Guru menjelaskan bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata di papan tulis.

The teacher explains how to calculate the average grade on the board.

Breakdown of Guru menjelaskan bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata di papan tulis.

• guru: the teacher
• di: on
• menghitung: to calculate
• menjelaskan: to explain
• bagaimana: how
• papan tulis: the board
• nilai: the grade
• rata-rata: average

Questions & Answers about Guru menjelaskan bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata di papan tulis.

What does menjelaskan mean here, and how does tense work in this sentence?

Menjelaskan means to explain.

• Root: jelas = clear
• Prefix meN-
  • root = menjelaskan = to make something clear, to explain (transitive verb)

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

• explains / is explaining – The teacher explains how to calculate…
• explained / was explaining – The teacher explained how to calculate…

The actual tense is understood from context or from added time words, like:

• Kemarin guru menjelaskan… – Yesterday the teacher explained…
• Sekarang guru menjelaskan… – Now the teacher is explaining…

What is the role of bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata in the sentence?

Bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata is a clause acting as the object of the verb menjelaskan.

Structure:

• Guru – subject (the teacher)
• menjelaskan – verb (explained)
• bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata – what the teacher explained (object clause)
• di papan tulis – where (location phrase)

In English, this object clause is “how to calculate the average score”:

• Guru menjelaskan [bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata] di papan tulis.
• The teacher explained [how to calculate the average score] on the board.

So you can think of the pattern as:
menjelaskan + (bagaimana + verb phrase) = “explain how to …”

Why is it menghitung and not just hitung?

Both are related to the idea of counting / calculating, but:

• hitung – base form, often seen:
  • in dictionaries
  • in commands / imperatives: Hitung nilai rata-rata! – Calculate the average score!
• menghitung – base hitung
  • prefix meN-, making a standard active verb:
    • Saya menghitung. – I calculate / I am calculating.
    • Bagaimana menghitung… – How (to) calculate…

In this sentence, we need the normal verbal form menghitung because it sits inside a clause (bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata) that functions like “how to calculate…”, not a command.

What exactly does nilai rata-rata mean, and why is there a hyphen?

Nilai rata-rata literally is:

• nilai – value, score, grade, mark
• rata-rata – average

So nilai rata-rata = average score / average grade.

About the hyphen:

• rata-rata is a reduplicated word: rata repeated with a hyphen.
• Reduplication in Indonesian (A-A) is often written with a hyphen: pelan-pelan, kecil-kecil, buku-buku, rata-rata, etc.
• There is no space around the hyphen: correct is rata-rata, not rata - rata or rata rata.

In everyday school context, nilai usually means a grade or test score, so nilai rata-rata naturally reads as the average score.

Why is it di papan tulis for “on the board”? Doesn’t di mean “in / at”?

Di is a general locative preposition that can translate as in, at, on, depending on context.

• di rumah – at home
• di meja – on the table
• di sekolah – at school
• di papan tulis – on the blackboard / at the board

Indonesian usually doesn’t distinguish between “in / on / at” as precisely as English does. Di just marks location; the exact English preposition depends on the noun and common usage.

So di papan tulis is the natural way to say on the board / at the blackboard.

Is papan tulis one word or two, and what does it literally mean?

It’s written as two words: papan tulis.

• papan – board / plank
• tulis – write / writing

Literally: writing board, which corresponds to blackboard / whiteboard in English. In practice, papan tulis is a general term; whether it’s actually black, green, or white depends on the classroom, not the phrase.

Why is there no word for “the” in Guru menjelaskan…? Should it be “a teacher” or “the teacher”?

Indonesian has no articles like a / an / the. The noun guru by itself can mean:

• a teacher
• the teacher
• teachers (in some contexts)

The exact sense is determined by context, not by the form of the noun.

If you really want to emphasize “a teacher (one teacher)”, you can say:

• Seorang guru menjelaskan… – A teacher explained…

If it’s clear from context which teacher you mean (for example, the class’s teacher), simple Guru menjelaskan… normally feels like The teacher explained… in English.

Is it okay to say Guru menjelaskan cara menghitung nilai rata-rata instead of using bagaimana? What’s the difference?

Yes, that is correct, and it’s a very natural variation.

• bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata – how to calculate the average score
• cara menghitung nilai rata-rata – the way / method to calculate the average score

Nuance:

• bagaimana… focuses on “how” (the manner) in a more direct, question-like way.
• cara… focuses on “the method / the way”.

In many teaching contexts they are nearly interchangeable:

• Guru menjelaskan bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata.
• Guru menjelaskan cara menghitung nilai rata-rata.

Both sound natural.

Should there be a comma before bagaimana, like in English “The teacher explained, how to calculate…”?

No comma is needed, and in Indonesian it would actually look strange to put one there.

Correct:

• Guru menjelaskan bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata di papan tulis.

In Indonesian, object clauses introduced by bahwa, kalau, bagaimana, etc. are usually not separated by a comma from the main verb.

Even in English, you normally don’t put a comma there:

• The teacher explained how to calculate the average score on the board. ✅
• The teacher explained, how to calculate the average score on the board. ❌ (incorrect / unnatural)

Could we move di papan tulis to another position in the sentence?

Yes, Indonesian word order is fairly flexible for location phrases. These are all grammatical (with slightly different emphasis or rhythm):

1. Guru menjelaskan bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata di papan tulis.
   – Neutral; most common.

2. Guru menjelaskan di papan tulis bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata.
   – Emphasizes “at the board” a bit more.

3. Di papan tulis, guru menjelaskan bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata.
   – Fronted location for narrative style; feels a bit more written/formal.

The safest and most natural for learners is the original: place di papan tulis at the end.

How would this sentence change in a very informal, spoken style among students?

In casual speech, you might hear more informal variants, for example:

• Bu guru jelasin gimana ngitung nilai rata-rata di papan tulis.

Changes:

• Bu guru – “Mrs./Miss teacher”, using a familiar address
• jelasin – colloquial shortened form of menjelaskan
• gimana – informal bagaimana
• ngitung – informal menghitung

Your textbook-style sentence:

• Guru menjelaskan bagaimana menghitung nilai rata-rata di papan tulis.

is perfectly correct and neutral; the informal version is mainly for understanding casual speech.