Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Rencana masa depan bisa saja berubah, tetapi itu belum tentu buruk jika kita tetap belajar dari setiap pengalaman. - Future plans can easily change, but that is not necessarily bad if we keep learning from every experience.

Rencana masa depan bisa berubah
= Future plans can change (stating a general possibility)
Rencana masa depan bisa saja berubah
= Future plans may well change / could easily change (more like “don’t be surprised if they change”)

Compared to mungkin (maybe / perhaps):

Rencana masa depan mungkin berubah
= Future plans might change (more neutral “maybe”)

Bisa saja often feels a bit more conversational and can imply “that’s just how it is / that could very well happen.”

Why is it rencana masa depan and not rencana untuk masa depan?

Both are possible, but they’re not identical in nuance.

Rencana masa depan
Literally: future plans.
Here masa depan acts like a noun describing rencana, similar to holiday plans, career plans, etc. It’s more compact and idiomatic.
Rencana untuk masa depan
Literally: plans for the future.
This slightly emphasizes the purpose: plans that are for the future.

In most contexts, rencana masa depan = future plans and sounds very natural.
Rencana untuk masa depan might be used when you want to stress that you’re planning for a later time, e.g. financial planning, career planning, etc. In this sentence, rencana masa depan is the most natural choice.

What does itu refer to in tetapi itu belum tentu buruk? Why is it needed?

Itu is a pronoun here, roughly meaning that / that thing / that situation. It refers back to the whole idea “rencana masa depan bisa saja berubah” (future plans might change).

So:

Tetapi itu belum tentu buruk
= But that is not necessarily bad.

Indonesian often uses itu to refer to a previously mentioned idea or situation, just like English uses that or it. Without itu, the sentence:

…tetapi belum tentu buruk

would still be understandable, but it feels incomplete and less natural in this specific structure. Itu makes the reference clear and the sentence smoother.

What exactly does belum tentu buruk mean? How is it different from tidak buruk or belum buruk?

These three expressions are quite different:

Belum tentu buruk
- belum = not yet
- tentu = certain / definite
  Literally: not yet certain (that it is) bad
  Meaning: not necessarily bad / it may not be bad
  → This is a statement about uncertainty.
Tidak buruk
- tidak = not
  Literally: not bad
  Meaning: it is not bad (a clear judgment: it is okay or good enough)
Belum buruk
Literally: not bad yet
Meaning: it hasn’t become bad yet (could become bad later; usually about a condition changing over time — health, situation, etc.)

In the sentence, we want to say “it’s not necessarily bad,” so belum tentu buruk is the correct idiomatic choice.

What is the difference between tetapi and tapi? Could I use tapi here?

Both mean but / however, but:

Tetapi is more formal or neutral.
Tapi is more informal, common in speech and casual writing.

You can say:

Rencana masa depan bisa saja berubah, tapi itu belum tentu buruk…

That sounds natural in everyday conversation or informal text.
In written, neutral, or slightly formal contexts (essays, articles, books), tetapi is preferred.

Why is jika used here? Could I use kalau instead?

Jika and kalau both mean if, but:

Jika is more formal / written / neutral.
Kalau is more informal / conversational.

So:

…jika kita tetap belajar…
= …if we keep learning… (more neutral/formal)
…kalau kita tetap belajar…
= …if we keep learning… (more casual/spoken)

Both are grammatically correct here. Choice depends on style and formality. This sentence with jika would sound natural in a book, article, or motivational text.

What does tetap add to kita belajar? Can I move it elsewhere?

Tetap means still / remain / keep (on) and adds the idea of continuing despite changes or difficulties.

kita belajar = we learn / we study
kita tetap belajar = we keep learning / we continue to learn

In this sentence, tetap emphasizes persistence:

…jika kita tetap belajar dari setiap pengalaman.
…if we keep learning from every experience.

Word order:

kita tetap belajar is the natural, standard order.
tetap kita belajar is not normal here and sounds unnatural.

So tetap normally goes right before the verb: tetap belajar, tetap mencoba, tetap bekerja, etc.

Why is it belajar dari setiap pengalaman? Why dari and not dengan or pada?

In Indonesian, when you talk about learning from something, the usual preposition is dari:

belajar dari pengalaman = learn from experience
belajar dari kesalahan = learn from mistakes
belajar dari guru = learn from a teacher

So:

dari = from (source of learning)
dengan = with / by (means of), e.g. belajar dengan buku (study with books)
pada = general at / to / on (often used with people as indirect objects, times, locations, etc.)

Using dari here is the standard, idiomatic choice.
Belajar dari setiap pengalaman = learn from every experience.

Could I drop kita and just say …jika tetap belajar dari setiap pengalaman?

Yes, you can drop kita in Indonesian if the subject is clear from context. Native speakers often omit pronouns when it’s obvious who is meant.

So:

…jika kita tetap belajar dari setiap pengalaman.
…jika tetap belajar dari setiap pengalaman.

Both are grammatically fine. The second is slightly more general/impersonal, like saying:

…if (we/you/people) keep learning from every experience.

Keeping kita makes it clear and inclusive (“we”), which matches the motivational tone of the sentence.

Is the word order belajar dari setiap pengalaman fixed, or could it be something like dari setiap pengalaman belajar?

The natural, standard order is:

belajar dari setiap pengalaman
(verb + prepositional phrase)

Putting dari setiap pengalaman before belajar:

dari setiap pengalaman belajar

would sound odd or poetic and is not normal in everyday Indonesian.

In ordinary prose and speech, keep:

[verb] + [dari + noun]
→ belajar dari pengalaman, tumbuh dari kegagalan, etc.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral in tone?

The sentence is neutral to mildly formal:

rencana masa depan – neutral
bisa saja berubah – conversational but still fine in writing
tetapi – leans a bit formal/neutral
jika – neutral/formal
tetap belajar dari setiap pengalaman – neutral, motivational style

It would fit well in:

self-help books
motivational talks
essays
social media captions that aren’t super casual

If you wanted it more casual, you might change tetapi → tapi and jika → kalau:

Rencana masa depan bisa saja berubah, tapi itu belum tentu buruk kalau kita tetap belajar dari setiap pengalaman.

Are there useful synonyms here, like for rencana, masa depan, or pengalaman?

Yes, some common ones:

Rencana (plan)
- planning – more like planning (process), not a single plan
- niat – intention, more about what you intend to do than a concrete plan
Masa depan (future)
- waktu yang akan datang – the time that will come (more formal/explicit, less common in everyday speech)
- ke depan – often used adverbially: ke depan = going forward / in the future
Pengalaman (experience)
- kejadian – incident / event (not necessarily something you learn from)
- peristiwa – event / occurrence (more formal, often for news/history)

In this specific sentence, rencana masa depan and pengalaman are the most natural and idiomatic choices.