Manajer menyoroti kontribusi pegawai.

It follows the very common Indonesian pattern:

Subject + Verb + Object

• Manajer = subject
• menyoroti = verb
• kontribusi pegawai = object

So the sentence is structurally very straightforward for an English speaker.

Because menyoroti is the normal active verb form here.

It comes from the root sorot, with:

• the prefix meN-
• the suffix -i

So:

• sorot → root
• menyoroti → active verb meaning something like to highlight / to draw attention to / to focus on

A useful thing to notice:

• when meN- is added to a root beginning with s, the s usually drops
• so sorot becomes menyorot-
• with -i, it becomes menyoroti

This is a very common Indonesian word-building pattern.

In this sentence, menyoroti means something like:

• to highlight
• to emphasize
• to draw attention to
• to focus on

Literally, it has the idea of shining a spotlight on something.

Depending on context, it can sometimes sound neutral, positive, or even critical. For example, someone can menyoroti masalah to point out a problem. In your sentence, it most naturally means the manager is bringing attention to the employee contribution.

Because Indonesian usually does not use articles the way English does.

So:

• manajer can mean a manager or the manager
• pegawai can mean an employee, the employee, or employees, depending on context

Indonesian often leaves definiteness unstated unless it really needs to be made clear.

If you want to be more specific, you can add other words, for example:

• seorang manajer = a manager
• manajer itu = that manager / the manager
• seorang pegawai = an employee

It can be either, depending on context.

pegawai may mean:

• employee
• employees
• sometimes staff in a collective sense

So kontribusi pegawai could mean:

• the employee’s contribution
• the employees’ contribution
• employee contributions

If you want to make plurality clearer, Indonesian can add markers such as:

• para pegawai = the employees
• pegawai-pegawai = employees

But in many real sentences, Indonesian leaves this open.

Because in Indonesian, the main noun usually comes first, and the modifying noun comes after it.

So:

• kontribusi pegawai = employee contribution / the contribution of employees

This is similar to:

• rumah saya = my house
• buku siswa = student book / the student’s book
• gaji pegawai = employee salary

English often puts the modifying noun first, but Indonesian usually puts it after the main noun.

You know from both word order and verb form.

In this sentence:

• Manajer comes first, so it is the subject
• menyoroti is an active verb
• kontribusi pegawai is the thing being highlighted

So the manager is the one performing the action.

If Indonesian wanted a passive meaning, the verb form would usually change, often using di-. For example:

• Kontribusi pegawai disoroti manajer = The employee contribution was highlighted by the manager

That contrast is very useful to learn:

• meN- forms are typically active
• di- forms are typically passive

By itself, Indonesian does not mark tense on the verb the way English does.

So menyoroti could mean:

• highlights
• is highlighting
• highlighted
• has highlighted

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

• kemarin = yesterday
• sekarang = now
• besok = tomorrow
• sudah = already
• sedang = currently
• akan = will

So without extra context, this sentence is tense-neutral.

Yes. They are standard Indonesian words and very normal in formal or professional contexts.

Both are loanwords:

• manajer = manager
• kontribusi = contribution

A native speaker would not find them strange here. The whole sentence sounds natural, especially in workplace, business, education, or news contexts.

Yes. That would make the plural meaning clearer.

Compare:

• kontribusi pegawai = employee contribution / employees’ contribution
• kontribusi para pegawai = the contribution of the employees

Adding para is useful when you want to clearly show that you mean multiple people.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

ma-NA-jer men-yo-RO-ti kon-tri-BU-si pe-ga-WAI

A few helpful notes:

• j in manajer sounds like English j
• ny in menyoroti sounds like the ny in canyon
• r is usually tapped or lightly rolled
• pegawai ends with -wai, sounding roughly like wahy

Indonesian pronunciation is usually more consistent than English spelling, so once you know the sounds, it becomes much easier to read aloud.