Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Panitia juga mengumumkan kelas lanjutan yang tidak berbayar untuk murid terbaik. - The committee also announces an advanced class that is free for the best students.

Panitia means “the committee/organizers” (a group in charge of an event or program). Indonesian doesn’t mark articles or number the way English does, so Panitia can map to “the committee” (singular collective) or “the organizers” (plural) depending on context. Verbs don’t change for number, and you usually don’t need a pronoun, but if you refer back to Panitia, you’d typically use the plural pronoun mereka (they), since it’s a group.

Where should juga go in the sentence, and does its position change the meaning?

Juga means “also/too” and is commonly placed after the subject:

Panitia juga mengumumkan… = The committee also announced…

Other positions are possible, with nuances:

Panitia mengumumkan juga kelas lanjutan… puts slight focus on “advanced class” as an additional item announced.
Panitia mengumumkan kelas lanjutan… juga (at the end) is conversational and can feel tacked-on emphasis.

The most neutral and common is right after the subject: Panitia juga…

How does mengumumkan work? What can follow it?

Mengumumkan is a transitive verb “to announce,” built from root umum + meN- + -kan. Common patterns:

mengumumkan + noun phrase: Panitia mengumumkan kelas lanjutan…
mengumumkan bahwa + clause: Panitia mengumumkan bahwa…
Recipient with kepada (“to”): Panitia mengumumkan [X] kepada para murid.
Beneficiary/eligibility with untuk (“for”): …mengumumkan [X] untuk murid terbaik. Avoid “mengumumkan tentang…” in most cases; use a direct object or a bahwa-clause instead.

What’s the difference among mengumumkan, umumkan, and pengumuman?

mengumumkan: the standard verb “to announce” (finite form).
umumkan: the imperative/short form, e.g., Umumkan hasilnya! (“Announce the results!”).
pengumuman: the noun “announcement,” e.g., Ada pengumuman penting.

Does kelas mean “class,” “course,” or “grade” here?

It depends on context:

kelas can mean a class/course offering, a class session, or a grade level (e.g., kelas 10 = 10th grade).
Here, kelas lanjutan most naturally reads as a course/class offering at an advanced/continuation level.
For non-school courses, kursus is also common (e.g., kursus bahasa).

What exactly does lanjutan mean, and how is it different from lanjut or kelanjutan?

lanjut: “continue/ongoing/advanced” (adjective/verb root).
lanjutan: “continuation/advanced-level” (used as a noun or adjective modifying another noun). kelas lanjutan = advanced/continuation class.
kelanjutan: “the continuation” (a noun referring to what follows next), e.g., kelanjutan rapat (“the continuation of the meeting”). You can also say tingkat lanjut (“advanced level”): kelas tingkat lanjut.

Why is yang used in yang tidak berbayar? Is it necessary?

yang introduces a relative clause that modifies a noun. Here it links kelas lanjutan with the descriptive clause tidak berbayar:

kelas lanjutan yang tidak berbayar = “the advanced class that is not fee-based.”

When your modifier contains a predicate (like tidak berbayar), you normally need yang. If you use a simple adjective like gratis, you can drop yang:

kelas lanjutan gratis (fine)
but kelas lanjutan tidak berbayar (without yang) sounds off in standard usage.

Why is it tidak berbayar and not bukan berbayar?

Use tidak to negate verbs and adjectives; use bukan to negate nouns/pronouns. berbayar (“paid/fee-based”) functions like an adjective, so:

Correct: tidak berbayar
Incorrect: bukan berbayar

What does berbayar mean, and how is it formed?

Root: bayar (“pay”).
ber-
- bayar → berbayar = “paid/fee-based.” Related forms:
membayar (to pay, transitive)
dibayar (be paid, passive)
pembayaran (payment) Opposites/synonyms for “free”:
gratis (very common)
tanpa biaya, tidak dipungut biaya, bebas biaya, cuma-cuma (more formal/literary).

Could I just say kelas lanjutan gratis instead of yang tidak berbayar?

Yes. Kelas lanjutan gratis is natural and concise in everyday Indonesian. yang tidak berbayar is perfectly correct and feels a bit more formal/official. Other options: kelas lanjutan tanpa biaya, kelas lanjutan bebas biaya, kelas lanjutan cuma-cuma (the last one is somewhat old-fashioned).

Why is untuk used before murid terbaik? Could I use bagi or kepada?

untuk marks purpose/eligibility/target: untuk murid terbaik = “for the best students.”
bagi is close to untuk, slightly more formal/literary: bagi murid terbaik is fine.
kepada means “to (someone)” as a recipient of an action, e.g., mengumumkan [X] kepada para murid (“announce [X] to the students”). In this sentence we’re not marking the audience of the announcement, but who the class is intended for, so untuk fits.

Should I use murid, siswa, or mahasiswa?

murid: student/pupil (often primary/secondary, teacher-centered nuance).
siswa: student/pupil (very common for school-age students).
mahasiswa: university student. Pick based on level. If it’s for school-age students, murid or siswa both work; for university, use mahasiswa.

Is murid terbaik singular (“the best student”) or plural (“the best students”)?

Indonesian doesn’t mark plural by default, so murid terbaik is ambiguous and depends on context. To make it clearly plural:

para murid terbaik
murid-murid terbaik To make it clearly singular, add a numeral or context:
murid terbaik itu (“that best student”)
satu murid terbaik (less common; often context is enough).

How do I mark past or future time with mengumumkan, since there’s no tense?

Add time markers or aspect words:

Past/completed: sudah, tadi, kemarin (e.g., Panitia sudah mengumumkan…)
Future/planned: akan, nanti, besok (e.g., Panitia akan mengumumkan…) Without markers, it’s understood from context.

How would I say this in the passive voice?

Use the passive form of the verb:

Kelas lanjutan yang tidak berbayar juga diumumkan (oleh) panitia. This highlights the class rather than the committee. oleh is optional when the agent is obvious.

Could I say mengumumkan bahwa akan ada kelas lanjutan…? Is that better?

Yes, very natural when announcing the existence of something:

Panitia juga mengumumkan bahwa akan ada kelas lanjutan yang tidak berbayar untuk murid terbaik. This is often preferred if the class is newly created and you’re stating that it will exist (as opposed to referring to a specific, already-known class).

What’s the difference between juga and pun?

Both can mean “also,” but:

juga is the default, common in speech and writing.
pun is more formal/literary and attaches to the preceding word: Panitia pun mengumumkan… It can add a nuance like “even/indeed/as well (given the circumstances).” Juga is safer for neutral tone.

Does using yang here make the noun phrase definite, like “the free advanced class”?

Not strictly. yang restricts the noun by adding a clause, but definiteness in Indonesian is largely contextual. kelas lanjutan yang tidak berbayar could be “the free advanced class” (definite) or “a free advanced class” (indefinite). If you want to force indefiniteness, you can add a classifier or numeral (e.g., sebuah kelas lanjutan gratis), and for clear definiteness you can use itu (e.g., kelas lanjutan yang tidak berbayar itu).