Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Latihan sore kami ditunda tiga puluh menit. - Our afternoon practice is postponed for thirty minutes.

What is the structure of latihan sore kami? Why is the possessive kami at the end, not at the beginning like in English (our afternoon practice)?

In Indonesian, possessive pronouns usually come after the noun they modify.

latihan = practice / training (noun)
sore = afternoon / early evening (acts like an adjective describing when the practice is)
kami = we / us (exclusive) used here as a possessive: our

So latihan sore kami is literally:

latihan (practice) + sore (afternoon) + kami (our)
= our afternoon practice

This noun + modifier + possessor order is very common:

rumah baru saya = my new house
rencana besok mereka = their plan for tomorrow

What is the difference between kami and kita? Could the sentence use kita instead?

Both mean “we/us”, but:

kami = we (not including the listener)
kita = we (including the listener)

In Latihan sore kami ditunda tiga puluh menit, kami implies the speaker’s group, and it does not necessarily include the person being spoken to.

If the speaker wants to include the listener (for example, the speaker and the listener are on the same team), they could say:

Latihan sore kita ditunda tiga puluh menit.
= Our (including you) afternoon practice is postponed 30 minutes.

Both are grammatically correct; the choice depends on whom “we” refers to.

How do we know ditunda means was postponed (past) and not is being postponed or will be postponed? There’s no tense marker.

Indonesian verbs usually do not show tense (past / present / future) by changing form. Ditunda simply means postponed / delayed in a neutral way.

The time reference comes from:

Context (what is being talked about)
Optional particles like sudah (already), akan (will), etc.

Examples:

Latihan sore kami ditunda tiga puluh menit.
→ In normal context, usually understood as was postponed / has been postponed.
Latihan sore kami sudah ditunda.
→ Our afternoon practice has already been postponed.
Latihan sore kami akan ditunda.
→ Our afternoon practice will be postponed.

So ditunda itself is not marked for tense; you infer tense from context or add words like sudah/akan when needed.

Why is the passive form ditunda used instead of the active menunda? How would the active version look?

Ditunda is the passive form of menunda (to postpone). Indonesian often uses passive when:

The focus is on the event or thing affected (the practice), not on who did it.
The doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context.

Sentence given (passive):

Latihan sore kami ditunda tiga puluh menit.
= Our afternoon practice was postponed by 30 minutes.

Active version:

Pelatih menunda latihan sore kami tiga puluh menit.
= The coach postponed our afternoon practice by 30 minutes.

Structure comparison:

Passive: [Latihan sore kami] ditunda [tiga puluh menit].
Active: [Pelatih] menunda [latihan sore kami] [tiga puluh menit].

Both are correct; the original just focuses on the practice, not on the person who postponed it.

If it’s passive, where is the equivalent of “by someone”? Do we need oleh?

In Indonesian passive sentences, the agent (the “by someone”) is often left out if it is unknown, unimportant, or obvious. That’s what happens in:

Latihan sore kami ditunda tiga puluh menit.
→ The doer is implied (e.g., coach, organizer) but not mentioned.

If you want to say who postponed it, you can add oleh:

Latihan sore kami ditunda oleh pelatih tiga puluh menit.
= Our afternoon practice was postponed by the coach by 30 minutes.

Colloquially, oleh is often omitted and the agent just follows the verb:

Latihan sore kami ditunda pelatih tiga puluh menit.

All three are grammatically possible; the simplest one (without agent) is very common in real speech.

Is latihan here a noun (practice) or a verb (to practice)? What is the difference between latihan and berlatih?

In this sentence, latihan is a noun: practice / training session.

latihan (noun) = practice, training, exercise
- latihan sore = afternoon practice
- latihan sepak bola = football practice
berlatih (verb) = to practice
- Kami berlatih setiap sore. = We practice every afternoon.

Compare:

Latihan sore kami ditunda.
→ Our afternoon practice was postponed. (latihan = noun)
Kami berlatih setiap sore.
→ We practice every afternoon. (berlatih = verb)

So in the given sentence latihan clearly refers to a scheduled training session (a thing/event), not the action of practicing.

What exactly does sore mean in terms of time of day? Could we use petang or malam instead?

Sore generally covers late afternoon to early evening, roughly around 3 p.m. to sunset / just after sunset, depending on local usage.

Other time-of-day words:

pagi = morning
siang = midday / early afternoon
sore = late afternoon / early evening
malam = night

Petang is similar to sore, but sounds a bit more formal or literary in many regions. In everyday speech, sore is more common.

You could say:

Latihan pagi kami… = our morning practice
Latihan malam kami… = our night/evening practice
Latihan petang kami… = our late‑afternoon/early‑evening practice (more formal/poetic in some areas)

So sore is the natural everyday choice for “afternoon practice” of a sports team.

What is the difference between ditunda tiga puluh menit and ditunda selama tiga puluh menit?

Both are grammatical, but there is a nuance:

ditunda tiga puluh menit
→ Very common, neutral; effectively means postponed by 30 minutes.
ditunda selama tiga puluh menit
→ Adds selama (for / during), emphasizing the duration a bit more.
→ Sounds slightly more formal or explicit.

Examples:

Rapat ditunda tiga puluh menit.
Rapat ditunda selama tiga puluh menit.

In most everyday contexts, they are interchangeable; the version without selama is shorter and very natural.

Can I write 30 menit instead of tiga puluh menit? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can write:

Latihan sore kami ditunda 30 menit.
or
Latihan sore kami ditunda tiga puluh menit.

Both are correct.

Guidelines (not strict rules):

Numbers (30) are more common in informal writing, messages, notes, schedules.
Words (tiga puluh) are more typical in formal prose, exams, or when spelling things out clearly.

Spoken Indonesian usually says tiga puluh menit, but people also say tiga puluh menit, 30 menit when reading from a screen or schedule.

Could we drop kami and just say Latihan sore ditunda tiga puluh menit? Would that sound natural?

Yes, you can say:

Latihan sore ditunda tiga puluh menit.
= The afternoon practice was postponed 30 minutes.

This sounds natural if it’s clear from context whose practice is being discussed (for example, within one team, one class, or on a team noticeboard).

Difference:

Latihan sore kami ditunda…
→ Explicit: our afternoon practice (belonging to “us”).
Latihan sore ditunda…
→ General: the afternoon practice (whatever group has that practice, assumed to be contextually obvious).

In many real situations (signs, announcements), the version without kami is common.

Is tiga puluh one word or two? I sometimes see numbers written together like tigapuluh.

Standard modern Indonesian writes it as two words:

tiga puluh = 30
tiga puluh menit = 30 minutes

The officially correct pattern is:

dua puluh (20)
tiga puluh (30)
empat puluh lima (45), etc.

Writing tigapuluh as one word is non‑standard in modern Indonesian, though you might see it in older texts, children’s books, song lyrics, or casual writing. For formal and correct usage, stick to tiga puluh.