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Seorang ilmuwan muda menjelaskan cara kerja roket kepada murid-murid.

Seorang ilmuwan muda menjelaskan cara kerja roket kepada murid-murid.
A young scientist explains how the rocket works to the students.
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Questions & Answers about Seorang ilmuwan muda menjelaskan cara kerja roket kepada murid-murid.

What does seorang mean here, and can I leave it out?

Seorang literally means “one person / a person (of type X)” and functions a bit like “a” or “one” before a profession or role.

  • Seorang ilmuwan muda ≈ “a young scientist”
  • Without seorang: Ilmuwan muda menjelaskan …
    – This is still grammatical, but it sounds a bit more like “young scientists explain …” in a general statement, or it sounds less specific.

So:

  • If you want to emphasize a single, specific individual, seorang is natural.
  • In casual speech, people might drop it, but in a sentence like this, seorang makes the subject clearly one person.
Why is it ilmuwan muda, not muda ilmuwan?

In Indonesian, adjectives almost always come after the noun they modify.

  • ilmuwan muda = “young scientist” (literally “scientist young”)
  • muda ilmuwan would be wrong in standard Indonesian.

Common patterns:

  • buku baru – new book
  • mobil merah – red car
  • guru bahasa Inggris – English teacher (here bahasa Inggris functions more like a noun phrase modifier)

So the normal order is:

noun + adjective → ilmuwan muda

What exactly does ilmuwan mean, and is it the same as ilmu?
  • ilmu = “knowledge, science”
  • The suffix -wan often means “person who does / is related to X” (like -ist or -er in English).

So:

  • ilmuwan = “scientist” (a person of science/knowledge)

They are related, but:

  • ilmu is the abstract noun (“science, knowledge”),
  • ilmuwan is the person (“scientist”).
How does menjelaskan work? Is it transitive like “to explain” in English?

Yes, menjelaskan is a transitive verb (it takes a direct object).

Basic pattern:

  • menjelaskan + [what is explained] + (kepada + [who receives the explanation])

In this sentence:

  • menjelaskan = to explain
  • cara kerja roket = what is being explained (direct object)
  • kepada murid-murid = to whom (indirect object)

So the structure is:

Seorang ilmuwan muda (subject)
menjelaskan (verb)
cara kerja roket (object: what is explained)
kepada murid-murid (indirect object: to whom)

Could I say menjelaskan tentang cara kerja roket?

You can hear menjelaskan tentang …, but it’s usually not necessary and can sound a bit redundant or less natural in careful writing.

  • menjelaskan cara kerja roket is already “explain how the rocket works”.
  • tentang = “about”, so menjelaskan tentang cara kerja roket literally feels like “explain about how the rocket works”.

In most standard sentences:

  • Prefer menjelaskan + noun phrase without tentang, especially in formal or written Indonesian.
What does the phrase cara kerja roket literally mean?

Breakdown:

  • cara = way, manner, method
  • kerja = work, working
  • roket = rocket

cara kerja roket literally is:

“the way of working (of) the rocket”

Natural English equivalent: “how a rocket works” or “the working principle of a rocket”.

Pattern:

  • cara kerja mesin – how a machine works
  • cara kerja komputer – how a computer works
  • cara kerja otak – how the brain works
Why is it kepada murid-murid and not untuk murid-murid?

Both kepada and untuk can translate to “to/for”, but they’re used differently:

  • kepada is used for giving or directing something to a person / people (recipients of speech, actions, or objects).
  • untuk is more general “for (the purpose/benefit of)”.

In this sentence:

  • The scientist is explaining (saying something) to the students, so kepada is the correct choice:
    • menjelaskan … kepada murid-murid

Examples:

  • Dia memberikan hadiah kepada temannya. – He gives a gift to his friend.
  • Ini untuk temannya. – This is for his friend (for their benefit/purpose).

If you said menjelaskan … untuk murid-murid, it would sound more like the explanation is intended for their benefit, but kepada directly encodes “to (someone)” and is more standard here.

Why is murid-murid repeated? Is that how you make plurals?

Yes, one common way to mark plural in Indonesian is reduplication (repeating the noun):

  • murid = student
  • murid-murid = students

Other examples:

  • buku – book → buku-buku – books
  • guru – teacher → guru-guru – teachers

But note:

  • Indonesian does not require a plural marker every time.
  • Plural can be understood from context, numbers, or words like para.

Alternatives:

  • murid-murid – clearly plural, somewhat neutral
  • para murid – “the students” (often slightly more formal group reference)
  • just murid – could be singular or plural, depending on context

Here, murid-murid makes it explicit that the explanation is to multiple students.

Why isn’t roket also repeated as roket-roket if there might be many rockets?

Indonesian only marks plural when it’s needed or helpful, not automatically for every plural noun.

In cara kerja roket:

  • We’re talking about the way rockets work in general, or the general principle of a rocket.
  • In this sense, roket can cover both “a rocket” and “rockets” in general.

If you say cara kerja roket-roket, it sounds more like:

  • “how these various rockets (several specific ones) work”

So:

  • roket (singular form, but number not specified) is usually enough for a general explanation like this.
There is no word for “the” or “a” here. How do I know if it means “a young scientist” or “the young scientist”?

Indonesian does not have direct equivalents of English “a/an” and “the”.

Meaning is usually inferred from:

  • Context
  • Words like seorang, itu, ini, etc.

In this sentence:

  • seorang ilmuwan muda naturally reads as “a young scientist” (some young scientist), because of seorang.
  • If you wanted “the young scientist”, you might say:
    • Ilmuwan muda itu menjelaskan … (literally “that young scientist explained …”)

So:

  • seorang often → an unspecified “a”
  • itu/ini often → a more specific “that / this / the”
Can I change the word order, like Seorang ilmuwan muda menjelaskan kepada murid-murid cara kerja roket?

Yes, that alternative order is grammatical:

  • Seorang ilmuwan muda menjelaskan kepada murid-murid cara kerja roket.

Differences:

  • Original: S – V – Object – Indirect object

    • Seorang ilmuwan muda – subject
    • menjelaskan – verb
    • cara kerja roket – what is explained
    • kepada murid-murid – to whom

  • Alternative: S – V – Indirect object – Object

    • Seorang ilmuwan muda – subject
    • menjelaskan – verb
    • kepada murid-murid – to the students
    • cara kerja roket – what is explained

Both are fine. The original slightly emphasizes what is being explained; the reordered one momentarily highlights to whom before stating what.

How do I know if this sentence is in the past, present, or future?

Indonesian verbs usually don’t change form for tense. menjelaskan can mean:

  • “is explaining”
  • “explains”
  • “explained”
  • “will explain”

Tense is clarified by context or by time words:

  • tadi – earlier
  • kemarin – yesterday
  • besok – tomorrow
  • akan – will

Examples:

  • Tadi seorang ilmuwan muda menjelaskan cara kerja roket kepada murid-murid.
    – Earlier, a young scientist explained how rockets work to the students.

  • Besok seorang ilmuwan muda akan menjelaskan cara kerja roket kepada murid-murid.
    – Tomorrow, a young scientist will explain how rockets work to the students.

Without a time marker, it’s simply time-neutral, and you infer from context.

What is the overall formality level of this sentence? Would it be used in everyday conversation?

The sentence is in standard, neutral Indonesian, suitable for:

  • Written texts (articles, textbooks, exam questions)
  • Formal or semi-formal speech (lectures, presentations)

In everyday very casual conversation, people might shorten or change some parts, for example:

  • Ada ilmuwan muda yang jelasin cara kerja roket ke murid-murid.
  • Tadi ilmuwan muda jelasin gimana roket kerja ke anak-anak.

But as-is, Seorang ilmuwan muda menjelaskan cara kerja roket kepada murid-murid. is perfectly natural in standard Indonesian and is a good model sentence to learn from.