Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Guru membagi murid-murid ke dalam kelompok kecil. - The teacher divides the students into small groups.

murid (students, understood from context)
para murid (students; more formal, humans only) With numbers and quantifiers, don’t reduplicate: dua murid, banyak murid, beberapa murid (not dua murid-murid).

Is the hyphen in murid-murid required?

In standard writing, yes. Full reduplication is written with a hyphen: murid-murid, kelompok-kelompok. Writing it as murid murid or muridmurid is nonstandard.

Can I use para murid instead of murid-murid?

Yes. para murid is a plural marker used with human nouns, and it sounds a bit more formal. Don’t combine it with reduplication: avoid para murid-murid. All of these can be correct depending on tone and context:

Guru membagi murid-murid …
Guru membagi para murid …
Guru membagi murid … (plural understood from context)

Should it be Guru, Seorang guru, or Guru itu?

Indonesian has no articles (a/the). Which you choose depends on meaning:

Guru can mean the teacher (known from context) or teachers in general.
Seorang guru means a teacher (one teacher, indefinite).
Guru itu means that/the specific teacher (definite).
Gurunya can mean the teacher (possessed/known, e.g., their teacher). Example: Seorang guru membagi murid-murid ke dalam kelompok kecil.

Is membagi the right verb here, or should it be membagikan?

Use membagi when dividing something into parts/groups: membagi X menjadi/ke dalam Y. Use membagikan when distributing something to recipients.

Divide into: Guru membagi murid-murid menjadi kelompok kecil.
Distribute to: Guru membagikan buku kepada murid-murid. Saying membagikan murid-murid sounds wrong because students aren’t items you hand out.

Why ke dalam? Could I use menjadi instead?

Both work here.

ke dalam = into (movement into a set/category): membagi … ke dalam kelompok kecil
menjadi = into/as (resulting state): membagi … menjadi kelompok kecil For dividing people into groups, many prefer menjadi, but ke dalam is also acceptable.

What’s the difference between ke, di, dalam, di dalam, and ke dalam?

ke: to/toward (movement) — ke sekolah
di: at/in (static location) — di sekolah
dalam: in/inside (preposition, often formal) — dalam kotak
di dalam: inside (emphatic/static) — di dalam kotak
ke dalam: into (movement into) — ke dalam kotak With dividing into groups, use ke dalam or menjadi. di dalam would describe where the dividing happens, not the result.

Should it be kelompok kecil or kelompok-kelompok kecil?

Both are fine. Indonesian doesn’t require a plural marker, so kelompok kecil is usually enough. If you want to emphasize that there are multiple groups, use kelompok-kelompok kecil. With numbers/quantifiers, don’t reduplicate: tiga kelompok kecil, beberapa kelompok kecil.

How do I say into three small groups or into several small groups?

Into three small groups: Guru membagi murid-murid menjadi tiga kelompok kecil.
Into several small groups: Guru membagi murid-murid menjadi beberapa kelompok kecil. You can also use ke dalam instead of menjadi in both.

Why is the adjective after the noun in kelompok kecil?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually follow the noun:

kelompok kecil (small group)
rumah besar (big house)
murid pintar (smart student)

What’s a good passive version of this sentence?

Murid-murid dibagi menjadi kelompok-kelompok kecil (oleh guru). The agent oleh guru is optional if it’s clear from context. You can also use para murid.

Is murid the best word for students? What about siswa and mahasiswa?

murid: student (often primary/secondary school)
siswa: student/pupil (common for school contexts; very common in education)
mahasiswa: university/college student
pelajar: student/learner (often secondary-school level or as a general term) In many school contexts, murid and siswa are interchangeable.

How do I show tense or time? The sentence looks tenseless.

Indonesian doesn’t inflect for tense. Use time words or aspect markers:

Past: Kemarin guru membagi murid-murid …
Progressive: Guru sedang membagi murid-murid …
Future: Guru akan membagi murid-murid …

Do I need yang in kelompok kecil?

No. yang is used for relative clauses or contrastive emphasis. Use it when adding more information:

kelompok yang kecil (the group that is small) — marked/contrastive
murid-murid yang aktif (the students who are active) For simple noun + adjective, just say kelompok kecil.

Is ke dalam one word or two?

Two words: ke dalam. Writing kedalam as one word is a common error.