Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di brosur itu dijelaskan bahwa krisis iklim membuat beberapa hewan menjadi langka. - In that brochure it is explained that the climate crisis makes some animals become rare.

Fronting the location
Putting Di brosur itu first emphasizes where the information is found. It’s like starting English with “In that brochure, it is explained that…”.
Using a passive form
dijelaskan is a passive verb (see below), so there’s no need to show who explains it. The focus is on the information itself, not on the explainer.

You could also say:

Dijelaskan di brosur itu bahwa … (still passive, just different word order)
Brosur itu menjelaskan bahwa … (active: “That brochure explains that …”)

Who is the subject of dijelaskan? There’s no “by someone” in the sentence.

In dijelaskan, the doer (agent) is intentionally left out.

dijelaskan = is explained / is being explained (passive voice).
The person or entity doing the explaining (e.g. the writers, scientists, organization) is not mentioned, because it isn’t important for the message.

If you wanted to include the agent, you could say:

Di brosur itu dijelaskan oleh para ilmuwan bahwa …
“In that brochure, it is explained by scientists that …”

or switch to active:

Para ilmuwan menjelaskan di brosur itu bahwa …
“The scientists explain in that brochure that …”

So grammatically there is no explicit subject in the Indonesian sentence; the structure focuses on the information, not the explainer.

What is the difference between jelas, menjelaskan, and dijelaskan?

All three come from the root jelas:

jelas (adjective): clear, obvious
- Penjelasannya sangat jelas. – “The explanation is very clear.”
menjelaskan (active verb): to explain (someone explains something)
- Guru itu menjelaskan materi. – “The teacher explains the material.”
dijelaskan (passive verb): is explained / is being explained / was explained
- Materi itu dijelaskan oleh guru. – “The material is explained by the teacher.”

In your sentence, dijelaskan fits because we have a passive structure: something (the fact about the climate crisis) is explained in the brochure.

What does bahwa do in this sentence? Could it be left out?

bahwa functions like English “that” introducing a clause after a verb of saying, explaining, reporting, etc.

dijelaskan bahwa krisis iklim…
≈ “it is explained that the climate crisis…”

This structure is common in formal or written Indonesian. In more casual speech, bahwa is often dropped if the sentence is still clear:

Di brosur itu dijelaskan krisis iklim membuat beberapa hewan menjadi langka.

That sounds less formal but is still understandable. In writing, especially in something like a brochure, bahwa feels more standard and explicit.

Why is it krisis iklim without anything like “the” or “a”? How do articles work here?

Indonesian has no articles like “the” or “a/an”. Nouns are usually bare:

krisis iklim – “climate crisis” / “the climate crisis” (context decides)
beberapa hewan – “some animals”

The phrase krisis iklim is just a noun–noun compound:

krisis = crisis
iklim = climate

Depending on context, it can mean “a climate crisis,” “the climate crisis,” or even “climate crises” in a general sense. English has to choose an article; Indonesian does not.

What exactly is membuat doing here? How does the structure X membuat Y menjadi Z work?

membuat here means “to cause / to make (something become something)”, not “to make” in the sense of “to physically create”.

Pattern:

X membuat Y menjadi Z
X causes Y to become Z.

In your sentence:

X = krisis iklim (the climate crisis)
Y = beberapa hewan (some animals)
Z = langka (rare)

So: “The climate crisis makes/causes some animals to become rare.”

This pattern is very common:

Perubahan ini membuat hidup mereka menjadi sulit.
“This change makes their lives difficult.”
Kurangnya hujan membuat tanah menjadi kering.
“The lack of rain makes the soil dry.”

Why is menjadi used before langka? Could we just say membuat beberapa hewan langka?

menjadi means “to become”. The phrase menjadi langka literally means “to become rare.”

Without menjadi, you get:

krisis iklim membuat beberapa hewan langka

This is still grammatical and means roughly the same thing: “the climate crisis makes some animals rare.” However:

membuat … menjadi langka puts a bit more focus on the process of becoming rare.
membuat … langka sounds a bit more compact and direct.

Both are acceptable; menjadi just makes the change-of-state meaning very explicit.

What is the difference between menjadi and jadi?

Both can relate to “become / be”, but they differ in formality and usage:

menjadi
- Standard, more formal.
- Main meaning: to become.
- Example: Dia ingin menjadi dokter. – “He wants to become a doctor.”
jadi
- Has several uses:
  - Informal “to become”: Dia jadi marah. – “He became angry.”
  - “so / therefore / in that case” (as a conjunction):
    Jadi, kita berangkat sekarang. – “So, we’re leaving now.”
  - “to end up (doing/being something)” in speech:
    Akhirnya saya jadi beli. – “In the end I ended up buying it.”

In a formal brochure sentence like yours, menjadi langka is more natural than jadi langka.

Why is it beberapa hewan without any plural ending? How do we know it’s plural?

Indonesian does not mark plural with an ending like English -s.

Plurality is usually shown by:

Context
Numbers or quantifiers like:
- beberapa – several / some
- banyak – many / a lot of
- dua, tiga, empat, … – two, three, four, …

Here:

beberapa hewan = “several animals / some animals”

beberapa already implies more than one, so no extra plural marking is needed. Also, you don’t need a classifier for animals here; just beberapa hewan is fine.

What is the nuance of beberapa? Is it “a few” or “some”?

beberapa means “several / some”—more than two, but not a very large number.

Nuance compared to similar words:

beberapa hewan – several / some animals (neutral, mid-small amount)
sedikit hewan – a small number of animals / few animals (emphasizes smallness)
banyak hewan – many animals (emphasizes largeness)

So beberapa hewan suggests an unspecified, moderate number of animals, not just one or two, but not a huge amount either.

What is the difference between hewan and binatang?

Both hewan and binatang mean “animal”, but there are register and usage differences:

hewan
- More formal / scientific.
- Common in education, science, official documents: hewan langka, hewan peliharaan, hewan liar.
binatang
- More everyday / colloquial.
- Also used as an insult for people (like calling someone “an animal” in English), so be careful who you say it to.
- Still fine in neutral contexts: binatang kesayangan – “beloved pet”.

In a brochure talking about environmental or scientific issues, hewan is the more natural choice.

What exactly does langka mean? How is it different from jarang or sedikit?

langka means “rare / scarce” in the sense that there are very few of something in existence or available.

hewan langka – rare animals (few individuals left, endangered)
buku ini sudah langka. – this book is already hard to find / rare.

Differences:

langka – rare/scarce as a thing (low availability, low population).
jarang – seldom / rarely, usually for frequency or distribution:
- Dia jarang datang. – He rarely comes.
- Binatang ini jarang ditemukan. – This animal is rarely found.
sedikit – few / a little (quantity):
- Hewan itu tinggal sedikit. – There are only a few of those animals left.

In your sentence, langka is about the animals themselves becoming rare in number.

Could we say karena krisis iklim instead of using membuat? For example: beberapa hewan menjadi langka karena krisis iklim?

Yes, that is another very natural way to express the same idea:

Beberapa hewan menjadi langka karena krisis iklim.
“Some animals become rare because of the climate crisis.”

Comparison:

krisis iklim membuat beberapa hewan menjadi langka
- Uses membuat (causative “make/cause”).
- Slightly more directly causal: “X makes Y become Z.”
beberapa hewan menjadi langka karena krisis iklim
- Uses karena (“because”).
- States the effect first (animals become rare), then gives the reason.

Both are correct; the original sentence just chooses the membuat pattern packaged inside the larger clause introduced by bahwa.

Is there any tense in dijelaskan or membuat? How do we know if this is past, present, or future?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense (past/present/future). So:

dijelaskan can mean is explained / was explained / will be explained, depending on context.
membuat can mean makes / made / will make, again depending on context.

Time is usually shown by:

Time expressions: kemarin (yesterday), sudah (already), akan (will), sekarang (now), etc.
Context: knowing we’re talking about a brochure that exists now, the default interpretation is something like “it is explained (there) that…” and a general, ongoing situation about the climate crisis.

So the sentence is more like a timeless/general statement, unless extra time markers are added.