Kontraktor terpaksa menunda pekerjaan karena hujan.

Terpaksa means forced to, had no choice but to, or was compelled to.

In this sentence, Kontraktor terpaksa menunda pekerjaan means the contractor did not delay the work willingly; the situation made it necessary.

• paksa by itself is the root related to force
• memaksa = to force someone
• terpaksa = to be forced / to have no choice

So:

• Saya memaksa dia pergi = I forced him to go
• Saya terpaksa pergi = I was forced to go / I had no choice but to go

Here, terpaksa expresses an unwanted necessity.

In Indonesian, you usually do not need a separate word equivalent to English to before a verb in this kind of structure.

So:

• terpaksa menunda = forced to delay
• not something like terpaksa untuk menunda in normal usage

You may sometimes see untuk in other contexts, but after terpaksa, the most natural pattern is simply:

• terpaksa + verb

So the sentence structure is very normal:

• Kontraktor = subject
• terpaksa = had no choice but to
• menunda = delay
• pekerjaan = the work
• karena hujan = because of rain

Menunda is the active verb form meaning to delay or to postpone.

The root is tunda. When Indonesian adds the active verb prefix meN-, it becomes menunda.

So:

• tunda = root / also can appear as an imperative, like delay it
• menunda = to delay, the normal active verb form used in a sentence

Examples:

• Mereka menunda rapat = They postponed the meeting
• Tunda dulu = Delay it for now / Put it off for now

In your sentence, menunda is used because it is the main verb of an active clause.

Pekerjaan can mean several related things depending on context:

• job / occupation
• work
• task
• sometimes project work or construction work

In this sentence, because the subject is kontraktor (contractor), pekerjaan most naturally means:

• the work
• the construction work
• the project work

It probably does not mean the contractor’s profession here. It refers to the actual work being done.

Also note the difference:

• kerja = work / to work
• pekerjaan = work, job, task, piece of work

The suffix -an often helps form nouns.

That is just how Indonesian expresses it. Karena means because or because of, depending on what follows.

• karena hujan = because of rain
• karena dia sakit = because he is sick
• karena masalah itu = because of that problem

So karena can be followed by:

• a noun: karena hujan
• a clause: karena dia terlambat

English often needs because of before a noun, but Indonesian simply uses karena.

Indonesian does not use articles like English a, an, and the.

So:

• kontraktor can mean a contractor or the contractor
• pekerjaan can mean work, a job, or the work

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English translation usually uses the contractor and the work because the situation sounds specific, but Indonesian does not need special words for that.

If a speaker wants to be more specific, they can add other words, for example:

• seorang kontraktor = a contractor
• kontraktor itu = that/the contractor
• pekerjaan itu = that/the work

Yes, it is very normal.

The basic order is:

• Kontraktor = subject
• terpaksa = modal-like expression / predicate element
• menunda = verb
• pekerjaan = object
• karena hujan = reason

So the structure is roughly:

Subject + terpaksa + verb + object + reason

This is a very natural Indonesian sentence.

You could also move the reason to the front for emphasis:

• Karena hujan, kontraktor terpaksa menunda pekerjaan.

That means the same thing, but it highlights the reason first.

It most directly means because of rain, but in natural translation it can absolutely correspond to because it was raining, depending on context.

Indonesian often leaves things less explicitly stated than English does.

So these can all be reasonable English translations depending on context:

• The contractor had to delay the work because of rain.
• The contractor was forced to postpone the work because of the rain.
• The contractor had to postpone the work because it was raining.

If Indonesian wanted to be more explicit about the action of raining, it could say:

• karena sedang hujan = because it was raining
• karena hujan turun = because rain was falling / because it rained

But karena hujan is already natural and sufficient.

Sometimes in natural English translation, yes, but not exactly in meaning.

Compare:

• harus = must / have to
• terpaksa = forced to / had no choice but to

So terpaksa includes the idea that the action is reluctant or caused by circumstances.

For example:

• Saya harus pergi = I must go / I have to go
• Saya terpaksa pergi = I have to go, unfortunately / I’m forced to go / I have no choice but to go

In your sentence, translating terpaksa as had to is often fine in English, but the Indonesian specifically suggests inconvenience or unwilling necessity.

No, that would not work for the meaning here.

Memaksa means to force and normally needs an object: someone is forcing someone else.

For example:

• Kontraktor memaksa pekerja bekerja = The contractor forced the workers to work

But your sentence does not mean the contractor forced someone. It means the contractor was forced by circumstances to delay the work.

So you need terpaksa, not memaksa:

• Kontraktor terpaksa menunda pekerjaan karena hujan. = correct

It can mean both.

• delay often suggests making something later than expected
• postpone often suggests officially moving something to a later time

Indonesian menunda can cover both ideas, and context decides the best English choice.

In this sentence:

• delay the work
• postpone the work

Both are possible, though delay the work may sound especially natural in a construction context.

If it were about an event like a meeting:

• menunda rapat = postpone the meeting

If it were about progress on a task:

• menunda pekerjaan = delay/postpone the work

Here, hujan functions most naturally as a noun: rain.

So:

• karena hujan = because of rain

But hujan can also be used in ways that correspond to English to rain or it is raining, depending on the structure.

Examples:

• Hujan turun sejak pagi = Rain has been falling since morning
• Sedang hujan = It is raining
• Kemarin hujan = It rained yesterday / Yesterday it was rainy

So Indonesian is flexible, but in your sentence it is best understood as a noun after karena.