Breakdown of Guru memilih topik yang sederhana lalu menjelaskan bagian sulit secara mendalam.
Questions & Answers about Guru memilih topik yang sederhana lalu menjelaskan bagian sulit secara mendalam.
Indonesian doesn’t use articles like a/an or the. A bare noun can cover several English meanings:
- guru = a teacher / the teacher / teachers
- topik = a topic / the topic / topics
Context tells you whether it’s specific or general. If you really need to make it clear, you add other words:
- guru itu / guru tersebut = that (particular) teacher / the teacher
- seorang guru = a teacher (one teacher, human)
- sebuah topik = a topic (one topic, non-human/thing)
- para guru = the teachers (group, plural, formal-ish)
So Guru memilih topik yang sederhana is naturally understood as The teacher chose a simple topic, even though there’s no explicit the or a.
Guru usually means a teacher in a school context (elementary, middle, high school). It can also be used for:
- guru agama – religious teacher
- guru les – private tutor
- guru bahasa Indonesia – Indonesian language teacher
For other kinds of “teachers,” you might see:
- dosen – lecturer (university/college)
- pelatih – coach (sports)
- instruktur – instructor (e.g. driving, fitness)
- pengajar – a more general word for “instructor/teacher”
In your sentence, Guru is capitalized only because it’s the first word of the sentence, not because it’s a name.
Pilih is the base verb choose/select. The prefix meN- turns it into an active verb form:
- memilih = to choose / is choosing (with a clear subject)
Some patterns:
- Guru memilih topik. – The teacher chooses/chose a topic.
- Pilih topik yang sederhana! – Choose a simple topic! (imperative → base form pilih)
Using pilih in a normal statement (Guru pilih topik) sounds informal / colloquial and is not standard written Indonesian. In a neutral sentence like this, you use memilih.
Yang is a marker often used to introduce a clause or phrase that describes a noun. Here:
- topik yang sederhana = a topic that is simple
Without yang, Indonesian can also put an adjective straight after the noun:
- topik sederhana – also a simple topic
Both are correct. The nuance:
- topik sederhana feels a bit more like a simple description, almost like a fixed noun-phrase (simple topic as a type).
- topik yang sederhana can sound a bit more specific or contrastive: the topic that (is) simple, maybe in contrast to more complex ones.
In everyday speech, they’re often interchangeable. The yang version can add a slight emphasis to the simplicity.
Lalu means then / and then / after that and links actions in sequence:
- Guru memilih topik … lalu menjelaskan …
The teacher chose a topic, then explained…
Rough comparison:
- lalu – neutral, common in both speech and writing
- kemudian – a bit more formal or “bookish” than lalu, often used in narrative or written text
- terus – very common in casual speech, more informal, can also mean keep on / continue
You could say:
- Guru memilih topik yang sederhana kemudian menjelaskan bagian sulit… (slightly more formal)
- Guru memilih topik yang sederhana, terus menjelaskan bagian sulit… (more conversational)
Meaning stays basically the same: it marks what happens next.
Indonesian often drops the subject in the second clause if it’s the same as in the first clause and still clear from context. So:
- Guru memilih topik yang sederhana lalu menjelaskan bagian sulit…
is understood as:
- Guru memilih topik yang sederhana lalu (guru) menjelaskan bagian sulit…
Repeating guru would be grammatically correct:
- Guru memilih topik yang sederhana lalu guru menjelaskan bagian sulit…
but it sounds heavy and unnatural unless you really want to emphasize guru again for contrast. Normally you leave it out.
The verb menjelaskan already means to explain (something). It normally takes a direct object without a preposition:
- Guru menjelaskan bagian sulit. – The teacher explains the difficult parts.
So tentang (about) is usually unnecessary and often sounds learner-like:
- ✗ Guru menjelaskan tentang bagian sulit. (often considered redundant)
Patterns with menjelaskan:
- menjelaskan sesuatu – explain something
- menjelaskan sesuatu kepada seseorang – explain something to someone
Example:
- Guru menjelaskan konsep itu kepada siswa.
The teacher explained the concept to the students.
You might see menjelaskan tentang… in some real-life usage, but standard, clean Indonesian prefers menjelaskan + direct object as in your sentence.
Both forms are grammatically correct, but there is a nuance.
bagian sulit
- Literally difficult part(s).
- sulit directly modifies bagian, like an adjective glued to the noun.
- Feels a bit more like a simple classification: the difficult parts (as opposed to easy parts).
bagian yang sulit
- Literally the part(s) that are difficult.
- yang sets up a little descriptive clause: (yang) sulit = that are difficult.
- Feels more specific or contrastive: the parts that are (the ones) difficult.
In many contexts, they are interchangeable. In this sentence, bagian sulit is short and natural. If you wanted extra emphasis or clarity that you’re talking about exactly those difficult parts, bagian yang sulit would also work.
Indonesian nouns usually don’t show plural marking. Bagian can mean part or parts depending on context:
- bagian sulit = the difficult part or the difficult parts
We infer number from context or add extra words if we want to be explicit:
- bagian-bagian sulit – the difficult parts (reduplication → plural)
- beberapa bagian yang sulit – several difficult parts
- semua bagian yang sulit – all the difficult parts
- satu bagian yang sulit – one difficult part
In a sentence like this, it’s natural in English to say the difficult parts, so that’s how it’s commonly translated.
Secara is used to turn an adjective (or sometimes a noun) into an adverb phrase meaning in a … way.
- mendalam = deep (figuratively: in-depth)
- secara mendalam = in a deep/in-depth way → deeply, in depth
This pattern is very productive:
- secara resmi – officially
- secara otomatis – automatically
- secara perlahan – slowly
- secara jelas – clearly
Literal long form:
- menjelaskan bagian sulit secara mendalam
= explain the difficult parts in an in-depth way.
Often, secara + adjective is the most natural way to express an adverb in Indonesian.
Yes. Indonesian word order is fairly flexible for adverbial phrases like secara mendalam. All of these are possible:
- Guru memilih topik yang sederhana lalu menjelaskan bagian sulit secara mendalam.
- Guru memilih topik yang sederhana lalu menjelaskan secara mendalam bagian sulit.
- Guru memilih topik yang sederhana lalu secara mendalam menjelaskan bagian sulit.
All mean roughly the same: The teacher chose a simple topic and then explained the difficult parts in depth.
Nuance:
- Position at the end (version 1) is very common and neutral.
- Putting secara mendalam earlier can slightly emphasize the manner of explaining, but the change is subtle.
Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. Memilih and menjelaskan can mean:
- choose / chooses / chose
- explain / explains / explained
Time reference comes from context, adverbs, or the situation. In a narrative about what happened in class, it’s natural to interpret it as past:
- The teacher chose a simple topic and then explained the difficult parts in depth.
If you want to make the past time explicit, you add time words or aspect markers:
- Tadi guru memilih topik yang sederhana… – Earlier the teacher chose…
- Kemarin guru memilih… – Yesterday the teacher chose…
- Guru sudah memilih topik… – The teacher has already chosen a topic…
But grammatically, the verb form itself doesn’t change.