Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Guru menilai tugas kami dengan tenang. - The teacher evaluates our assignment calmly.

Menilai means to assess / to evaluate / to grade something (for example, assignments, performance, quality).
The base word nilai means value, score, grade, mark.
The prefix meN- turns the noun nilai into an active verb menilai = to give a value/score to something.
So in this sentence, the teacher is actively giving a value/grade to the assignments.

Can menilai also be used for judging or evaluating people, not just tasks?

Yes. Menilai can be used in broader contexts, not only schoolwork.
Examples:

Saya tidak ingin menilai orang dari penampilan.
= I don’t want to judge people by their appearance.
Mereka menilai kinerja karyawan setiap tahun.
= They evaluate employees’ performance every year.

So menilai is a general verb for evaluating / judging / assessing.

Why is the word tugas used here? How is it different from pekerjaan rumah or PR?

Tugas means task, assignment, duty; it’s a general word and can refer to homework, in‑class assignments, projects, etc.
Pekerjaan rumah (often shortened to PR) specifically means homework.

So:

tugas = assignment in general (homework or not)
pekerjaan rumah / PR = homework specifically

In this sentence, tugas is natural because it doesn’t have to be only homework; it just says the teacher is grading our assignment(s).

What’s the difference between kami and kita, and why is kami used here?

Both mean we / us, but:

kami = we (excluding you, the listener)
kita = we (including you, the listener)

Here, tugas kami means our assignments, where we = the students, and the teacher (usually the listener in that classroom context) is not included.
If you said tugas kita, it would sound like the teacher is also part of the group that has the assignments, which is usually not intended.

How does dengan tenang work? Is it like adding -ly in English (calmly)?

Yes, dengan tenang functions like an adverb: calmly / in a calm way.

dengan = with
tenang = calm

Indonesian often forms adverbial phrases using dengan + adjective:

dengan cepat = quickly
dengan hati‑hati = carefully
dengan serius = seriously

So menilai … dengan tenang = to assess … calmly.

Can I say secara tenang instead of dengan tenang, or just tenang alone?

Dengan tenang is the most natural here.
Secara tenang is grammatically possible but sounds more formal and a bit unusual in everyday speech.

Using tenang alone right after the verb (e.g. menilai tenang) sounds incomplete or unnatural in standard Indonesian.
So for normal usage, prefer dengan tenang.

Can I change the word order, like Guru dengan tenang menilai tugas kami or Guru menilai dengan tenang tugas kami?

Yes, Indonesian word order is somewhat flexible, especially for adverbial phrases.

All of these are grammatical:

Guru menilai tugas kami dengan tenang. – neutral, very natural.
Guru dengan tenang menilai tugas kami. – slightly more emphasis on the calm manner.
Guru menilai dengan tenang tugas kami. – also possible, but less common; can sound more marked or “stylistic”.

The most neutral everyday choice is the original: S – V – O – Adverb.

How do I know if the sentence is past, present, or future? There’s no tense in menilai.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Menilai itself does not tell you whether it is past, present, or future.
The time is understood from context or from extra time words:

Tadi guru menilai tugas kami… = Earlier, the teacher assessed… (past)
Sekarang guru menilai tugas kami… = Now the teacher is assessing… (present)
Besok guru akan menilai tugas kami… = Tomorrow the teacher will assess… (future)

Without such words, the sentence can be understood as a general present or past statement, depending on context.

If English says “the teacher”, why is there no word for “the” in Guru menilai…? Should it be guru itu?

Indonesian has no direct equivalent of English the / a / an.
A bare noun like guru can mean a teacher or the teacher, depending on context.

If you say guru itu (itu = that), you make it more specific: that teacher / the particular teacher we’ve been talking about.
In many contexts, simple guru is enough to convey what English would express as the teacher.

Can I drop kami and just say Guru menilai tugas dengan tenang? Does the meaning change?

Yes, you can say Guru menilai tugas dengan tenang and it is still grammatical.
However, the nuance changes:

tugas kami = clearly our assignments (possessive, specific group).
tugas (without kami) = assignments in general, or assignments already known from context, without explicitly saying they belong to “us”.

So the original sentence emphasizes that the assignments being assessed specifically belong to us.

What’s the difference between menilai, memeriksa, and mengoreksi when talking about assignments?

All three can appear with tugas, but their focus is slightly different:

menilai tugas = to assess / grade the assignment, giving it a score or judgment of quality.
memeriksa tugas = to check / inspect the assignment (see if it is complete, correct, or done properly).
mengoreksi tugas = to correct the assignment, marking and fixing mistakes.

In reality, a teacher may do all of these, but the verb you choose highlights a different part of the process.