Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Guru kami mendapat banyak hormat dari murid-murid. - Our teacher receives a lot of respect from the students.

guru kami = our teacher
- guru (noun) + kami (possessor/pronoun)
kami guru would sound odd; it would literally read like “we teacher(s)”, which doesn’t follow the normal pattern.

Correct patterns:

buku saya = my book
mobil mereka = their car
guru kami = our teacher

What is the difference between kami and kita, and would “guru kita” be possible?

Indonesian distinguishes two kinds of “we/our”:

kami = we / our (exclusive) – excludes the person being spoken to
kita = we / our (inclusive) – includes the person being spoken to

So:

guru kami = our teacher (but not yours)
guru kita = our teacher (including you as part of the group)

Both are grammatically correct; which one you use depends on whether the listener is part of the group of people who consider that person their teacher.

Does “mendapat” only mean “to get/receive”? How is it different from “dapat” and “menerima”?

dapat (without the prefix men-) means:
- can / be able to (Saya dapat berenang = I can swim), or
- to get/obtain something (Saya dapat hadiah = I got a gift), especially in more informal speech.
mendapat = to get / receive / obtain (slightly more neutral or formal than dapat in the “get” sense).
In your sentence:
Guru kami mendapat banyak hormat = Our teacher receives a lot of respect.
menerima also means “to receive,” but it often sounds more like actively receiving something handed/given:
- menerima hadiah = to receive a present
- menerima tamu = to receive guests

With abstract things like respect, praise, criticism, punishment, mendapat is very common:

mendapat banyak hormat = receive a lot of respect
mendapat pujian = receive praise
mendapat hukuman = receive punishment

Is “banyak hormat” literally “many respects”? Why “banyak” and not something like “sangat hormat”?

Hormat here is a noun meaning respect, not an adjective.

banyak hormat = a lot of respect / much respect
- banyak modifies the amount (quantity) of respect.

If you say sangat hormat, you are treating hormat like an adjective (“respectful”):

Dia sangat hormat kepada orang tuanya.
= He/She is very respectful to his/her parents.

So:

banyak hormat → a lot of respect (noun)
sangat hormat → very respectful (adjective, describing a person’s attitude/behavior)

In your sentence, “banyak hormat” is correct because we are talking about the amount of respect the teacher receives.

Why is “hormat” a noun here, when I’ve also seen it as a verb or in set phrases like “hormat kami”?

Hormat is a flexible root that can appear in several word classes depending on context:

Noun – “respect”
- banyak hormat = a lot of respect
- rasa hormat = (a feeling of) respect
Verb (with prefix meN-) – “to respect”
- menghormati guru = to respect the teacher
Adjective-like / state
- Dia hormat kepada orang tuanya. = He/She is respectful toward his/her parents.
Fixed expressions / greetings
- Hormat kami, = “Respectfully,” (polite closing in letters or emails)

In “mendapat banyak hormat”, it’s used as a noun meaning “respect”.

What does “murid-murid” mean, and why is the word repeated?

In Indonesian, repeating (reduplicating) a noun is one common way to show plural:

murid = student
murid-murid = students

Similarly:

buku = book → buku-buku = books
anak = child → anak-anak = children

However, plural is often clear from context, so you often don’t need reduplication:

Guru kami mendapat banyak hormat dari murid.
This can still be understood as “from the students” because of banyak and the general meaning.

Murid-murid just makes the plurality very explicit.

Could I just say “murid” instead of “murid-murid” here?

Yes. Both are acceptable:

dari murid
dari murid-murid

Both will normally be understood as “from (the) students” in this context.
Using murid-murid makes it more explicitly plural; using just murid is more neutral and relies on context. Indonesian usually does not require explicit plural marking.

Why is it “dari murid-murid” and not “oleh murid-murid”? What is the difference between dari and oleh here?

dari = from (indicates the source/origin of something)
- mendapat hadiah dari teman = receive a gift from a friend
- mendapat banyak hormat dari murid-murid = receive a lot of respect from the students
oleh = by (used especially in passive sentences to mark the agent)
- Guru kami dihormati oleh murid-murid.
  = Our teacher is respected by the students.

So:

Active style:
Guru kami mendapat banyak hormat dari murid-murid.
Our teacher receives a lot of respect from the students. (dari = source)
Passive style:
Guru kami dihormati oleh murid-murid.
Our teacher is respected by the students. (oleh = agent/“by” in a passive sentence)

Both are correct; the original sentence is active in form.

Is the sentence talking about the past, present, or future? There is no tense marker like in English.

Indonesian verbs generally do not change form for tense. The same sentence can refer to past, present, or future, depending on context or added time words.

Guru kami mendapat banyak hormat dari murid-murid could mean:

Our teacher receives a lot of respect from the students. (general present)
Our teacher received a lot of respect from the students. (past)
Our teacher will receive a lot of respect from the students. (future, but less common without extra clue)

If you want to be explicit:

dulu (in the past), tadi / kemarin for recent/past
sekarang (now)
nanti / besok (later / tomorrow)

Example:

Dulu, guru kami mendapat banyak hormat dari murid-murid.
In the past, our teacher received a lot of respect from the students.

Without a time word, it’s usually interpreted as a general or current fact.

Could I say this in a passive form, like “Our teacher is respected by the students”?

Yes. A natural passive version is:

Guru kami dihormati murid-murid.
Or more explicit: Guru kami dihormati oleh murid-murid.

Here:

dihormati = is respected (passive form of menghormati = to respect)
(oleh) murid-murid = by the students

The meaning is very close to “Guru kami mendapat banyak hormat dari murid-murid”, though the nuance is slightly different:

mendapat banyak hormat emphasizes the amount of respect received.
dihormati emphasizes that the teacher is respected (state or action from the students).

Is there any difference in nuance between “mendapat banyak hormat” and “sangat dihormati”?

Yes, there is a subtle difference:

mendapat banyak hormat
- literally: receives a lot of respect
- focuses on the quantity or degree of respect being given.
Example:
Guru kami mendapat banyak hormat dari murid-murid.
= Our teacher receives a lot of respect from the students.
sangat dihormati
- literally: is very respected
- emphasizes the high level of esteem / status the person has.
Example:
Guru kami sangat dihormati murid-murid.
= Our teacher is very respected by the students.

Both can describe a highly respected teacher, but:

mendapat banyak hormat feels more about what the teacher gets from others.
sangat dihormati feels more about the teacher’s status/reputation.

Is “murid” the only word for “student”? How formal or common is it compared to “siswa”?

Both murid and siswa mean “student,” but there are some tendencies:

murid
- Common, everyday word.
- Often used generally for students, especially younger ones (primary/secondary school).
siswa
- Also common, but has a slightly more formal / institutional feel.
- Very frequent in official/school contexts, regulations, and formal speech:
  - hak dan kewajiban siswa = students’ rights and obligations
  - siswa kelas tiga = third-grade students

In everyday spoken Indonesian, murid is very natural in a sentence like yours. You could say:

Guru kami mendapat banyak hormat dari siswa-siswa.

This is also correct, just slightly more formal in flavor.

Could I make the sentence more polite or honorific toward the teacher?

Yes. Indonesian often uses titles for politeness. For example:

Bapak or Pak for an adult male (like “Sir/Mr.”)
Ibu or Bu for an adult female (like “Ma’am/Mrs./Ms.”)

You might say:

Bapak guru kami mendapat banyak hormat dari murid-murid.
Ibu guru kami mendapat banyak hormat dari murid-murid.

Even more explicitly:

Pak Joko mendapat banyak hormat dari murid-muridnya.
(Mr. Joko receives a lot of respect from his students.)

This highlights respect towards the teacher in how you address them.