Dia meratakan plester.

Dia can mean either he or she. Indonesian does not usually mark gender in third-person singular pronouns.

So:

• Dia meratakan plester. = He is smoothing the plaster. / She is smoothing the plaster.

You only know which one is meant from context.

The sentence follows a very common Indonesian word order:

• Dia = subject
• meratakan = verb
• plester = object

So it is a straightforward Subject–Verb–Object sentence, much like English.

Meratakan means to make something flat, even, level, or smooth.

Depending on context, it can be translated as:

• to flatten
• to level
• to smooth out
• to spread evenly

In this sentence, a natural meaning is something like to smooth the plaster or to level the plaster.

It comes from the root rata, which means flat, even, or level.

Then Indonesian adds:

• meN- → a verb-forming prefix
• -kan → often gives the meaning make something become... or marks a transitive action

So:

• rata = flat/even
• meratakan = to make something flat/even

This is why meratakan plester means to smooth/level the plaster.

The suffix -kan often makes the verb clearly transitive, meaning it acts on an object.

Here, the object is plester.

So:

• merata can relate to being evenly spread or becoming even
• meratakan means to make something even/flat

That makes meratakan plester a very natural combination: to smooth/level the plaster.

Plester can mean different things depending on context, including:

• plaster as a building material
• adhesive plaster / bandage

In this sentence, because the verb is meratakan (to smooth/level evenly), the most likely meaning is plaster in the construction sense.

So the sentence most naturally suggests someone is smoothing or leveling plaster on a surface.

Indonesian usually does not use articles like a, an, or the.

So plester can mean:

• plaster
• the plaster
• some plaster

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is very normal in Indonesian.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So meratakan itself does not tell you whether the action is:

• present
• past
• future

The time usually comes from context or time words, such as:

• sekarang = now
• kemarin = yesterday
• besok = tomorrow
• sedang = in the middle of doing something

So Dia meratakan plester could mean:

• He/she smooths the plaster
• He/she is smoothing the plaster
• He/she smoothed the plaster

depending on context.

Yes. Ia also means he/she.

For example:

• Ia meratakan plester.

This means the same thing.

The difference is mostly style:

• dia is very common in everyday speech and writing
• ia is a bit more formal or literary, and is used more often in writing than in casual conversation

Yes. Meratakan is an active transitive verb.

The meN- prefix is a strong sign that the verb is in an active form, and it normally takes an object.

Here:

• Dia is the doer of the action
• plester is the thing being acted on

So the sentence is active: He/She smooths the plaster.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

• me-ra-ta-kan

Roughly:

• me as in muh
• ra with a tapped or rolled r
• ta
• kan

The stress in Indonesian is usually not as strong or contrastive as in English, but saying it smoothly as me-ra-ta-kan will sound natural.

Yes. Depending on context, natural translations could include:

• He smooths the plaster.
• She smooths the plaster.
• He is leveling the plaster.
• She is spreading the plaster evenly.

If the context is construction or wall work, smooths the plaster or levels the plaster is probably the best translation.