Saya kagum pada guru kami.

I am amazed by our teacher.

Breakdown of Saya kagum pada guru kami.

• adalah: to be
• saya: I
• guru: the teacher
• kami: our
• kagum: amazed
• pada: by

Questions & Answers about Saya kagum pada guru kami.

Is kagum a verb or an adjective here? In English we say “I admire”, but kagum looks like “amazed/admiring” rather than “to admire”.

In Saya kagum pada guru kami, kagum behaves more like an adjective meaning “amazed / in awe / full of admiration”.

So grammatically it’s close to:

• Saya kagum = I am in awe / I feel admiration

Indonesian often expresses feelings with:

• Saya + adjective
  e.g. Saya sedih (I am sad), Saya bangga (I am proud), Saya kagum (I am amazed / admire).

There is also a verb form mengagumi (to admire), so you could say:

• Saya mengagumi guru kami = I admire our teacher.

Both are correct, but:

• Saya kagum pada guru kami emphasizes your state of admiration.
• Saya mengagumi guru kami emphasizes the action/attitude of admiring.

Why do we say kagum pada guru kami and not just kagum guru kami? Is pada necessary?

Yes, in this sentence pada is needed.

Many Indonesian adjectives of feeling or attitude are followed by pada or terhadap when they refer to a person:

• kagum pada / terhadap (amazed at / in awe of)
• marah pada / kepada (angry at)
• takut pada (afraid of)
• cinta kepada (in love with)

So:

• Saya kagum pada guru kami is natural and correct.
• Saya kagum guru kami sounds wrong or incomplete to native ears.

Think of pada here roughly like “at/of/towards” in English, depending on the adjective.

Can I say Saya kagum dengan guru kami instead of Saya kagum pada guru kami? What is the difference between pada and dengan here?

You will hear both:

• Saya kagum pada guru kami.
• Saya kagum dengan guru kami.

Both are generally understood as the same meaning in everyday speech.

Subtle points:

• pada is often felt as a bit more formal or neutral with feelings/attitudes.
• dengan is very common in informal speech and can sound slightly more casual.

For learners, both are acceptable, but in writing or formal contexts, pada is usually the safer default with adjectives of emotion like kagum.

When should I use kagum vs mengagumi with this sentence?

Both are correct but slightly different in tone:

1. Saya kagum pada guru kami.

   • Focus: your feeling/state (I am amazed / in awe of our teacher).
   • Very common in spoken Indonesian.
   • Slightly more emotional/subjective.

2. Saya mengagumi guru kami.

   • Focus: the action/attitude of admiring.
   • Sounds a bit more formal or neutral.
   • Common in writing, essays, speeches.

You can safely use either. If you’re describing your feelings in conversation, Saya kagum pada guru kami is very natural.

What is the difference between guru kami and guru kita? Both look like “our teacher” in English.

Indonesian distinguishes two kinds of “we/our”:

• kami = we / our (excluding the listener)
  The listener is not part of the group.
• kita = we / our (including the listener)
  The listener is part of the group.

So:

• guru kami = our teacher, but not your teacher (the listener is outside the group).
• guru kita = our teacher, including you (the listener shares this teacher).

In Saya kagum pada guru kami, the speaker is implying:

• “I admire the teacher who belongs to us (my group), but not to you.”

If I’m talking to my classmates about a teacher who teaches all of us, should I say guru kami or guru kita?

In that situation, you and your classmates share the same teacher, so the listener is part of the group.

Natural choice:

• guru kita = “our teacher (yours and mine)”

So to classmates you would more naturally say:

• Saya kagum pada guru kita.

Can I drop Saya and just say Kagum pada guru kami?

You can, and people do it, especially in informal speech or writing (like chat, social media, captions):

• Kagum pada guru kami.

This is understood as:

• “(I am) amazed by our teacher.”

However:

• With no subject, it sounds more like a comment or caption than a full formal sentence.
• In formal writing or when clarity is important, keep Saya:
  • Saya kagum pada guru kami.

How do I say “I really / very much admire our teacher”? Where do I put sangat or sekali?

You have a few natural options:

1. Using sangat (very) before the adjective:

   • Saya sangat kagum pada guru kami.

2. Using sekali (very) after the adjective:

   • Saya kagum sekali pada guru kami.

3. Using both an intensifier and the verb form:

   • Saya sangat mengagumi guru kami.

All are correct.
Patterns to remember:

• sangat + adjective (before): sangat kagum
• adjective + sekali (after): kagum sekali

Is this sentence in the present tense? How would I say “I was impressed by our teacher”?

Indonesian verbs and adjectives generally don’t change for tense.
Saya kagum pada guru kami can mean:

• I am impressed by our teacher.
• I was impressed by our teacher.
• I (generally) admire our teacher.

If you need to be clear about time, you add a time word:

• Dulu saya kagum pada guru kami.
  I used to admire / I was impressed by our teacher.
• Sejak dulu saya kagum pada guru kami.
  I have admired our teacher since long ago.
• Sekarang saya kagum pada guru kami.
  Now I admire our teacher.

Does guru here mean one teacher or many teachers? There is no plural marker like “-s”.

In Indonesian, nouns usually do not change for singular vs plural.

• guru can mean “teacher” or “teachers”, depending on context.
• guru kami could be:
  • “our teacher” (one)
  • “our teachers” (more than one)

Context usually makes it clear. If you want to emphasize plural, you can say:

• para guru kami (our teachers – formal, emphasizes plural)
• guru-guru kami (our teachers – everyday speech, plural marked by reduplication)

Could I say Saya kagum terhadap guru kami instead of pada? What is the nuance of terhadap?

Yes, you can say:

• Saya kagum terhadap guru kami.

This is grammatically correct and sounds more formal or written.
Nuances:

• pada: very common, neutral, works in both spoken and written language.
• terhadap: more formal/academic, often in essays, reports, or formal speeches.

For everyday conversation, pada (or dengan) is more natural:

• Saya kagum pada guru kami.

Is Saya kagum pada guru kami polite and appropriate to say directly to the teacher?

Yes, it is polite and acceptable. If you are speaking to the teacher, though, you’d usually refer to them as Bapak/Ibu or use their name/title, not guru kami:

• To the teacher:
  • Saya kagum pada Bapak. (to a male teacher)
  • Saya kagum pada Ibu. (to a female teacher)
  • Saya kagum pada Bapak/Ibu sebagai guru.

Guru kami is more natural when you are talking about the teacher to someone else, not directly to them.