Guru kami merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya.

Our teacher recommends that history book to me.

Breakdown of Guru kami merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya.

• buku: the book
• itu: that
• guru: the teacher
• kepada: to
• saya: me
• kami: our
• sejarah: the history
• merekomendasikan: to recommend

Questions & Answers about Guru kami merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya.

Why is it guru kami and not kami guru?

In Indonesian, the possessed noun usually comes first, followed by the possessor:

• guru kami = our teacher (literally: teacher our)
• rumah saya = my house (literally: house my)

If you say kami guru, that means we are teachers, where kami is the subject and guru is a predicate noun. So:

• Guru kami – “our teacher”
• Kami guru – “we are teachers” (a complete sentence or clause)

Why is kami used instead of kita?

Both kami and kita mean we / us, but:

• kami = we (not including the person you’re talking to)
• kita = we (including the person you’re talking to)

In guru kami, the teacher is “our teacher, not including you (the listener).” Maybe the speaker is talking about their class to someone outside the class.

If the speaker wanted to include the listener in the group, they would say:

• guru kita = our teacher (yours and mine)

What is going on inside the verb merekomendasikan?

Merekomendasikan is built from:

• rekomendasi = recommendation (a noun, from English)
• prefix me- (or mem-/men-/meng-/meny-) = marks an active verb
• suffix -kan = often makes the verb “causative” or indicates a direct object

So:

• merekomendasikan ≈ to recommend (something to someone)

The pattern is:

• rekomendasi → merekomendasikan
• informasi → menginformasikan (to inform)
• organisasi → mengorganisasikan (to organize something)

Is merekomendasi also correct, or should I always say merekomendasikan?

You will see both in real life:

• merekomendasikan – more formal/standard, common in writing and careful speech
• merekomendasi – common in informal speech and writing, but less “textbook‑standard”

For learners, it’s safer to use merekomendasikan, especially in exams, essays, or formal contexts. Everyone will still understand merekomendasi, though.

Why is the phrase buku sejarah itu in that order? Why not itu buku sejarah?

Typical order for a noun phrase in Indonesian is:

[Noun] [Modifier(s)] [Demonstrative]

So:

• buku = book
• sejarah = history (here, modifying buku)
• itu = that

→ buku sejarah itu = that history book (literally: book history that)

You can say buku itu (that book) or buku sejarah itu (that history book), but itu buku sejarah usually sounds like you’re starting a new clause, e.g.:

• Itu buku sejarah yang saya cari. = That is the history book I’m looking for.

So within a single noun phrase, buku sejarah itu is the natural order.

What’s the difference between buku sejarah itu and buku sejarah without itu?

• buku sejarah itu = that history book / the history book (already known/specific)

  • Refers to a particular book both speaker and listener can identify (maybe it’s in front of you, or you talked about it earlier).

• buku sejarah (no itu) = a history book / history books in general

  • Can be more general or indefinite, depending on context.

So adding itu makes the reference clearly specific and definite.

Why do we use kepada before saya? Could we use untuk instead?

In this structure:

• merekomendasikan [something] kepada [someone]

kepada is the standard preposition meaning to (a person) in many verbs of giving, telling, or directing something:

• memberikan buku kepada saya – give a book to me
• mengatakan sesuatu kepada dia – say something to him/her
• mengirim email kepada mereka – send an email to them

With merekomendasikan, textbooks and formal style prefer:

• merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya

Using untuk is sometimes heard:

• merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu untuk saya

but untuk focuses more on purpose/benefit (“for me”), while kepada more clearly marks the person as the recipient of the recommendation. In careful Indonesian, kepada is the better choice here.

Can I move kepada saya to another position, like in English: “Our teacher recommended to me that history book”?

Yes, but the most natural, neutral order is:

• Guru kami merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya.

You can say:

• Guru kami merekomendasikan kepada saya buku sejarah itu.

This is grammatically possible but sounds a bit marked or “heavy” in everyday speech. It might be used for emphasis on kepada saya (to me), for example if you’re contrasting with someone else:

• Guru kami merekomendasikan kepada saya, bukan kepada dia, buku sejarah itu.

For normal, non‑emphatic sentences, keep kepada saya at the end.

How do we know the tense? How can this sentence mean “recommended” if there is no past tense marker?

Indonesian verbs generally don’t change form for tense. Merekomendasikan can mean:

• recommends / is recommending
• recommended
• will recommend

The time is understood from context or from additional words, for example:

• Guru kami tadi merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya.
  → Earlier, our teacher recommended that history book to me. (past)

• Guru kami akan merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya besok.
  → Our teacher will recommend that history book to me tomorrow. (future)

• Guru kami sering merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya.
  → Our teacher often recommends that history book to me. (habitual)

In your original sentence, with no time marker, the context decides whether it’s past, present, or future.

Does guru kami mean one teacher or many teachers?

Guru kami can mean either one teacher or our teachers. Indonesian usually doesn’t mark plural on nouns unless needed:

• guru = teacher / teachers
• guru kami = our teacher / our teachers

If you want to be clearly plural, you can say:

• para guru kami – our teachers (more formal)
• guru-guru kami – our teachers (reduplicated noun shows plural)

But in many real situations, context is enough to tell whether you mean one or several teachers.

Why is it buku sejarah and not sejarah buku?

In Indonesian noun–noun phrases, the main noun usually comes first, and the modifier follows:

• buku sejarah = history book (literally: book history)
• buku pelajaran = textbook (book of lessons)
• guru matematika = math teacher (teacher of math)

So buku sejarah is the normal way to say history book. Sejarah buku would mean something like the history of the book or book history in a different sense, and even that isn’t a very common phrase.

Why is saya used here instead of aku?

Both mean I / me, but the register is different:

• saya – polite, neutral, used in most situations (with teachers, strangers, in writing, in the classroom, on TV, etc.)
• aku – informal, used with close friends, family, in songs, in casual conversation

In a sentence involving a teacher (guru kami), saya is more appropriate because it sounds respectful and neutral. Aku would be fine in a very informal situation, like chatting with classmates or close friends.

Could any words be left out and the sentence still be correct?

Yes, Indonesian often drops information that is clear from context. Some possibilities:

1. Drop kami if “our” is already obvious:

   • Guru merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya.
     → The teacher recommended that history book to me.
     If it’s already clear whose teacher you mean, kami is not necessary.

2. Drop itu if specificity isn’t important:

   • Guru kami merekomendasikan buku sejarah kepada saya.
     → Our teacher recommended a history book / history books to me.

3. In a longer conversation, once the subject is clear, you might even answer with just part of it:

   • Q: What did your teacher do?
   • A: Merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya.
     (Here the subject guru kami is understood from context.)

However, in isolation, the full sentence Guru kami merekomendasikan buku sejarah itu kepada saya. is the clearest and most complete form.