ajarlah anak-anak itu dengan sabar “Teach those children patiently.” Commands with ajari and ajarkan make the intended object explicit: Ajari saya selects the learner, while Ajarkan caranya selects the content.
Mengajar: teaching activity and learners
Mengajar can stand without an object when the activity, profession, location, or schedule matters. It can also directly take a learner or class. A school subject may follow in conventional combinations such as mengajar matematika, but the unsuffixed form gives less explicit role marking than the -kan/-i alternatives.
Kakak saya mengajar di sebuah sekolah kejuruan.
My older sibling teaches at a vocational school.
Bu Sinta mengajar siswa kelas enam setiap pagi.
Ms. Sinta teaches sixth-grade pupils every morning.
Relawan itu mengajar anak-anak membaca dan menulis.
The volunteer teaches the children to read and write.
Arman mengajar matematika di lembaga bimbingan belajar.
Arman teaches mathematics at a tutoring center.
The direct learner in mengajar siswa can become the subject of diajar. Diajar therefore typically profiles the learner who receives the teaching, while leaving the content implicit or secondary.
Siswa baru itu diajar seorang guru pendamping selama dua minggu.
The new pupil was taught by a support teacher for two weeks.
Kami diajar untuk memeriksa sumber sebelum membagikan berita.
We were taught to check sources before sharing news.
Because mengajar has established patterns of its own, do not assume that adding or removing a suffix merely changes formality. The suffix can reorganize the participants.
Mengajarkan: make the content the object
Mengajarkan selects the content, subject, method, value, or proposition taught as its direct object. The learner is normally introduced by kepada when explicitly stated.
Guru itu mengajarkan bahasa Indonesia kepada pekerja asing.
The teacher teaches Indonesian to foreign workers.
Ayah mengajarkan cara mengganti ban kepada kami.
Dad taught us how to change a tire.
Pelatihan ini mengajarkan keterampilan dasar mengelola uang.
This training teaches basic money-management skills.
Pengalaman tersebut mengajarkan bahwa kepercayaan perlu dijaga.
That experience taught us that trust must be maintained.
Content can be a noun phrase (bahasa Indonesia), a cara + verb expression, a value, or a content clause. In passive voice, that content becomes the subject of diajarkan.
Teknik itu diajarkan kepada peserta pada hari kedua.
That technique is taught to the participants on the second day.
Di sekolah tersebut, seni tari diajarkan sejak kelas satu.
At that school, dance is taught from the first grade onward.
Here passive diajarkan is one word, while the locative phrase di sekolah keeps di separate.
Mengajari and diajari: make the learner the object
Mengajari selects the learner or recipient as its direct object. The content may follow as a second complement or be expressed by a verb phrase. Its passive diajari consequently makes the learner the subject.
Maya mengajari adiknya bahasa isyarat dasar.
Maya teaches her younger sibling basic sign language.
Pelatih mengajari kami bernapas dengan teratur.
The coach taught us to breathe steadily.
Tolong ajari saya menggunakan mesin pembayaran ini.
Please teach me to use this payment machine.
Siswa diajari cara menyampaikan pendapat dengan sopan.
The pupils are taught how to express an opinion politely.
Anak-anak itu diajari cara menanam cabai oleh kakeknya.
Those children were taught how to grow chilies by their grandfather.
The core contrast is now visible:
| Frame | Direct object / passive subject | Typical shape |
|---|---|---|
| mengajar/diajar | learner or class; activity may stand alone | mengajar siswa / siswa diajar |
| mengajarkan/diajarkan | content | mengajarkan bahasa kepada siswa / bahasa diajarkan |
| mengajari/diajari | learner | mengajari siswa bahasa / siswa diajari bahasa |
Bu Rini mengajarkan lagu daerah kepada murid-muridnya.
Ms. Rini teaches a regional song to her pupils.
Bu Rini mengajari murid-muridnya lagu daerah.
Ms. Rini teaches her pupils a regional song.
These two clauses can describe the same real-world lesson, but they choose different affected objects. That choice carries through the voice system. The broader argument principles appear in the -kan versus -i guide.
Pengajar, ajaran, and terpelajar
Pengajar is an instructor or teaching professional. It emphasizes the teaching role and can cover tutors, trainers, lecturers, and course instructors; guru is the ordinary word for a teacher and is also a social title.
Setiap pengajar mendapat panduan sebelum kursus dimulai.
Every instructor receives a guide before the course begins.
Lembaga itu mencari pengajar bahasa untuk kelas akhir pekan.
The institute is looking for a language instructor for weekend classes.
Ajaran does not mean an ordinary classroom lesson. It means teachings, doctrine, precepts, or a body of principles, often in religious, philosophical, or ideological contexts.
Buku tersebut membahas ajaran etika dari beberapa tradisi.
The book discusses ethical teachings from several traditions. (formal)
Ia berusaha menjalankan ajaran yang diterimanya sejak kecil.
He/She tries to follow the teachings received since childhood.
Terpelajar is a lexicalized adjective meaning educated or learned (formal). It does not mean “accidentally taught,” even though productive ter- often has accidental or stative readings.
Tokoh terpelajar itu aktif mendirikan perpustakaan desa.
That educated figure actively establishes village libraries. (formal)
Bahasa pidatonya jelas tetapi tidak terdengar sok terpelajar.
The language of his/her speech was clear without sounding pretentiously learned.
Common Mistakes
1. Selecting the wrong direct object with -kan
❌ Guru mengajarkan siswa itu kepada bahasa Jepang.
Incorrect roles — mengajarkan selects the content, not the learner, as object.
✅ Guru mengajarkan bahasa Jepang kepada siswa itu.
The teacher teaches Japanese to that pupil.
2. Selecting content instead of learner with -i
❌ Pelatih mengajari teknik baru kepada para pemain.
Mixed frame — mengajari should take the learners directly.
✅ Pelatih mengajari para pemain teknik baru.
The coach teaches the players a new technique.
3. Mismatching a content subject with diajari
❌ Teknik baru itu diajari kepada semua peserta.
Incorrect role choice — content is the subject of diajarkan.
✅ Teknik baru itu diajarkan kepada semua peserta.
That new technique is taught to all participants.
4. Using ajaran for a school lesson
❌ Ajaran kedua hari ini adalah ilmu pengetahuan alam.
Wrong noun — ajaran means teachings or doctrine, not a scheduled school subject.
✅ Pelajaran kedua hari ini adalah ilmu pengetahuan alam.
The second class today is natural science.
5. Splitting passive di-
❌ Murid baru itu di ajari membaca oleh Bu Wati.
Incorrect spelling — passive di- attaches to ajari.
✅ Murid baru itu diajari membaca oleh Bu Wati.
The new pupil was taught to read by Ms. Wati.
Key Takeaways
- Mengajar profiles teaching as an activity and commonly takes a learner or class.
- Mengajarkan/diajarkan select the content; mengajari/diajari select the learner.
- Ajar is a root found in established compounds, not an English-style infinitive.
- Pengajar is an instructor, ajaran is a body of teachings, and terpelajar means educated.
- Suffix choice determines participant structure and must remain consistent when the clause changes voice.
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- belajar and mempelajari: Verb Family and UsageB1 — Contrast learner-centered belajar with transitive mempelajari and distinguish students, lessons, learning, and teaching within the pedagogical family.
- -kan versus -i: Overview and FormationB2 — Recognize how -kan and -i select different affected participants in transfer, caused-motion, container, and surface-oriented lexical families.
- -kan versus -i: Subjects, Objects, and Argument OrderB2 — Track theme, recipient, moving object, and affected container across actor voice, passive, pronoun-agent object voice, pronouns, and omission.
- -kan Valency Patterns: Subjects, Objects, and Argument OrderB2 — Identify actors, caused themes, affected objects, beneficiaries, and secondary themes in -kan clauses across active, passive, and object voice.
- -i Applicative Patterns: Subjects, Objects, and Argument OrderB2 — Track actor subjects, target objects, remaining themes, passive agents, pronouns, and omitted arguments in -i applicative clauses.
- ter-: Meanings and Derivational NetworkC1 — Connect stative, uncontrolled, abilitative, and superlative ter- readings through low actor control and prominence of a result or endpoint.