Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Generasi muda di keluarga kami belajar mengatur uang supaya tidak bangkrut. - The young generation in our family learns to manage money so as not to go bankrupt.

Generasi muda literally means “young generation”, but in practice it is very close to English “young people” or “the youth” as a group.

It refers collectively to younger people, usually teenagers to people in their 20s or 30s.
It is more general and a bit more formal than anak muda (which also means “young people” but sounds more casual/conversational).
In this sentence, Generasi muda di keluarga kami = “The younger generation in our family / the young people in our family.”

So you can think of generasi muda as a collective label, not an individual countable noun like “a young person.”

Why isn’t there any word like “the” before generasi muda or keluarga?

Indonesian doesn’t use articles like “a / an / the”.

Whether something is definite (“the young generation”) or indefinite (“a young generation / young generations”) is understood from context, not from a separate word.

So:

generasi muda can be understood as “a young generation”, “the young generation”, or just “young people”, depending on context.
keluarga kami can mean “our family” (the specific one everyone knows we’re talking about).

You just say generasi muda di keluarga kami, and the “the” is implied by the context that you are talking about your own family.

Why is it di keluarga kami and not dalam keluarga kami? What’s the difference between di and dalam here?

Both di keluarga kami and dalam keluarga kami are grammatically possible, but there is a nuance:

di is a very general location preposition (“at / in / on”).
- di keluarga kami = “in/within our family” in a broad, everyday way.
dalam is more like “inside / within (the inside of)” and can sound a bit more formal or emphasize “inside-ness”.
- dalam keluarga kami feels a little more formal or written, and sometimes more conceptual (“within our family unit / within the structure of our family”).

In normal conversation, di keluarga kami is very natural and common. Dalam keluarga kami is fine but can feel more formal or bookish in some contexts.

Could I drop di and say Generasi muda keluarga kami?

That would sound odd or at least very unusual.

You normally need di or dalam to express “in our family”:

Natural: Generasi muda di keluarga kami…
Also okay (more formal): Generasi muda dalam keluarga kami…
Awkward / unnatural in this meaning: Generasi muda keluarga kami…

Without di/dalam, generasi muda keluarga kami feels like you’re sticking two noun phrases together without a clear relationship. It’s not how native speakers normally express “the young generation in our family”.

Why is it keluarga kami and not keluarga kita? What’s the difference between kami and kita?

Both kami and kita mean “we / us / our”, but:

kami = “we / our” excluding the person you’re talking to.
kita = “we / our” including the person you’re talking to.

So:

keluarga kami = “our family (but not including you, the listener)”
keluarga kita = “our family (including you as part of this family)”

In the sentence Generasi muda di keluarga kami…, the speaker is probably talking to someone who is not part of that family, so kami is correct.

If the speaker is talking to another family member, they might say keluarga kita instead, to include that person in “our family”.

Why is it belajar mengatur uang and not belajar untuk mengatur uang? Do we need untuk after belajar?

You do not need untuk after belajar when it’s followed directly by a verb.

belajar mengatur uang = “to learn to manage money”
belajar untuk mengatur uang is also possible, but it sounds a bit heavier or more formal. In everyday speech, people usually omit untuk after belajar in this structure.

Pattern:

belajar
- [verb]:
  - belajar mengemudi = learn to drive
  - belajar memasak = learn to cook
  - belajar mengatur uang = learn to manage money

So belajar mengatur uang is the most natural and common phrasing here.

What does mengatur uang literally mean, and why use mengatur with uang?

Mengatur literally means “to arrange, to regulate, to organize, to manage.”
Uang = money.

So mengatur uang = “to manage money” / “to handle money well”.

It covers ideas like:

planning spending
budgeting
not wasting money
making sure you don’t run out

You could also hear:

mengelola keuangan (more formal: “to manage finances”)
mengatur keuangan (very common: “to manage finances”)

But in everyday speech mengatur uang is perfectly natural and clear: “manage money.”

What is the function of supaya here? How is it different from agar or untuk?

Supaya introduces a purpose clause, similar to “so that / in order that”.

In the sentence:

… belajar mengatur uang supaya tidak bangkrut.
= “(they) learn to manage money so that (they) don’t go bankrupt.”

Comparison:

supaya and agar are very close in meaning (“so that / in order that”):
- supaya: very common in spoken Indonesian, neutral.
- agar: a bit more formal or written, but also common.
untuk usually means “for / in order to”, and is more often followed by:
- a noun: uang untuk makan = money for food
- a verb in infinitive-like use: belajar untuk lulus ujian = to study in order to pass the exam

Here, because the clause afterwards has a subject understood (“they don’t go bankrupt”), supaya (or agar) is more natural than untuk.

Can I replace supaya with agar in this sentence?

Yes.

Generasi muda di keluarga kami belajar mengatur uang supaya tidak bangkrut.
Generasi muda di keluarga kami belajar mengatur uang agar tidak bangkrut.

Both are correct and have the same basic meaning: “so that they don’t go bankrupt.”

Nuance:

supaya: very neutral and common in everyday speech.
agar: slightly more formal or bookish but still common in speech, especially in more careful/formal contexts.

For casual conversation, supaya is often preferred; in formal writing, agar is very frequent.

Why is it tidak bangkrut and not jangan bangkrut?

Tidak and jangan are used in different situations:

tidak = “not” (used to negate verbs/adjectives in statements)
- mereka tidak bangkrut = they are not bankrupt
jangan = “don’t” (used in commands / prohibitions)
- jangan bangkrut! = don’t go bankrupt! (an instruction)

In this sentence we’re not telling anyone directly “Don’t go bankrupt!”. We’re explaining the purpose of learning to manage money:

belajar mengatur uang supaya tidak bangkrut
= to learn to manage money so that (they) do not go bankrupt.

Because it’s a descriptive purpose clause (not a direct command), tidak is the correct choice.

What does bangkrut mean exactly, and how strong is this word? Are there other ways to say it?

Bangkrut comes from the same root as English “bankrupt”.

It usually means financially ruined, bankrupt, especially for a business, but it can also be used for a person (“broke, out of money”).

In everyday conversation it can be slightly hyperbolic:

Nanti kamu bangkrut! = “You’ll go broke!” / “You’ll end up bankrupt!”

Other ways to express similar ideas:

jatuh bangkrut = go bankrupt (often for businesses)
jatuh miskin = fall into poverty
kehabisan uang = run out of money
bokek (slang) = broke (no money)

In the sentence, tidak bangkrut is a strong but natural way to say “not go bankrupt / not end up broke”.

How do we know the tense here? Could this mean “have learned”, “are learning”, or “will learn”?

Indonesian doesn’t mark tense the way English does; it relies on context and sometimes time words.

Belajar by itself can mean:

“learn / are learning” (present)
“learned / were learning / have learned” (past)
“will learn / will be learning” (future)

In this sentence, without any time marker like sudah (already), sedang (currently), or akan (will), it most naturally sounds like a general present or habitual statement:

“The younger generation in our family learns to manage money so they don’t go bankrupt.”
Implying: this is a general practice / ongoing pattern, not a one-time event.

If you wanted to be more explicit, you could add:

sedang belajar = are currently learning
sudah belajar = have already learned
akan belajar = will learn

Could we change the word order to Di keluarga kami, generasi muda belajar mengatur uang supaya tidak bangkrut?

Yes, that is also natural.

Generasi muda di keluarga kami belajar…
Di keluarga kami, generasi muda belajar…

Both are grammatical and mean the same thing. The second just puts “in our family” at the beginning for emphasis or flow.

Indonesian word order is relatively flexible with adverbial phrases like di keluarga kami. Moving it to the front is common and does not change the core meaning.