Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Juri memuji tim pemula karena sopan dan percaya diri. - The judges praise the beginner team because they are polite and confident.

Grammatically, Indonesian does not mark singular/plural on the noun, so juri by itself can be:
- a single judge
- or a group of judges, depending on context.

To be explicit, Indonesians might say:

seorang juri = one judge
para juri = the judges / the judging panel

In your sentence, Juri memuji…, it could be either “The judge praised…” or “The judges praised…”, depending on the broader context.

How is memuji formed, and what’s its basic meaning and grammar?

Memuji comes from the root puji (“praise”) plus the prefix meN-, which forms an active verb:

puji → memuji = “to praise”

Grammar and use:

It is a transitive verb, so it normally takes a direct object:
- Juri memuji tim pemula. = The judge(s) praised the beginner team.
You do not need a preposition like “to”:
- Not: ❌ memuji kepada tim
- Correct: ✅ memuji tim

You can use it without mentioning the object if it’s understood from context:

Juri memuji. = The judge(s) praised (them / the performance, etc.).

How do we know if memuji here means “praised” (past) or “praises” (present)? There’s no tense marking.

Indonesian verbs like memuji do not change form for tense.

Juri memuji tim pemula… can mean:
- “The judge(s) praise the beginner team…”
- “The judge(s) praised the beginner team…”

Tense is understood from context, for example:

If you’re talking about something that just happened at a competition, it’s naturally past.
If it’s a general statement (what judges usually do), it could be present or habitual.

To make time more explicit, speakers may add time expressions:

Tadi juri memuji tim pemula… = Earlier, the judges praised the beginner team…
Setiap tahun juri memuji tim pemula… = Every year the judges praise the beginner team…

What exactly does tim pemula mean, and why is the order “tim pemula” instead of “pemula tim”?

Tim pemula literally means “beginner team” or “novice team.”

tim = team
pemula = beginner

In Indonesian, the usual pattern is:

Head noun + modifier
- tim pemula = team (that is) beginner
- siswa pintar = clever student
- buku baru = new book

So:

✅ tim pemula = correct
❌ pemula tim = ungrammatical in standard Indonesian

Here pemula functions like an adjective describing the type of team, even though it’s originally a noun (“a beginner”).

Is tim pemula treated as singular or plural?

Grammatically, tim pemula is singular (it’s one team), but its meaning is a group of people (the team members).

Indonesian often uses singular group nouns to refer to groups:

tim = team (group of people)
keluarga = family
kelas = class

So tim pemula is “the beginner team,” but you usually translate the verb according to natural English:

Juri memuji tim pemula.
→ “The judge(s) praised the beginner team.”
(implies they praised the whole group of people)

If you really wanted to highlight plurality, you could say tim-tim pemula (“beginner teams”), but your sentence is about one team.

In karena sopan dan percaya diri, where is the subject and where is the verb? It looks like just adjectives.

Indonesian often drops the verb “to be” and omits the subject when it’s clear from context.

Literally, karena sopan dan percaya diri is:

karena = because
sopan = polite
percaya diri = confident

There is an implied subject and implied “to be”:

karena (mereka) (itu) sopan dan percaya diri
= because (they) (were) polite and confident

So structurally, you can think of it as:

“because (they were) polite and confident”

The subject is understood to be tim pemula (the beginner team), and Indonesian is comfortable leaving both the subject and the “to be” verb unspoken here.

Does karena sopan dan percaya diri describe the juri or the tim pemula? How do we know?

Technically, Indonesian allows some ambiguity, just like English. But the most natural reading here is that it describes the tim pemula.

Reasoning:

The structure is: Juri [memuji tim pemula] [karena sopan dan percaya diri].
The cause clause karena sopan dan percaya diri comes right after tim pemula, so it’s most naturally interpreted as the team being polite and confident.
It also makes more logical sense: judges usually praise teams because the teams show good behavior.

If you wanted to make it crystal clear in Indonesian, you could say:

Juri memuji tim pemula karena tim itu sopan dan percaya diri.
(The judge(s) praised the beginner team because that team was polite and confident.)

or, for the opposite meaning:

Juri yang sopan dan percaya diri memuji tim pemula.
(The polite and confident judge(s) praised the beginner team.)

What is percaya diri exactly? It looks like “believe self.” Is it a verb or an adjective?

Literally:

percaya = believe / trust
diri = self

But percaya diri is a fixed expression that functions as an adjective meaning “self-confident, confident.”

So in your sentence:

sopan dan percaya diri = polite and confident

You can treat percaya diri as one unit, like a single adjective:

Dia sangat percaya diri. = He/she is very confident.
Anak itu kurang percaya diri. = That child lacks confidence.

It’s not usually interpreted literally as “believe (in) self” in everyday usage.

Could we say karena tim pemula itu sopan dan percaya diri instead? What’s the difference in nuance?

Yes:

Juri memuji tim pemula karena tim pemula itu sopan dan percaya diri.

This is grammatically correct, but it’s more explicit and a bit more wordy or emphatic, because you repeat tim pemula and add itu (“that”).

Nuance differences:

Original: karena sopan dan percaya diri
- Short, natural, the subject is implied.
- Very typical in spoken and written Indonesian.
Expanded: karena tim pemula itu sopan dan percaya diri
- Very explicit; removes ambiguity.
- Slightly heavier style, suitable if you really want to emphasize which group was polite and confident.

Both are correct; the original is just more concise.

Can we add yang and say karena (mereka) yang sopan dan percaya diri? How does yang work here?

You can use yang, but it changes the feel slightly.

Without yang (your original):
- karena sopan dan percaya diri
- Simple predicate: “because (they were) polite and confident.”
With yang:
- karena mereka yang sopan dan percaya diri
- Literally: “because it was they who were polite and confident.”
- yang adds a sense of emphasis/contrast (“they, as opposed to others”).

In your sentence, there’s no need for yang:

Juri memuji tim pemula karena sopan dan percaya diri.
is already natural and clear in most contexts.

Yang is mainly used to introduce relative clauses or to emphasize a particular noun:

tim yang sopan dan percaya diri = the team that is polite and confident
Mereka yang sopan dan percaya diri, bukan tim lain. = It’s they who are polite and confident, not the other team.

So you don’t need yang in the original sentence.

Can we move the karena-clause to the front, like in English “Because they were polite and confident, the judges praised the team”?

Yes, Indonesian allows that word order too. You can say:

Karena sopan dan percaya diri, juri memuji tim pemula.

This is perfectly grammatical and natural.

General pattern with karena:

[Main clause] + karena + [reason]
- Juri memuji tim pemula karena sopan dan percaya diri.

Karena + [reason], + [main clause]
- Karena sopan dan percaya diri, juri memuji tim pemula.

Both mean the same thing; fronting the karena-clause simply emphasizes the reason a bit more.