Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Guru seni kami sangat sabar.

In Indonesian, when the predicate is an adjective (like sabar – patient), there is usually no separate word for “is/are/am”.
So Guru seni kami sangat sabar literally lines up as:

Guru seni kami – our art teacher (subject)
sangat sabar – very patient (adjectival predicate)

You only use a linking word like adalah mainly before a noun phrase, not before adjectives in simple sentences.

What does guru seni literally mean, and why isn’t there an “of” like in “teacher of art”?

Literally, guru = teacher and seni = art, so guru seni is art teacher or teacher (of) art.
Indonesian often just puts two nouns together with no extra word for “of”; the relationship is understood from context, like:

guru matematika – math teacher
guru bahasa Inggris – English teacher

So guru seni naturally means art teacher without needing a separate “of”.

What exactly does kami mean here, and why is it placed after guru seni?

Kami means we / us, but specifically excluding the person you’re talking to (listener). In this sentence it’s used as a possessive pronoun after the noun phrase, so guru seni kami literally means our art teacher.
In Indonesian, possessive pronouns often follow the noun:

rumah kami – our house
teman saya – my friend

So guru seni kami is the natural word order.

What is the difference between kami and kita? Could we say Guru seni kita sangat sabar?

kami = we / our, excluding the listener.
kita = we / our, including the listener.

So:

Guru seni kami – our (but not your) art teacher.
Guru seni kita – our art teacher, and you are part of that group too (same class/school, etc.).

Both are grammatically correct; which one you use depends on whether the listener is part of the “we” or not.

Could this sentence mean “Our art teachers are very patient” (plural), or only one teacher?

By default, guru seni kami is ambiguous in number and can mean our art teacher or our art teachers, depending on context. Indonesian does not always mark plural.
If you want to clearly show plural, you can say:

guru-guru seni kami – our art teachers
para guru seni kami – our art teachers (more formal)

Without those, you rely on context to know if it’s singular or plural.

Why is sangat before sabar? Could we say Guru seni kami sabar sangat?

The normal pattern is sangat + adjective, so sangat sabar is correct.
Putting sangat after the adjective (sabar sangat) is not natural; it sounds wrong in standard Indonesian. The main common alternative pattern uses sekali after the adjective: Guru seni kami sabar sekali (also very patient).

What’s the difference between sangat, sekali, and banget for “very”?

All three intensify an adjective, but the style/position differs:

sangat sabar – very patient (quite neutral/formal; sangat goes before the adjective).
sabar sekali – very/extremely patient (neutral; sekali goes after the adjective).
sabar banget – very/so patient (informal/colloquial; banget goes after the adjective, common in casual speech).

So you could also say Guru seni kami sabar sekali or Guru seni kami sabar banget in the right context.

Is sabar an adjective like in English, or can it also be a verb?

In Guru seni kami sangat sabar, sabar functions as an adjective: patient.
However, sabar can also be part of related forms:

bersabar – to be patient, to exercise patience (verb)
kesabaran – patience (noun)
penyabar – a patient person (noun/adjective)

So the base word sabar is flexible, but here it’s clearly describing the teacher’s quality.

Why is the adjective (sabar) at the end? Can adjectives ever go before nouns in Indonesian?

The basic pattern in Indonesian is noun + adjective, not adjective + noun.
In this sentence, though, sangat sabar is not modifying the noun directly; it’s the predicate:

Guru seni kami – subject
sangat sabar – predicate (describing the subject)

When an adjective directly modifies a noun, it also comes after:

guru sabar – a patient teacher
guru seni yang sabar – an art teacher who is patient

Can I say Guru kami sangat sabar instead of Guru seni kami sangat sabar?

Yes, Guru kami sangat sabar is correct and means Our teacher is very patient, without specifying the subject they teach.
Adding seni gives more information: Guru seni kami = our art teacher. Both sentences are grammatical; they just differ in how specific they are.

Is Guru seni kami sangat sabar formal, informal, or neutral?

The sentence is neutral and perfectly acceptable in both spoken and written Indonesian.
Slightly more formal alternatives might be:

Guru seni kami sangat penyabar. – Our art teacher is very patient (emphasizing a patient personality).
Guru kesenian kami sangat sabar. – Using kesenian instead of seni sounds a bit more formal/school-ish, but the meaning is essentially the same.

How do we know if the teacher is he or she in this sentence?

Indonesian does not mark gender here; guru seni kami could be he or she.
If you need to clarify, you can add a pronoun or context:

Guru seni kami sangat sabar. Dia sangat baik juga. – Our art teacher is very patient. He/She is also very kind.

Still, dia itself can mean he or she, so you often rely on names or extra context to know the gender.

There is no past or future tense marker in Guru seni kami sangat sabar. How would I say “was very patient” or “will be very patient”?

Indonesian usually leaves tense to context, but you can add time words:

Past: Dulu, guru seni kami sangat sabar. – In the past, our art teacher was very patient.
Future: Nanti guru seni kami akan sangat sabar. – Later / in the future, our art teacher will be very patient.

The verb form sabar itself doesn’t change; you indicate time with words like dulu (formerly), tadi (earlier), nanti (later), akan (will), etc.