Ayah memanaskan wajan dan menaruh sedikit minyak.

Ayah means father or dad.

In a sentence like this, it often naturally means Dad or my dad, depending on context. Indonesian often leaves out possessives like my when they are obvious.

So Ayah memanaskan wajan... can very naturally mean Dad heats the pan... or My father heats the pan...

Also, family words like Ayah, Ibu, Kakak, and Adik are often used almost like names or titles.

Because panas is not the right form for the verb here.

• panas = hot / heat as a noun or adjective
• memanaskan = to heat something up

So:

• wajan panas = the pan is hot
• Ayah memanaskan wajan = Dad heats the pan

The verb memanaskan is built from:

• panas = hot
• meN- ... -kan = a very common verb pattern that often means make something become X or do X to something

So memanaskan literally has the sense of make something hot.

This is an important difference.

• memanaskan = to heat something
  This is transitive, so it takes an object.
• memanas = to get hot, to become heated
  This is intransitive, so the thing itself becomes hot.

Compare:

• Ayah memanaskan wajan. = Dad heats the pan.
• Wajan memanas. = The pan gets hot.

So in your sentence, memanaskan is used because Ayah is doing the heating to wajan.

This comes from the meN- prefix, which changes shape depending on the first sound of the root word.

The root is panas.
When meN- attaches to roots beginning with p, the p usually drops, and the prefix becomes mem-.

So:

• meN- + panas + -kan
• becomes memanaskan

This kind of sound change is very common in Indonesian verb formation.

A few similar patterns:

• pakai → memakai
• pilih → memilih
• potong → memotong

Wajan is a cooking pan, often understood as a frying pan or sometimes a wok-like pan, depending on context.

In everyday translation, pan is usually the safest choice.

So:

• wajan = pan
• sometimes specifically a frying pan
• sometimes something closer to a wok in Indonesian cooking contexts

The exact shape is less important than the idea that it is a pan used for cooking.

Because Indonesian does not use articles the way English does.

English needs words like:

• a pan
• the pan
• some oil

Indonesian usually does not.

So:

• wajan can mean a pan, the pan, or just pan
• minyak can mean oil, some oil, or the oil, depending on context

The listener figures it out from the situation.

That is why wajan and minyak can stand alone without an article.

Menaruh means to put, to place, or to set down.

It comes from the root taruh.

So:

• taruh = put / place
• menaruh = to put / to place

In this sentence, menaruh sedikit minyak means to put a little oil.

In cooking, this is understandable and natural. However, if you want to emphasize the idea of pouring oil into the pan, Indonesian might also use:

• menuangkan sedikit minyak
• or simply menuang sedikit minyak

Those mean to pour a little oil.

So menaruh is fine, but it is a bit more general than pour.

Because sedikit is a quantity word here, and quantity words commonly come before the noun in Indonesian.

So:

• sedikit minyak = a little oil
• banyak air = a lot of water
• beberapa orang = several people

This is very normal word order.

Also, sedikit minyak can sound like:

• a little oil
• some oil
• a small amount of oil

depending on context.

Not necessarily.

Indonesian often leaves out location words if the destination is obvious from context. Since the first action is heating the pan, the listener naturally understands that the oil is being put into the pan.

So the sentence is perfectly natural as it is.

If you want to make it explicit, you could say something like:

• Ayah memanaskan wajan dan menaruh sedikit minyak ke dalam wajan.

But that sounds more repetitive, because wajan was already mentioned.

In natural speech, Indonesian often prefers the shorter version when the meaning is clear.

The basic structure is:

• Ayah = subject
• memanaskan = verb
• wajan = object
• dan = and
• menaruh = verb
• sedikit minyak = object

So the pattern is basically:

Subject + Verb + Object + and + Verb + Object

This is very similar to normal English word order.

Indonesian often uses SVO order:

• Saya makan nasi. = I eat rice.
• Dia membuka pintu. = He/she opens the door.

So this sentence is structurally quite straightforward for an English speaker.

Yes, you could, but the nuance changes slightly.

• dan = and
• lalu = then, after that

So:

• Ayah memanaskan wajan dan menaruh sedikit minyak.
  Dad heats the pan and puts in a little oil.
• Ayah memanaskan wajan lalu menaruh sedikit minyak.
  Dad heats the pan, then puts in a little oil.

Because these actions happen in sequence, lalu is often very natural.
Using dan is also correct and common; it simply links the two actions without emphasizing the sequence as strongly.