Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Daripada memaksa bermain saat sakit, lebih baik kami duduk di pinggir lapangan dan menonton turnamen. - Rather than forcing ourselves to play when ill, it is better we sit at the edge of the field and watch the tournament.

The whole sentence is:
Daripada memaksa bermain saat sakit, lebih baik kami duduk di pinggir lapangan dan menonton turnamen.
Literally: Rather than forcing (ourselves) to play when (we are) sick, it’s better (for) us to sit at the side of the field and watch the tournament.
The subject kami is explicitly stated in the second clause (lebih baik kami duduk…), and it also applies to the first part:
→ Daripada (kami) memaksa (diri) bermain saat (kami) sakit…

Indonesian often omits the subject or object when it’s clear from context. Here:

kami is the subject for the whole sentence.
The object of memaksa is also kami (i.e. “force ourselves”), but diri is not written; it’s understood.

You could make it more explicit as:

Daripada kami memaksa diri bermain saat sakit, …

Why is it memaksa bermain and not memaksa untuk bermain?

Both are possible, but memaksa bermain is shorter and very natural.

memaksa bermain = “to force (someone/ourselves) to play”
memaksa untuk bermain = “to force (someone/ourselves) to play” (slightly more formal/explicit)

Indonesian often drops untuk when a verb follows another verb like this, especially in casual or neutral style. So:

Dia memaksa saya pergi.
Dia memaksa saya untuk pergi.

Both are correct; the version without untuk is just more concise. The same applies in memaksa bermain.

What exactly does daripada mean here, and how does this structure work?

Daripada means “rather than / instead of / than” in a comparative sense.

Here, it introduces an alternative that is less preferred, and it’s followed by a verb phrase, not a whole clause with a subject:

Daripada memaksa bermain saat sakit, lebih baik kami duduk…
→ Rather than forcing ourselves to play when sick, it’s better for us to sit…

Common patterns with daripada:

Daripada + verb, …
- Daripada marah-marah, lebih baik kamu bicara baik-baik.
  → Rather than getting angry, you’d better talk nicely.
Lebih baik A daripada B.
- Lebih baik kita pulang daripada kehujanan.
  → It’s better to go home than to get rained on.

So this sentence uses the first pattern, fronting the daripada phrase for emphasis.

How does lebih baik work? Is it an adjective, an adverb, or what?

Lebih baik literally means “better”, and it functions like “it is better (to …)” or “we’d better …”.

lebih = more
baik = good

In this sentence:

lebih baik kami duduk di pinggir lapangan…
→ literally: more good (if) we sit at the side of the field…
→ natural English: it’s better if we sit… / we’d better sit…

You can use it in a few common patterns:

Lebih baik + subject + verb…
- Lebih baik saya tidur. → I’d better sleep.
Daripada A, lebih baik B.
- Daripada bohong, lebih baik jujur. → Rather than lying, it’s better to be honest.

It doesn’t need adalah here; lebih baik directly introduces the recommendation.

Why is kami used here instead of kita?

Kami and kita both mean “we / us”, but:

kami = we (excluding the listener)
kita = we (including the listener)

In the sentence:

…lebih baik kami duduk di pinggir lapangan dan menonton turnamen.

Using kami suggests:

The group sitting and watching does not include the person being spoken to.
→ For example, maybe the speaker is telling a coach or a friend what they (the team) will do.

If the listener is also part of the group that should sit and watch, you would say:

…lebih baik kita duduk di pinggir lapangan dan menonton turnamen.
→ It’s better that we (you + me + others) sit at the side and watch.

So the choice between kami and kita signals whether the listener is part of the group.

What does saat mean in saat sakit, and how is it different from ketika or waktu?

saat, ketika, and waktu can all mean “when” in the sense of “at the time that…”, but there are small nuances:

saat = moment, time (often a bit more neutral/modern in writing)
ketika = when (very standard, neutral)
waktu = time / when (a bit more casual in this usage)

In saat sakit:

Literally: at the time (we are) sick
Natural: when sick / while (we are) sick

You could also say:

ketika sakit
waktu sakit
saat kami sakit / ketika kami sakit, if you want to state the subject again.

They all would be understood as “when we are sick”; context supplies kami.

What is lapangan exactly? Does it mean “field”, “court”, or something else?

Lapangan is a general word for an open playing area or field. The exact English word depends on the sport or setting:

lapangan sepak bola → soccer/football field/pitch
lapangan basket → basketball court
lapangan tenis → tennis court
lapangan voli → volleyball court

In this sentence, lapangan is used alone:

di pinggir lapangan → at the edge/side of the field/court/pitch

The context (e.g. type of turnamen) would tell you what kind of playing area it actually is.

What’s the difference between di pinggir lapangan and just di lapangan or di tepi lapangan?

All are related but slightly different in meaning:

di lapangan
- Literally: in/at the field
- Could mean: somewhere on or at the field area in general.
di pinggir lapangan
- Literally: at the edge/side of the field
- Conveys that you’re not on the playing area, but at its border, like on the sidelines or bench.
di tepi lapangan
- Very similar to di pinggir lapangan; tepi also means edge/side.

In this sentence, di pinggir lapangan emphasizes that they are off the field, just watching, not participating in the game.

What’s the difference between menonton and melihat? Why use menonton turnamen?

Both mean “to watch / to see”, but they’re used differently:

menonton = to watch (something with a show-like aspect, usually for some time)
- menonton TV → watch TV
- menonton film → watch a movie
- menonton pertandingan → watch a match
- menonton turnamen → watch the tournament (as an event)
melihat = to see / to look (more general, can be brief or accidental)
- melihat buku → look at a book
- melihat orang itu → see that person

Since a turnamen is an organized event that you sit and watch, menonton turnamen is the natural choice.

In casual speech, people might shorten menonton to nonton:

Kami nonton turnamen. (more informal)

How do we know the tense? Is this present, past, or future in Indonesian?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. The sentence:

Daripada memaksa bermain saat sakit, lebih baik kami duduk di pinggir lapangan dan menonton turnamen.

can mean:

Rather than forcing ourselves to play while sick, it’s better that we sit at the side of the field and watch the tournament. (general statement / present)
Rather than forcing ourselves to play while we were sick, it was better that we sat… (past, if the context is past)
Rather than forcing ourselves to play when we’re sick, it will be better if we sit… (future, with the right context)

To be explicit, Indonesian adds time words:

tadi (earlier), kemarin (yesterday) → past
sekarang (now) → present
nanti, besok (tomorrow) → future
akan can also mark future/intention.

Example:

Nanti, daripada memaksa bermain saat sakit, lebih baik kami duduk…
→ In the future, instead of forcing ourselves to play when sick, we’d better sit…

Could we change the order and say Kami lebih baik duduk… daripada memaksa bermain saat sakit? Is that still correct?

Yes, that’s also correct and natural:

Kami lebih baik duduk di pinggir lapangan dan menonton turnamen daripada memaksa bermain saat sakit.

Both versions are fine:

Daripada memaksa bermain saat sakit, lebih baik kami duduk…
- Emphasis: on the thing you should NOT do (forcing yourself to play).
Kami lebih baik duduk… daripada memaksa bermain saat sakit.
- Emphasis: on the better choice first, then contrasts with the worse option.

This kind of flexibility in word order is common in Indonesian, as long as the relationships are clear.