Questions & Answers about Guru kami sangat bijak.
Why is there no word for “is” in “Guru kami sangat bijak”?
Indonesian usually does not use a verb like “is/are/am” (a copula) before adjectives or nouns.
So instead of saying “Our teacher is very wise”, Indonesian just says “Guru kami sangat bijak” (literally: “teacher our very wise”).
You can sometimes see adalah used where English has “is/are”, but typically:
- adalah is more common in formal writing,
- and more often used before nouns, not before simple adjectives.
So “Guru kami sangat bijak” is the most natural version in everyday speech.
What’s the difference between kami and kita, and why is it kami here?
Both kami and kita mean “we / us / our”, but:
- kami = we (not including the person we are talking to) → exclusive we
- kita = we (including the person we are talking to) → inclusive we
Guru kami sangat bijak normally means “Our teacher (my group’s teacher, not including you) is very wise.”
If you said “Guru kita sangat bijak,” it would usually mean “Our teacher (yours and mine) is very wise.”
So the choice between kami and kita depends on who is included in “our.”