Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Hal paling penting adalah membagi tanggung jawab dengan jelas. - The most important thing is to divide responsibilities clearly.

hal literally means “thing/matter.” Hal paling penting = “the most important thing.”
You can omit it and say Yang paling penting adalah ..., which is very common and natural. Using hal just makes the “thing” explicit; the meaning is the same.

Do I need “yang” after “hal” (Hal paling penting vs Hal yang paling penting)?

Both Hal paling penting and Hal yang paling penting are acceptable.
Adding yang makes the phrase a bit more formal/explicit. Without yang is concise and idiomatic.
All of these work: Hal paling penting adalah ..., Hal yang paling penting adalah ..., Yang paling penting adalah ....

Is there a difference between “paling penting” and “terpenting”?

They mean the same: “most important.”
You can say Hal terpenting adalah ... or Yang terpenting adalah .... Register is similar; terpenting can feel a touch more compact/formal.

Do I have to use “adalah”? Can I drop it?

adalah is a copula/linking word. It’s optional in many contexts, especially in speech.
With it: Hal paling penting adalah membagi ... (neutral/formal).
Without it, you usually restructure or use punctuation: Yang paling penting, membagi tanggung jawab dengan jelas. In careful writing, keep adalah for clarity.

Can I use “ialah” instead of “adalah”?

Prefer adalah here. ialah is mostly used to equate a subject with a noun phrase and is rarer in speech.
With a verb phrase like membagi ..., ialah sounds odd. Say Hal paling penting adalah membagi ....
If the predicate is a noun, both can appear, e.g., Masalah utama ialah kurangnya komunikasi / Masalah utama adalah kurangnya komunikasi.

Is “adalah + verb” okay? It feels like English “to be + to verb.”

Yes. Indonesian often uses a verb phrase after adalah as a nominalized action (gerund-like).
Alternative with a noun: Hal paling penting adalah pembagian tanggung jawab yang jelas. Both are natural; the noun version is a bit more formal.

What’s the difference between “membagi”, “membagikan”, and “berbagi” in this context?

membagi X: divide/allocate X (focus on the thing being divided). Example: membagi tanggung jawab di tim.
membagikan X (kepada Y): hand out/distribute X to recipients. Example: membagikan tugas kepada anggota tim.
berbagi X (dengan Y): share X together. Example: berbagi tanggung jawab dengan rekan kerja (emphasizes joint responsibility).
In the sentence, membagi tanggung jawab = allocate responsibilities.

Is “tanggung jawab” one word or two?

Standard spelling is two words: tanggung jawab.
Related forms:
- bertanggung jawab (to be responsible) — two words.
- pertanggungjawaban (accountability) — one word.

Do I need to mark “responsibilities” as plural in Indonesian?

No. Indonesian nouns usually aren’t marked for plural. tanggung jawab can mean “responsibility” or “responsibilities” depending on context.
To emphasize plurality, you can use:
- berbagai tanggung jawab
- reduplication: tanggung jawab-tanggung jawab (rare here)

“with clarity”: Should I use “dengan jelas”, “secara jelas”, or just “jelas”?

All work, with nuance/register differences:
- dengan jelas: common and natural.
- secara jelas: a bit more formal/technical.
- jelas: also functions adverbially, but with action verbs like membagi, dengan jelas/secara jelas sounds more natural.
For strong emphasis you might see jelas-jelas (“clearly/explicitly”), but it’s not needed here.

Where should “dengan jelas” go in the sentence?

Default position: after the object—membagi tanggung jawab dengan jelas.
Other placements like dengan jelas membagi tanggung jawab or membagi dengan jelas tanggung jawab are possible but sound marked/less natural. Stick to the default.

Can I invert the sentence?

Yes: Membagi tanggung jawab dengan jelas adalah hal paling penting. This puts the action up front. Both orders are natural.

Should I add “untuk”: “Hal paling penting adalah untuk membagi ...”?

Usually no. adalah untuk + verb is often an English-influenced calque and can sound stiff.
Prefer adalah membagi ... or use a noun phrase: adalah pembagian ....

Are there more precise or formal synonyms for “membagi tanggung jawab”?

Options, from neutral to formal:
- menetapkan tanggung jawab dengan jelas (set/assign responsibilities clearly)
- mendefinisikan peran dan tanggung jawab dengan jelas
- mendistribusikan tanggung jawab secara jelas (formal)
Your original membagi tanggung jawab dengan jelas is clear and natural.

Any quick pronunciation tips?

ng in tanggung is like the final sound in English “sing”; you say it twice: tan-gung.
In membagi, the prefix is mem- but you still pronounce the b clearly: mem-bagi.
paling has an open a (like the a in “father”).