Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Murid berbakat itu membantu teman-teman memahami soal sulit. - That talented student helps friends understand difficult problems.

In Indonesian, the demonstratives ini (this) and itu (that/the) usually follow the noun phrase they modify. Murid berbakat itu means “that/the talented student.” Placing itu after the noun phrase makes it definite.

Before the clause, itu can also stand alone as a pronoun: Itu murid berbakat = “That is a talented student.”

Is “murid” singular or plural here?

Indonesian nouns are number-neutral. Murid can be singular or plural depending on context. Because the phrase is murid berbakat itu, readers usually understand it as singular (“that talented student”). To make plural explicit, use murid-murid berbakat itu (“those talented students”) or para murid berbakat itu (formal).

Why isn’t there a “yang” before “berbakat”?

You don’t need yang before a simple adjective. Murid berbakat is the normal noun + adjective order (adjectives follow nouns). Yang is used to introduce relative clauses or to add a specifying nuance:

Murid berbakat = a talented student (descriptive)
Murid yang berbakat = the student who is talented (more specifying/contrastive among a set)

What’s the difference between “murid,” “siswa,” “pelajar,” and “mahasiswa”?

Murid: learner/student in general; often used for school-age learners.
Siswa: student at primary/secondary school (very common in schools).
Pelajar: student (often secondary/high school or in formal contexts).
Mahasiswa: university student. All would be understood, but choose based on level and formality.

Why is “teman-teman” reduplicated? Is the hyphen necessary?

Reduplication (teman-teman) commonly marks plurality for people/things. The hyphen is the standard way to write reduplication. Without reduplication, teman can still be plural from context, but teman-teman makes it explicit.

Does “teman-teman” mean “his/her friends”? How do I show possession clearly?

By itself, teman-teman just means “friends” (often understood as the subject’s friends from context). To mark possession:

teman-temannya = his/her/their friends (definite)
teman-teman mereka = their friends
teman-temanku = my friends
teman-teman si murid itu = that student’s friends (explicit)

Is “untuk” required before “memahami”? Should it be “membantu teman-teman untuk memahami …”?

With membantu, you can use a bare verb phrase as the complement. Both are correct:

membantu teman-teman memahami … (very natural, concise)
membantu teman-teman untuk memahami … (also correct; a bit more formal/explicit)

What’s the difference between “membantu” and “menolong”?

Both mean “to help,” but:

membantu = to assist with a task or goal (neutral, very common in non-emergency contexts).
menolong = to help/rescue someone in need (often more personal/urgent). In this sentence, membantu fits perfectly because it’s about assisting understanding.

How do “memahami,” “mengerti,” and “paham” differ?

memahami (from root paham
- suffix -i): to understand deeply/completely; more formal/academic.
mengerti: to understand; common in everyday speech.
paham: can be a stative verb/adjective (“to be understanding/understood”). Example: Saya paham = “I understand.” All are fine; memahami matches academic contexts like exam problems.

What’s going on morphologically with “membantu” and “memahami”?

They use the meN- prefix, which undergoes sound changes:

meN- + bantu → membantu (with b, meN- becomes mem-; the b stays).
meN- + paham + -i → memahami (with p, meN- becomes mem- and the initial p of the root drops: paham → (p)aham → memahami). The suffix -i indicates the action affects an object (understand something).

There’s no tense marking. How do I say this happened in the past, is happening now, or will happen?

Indonesian doesn’t inflect verbs for tense. Use particles/adverbs:

Ongoing: sedang — Murid … sedang membantu …
Completed: sudah/telah — Murid … sudah/telah membantu …
Future: akan — Murid … akan membantu … Time words also help: tadi (earlier), kemarin (yesterday), nanti (later), besok (tomorrow).

Why is it “soal sulit” and not “sulit soal”? Do I need “yang”?

Adjectives normally follow the noun: soal sulit (“difficult problem/question”). Soal yang sulit is also correct and slightly more emphatic or specifying. Sulit soal is ungrammatical.

What exactly does “soal” mean here? Could I use “pertanyaan” or “masalah”?

soal: an exercise/test item/problem (common in school/exam contexts).
pertanyaan: a question someone asks.
masalah: a problem/issue (broader, not limited to tests). In exam or homework context, soal sulit is the most natural.

Is “soal sulit” singular or plural? How do I make it explicit?

It’s number-neutral. To make it explicit:

Singular: sebuah soal sulit or soal sulit itu (that specific difficult problem)
Plural: soal-soal sulit, or add quantifiers like banyak soal sulit, beberapa soal sulit

Could I make this sentence passive?

Yes. A common passive is with di-:

Teman-teman dibantu (oleh) murid berbakat itu untuk memahami soal sulit. You can also omit oleh if the agent is clear. The complement can be bare (dibantu memahami …) or use untuk (dibantu untuk memahami …).

Do I ever need “yang” between “teman-teman” and “memahami”?

Not here. Membantu teman-teman memahami … means “help the friends (to) understand …” Adding yang would change the meaning to “friends who understand,” which is not intended:

membantu teman-teman yang memahami … = helps the friends who understand … (different meaning)

What part of speech is “berbakat,” and how does “ber-” work?

Berbakat is formed with the prefix ber- + bakat (“talent”), meaning “to have talent; talented.” Ber- often forms intransitive verbs or adjectives indicating possession/characteristics: berbulu (hairy), berwarna (colored), berpengalaman (experienced).

How should I pronounce the tricky bits?

teman: the “e” is a schwa, like the ‘a’ in “sofa” → tə-man.
soal: two syllables with a clear vowel break → so-al.
memahami: me-ma-ha-mi (the “h” is pronounced).
murid and bakat are straightforward: mu-rid, ba-kat.