Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dua murid absen hari ini karena hujan deras. - Two students are absent today because of heavy rain.

It functions as the sentence predicate meaning “to be absent” (a stative verb/adjective). Indonesian often uses adjectives or stative verbs as predicates without any “to be.” So Dua murid absen = “Two students are absent.” Note: absensi is the noun “attendance (record),” and mengabsen means “to take attendance.”

Do I need adalah before absen?

No. Adalah is used mainly to equate two nouns (e.g., Dia adalah guru). With predicate adjectives/stative verbs like absen, you do not use adalah. Dua murid absen is correct and natural.

Should it be dua orang murid instead of dua murid?

Both are correct. Orang is a classifier for people and is optional with roles/occupations:

Dua murid (very common, concise)
Dua orang murid (emphasizes counting individuals; also very common) You can also say dua (orang) siswa. The meaning doesn’t change.

Why isn’t it pluralized as murid-murid?

Because the numeral dua already indicates plurality. In Indonesian, you don’t reduplicate a noun when a number is present. Use:

Correct: dua murid
Incorrect/unnatural: dua murid-murid Use murid-murid when you mean “students” in general without a specific number.

Can I change the word order, like Hari ini dua murid absen or Karena hujan deras, dua murid absen hari ini?

Yes. Word order is flexible for emphasis:

Dua murid absen hari ini karena hujan deras. (neutral)
Hari ini dua murid absen karena hujan deras. (fronts the time)
Karena hujan deras, dua murid absen hari ini. (fronts the cause; add a comma after the initial clause)

What’s the difference between karena, sebab, gara-gara, and dikarenakan?

karena = “because,” most common and neutral: … karena hujan deras.
sebab = also “because,” a bit more formal/literary: … sebab hujan deras.
gara-gara = colloquial, often with a slightly negative/complaining tone: … gara-gara hujan deras.
dikarenakan = bureaucratic/formal/passive-like; common in official notices: … dikarenakan hujan deras. In normal speech/writing, prefer karena. Texting variant karna is informal spelling of karena.

Is hujan deras the only way to say “heavy rain”? What about hujan lebat?

Both hujan deras and hujan lebat mean “heavy rain” and are very common. Deras suggests strong intensity/flow (also used with arus deras “strong current”), while lebat emphasizes density/heaviness (also used with daun lebat “thick foliage”). Either works here.

Do I need pada before hari ini (e.g., pada hari ini)?

No. Hari ini is natural and the default in speech and most writing. Pada hari ini sounds more formal/ceremonial (e.g., speeches, official statements).

How do I say “Two of the students are absent today,” not just “Two students…”?

Use a phrase that anchors the two to a known group:

Dua murid di kelas itu absen hari ini. (Two students in that class are absent today.)
Dua orang murid dari kelas itu absen hari ini.
Dua muridnya absen hari ini. (implies “the/that class’s two students” are absent—definite from context) Note: Dua murid itu = “those two students” (specific pair), not “two of the students.”

Is absen the most natural choice, or should I say tidak masuk?

All are acceptable with different tones:

Neutral/common: Dua murid tidak masuk hari ini…
Also fine: Dua murid absen hari ini…
More formal: Dua orang siswa tidak hadir hari ini…
Colloquial: Dua murid nggak masuk hari ini… Avoid bolos here; bolos means “to skip/truant” (intentional). Schools also label status as izin (excused), sakit (sick), alpa (absent without excuse).

Why is it hujan deras and not deras hujan?

In Indonesian, adjectives typically follow the noun they modify: N + Adj. So hujan deras is correct. If you want deras as a predicate, you can say Hujan hari ini deras (“The rain is heavy today”).

How do I express past or future time with this sentence?

Indonesian relies on time words rather than verb tense:

Past (earlier today): Tadi pagi dua murid tidak masuk karena hujan deras.
Yesterday: Kemarin dua murid tidak masuk karena hujan deras.
Future: Besok dua murid tidak masuk karena hujan deras. (You usually don’t need akan here.) To say “So far, two students have been absent today”: Sudah dua murid yang absen hari ini.

Any quick pronunciation tips?

dua: DOO-ah
murid: MOO-reed (tap the Indonesian r)
absen: AB-sen (pronounce the b)
hari ini: HAH-ree EE-nee
karena: kuh-REH-nah (first e is a schwa, like “uh”)
hujan: HOO-jahn
deras: duh-RAHS Stress is light and usually near the end; the r is a tapped/flapped r.

Do I put a comma before karena?

Not when the karena-clause comes after the main clause:

Dua murid absen hari ini karena hujan deras. (no comma) Use a comma when the karena-clause comes first:
Karena hujan deras, dua murid absen hari ini.

Is there any difference among murid, siswa, pelajar, and mahasiswa?

murid and siswa: school students (elementary–high school); both widely used.
pelajar: “student/learner” for school-aged students; common in formal/news contexts.
mahasiswa: university student. Your sentence could use murid or siswa with no real change.

What does adding yang do, as in Dua murid yang absen hari ini…?

Yang introduces a relative clause, turning it into a noun phrase that needs a main clause:

Dua murid yang absen hari ini harus menyerahkan surat. (“The two students who are absent today must submit a letter.”) Without yang, Dua murid absen hari ini is a complete statement.

What do mengabsen and diabsen mean?

mengabsen: to take attendance/roll-call (what a teacher does), e.g., Guru mengabsen murid-murid.
diabsen: to be roll-called, e.g., Namanya diabsen setiap pagi. Neither means “to be absent” (that’s absen or tidak masuk intransitively).