Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Hasil penelitian sederhana itu membantu guru memberi nasihat yang jelas. - The results of that simple research help the teacher give clear advice.

In Hasil penelitian sederhana itu, the word itu works like “that” or “the” in English, referring to something already known or previously mentioned.

Indonesian demonstratives (ini = this, itu = that) usually come after the noun phrase, not before it like in English.

hasil penelitian sederhana itu
≈ that simple study result / the result of that simple study

So the structure is:

hasil = result
penelitian sederhana = simple research / simple study
itu = that (specific, already known to speaker and listener)

Putting itu at the end marks the whole phrase as something definite and specific, like “that particular simple research result.”

Does sederhana describe hasil (result) or penelitian (research)?

Grammatically, sederhana is closest to penelitian, so it most naturally describes penelitian, not hasil.

penelitian sederhana = simple research / a simple study
hasil penelitian sederhana = the result(s) of a simple study

If you wanted to emphasize that the result is simple (not the research), you would usually make it clearer, for example:

hasil yang sederhana dari penelitian itu
= the simple result(s) from that research

But in the original sentence, a natural reading is:

simple research → its result helps the teacher…

Why is there no word meaning “of” between hasil and penelitian?

Indonesian often expresses “of” relationships simply by putting two nouns next to each other:

hasil penelitian
≈ result of (the) research / research result(s)

So instead of:

results *of research*
Indonesian uses:
hasil penelitian

You could say hasil dari penelitian (literally “result from research”), but in many contexts that sounds a bit heavier or more formal. Hasil penelitian is the most natural and common way to say “research results.”

What is the overall structure of Hasil penelitian sederhana itu?

You can see it as nested noun phrases:

penelitian sederhana = simple research / simple study
- noun (penelitian) + adjective (sederhana)
hasil penelitian sederhana = the result(s) of simple research
hasil penelitian sederhana itu = that simple research result / the result of that simple study

So the head noun is hasil, and everything after it specifies which result we are talking about.

Is hasil singular or plural here? How do I know if it means “result” or “results”?

Indonesian normally does not mark singular vs plural, unless it needs to be very explicit (using reduplication, numbers, etc.)

So:

hasil can mean result or results
The context and the English translation decide which sounds more natural.

In this context, English would usually say:

“The results of that simple study help the teacher…”

If you really wanted to emphasize plurality in Indonesian, you might say:

berbagai hasil penelitian = various research results
hasil-hasil penelitian = results (plural, with reduplication for emphasis)

But plain hasil penelitian is normally fine for both “result” and “results.”

Why is there no word for “to” before memberi? In English we say “help the teacher to give advice.”

In Indonesian, when one verb follows another, you often don’t need a word like “to” in between.

Here:

membantu = to help
guru = the teacher
memberi nasihat = to give advice

So:

membantu guru memberi nasihat
≈ helps the teacher (to) give advice

No extra word is needed. The verb memberi simply follows membantu, and the meaning “to give” is understood from context.

Can I say membantu guru untuk memberi nasihat? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

Hasil penelitian sederhana itu membantu guru untuk memberi nasihat yang jelas.

It is grammatically correct. The difference is mostly in style:

membantu guru memberi nasihat
– very natural, a bit simpler and more direct
membantu guru untuk memberi nasihat
– also natural, sometimes feels a bit more formal or slightly more “spelled out”

In many everyday and written contexts, Indonesians omit untuk after membantu when followed by another verb. Both versions are acceptable.

What is the difference between memberi and memberikan? Could I use memberikan nasihat here?

Both memberi and memberikan come from the root beri (give).

memberi [something] = to give [something]
memberikan [something] (kepada [someone]) = to give/provide [something] (to [someone])

In many cases, especially with common objects like nasihat, they are interchangeable:

memberi nasihat
memberikan nasihat

Both mean “to give advice.”

Subtle differences:

memberi is slightly shorter and more neutral.
memberikan can sound a bit more formal or emphasize the transfer/provision.

In this sentence, both are fine:

…membantu guru memberi nasihat yang jelas.
…membantu guru memberikan nasihat yang jelas.

What does nasihat mean exactly, and how is it different from saran?

Both nasihat and saran relate to advice, but there is a nuance:

nasihat
- advice, counsel, often with a moral/behavioral or guidance nuance
- common in teacher–student, parent–child, or religious contexts
saran
- suggestion, recommendation
- more neutral, can be for ideas, options, proposals

In this sentence:

memberi nasihat yang jelas
= give clear advice/guidance

Using nasihat matches the teacher’s role in guiding students. If you said saran, it would sound more like giving suggestions or recommendations.

What is yang doing in nasihat yang jelas?

yang is a relative marker. It links a noun to a description, similar to “that is … / which is …” in English.

nasihat yang jelas
literally: advice which is clear
naturally: clear advice

Structure:

nasihat = advice
yang = that/which (relative marker)
jelas = clear

So yang jelas describes nasihat. This is a very common pattern:

guru yang baik = a teacher who is good / a good teacher
bahasa yang mudah = language that is easy / easy language
nasihat yang jelas = advice that is clear / clear advice

Could we say memberi nasihat dengan jelas instead of nasihat yang jelas? What’s the difference?

Yes, you could say:

…membantu guru memberi nasihat dengan jelas.

The meaning, however, shifts slightly:

nasihat yang jelas
= clear advice → the content of the advice is clear.
memberi nasihat dengan jelas
= give advice clearly → the manner of speaking is clear (the way the teacher delivers it).

Both are correct, but the original sentence focuses more on the clarity of the advice itself, not only on speaking clearly.

Why is there no word like “a” or “the” before guru?

Indonesian does not use articles like “a/an” or “the.”

So guru by itself can mean:

a teacher
the teacher
teachers (in general)

Context decides how to translate it. In this sentence, natural English choices could be:

“helps the teacher give clear advice”
or “helps teachers give clear advice”

If you wanted to make it clearly plural, you could say:

para guru = (the) teachers (group, plural)
Or clearly singular:
seorang guru = a teacher (one teacher)

But the basic sentence doesn’t force singular or plural.

How do we know the tense? Is this present, past, or future?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. There is no equivalent of English -ed / -s / will on the verb.

So:

membantu can mean:
- helps
- helped
- will help
- is helping

You understand the time from context or from time words (like kemarin = yesterday, akan = will, sedang = currently).

If you want to make the tense explicit, you might say, for example:

Kemarin, hasil penelitian sederhana itu membantu guru…
= Yesterday, the results of that simple study helped the teacher…
Hasil penelitian sederhana itu akan membantu guru…
= The results of that simple study will help the teacher…

Can the word order be changed, for example putting guru first or making a passive sentence?

Yes, Indonesian allows different word orders, especially if you switch to the passive voice. For example:

Guru mendapat bantuan dari hasil penelitian sederhana itu untuk memberi nasihat yang jelas.
= The teacher receives help from the results of that simple study to give clear advice.

Or more literally passive for membantu:

Guru dibantu oleh hasil penelitian sederhana itu untuk memberi nasihat yang jelas.
= The teacher is helped by the results of that simple study to give clear advice.

The original:

Hasil penelitian sederhana itu membantu guru memberi nasihat yang jelas.

is in the active voice:
subject = hasil penelitian sederhana itu
verb = membantu
object = guru (who then performs memberi nasihat).

Is there any nuance in calling it penelitian sederhana? Does it sound informal, small, or less important?

sederhana literally means simple, but its nuance can vary by context:

penelitian sederhana often implies:
- the study is small-scale, basic, or not very complex
- maybe limited methods or resources
- but not necessarily “bad” or “unscientific”

It doesn’t sound rude; it’s quite neutral. It simply contrasts with penelitian yang rumit (complex research), penelitian besar (large-scale research), etc.

You might also hear:

penelitian kecil-kecilan = small-scale research (more informal)
penelitian dasar = basic research

In this sentence, penelitian sederhana just sets the expectation that the study was not complicated, but its hasil (results) are still useful enough to help the teacher.