Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami diajari guru kami di kelas. - We are taught by our teacher in class.

kami = we (excluding the listener)
di-ajar-i = are taught / were taught
- ajar = to teach
- di- = passive prefix (“be V‑ed”)
- -i = suffix (here it makes diajari sound natural; roughly “to be taught (something)”)
guru = teacher
kami = our
di kelas = in class / in the classroom

So structurally it is:

Subject (kami) – Passive verb (diajari) – Agent (guru kami) – Location (di kelas)

Why is the verb diajari in the passive form instead of an active verb like mengajar?

Indonesian has two common “voices”: active and passive.

Active: Guru kami mengajar kami di kelas.
“Our teacher teaches us in class.”
Passive: Kami diajari guru kami di kelas.
“We are taught by our teacher in class.”

Using the passive:

Makes “kami” (we) the focus or topic of the sentence.
Pushes the doer (guru kami) into a less prominent position.

Both are grammatically correct; the choice is about which participant you want to highlight. Here, the sentence highlights “we” (the learners) rather than the teacher.

What is the difference between diajari and diajarkan? Could we say Kami diajarkan guru kami di kelas?

Both diajari and diajarkan are used in real Indonesian and are often interchangeable in everyday speech.

diajari = di- + ajar + -i
diajarkan = di- + ajar + -kan

Subtle tendencies:

-i often targets the person/place affected by the action.
-kan often targets the thing being given/caused, or makes it sound slightly more formal.

In practice, with ajar, both are very common:

Kami diajari guru kami di kelas.
Kami diajarkan guru kami di kelas.

Both will usually be understood as the same: “We are taught by our teacher in class.”

Why is kami used instead of kita? What is the difference?

Both mean “we”, but:

kami = we, not including you (the listener) → exclusive “we”
kita = we, including you (the listener) → inclusive “we”

Kami diajari guru kami di kelas implies:

“We (some group that does not include you) are taught by our teacher in class.”

If the speaker wanted to include the listener (for example, classmates talking to each other), they might say:

Kita diajari guru kita di kelas.
“We (you and I) are taught by our teacher in class.”

Why is kami repeated in guru kami? Isn’t that redundant?

It’s not redundant; it adds possession:

First kami = subject: “we”
Second kami in guru kami = “our”: “our teacher”

Compare:

Kami diajari guru di kelas.
“We are taught by a teacher in class.” (unspecified teacher)
Kami diajari guru kami di kelas.
“We are taught by our teacher in class.” (a specific teacher who belongs to “us”)

So the repetition is normal and necessary to show that the teacher is ours.

Why is there no word for “are” or “were”? How do I know the tense of diajari?

Indonesian verbs generally do not mark tense. Diajari can mean:

“are taught”
“were taught”
“are being taught”
sometimes even “will be taught”, depending on context.

To be more explicit, Indonesian uses time expressions:

Kemarin kami diajari guru kami di kelas.
“Yesterday we were taught…”
Sekarang kami sedang diajari guru kami di kelas.
“Now we are being taught…”

Without a time word, Kami diajari guru kami di kelas is tense-neutral; you guess the time from context.

Could this sentence mean “Our teacher is taught by us in class”? How do I know who is doing what?

No, it does not mean “Our teacher is taught by us.”

The structure is:

Kami = subject (the one affected)
diajari = passive verb
guru kami = the agent (the one who teaches)

In Indonesian passive with “di-” usually follows: > Patient (subject) + di-verb + Agent

So:

Kami diajari guru kami = “We are taught by our teacher”
To say “Our teacher is taught by us,” you’d need:
- Guru kami diajari (oleh) kami di kelas.

So word order tells you clearly who is teaching whom.

Why is there no oleh before guru kami? Is oleh required?

Oleh = “by” (introducing the agent in a passive sentence).

Both of these are grammatically correct:

Kami diajari guru kami di kelas.
Kami diajari oleh guru kami di kelas.

In everyday speech, oleh is often omitted when the agent is short and clear:

dikerjakan ibu saya vs dikerjakan oleh ibu saya

Using oleh:

Sounds a bit more formal or explicit.
Is more common in writing or when the agent phrase is long.

Can the location di kelas be moved to another position? For example: Di kelas kami diajari guru kami?

Yes. Location phrases are quite flexible in Indonesian.

All of these are natural:

Kami diajari guru kami di kelas.
Kami diajari di kelas oleh guru kami.
Di kelas kami diajari guru kami.

Differences are mostly about emphasis:

Putting di kelas at the front (topic position) highlights the place:
“In class, we’re taught by our teacher.”

Is there a difference between diajari and diajar?

Both are seen, but:

diajari (with -i) is more common and natural in this context.
diajar (without -i/-kan) can appear, but often sounds a bit more colloquial or regionally influenced depending on dialect.

Sentences:

Kami diajari guru kami di kelas. → Fully standard and common.
Kami diajar guru kami di kelas. → Understandable; may sound less formal / less standard in some contexts.

If you’re unsure, diajari (or diajarkan) is the safer choice in standard Indonesian.

Could we drop kami at the beginning and just say Diajari guru kami di kelas?

You can drop the subject pronoun in colloquial speech if it’s very clear from context, but:

Kami diajari guru kami di kelas.
is the full, clear form.
Diajari guru kami di kelas.
could be said in casual conversation when everybody already knows you’re talking about “us/we”, but in isolation it sounds incomplete and a bit like a fragment.

In standard writing and for learners, keep the subject “kami”.

How would I say the same idea in a more straightforward active sentence?

Use the active verb mengajar:

Guru kami mengajar kami di kelas.
“Our teacher teaches us in class.”

Structure:

Guru kami = our teacher (subject, doer)
mengajar = teaches (active verb)
kami = us (object)
di kelas = in class

Meaning is the same; only the focus (teacher vs students) changes.