Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Bermain catur membuat saya belajar sabar dan berpikir beberapa langkah ke depan. - Playing chess makes me learn to be patient and think several steps ahead.

Subject: Bermain catur (Playing chess)
Verb (predicate): membuat (makes)
Object: saya (me)
Object complement (what it makes me do): belajar sabar dan berpikir beberapa langkah ke depan (learn to be patient and think several moves ahead)

So in a more literal breakdown:

Bermain catur = Playing chess
membuat = makes / causes
saya = me
belajar sabar = learn (to be) patient
dan = and
berpikir beberapa langkah ke depan = (to) think several steps ahead

Indonesian easily allows a verb phrase as the subject, so bermain catur can act like “Playing chess” as a noun phrase in English.

Why is it bermain catur, not just main catur? Are both correct?

Both bermain catur and main catur can be correct, but they differ in formality and completeness.

bermain catur
- More standard and formal.
- Uses the full verb with the prefix ber-, which often marks activities you do (to play, to work, to walk, etc.).
main catur
- Very common in informal spoken Indonesian.
- Drops the prefix ber-; the stem main is widely used in casual speech to mean “to play”.

In a written sentence like this, especially in a neutral or slightly formal context, bermain catur is preferred. In everyday conversation, people might naturally say:

Main catur bikin saya belajar sabar…

How can bermain catur (a verb phrase) act like the subject, as if it were a noun like “playing chess”?

Indonesian doesn’t strictly separate verbs and nouns the way English does.

bermain catur literally = “to play chess”
But the whole phrase can function as a subject, equivalent to the English gerund “playing chess”.

Think of bermain catur here as meaning “the activity of playing chess”. Indonesian often uses a verb in its base form as something like a noun:

Membaca buku itu menyenangkan.
→ “Reading that book is fun.”

Here membaca buku itu (“reading that book”) is also the subject, just like bermain catur is in your sentence.

What exactly does membuat mean here? How does the pattern “membuat saya belajar…” work?

membuat literally means “to make” or “to cause”.

The pattern is:

[Cause] + membuat + [Person] + [Result / Action]

In this sentence:

Cause: Bermain catur (Playing chess)
membuat: makes / causes
Person: saya (me)
Result / Action: belajar sabar dan berpikir beberapa langkah ke depan

So it corresponds to English:

“Playing chess makes me learn (to be) patient and think several steps ahead.”

Other examples with the same pattern:

Olahraga teratur membuat saya lebih sehat.
= Regular exercise makes me healthier.
Menonton film ini membuat saya berpikir lagi tentang hidup.
= Watching this movie makes me rethink life.

Why is it belajar sabar, not belajar untuk sabar or belajar menjadi sabar?

All of these forms can appear, but they differ in style and nuance.

In Indonesian, belajar + adjective is very natural:

belajar sabar
= learn to be patient
(neutral, common, concise)

You can say:

belajar untuk sabar
- More explicit, can feel a bit more formal or emphatic.
- Still correct; adds a sense of “learn in order to be patient”.
belajar menjadi sabar
- Sounds more like “learn to become patient” (focus on the process of becoming).
- Also correct but slightly heavier stylistically.

In everyday Indonesian, belajar sabar is simple and very natural.

Why is sabar (an adjective) used directly after belajar? Is that normal?

Yes, it’s normal and common.

In Indonesian:

belajar + adjective means “to learn to be [adjective]”.

So:

belajar sabar = learn to be patient
belajar mandiri = learn to be independent
belajar jujur = learn to be honest

You don’t need extra words like “to be” (become, menjadi) unless you want a different nuance or more formality. Indonesian often omits linking verbs where English would require them.

What is the difference between belajar and berpikir here? Why does one use belajar and the other doesn’t?

They express two different actions:

belajar sabar = learn to be patient
- Focus on learning / training yourself in patience.
berpikir beberapa langkah ke depan = (to) think several steps ahead
- Focus on the ongoing action of thinking.

The sentence says:

Playing chess makes me:
1. learn to be patient
2. (learn to) think several moves ahead

Indonesian often doesn’t repeat the verb if it easily carries over:

Understood meaning: membuat saya *belajar sabar dan (belajar) berpikir beberapa langkah ke depan*.

So the second belajar is just implied.

What is the difference between berpikir and memikirkan? Could I use memikirkan here?

They’re related but not interchangeable:

berpikir
- Intransitive: “to think” (no direct object).
- Focus is on the mental activity.
- Examples:
  - Saya sedang berpikir. = I’m thinking.
  - Dia suka berpikir sendiri. = He/She likes to think alone.
memikirkan + object
- Transitive: “to think about / to consider [something]”.
- Must have an object.
- Examples:
  - Saya memikirkan masa depan saya. = I think about my future.
  - Kita harus memikirkan solusi. = We have to think about a solution.

In your sentence:

berpikir beberapa langkah ke depan
= to think several steps ahead
(no direct “thing” as an object, more like “in that manner”)

Using memikirkan here would be unnatural; there’s no clear object to attach:

✗ memikirkan beberapa langkah ke depan
sounds off or incomplete.

What does beberapa mean exactly? Does it mean “a few” or “several”? Is it countable?

beberapa means “a few” / “several” in a vague sense:

More than one, but not many.
Works with both concrete and abstract nouns.

In this sentence:

beberapa langkah = several moves / a few steps

Other examples:

beberapa orang = a few people
beberapa hari = several days
beberapa kali = several times

You don’t need a classifier (like buah or orang) after beberapa, unless you want a specific style or emphasis.

What does langkah ke depan literally mean, and why is it used for chess?

Literally:

langkah = step, move
ke depan = forward/ahead

So langkah ke depan = “step(s) forward” or “move(s) ahead”.

In chess, you often “think several moves ahead”. Indonesian likes to use langkah for both:

physical steps, and
figurative moves/steps in a plan, strategy, or game.

Examples:

Kita harus memikirkan langkah ke depan perusahaan ini.
= We have to think about the company’s next steps.
Dia selalu merencanakan beberapa langkah ke depan.
= He always plans several steps ahead.

So berpikir beberapa langkah ke depan in the chess context naturally means “think several moves ahead”.

What is the nuance of ke depan here? How is it different from di depan?

ke depan
- ke = to / toward (direction, movement)
- Means “forward, ahead, into the future”.
- Implies movement or progression in time/space.
di depan
- di = at / in / on (location)
- Means “in front, at the front, ahead (location)”.
- More about a fixed place, not movement.

In your sentence:

berpikir beberapa langkah ke depan
= think several steps ahead (in terms of future moves)

If you said di depan, it would sound more like a physical position: “steps that are located in front,” which doesn’t fit the idea of planning future moves.

Why is it saya and not aku? Could I say membuat aku belajar sabar…?

Both saya and aku mean “I / me”, but they differ in formality and tone:

saya
- More formal / neutral.
- Suitable in writing, in polite speech, and when talking to people you don’t know well.
aku
- More informal / intimate.
- Used with friends, family, or in song lyrics and casual writing.

So your sentence with aku:

Bermain catur membuat aku belajar sabar dan berpikir beberapa langkah ke depan.

is grammatically correct and natural in an informal context. The given version with saya just sounds more neutral or slightly formal.