Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Blender itu juga dipakai untuk membuat saus tomat sehat tanpa banyak garam. - That blender is also used to make healthy tomato sauce without much salt.

Blender itu juga dipakai untuk membuat saus tomat sehat tanpa banyak garam.

That blender is also used to make healthy tomato sauce without much salt.

Breakdown of Blender itu juga dipakai untuk membuat saus tomat sehat tanpa banyak garam.

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Questions & Answers about Blender itu juga dipakai untuk membuat saus tomat sehat tanpa banyak garam.

In blender itu, what does itu mean exactly, and how is this different from just saying blender or blendernya?

Itu is a demonstrative meaning that (or the … that we both know about).

blender itu = that blender / the blender (that we’re talking about)
It points to a specific blender, maybe visible or already mentioned.
blender (without itu) = just a blender or blenders in general, not a specific one.
blendernya = the blender with a nuance of its/their/my/our blender, depending on context. It often implies possession or “the usual/known one”.

So:

Blender itu juga dipakai… → We mean a specific “that blender”.
Blender juga dipakai… → Blenders in general are also used…
Blendernya juga dipakai… → The (usual/our/his) blender is also used…

Why is the passive form dipakai used instead of the active memakai or pakai?

Dipakai is the passive form of pakai (to use). Indonesian often uses the passive when:

The doer is not important or obvious.
The focus is on the object (here: the blender and its function).

So:

Blender itu juga dipakai untuk…
= That blender is also used to… (focus on the blender and what it’s for)
(Mereka) memakai blender itu untuk…
= They use that blender to… (focus on who uses it)

Both are grammatical, but the passive is very natural here because the sentence is about the function of the blender, not about the user.

If the sentence is passive, who is the subject of dipakai here? How would you say “by me / by us / by them”?

In Blender itu juga dipakai…, the agent (the user) is not stated. It’s just “(people) use that blender…”, like English “That blender is also used to…”, where we don’t say who uses it.

If you want to specify the agent, you add oleh + pronoun/noun:

Blender itu juga dipakai oleh saya untuk…
= That blender is also used by me to…
Blender itu juga dipakai oleh kami untuk…
= …by us…
Blender itu juga dipakai oleh mereka untuk…
= …by them…

In everyday speech, oleh is often dropped if the agent is a pronoun:

Blender itu juga saya pakai untuk…
Blender itu juga kami pakai untuk…

Here the verb goes back to an “active-looking” pattern, but functionally it’s like a passive with a fronted agent.

What is the role of juga here, and can it go in a different position?

Juga means also / too / as well.

In Blender itu juga dipakai…, the structure is:

Blender itu (topic)
juga (also)
dipakai (is used)

It tells us that, in addition to some other use(s) already mentioned or implied, the blender is also used for this purpose.

Other possible positions:

Blender itu dipakai juga untuk…
Blender itu dipakai untuk… juga.

These are grammatical, but:

Blender itu juga dipakai untuk… is the most neutral and common.
…dipakai juga untuk… can sound like you’re adding this use after listing others.
…untuk… juga often emphasizes “also for this purpose” at the end.

Meaning stays basically the same; the nuance and rhythm change slightly.

Why do we need untuk before membuat? Could we just say dipakai membuat saus tomat sehat?

Untuk here introduces purpose, like to / for in English.

Basic pattern:
dipakai untuk + verb = is used to + verb / is used for + -ing

dipakai untuk membuat saus tomat sehat…
= is used to make healthy tomato sauce…

Without untuk, you can say:

Blender itu dipakai membuat saus tomat sehat…

This is colloquial and common in speech, but dipakai untuk membuat is more standard and clearly marks purpose. For learners, it’s safer and clearer to keep untuk.

What exactly does membuat mean here, and why not bikin?

Membuat is the standard/formal verb for to make / to create.

membuat saus tomat sehat = to make healthy tomato sauce

Bikin is a more informal/colloquial synonym:

Blender itu juga dipakai buat bikin saus tomat sehat…

Both are correct, but:

membuat → neutral to formal, good for writing, narration.
bikin → casual spoken Indonesian, informal writing (chats, etc.).

How does saus tomat sehat work grammatically? Why is sehat after saus tomat, and when would you add yang?

In Indonesian, adjectives normally come after the noun:

saus tomat sehat
- saus tomat = tomato sauce
- sehat = healthy

So saus tomat sehat = healthy tomato sauce.

Adding yang before the adjective makes it more like a specific description or clause-like:

saus tomat yang sehat
= “the tomato sauce that is healthy”

Nuance:

saus tomat sehat → a general type/category: healthy tomato sauce (as a kind of thing).
saus tomat yang sehat → contrasts with other tomato sauces that are not healthy, or is pointing to specific ones.

In this sentence, saus tomat sehat (without yang) is natural because we’re talking about the kind of sauce the blender is used for.

What does sehat imply here? Does it mean “completely healthy”, or more like “healthier than usual”?

Sehat literally means healthy, but in food contexts it often implies:

made in a healthier way
following healthy principles

In saus tomat sehat tanpa banyak garam, it suggests:

The sauce is made with less salt, maybe less sugar/oil too.
It’s meant to be part of a healthy diet.

If you specifically want to say “healthier (than normal tomato sauce)”, you can say:

saus tomat yang lebih sehat (daripada biasanya)
= a healthier tomato sauce (than usual)

But everyday speech often just uses sehat to mean “(made) in a healthy/healthier way”.

What exactly does tanpa banyak garam mean? How is it different from tanpa garam or tidak banyak garam?

Breakdown:

tanpa = without
banyak = much / many
garam = salt

So tanpa banyak garam = without much salt.

Nuances:

tanpa banyak garam → there is little salt, but not necessarily zero; emphasis on not a lot.
tanpa garam → without salt (at all), zero salt.
tidak banyak garam → not much salt; similar meaning, but more like a statement than a purpose phrase.
- e.g. Saus itu tidak banyak garam. = That sauce doesn’t have much salt.

In this sentence, tanpa banyak garam fits well because it describes how we make the sauce: “in a way that doesn’t use much salt”.

Why is it tanpa banyak garam and not tanpa garam banyak?

The natural word order is:

tanpa + quantity word + noun
- tanpa banyak garam → without much salt
- tanpa terlalu banyak gula → without too much sugar

Putting banyak after the noun (garam banyak) is not used here. garam banyak could appear in other constructions, but as a phrase meaning “a lot of salt”, you say:

banyak garam, terlalu banyak garam, cukup banyak garam

So tanpa banyak garam follows the common pattern:
tanpa + banyak (how much) + garam (what).

What’s the difference between dipakai and digunakan here? Could we say Blender itu juga digunakan…?

Yes, you can replace dipakai with digunakan:

Blender itu juga digunakan untuk membuat saus tomat sehat tanpa banyak garam.

Differences:

pakai / dipakai
- more everyday, informal-neutral
- very common in speech and casual writing
gunakan / digunakan
- a bit more formal or “bookish”
- common in manuals, official texts, essays

Meaning is the same: is used. In your sentence, dipakai sounds natural and conversational.

Is this sentence formal or informal overall? How might it sound in more casual everyday speech?

The sentence is neutral, suitable for general explanation, spoken or written:

Loanword blender is normal.
dipakai untuk membuat… is standard.
Vocabulary like sehat, tanpa banyak garam is neutral.

A more casual version might be:

Blender itu juga kepakai buat bikin saus tomat yang sehat, pakai garamnya dikit aja.

Changes:

kepakai (colloquial) instead of dipakai
buat instead of untuk
bikin instead of membuat
extra colloquial phrase dikit aja (just a little).

Your original sentence is a good, clear, neutral Indonesian sentence.