Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami berusaha mengatasi stres dengan meditasi singkat. - We try to overcome stress with short meditation.

The sentence Kami berusaha mengatasi stres dengan meditasi singkat implies that “we” does not include the person being spoken to. If you want to say “You and I are trying…”, you would use kita instead:

Kita berusaha mengatasi stres dengan meditasi singkat.
= We (you + me) are trying to deal with stress with short meditation.

What does berusaha mean exactly, and how is it different from mencoba?

Both berusaha and mencoba can translate to “try”, but there is a nuance:

berusaha = to make an effort, to strive
– suggests effort, persistence, or struggle
mencoba = to try (in the sense of attempting or testing)
– often more neutral, sometimes like “to give something a try”

In this sentence:

Kami berusaha mengatasi stres…
implies we are making a real effort to overcome stress.

You could also say:

Kami mencoba mengatasi stres…

This is correct too, but it can sound slightly less “effortful” and more like we are trying it / giving it a shot, depending on context.

How is mengatasi formed, and what does it literally mean?

Mengatasi comes from the root atas, which means “top / above”.

The prefix meN-
- atas → mengatasi

Mengatasi means “to overcome / to deal with / to handle something so that it is no longer a problem”.

So mengatasi stres = to overcome / deal with / manage stress.

The verb pattern:

mengatasi + object
- mengatasi masalah (to deal with a problem)
- mengatasi kemiskinan (to overcome poverty)
- mengatasi rasa takut (to overcome fear)

What is the difference between mengatasi stres, mengelola stres, and mengurangi stres?

All relate to stress, but with different nuances:

mengatasi stres
= to overcome / to successfully deal with stress
→ Focus on solving or getting on top of it.
mengelola stres
= to manage stress
→ Focus on handling it in an organized, ongoing way.
mengurangi stres
= to reduce stress
→ Focus on making the stress level lower.

So:

Kami berusaha mengatasi stres
= We’re trying to overcome/deal with stress.
Kami berusaha mengelola stres
= We’re trying to manage our stress.
Kami berusaha mengurangi stres
= We’re trying to reduce our stress.

Why is stres spelled with one s at the end, not stress?

Indonesian often adapts foreign words to Indonesian spelling rules.

English stress → Indonesian stres

Differences:

Only one s at the end
Pronounced more like “stres” (short, clear vowel), not “stre-ss” with English-style stress patterns.

In Indonesian, stres is commonly used as a noun:

Saya merasa stres. = I feel stressed / I feel stress.
Stres bisa memengaruhi kesehatan. = Stress can affect health.

Is there any tense in Kami berusaha mengatasi…? How do I know if it’s present, past, or future?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Berusaha always looks the same, regardless of time. The tense is understood from context or from extra time words.

Kami berusaha mengatasi stres… could mean:

We are trying to overcome stress… (present)
We tried to overcome stress… (past)
We will try to overcome stress… (future, if context makes that clear)

To make the time explicit, you add time expressions:

Kemarin kami berusaha mengatasi stres…
= Yesterday we tried to overcome stress…
Sekarang kami berusaha mengatasi stres…
= Right now we are trying to overcome stress…
Besok kami akan berusaha mengatasi stres…
= Tomorrow we will try to overcome stress…

Why is dengan used here? Could I replace it with something like pakai or melalui?

Dengan often means “with / by (means of)” when talking about methods or tools.

…mengatasi stres dengan meditasi singkat
= …overcome stress by (using) short meditation.

Other options:

pakai / memakai = to use (more informal, literal “use”)
- Kami mengatasi stres pakai meditasi singkat. (informal speech)
melalui = through / via
- Kami berusaha mengatasi stres melalui meditasi singkat.
  → sounds a bit more formal or written.

Dengan is the most neutral and natural in this kind of sentence.

Why is it meditasi singkat and not singkat meditasi? What is the usual word order?

In Indonesian, the typical order is:

noun + adjective

So:

meditasi singkat = short meditation
rumah besar = big house
film menarik = interesting movie

Putting the adjective first (singkat meditasi) is ungrammatical in this case.

So:
✔ meditasi singkat
✘ singkat meditasi (wrong in standard Indonesian)

What’s the difference between singkat and pendek? Could I say meditasi pendek?

Both relate to “short,” but used in slightly different ways:

singkat = brief, short in duration or length (abstract or time-based)
- pidato singkat (brief speech)
- penjelasan singkat (brief explanation)
- meditasi singkat (brief / short meditation)
pendek = short in physical length or height
- rambut pendek (short hair)
- orang pendek (short person)
- jalan yang pendek (a short road)

You might hear meditasi pendek, but meditasi singkat is more natural because we’re talking about duration, not physical length.

Does meditasi singkat refer to one session or many sessions? How do I say “short meditation sessions”?

Indonesian nouns often don’t mark singular/plural explicitly. Meditasi singkat can mean:

a short meditation
short meditation (in general)
short meditation sessions (from context)

If you want to make “sessions” clear, you can say:

sesi-sesi meditasi singkat = short meditation sessions (emphasizing plural)
sesi meditasi singkat = a short meditation session / short meditation sessions (context decides)

You can also add a number:

tiga sesi meditasi singkat = three short meditation sessions.

Can I add untuk after berusaha, like Kami berusaha untuk mengatasi stres…? Is that correct?

Yes, that is correct and quite common.

Kami berusaha mengatasi stres…
Kami berusaha untuk mengatasi stres…

Both are grammatically correct.
Untuk here functions like “to / in order to”.

Differences:

Without untuk: slightly more concise, very natural.
With untuk: sometimes sounds a bit more formal or emphatic, especially in writing.

In everyday speech, many people simply omit untuk in this structure.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral?

Kami berusaha mengatasi stres dengan meditasi singkat. is neutral:

Suitable for spoken conversation
Fine in written text (like an article or a report)
No slang, no strong formality markers

If you wanted it to sound more casual, you might change kami to something like kita (if including the listener) and adjust more words around it, but the sentence as given is already very commonly usable in both everyday and semi-formal contexts.