Pegawai itu dipecat karena sering terlambat.

Pegawai means employee, worker, or staff member. It is a fairly general word.

A learner may also see karyawan, which also means employee. In many contexts, the two overlap, but there can be a slight difference in feel:

• pegawai can sound a bit broader or more formal
• karyawan is very common for company employees

In this sentence, pegawai is a normal and natural choice for employee.

Itu here functions like that or the in English, depending on context.

So:

• pegawai = an employee / employee
• pegawai itu = that employee / the employee

In Indonesian, itu often comes after the noun, unlike English that employee. This is very common:

• rumah itu = that house / the house
• orang itu = that person / the person
• pegawai itu = that employee / the employee

In many cases, itu helps make the noun more specific.

Dipecat is the passive form of the verb pecat.

• memecat = to fire someone
• dipecat = to be fired

So:

• Perusahaan memecat pegawai itu. = The company fired that employee.
• Pegawai itu dipecat. = The employee was fired.

This sentence focuses on the employee, not on who did the firing, so the passive is natural.

The prefix di- commonly marks the passive voice in Indonesian.

Basic idea:

• root: pecat = dismiss / fire
• passive: dipecat = be dismissed / be fired

This is one of the most common Indonesian patterns:

• menulis = to write

• ditulis = written / be written

• membuka = to open something
• dibuka = opened / be opened

So pegawai itu dipecat literally means that employee was fired.

Yes. In English, depending on the variety of English and the level of formality, dipecat can be translated as:

• fired
• dismissed
• sacked

They all fit the meaning here. Dismissed may sound slightly more formal, while fired is very natural in everyday English.

Karena means because.

It introduces the reason:

• Pegawai itu dipecat = The employee was fired
• karena sering terlambat = because he/she often came late / was often late

So karena links the result and the cause.

Very common pattern:

• Saya pulang karena lelah. = I went home because I was tired.
• Dia tidak datang karena sakit. = He/She didn’t come because he/she was sick.

Sering means often, and it comes before the adjective or verb it modifies.

So:

• sering terlambat = often late / often arrives late

This word order is normal in Indonesian. Compare:

• sering datang = often comes
• sering lupa = often forgets
• sering sakit = often gets sick / is often sick

So sering terlambat is the natural way to say often late.

Terlambat means late.

In this sentence, it means the employee was frequently late, usually understood as late for work.

It can be used in different contexts:

• Saya terlambat. = I’m late.
• Dia terlambat datang. = He/She arrived late.
• Kereta terlambat. = The train is late.

In sering terlambat, the meaning is often late.

Yes. Indonesian often leaves out information that is obvious from context.

In Pegawai itu dipecat karena sering terlambat, the understood subject of sering terlambat is the same person: the employee.

English often repeats the subject or makes it more explicit:

• The employee was fired because he was often late.
• The employee was fired for often being late.

Indonesian does not need to repeat pegawai itu here.

Yes, in natural English that is a good way to understand it.

karena sering terlambat literally means because [he/she was] often late, but idiomatic English could also be:

• because of frequent lateness
• for being late often
• because he/she was often late

So the Indonesian expression is flexible in translation.

Indonesian usually does not need a separate verb like to be in the same way English does.

So:

• Pegawai itu dipecat literally looks like employee that fired-passive
• but the natural English meaning is The employee was fired

This is normal in Indonesian. The passive meaning is already built into dipecat, so no extra word for was is necessary.

It sounds neutral and perfectly natural. It would work in everyday speech, writing, news, or workplace-related contexts.

Some parts slightly lean formal-neutral rather than slangy:

• pegawai is a standard word
• dipecat is standard and direct
• karena sering terlambat is plain and natural

So this is a good standard Indonesian sentence.

Yes. Sebab can also mean because or since, and the sentence would still be correct.

However:

• karena is more common in everyday use
• sebab can sound a bit more formal or written, depending on context

So karena is probably the most natural choice for a learner to use first.

Some changes are possible, but the original order is the most natural.

Standard order:

• Pegawai itu dipecat karena sering terlambat.

You could also say:

• Karena sering terlambat, pegawai itu dipecat.

This puts more emphasis on the reason: Because he/she was often late, the employee was fired.

But changing the order inside phrases is usually not natural:

• sering terlambat is normal
• terlambat sering is not

So the original sentence is the safest and most natural pattern.

An active version would need an agent, the person or organization that fired the employee. For example:

• Perusahaan itu memecat pegawai itu karena sering terlambat. = The company fired the employee because he/she was often late.

Here:

• perusahaan itu = the company
• memecat = fired
• pegawai itu = the employee

The original passive sentence is used when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context.