Pertandingan antar-kelas besok pagi akan seru sekali.

The inter-class match tomorrow morning will be very exciting.

Breakdown of Pertandingan antar-kelas besok pagi akan seru sekali.

• akan: will
• sekali: very
• besok pagi: tomorrow morning
• pertandingan: the match
• seru: exciting
• antar-kelas: inter-class

Questions & Answers about Pertandingan antar-kelas besok pagi akan seru sekali.

What does pertandingan mean exactly, and how is it formed?

Pertandingan means a match, game, or competition (usually something with two sides or opponents).

It’s formed from the root verb tanding (to compete / to have a match) plus the circumfix per- … -an:

• tanding → to compete / to play a (competitive) match
• per
  • tanding
    • an → pertandingan = a match / competition

So pertandingan focuses on the event of competing, not just casual playing.

What’s the difference between pertandingan and permainan?

Both involve playing, but the nuance is different:

• pertandingan

  • From tanding (to compete)
  • Implies a competitive event: a match, contest, tournament
  • Example: pertandingan sepak bola (a soccer match)

• permainan

  • From main (to play)
  • More general: a game, play, or activity; not always competitive
  • Example: permainan anak-anak (children’s games)

In your sentence, pertandingan is better than permainan because an inter-class match is clearly competitive.

What does antar-kelas literally mean, and why is there a hyphen?

Literally, antar-kelas means between classes or inter-class.

• antar = between / among (used in compounds like antar-kota (inter-city), antar-negara (inter-country, international))
• kelas = class (school class, grade, group of students)

The hyphen shows that antar is linked with the following noun to form a compound meaning inter‑X. So antar-kelas = inter-class (between one class and another).

I’ve also seen antarkelas written as one word. Is antar-kelas vs antarkelas different?

In modern standard Indonesian (like in the official dictionary KBBI), the recommended form is usually antarkelas (one word).

However:

• You will still often see antar-kelas or antar kelas in real-life writing.
• In everyday usage, all of these are understood:
  • antarkelas
  • antar-kelas
  • antar kelas

For learning purposes, you can remember:

• antarkelas (one word) = most standard/formal
• Meaning is the same: inter-class / between classes

What is the subject of the sentence? Why does it start with Pertandingan antar-kelas?

The subject is Pertandingan antar-kelas besok pagi (the inter-class match tomorrow morning).

Indonesian word order is flexible, but a very common pattern is:

• Subject
  • (time)
    • predicate

Here:

• Pertandingan antar-kelas besok pagi → subject phrase
• akan seru sekali → predicate / what we say about the subject

You could also put the time in front:

• Besok pagi pertandingan antar-kelas akan seru sekali.

Both versions are natural. Putting Pertandingan antar-kelas first slightly emphasizes the event itself.

How is the future tense shown here? Where is “will be”?

The future is shown by akan.

• akan = will / going to (future marker)
• seru sekali = very exciting

Indonesian does not use a verb equivalent to English to be (am/is/are) before adjectives in this kind of sentence. So:

• Pertandingan … akan seru sekali.
  Literally: The inter-class match tomorrow morning will very exciting.
  Natural English: The inter-class match tomorrow morning will be very exciting.

The be is simply understood in Indonesian and not expressed.

Is akan required? Can I say Pertandingan antar-kelas besok pagi seru sekali?

You can omit akan, and it’s still grammatical:

• Pertandingan antar-kelas besok pagi seru sekali.

However, the nuance changes:

• With akan → clearly future: will be very exciting
• Without akan → can sound like a general statement or a prediction said as if it were already certain (similar to saying is going to be in a very confident way)

In many casual conversations, people do drop akan if the context already shows it’s about the future, but including akan is very clear and safe for learners.

What does seru mean? Is it closer to “fun” or “exciting”?

Seru is usually translated as exciting, thrilling, or lots of fun.

Nuances:

• It suggests something lively, energetic, and engaging.
• It can also imply noisy, enthusiastic atmosphere (cheering, shouting).

Examples:

• Pertandingannya seru! → The match was exciting / really fun!
• Film itu seru banget. → That movie is so exciting / really fun.

So in this sentence, seru sekali is roughly really exciting or super fun, with a feeling of high energy.

How is sekali used here? How is it different from sangat or banget?

Here, sekali means very or extremely and comes after the adjective:

• seru sekali = very exciting

Key points:

• Pattern: adjective + sekali
  • bagus sekali = very good
  • mahal sekali = very expensive
  • seru sekali = very exciting

Comparison:

• sangat usually comes before the adjective:
  • sangat seru = very exciting (more formal / neutral)
• banget usually comes after the adjective, very informal:
  • seru banget = super exciting (colloquial, spoken)

So:

• Neutral/formal: sangat seru, seru sekali
• Casual: seru banget

Note: sekali can also mean once / one time in other contexts (e.g. satu kali).

Why is it besok pagi and not pagi besok? Are both correct?

Both are correct, and both mean tomorrow morning.

• besok pagi (tomorrow morning)
• pagi besok (the morning of tomorrow)

In everyday speech, besok pagi is more common and feels a bit more neutral and straightforward.

pagi besok is also natural and can be used, sometimes with a faint nuance of “on the morning of tomorrow” (for schedules, announcements, etc.), but the difference is small. As a learner, besok pagi is the safer default.

How would I talk about more than one match? How do I make pertandingan plural here?

Indonesian often does not mark plural explicitly if it’s already clear from context. So:

• Pertandingan antar-kelas besok pagi akan seru sekali.
  can be understood as The inter-class matches tomorrow morning will be very exciting, depending on context.

If you really want to emphasize plural:

• Pertandingan-pertandingan antar-kelas besok pagi akan seru sekali.
  (reduplication shows plurality)

But this can sound a bit heavy in casual speech. More natural is to add a clarifying word:

• Semua pertandingan antar-kelas besok pagi akan seru sekali.
  = All the inter-class matches tomorrow morning will be very exciting.

What’s the difference between besok and esok?

Both refer to tomorrow, but:

• besok

  • Very common in everyday spoken Indonesian
  • Neutral in most contexts

• esok

  • Feels a bit more formal, literary, or poetic
  • Common in written language, news, speeches, and set phrases like:
    
    • hari esok (the day of tomorrow / the future)

In this sentence, besok pagi is the most natural choice for everyday conversation among students.

How might this sentence sound in casual student conversation?

A more casual, spoken version might be:

• Pertandingan antarkelas besok pagi seru banget!
  or
• Besok pagi pertandingan antarkelas bakal seru banget!

Changes:

• antarkelas instead of antar-kelas (common modern spelling)
• bakal instead of akan (slang-ish will)
• banget instead of sekali (very informal very)

Meaning is the same, but the tone is more relaxed and colloquial.