Beberapa keluarga kaya menyumbang obat, sedangkan keluarga miskin membantu sebagai sukarelawan.

Some rich families donate medicine, while poor families help as volunteers.

Breakdown of Beberapa keluarga kaya menyumbang obat, sedangkan keluarga miskin membantu sebagai sukarelawan.

• keluarga: the family
• membantu: to help
• obat: the medicine
• sebagai: as
• menyumbang: to donate
• beberapa: some
• sedangkan: whereas
• sukarelawan: the volunteer
• kaya: rich
• miskin: poor

Questions & Answers about Beberapa keluarga kaya menyumbang obat, sedangkan keluarga miskin membantu sebagai sukarelawan.

What is the function of beberapa here, and how is it different from just saying keluarga kaya without it?

Beberapa means some / several. It:

• Limits the number: not all rich families, just some of them.
• Automatically implies plural: beberapa keluarga kaya = some rich families.

If you say just keluarga kaya, it could mean:

• a rich family (singular), or
• rich families (plural), depending on context.

Beberapa removes that ambiguity and clearly suggests more than one but not many.

Why is it keluarga kaya and keluarga miskin (adjective after noun), not kaya keluarga or miskin keluarga?

In Indonesian, descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun:

• keluarga kaya = rich family / rich families
• keluarga miskin = poor family / poor families

Putting the adjective before the noun (kaya keluarga, miskin keluarga) is either wrong or would sound very strange and ungrammatical in standard Indonesian.

So the normal pattern is:

• noun + adjective: keluarga kaya, rumah besar, orang baik

How do I know keluarga is plural here, since there is no plural ending like English “-s”?

Indonesian usually does not change the noun form for plural. Plurality is shown by:

1. Quantifiers

   • beberapa keluarga → some families
     The word beberapa already tells you it’s plural.

2. Context
   If context clearly indicates more than one, the noun stays the same:

   • Banyak keluarga datang. = Many families came.

So in beberapa keluarga kaya, beberapa makes keluarga plural in meaning, even though the word keluarga itself doesn’t change form.

Could I say keluarga-keluarga kaya instead of beberapa keluarga kaya? What’s the difference?

Keluarga-keluarga kaya uses reduplication (repeating the noun) to mark plural. It means rich families as a general group.

Differences:

• beberapa keluarga kaya
  = some rich families (a certain, limited number)

• keluarga-keluarga kaya
  = rich families in general, emphasizing plurality but not quantity.

You could say:

• Beberapa keluarga-keluarga kaya… → sounds odd and redundant, because both beberapa and reduplication signal plurality.

Most natural in this sentence is beberapa keluarga kaya.

What exactly does menyumbang mean? How is it different from memberi or memberikan?

Menyumbang = to donate / to contribute (as a donation).

• menyumbang obat = donate medicine
• memberi obat = give medicine (not necessarily a donation)
• memberikan obat = give/administer medicine (more formal/politer register)

So:

• Use menyumbang when the giving is a charitable donation.
• Use memberi / memberikan for more neutral “give” situations, not necessarily about charity.

Can I say menyumbangkan obat instead of menyumbang obat?

Yes, you can. Both are grammatical:

• menyumbang obat
• menyumbangkan obat

In everyday speech, menyumbang + object is very common.
Menyumbangkan can sound a bit more formal or written, but the meaning is essentially the same here: donate medicine.

So your sentence is natural as-is; changing to menyumbangkan is also acceptable but not necessary.

Does obat always mean “medicine”, or can it also mean “drugs” the way English does?

Obat generally means:

• medicine, medication, remedy, drug (in the neutral, medical sense)

Examples:

• obat batuk = cough medicine
• obat sakit kepala = headache medicine

For illegal drugs, Indonesian usually uses:

• narkoba = narcotics (illegal drugs)
• obat-obatan terlarang = illegal drugs (literally “forbidden medicines/drugs”)

In this sentence, menyumbang obat is clearly donating medicine, not illegal drugs.

What does sedangkan do in this sentence? How is it different from dan, sementara, or tetapi?

Sedangkan is a contrastive conjunction that connects two clauses and highlights a difference or contrast between them.

Here:

• Beberapa keluarga kaya menyumbang obat, sedangkan keluarga miskin membantu sebagai sukarelawan.
  → Some rich families donate medicine, whereas poor families help as volunteers.

Comparisons:

• dan = and (just adds information, not contrast)

  • … menyumbang obat, dan keluarga miskin membantu …
    → sounds like two equal actions, less emphasis on contrast.

• sementara = while / whereas (often more about time, but also used for contrast; similar to sedangkan)

  • sementara is common in both time and contrast senses; sedangkan leans more to contrast between two subjects.

• tetapi = but / however

  • Usually connects clauses that are more directly opposed:
    Beberapa keluarga kaya menyumbang obat, tetapi keluarga miskin tidak bisa menyumbang apa-apa.
    → … but poor families can’t donate anything.

So sedangkan nicely shows a different role for each group without strong opposition: rich donate goods, poor donate labor.

How do we know if this sentence is in the past, present, or future? There is no tense marking on menyumbang or membantu.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Menyumbang and membantu always look the same, no matter if the action is past, present, or future.

Tense is understood from:

• Time words:

  • kemarin (yesterday)
  • sekarang (now)
  • besok (tomorrow)
    Example:
    Kemarin beberapa keluarga kaya menyumbang obat…
    → Clearly past.

• Context (what was said before/after).

So the bare sentence could be translated as:

• Some rich families donate medicine, whereas poor families help as volunteers. (present/generic)
  or
• Some rich families donated medicine, whereas poor families helped as volunteers. (past)

Both are possible; English tense depends on context.

What is the role of sebagai in membantu sebagai sukarelawan, and how is it different from seperti or menjadi?

Sebagai means as (in the role/capacity of).

• membantu sebagai sukarelawan
  = help as volunteers / help in the role of volunteers.

Differences:

• sebagai = as (function/role)

  • Dia bekerja sebagai guru. = He works as a teacher.

• seperti = like / as if (comparison)

  • Dia bekerja seperti guru. = He works like a teacher (similar to a teacher, but may not actually be one).

• menjadi = to become

  • Dia menjadi sukarelawan. = He became a volunteer.

In this sentence, sebagai is correct because it talks about the role the poor families take when helping.

Is sukarelawan singular or plural here, and does it need para or a plural marker?

Sukarelawan by itself can be singular or plural, depending on context. Here it is understood as plural because:

• We’re talking about keluarga miskin (poor families) → more than one person → naturally many volunteers.

You could optionally say:

• … membantu sebagai para sukarelawan.

Para is a plural marker mainly used with people, and often sounds more formal or emphatic. But it is not required; sebagai sukarelawan is already natural and commonly used to mean as volunteers.

Why isn’t keluarga repeated after the comma? Why not say … sedangkan beberapa keluarga miskin …?

The sentence is already clear without repeating beberapa, but you can include it:

• Beberapa keluarga kaya menyumbang obat, sedangkan beberapa keluarga miskin membantu sebagai sukarelawan.

Nuance:

• Without repeating beberapa:

  • Focuses more on the contrast of roles: rich families vs poor families. The exact quantity of poor families is less emphasized.

• With beberapa repeated:

  • Emphasizes that on both sides, only some families (not all rich, not all poor) are doing these actions.

Both are grammatically correct. The original sentence is just slightly more streamlined and still clear.

Could the comma before sedangkan be removed, or is it necessary?

In Indonesian writing, a comma before sedangkan is standard and recommended because:

• Sedangkan is introducing a new clause that contrasts with the previous one.
• The comma helps show that you’re moving from one clause to another.

So:

• Beberapa keluarga kaya menyumbang obat, sedangkan keluarga miskin membantu sebagai sukarelawan. ✅ (preferred)
• Without the comma is not typical in careful writing and may be marked as incorrect in formal contexts.