Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kami. - We respect neighbors as well as family in our neighborhood.

In Kami menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kami, the speaker is talking about their own group, not necessarily including the listener. For example, a family telling a guest about their values: We (our family) respect neighbors and family in our neighborhood.

If the speaker wants to include the listener as part of the we, they could say:

Kita menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kita.
= We (including you) respect neighbors and family in our environment/neighborhood.

What does menghormati mean grammatically, and how is it formed?

Menghormati is a verb meaning to respect.

It is formed from:

Root: hormat (respect, honor)
Prefix meng-
- root hormat
  - suffix -i → menghormati

Grammatically:

It is an active transitive verb (needs an object).
Pattern: Subject + menghormati + object
→ Kami (subject) menghormati (verb) tetangga maupun keluarga (object).

You usually do not need a preposition like kepada after menghormati. You say:

Kami menghormati guru. = We respect (our) teacher.
not
✗ Kami menghormati kepada guru. (wrong / unnatural)

Does tetangga mean “neighbor” or “neighbors”? How do you know the number?

Tetangga can mean neighbor (singular) or neighbors (plural), depending on context. Indonesian often does not mark plural with an ending like English -s.

In this sentence:

Kami menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga…
The natural reading is neighbors and (our) family / families, because it talks about a general attitude or value, not just one individual.

If you want to make it clearly plural, you can use:

para tetangga = (all) the neighbors
tetangga-tetangga = neighbors (reduplication to show plural, more informal / conversational)

Example:

Kami menghormati para tetangga. = We respect the neighbors.

What does maupun mean, and how is it different from dan?

Maupun roughly means as well as or or (in the sense of both X and Y).
In this sentence:

tetangga maupun keluarga ≈ neighbors as well as family
(implying both are included)

Difference from dan:

dan = and, simple connector:
- tetangga dan keluarga = neighbors and family
maupun often appears in a pair with baik:
- baik tetangga maupun keluarga = both neighbors and family

Using maupun alone, as in this sentence, is still acceptable and understood. It puts a slight emphasis on the idea of both groups being respected, not just listing them.

Is it more correct to say baik tetangga maupun keluarga, instead of just tetangga maupun keluarga?

The more “complete” pattern is:

baik X maupun Y = both X and Y

So:

Kami menghormati baik tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kami.
= We respect both neighbors and family in our environment.

However, in everyday usage people often drop baik and just say:

tetangga maupun keluarga

This is still natural, especially in spoken Indonesian or less formal writing. Adding baik can sound a bit more formal or structured, but both are fine.

What does lingkungan mean here? Is it “environment” like nature, or “neighborhood / community”?

Lingkungan literally means environment / surroundings, but the exact sense depends on context.

Common meanings:

Physical environment / surroundings (including natural environment)
Neighborhood / local community
Circle / sphere / social environment (e.g., work environment, school environment)

In this sentence:

di lingkungan kami most naturally means in our neighborhood / in our community.

So the overall idea is: we respect the people (neighbors and relatives) around us in our living environment.

Does di lingkungan kami describe only keluarga or both tetangga and keluarga?

In normal reading, di lingkungan kami is understood to modify both:

Kami menghormati [tetangga maupun keluarga] [di lingkungan kami].
→ We respect neighbors as well as family who are in our environment/neighborhood.

Indonesian often relies on context rather than strict grammar markers for this kind of scope. If you really wanted to limit it to only one noun, you would usually rephrase or add extra words to make it very clear.

Why is kami repeated at the end (lingkungan kami)? Isn’t that redundant?

The two kami have different grammatical functions:

First kami = subject pronoun (we)
- Kami menghormati… = We respect…
Second kami = possessive pronoun (our)
- lingkungan kami = our environment / our neighborhood

So it is not redundant; it is needed to show whose environment it is.
Compare:

Kami menghormati tetangga di lingkungan.
→ We respect neighbors in the environment. (unclear: which environment?)
Kami menghormati tetangga di lingkungan kami.
→ We respect neighbors in our environment/neighborhood.

Could you replace di lingkungan kami with something like di daerah kami or di sekitar kami?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly:

di lingkungan kami
→ in our environment/neighborhood/community (slightly more general, can include social atmosphere)
di daerah kami
→ in our area/region/district (more geographical/administrative)
di sekitar kami
→ around us / in our immediate surroundings (more spatial, “around where we are”)

All are understandable, but di lingkungan kami nicely captures both place and social environment, which matches the idea of neighbors and family.

Is menghormati formal, or can it be used in everyday spoken Indonesian?

Menghormati is neutral in formality:

It is perfectly fine in everyday speech:
- Kita harus menghormati tetangga. = We must respect our neighbors.
It also works well in formal contexts (speeches, writing, religion, school values, etc.)

If you wanted something more casual and specific, sometimes people use phrases like:

bersikap sopan kepada tetangga = be polite towards neighbors
but menghormati is standard, natural, and widely used.

Do you ever need a preposition like kepada after menghormati, like “respect to someone”?

Normally, no. Menghormati directly takes the object:

Kami menghormati tetangga. = We respect neighbors.
Dia menghormati orang tuanya. = He/She respects his/her parents.

Using kepada would usually be:

memberi hormat kepada = to pay respect to
- Kami memberi hormat kepada tetangga. (more ceremonial/formal)

But with the verb menghormati, the natural pattern is:

menghormati + object
→ Kami menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga…

Why is there no “the” or “our” before tetangga and keluarga?

Indonesian does not use articles like a / an / the, and often omits possessive words (my, our, etc.) when they are clear from context.

In Kami menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kami:

tetangga maupun keluarga is understood in context as (our) neighbors and (our) family, because:
- The subject is kami (we).
- It refers to people in our environment.

If you really want to mark possession explicitly, you can say:

Kami menghormati tetangga-tetangga kami maupun keluarga kami di lingkungan kami.
= We respect our neighbors and our family in our environment.

But this sounds heavy and repetitive in natural Indonesian. The shorter version is preferred.

Can I drop the subject and just say Menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kami?

You can, but the meaning and feel change:

Kami menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kami.
→ A complete statement: We respect neighbors and family…
Menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kami.
→ Looks like:
- a fragment (title, slogan, bullet point), or
- part of a longer sentence.

For example, as a principle on a poster:

Menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kami.
= Respecting neighbors and family in our environment.

In normal full sentences, you keep the subject kami.

How would the meaning change if we used kita instead of kami at the end, like di lingkungan kita?

Changing kami to kita changes who is included in our:

di lingkungan kami = in our environment (excluding the listener)
di lingkungan kita = in our environment (including the listener)

Examples:

Talking to a guest about your family’s values:
- Kami menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kami.
  → We (our family) respect neighbors and family in our environment. (the guest may or may not be part of this “we”)
Talking to fellow community members about shared values:
- Kita menghormati tetangga maupun keluarga di lingkungan kita.
  → We (including you, all of us here) respect neighbors and family in our environment.

The choice between kami and kita is mostly about inclusion of the listener.