Breakdown of Dokter menjelaskan perbedaan antara infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri.
Questions & Answers about Dokter menjelaskan perbedaan antara infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri.
Indonesian does not use articles like a/an/the, and basic nouns also don’t show plural by changing form. So dokter by itself is neutral:
- It can mean “the doctor” (a specific one, from context),
- “a doctor” (any one doctor),
- or “doctors” (in general).
Context decides which English translation fits.
If you want to be more explicit, you can say:
- seorang dokter – literally “one person (who is a) doctor” → clearly “a doctor”
- para dokter – “(all) the doctors” → clearly plural
- dokter itu – “that doctor / the doctor (already known)” → a specific doctor
In the sentence Dokter menjelaskan…, we usually translate it as “The doctor explained…”, but it could also be understood generically (“Doctors explain…”) depending on context.
Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Menjelaskan is the same for past, present, and future. The tense comes from context or from time words, not from the verb itself.
So Dokter menjelaskan perbedaan… can be:
- The doctor explains the difference… (present, general habit)
- The doctor is explaining the difference… (present, right now, with appropriate context)
- The doctor explained the difference… (past, if the story is in the past)
You can add time markers if you want to be explicit:
- Tadi dokter menjelaskan… – earlier the doctor explained… (past)
- Sedang dokter menjelaskan… (more natural: Dokter sedang menjelaskan…) – the doctor is explaining… (ongoing)
- Besok dokter akan menjelaskan… – tomorrow the doctor will explain… (future)
jelas = clear (an adjective):
- Penjelasannya sangat jelas. – The explanation is very clear.
menjelaskan = to explain / to make clear (a verb)
The pattern is:
- jelas (clear) → menjelaskan (to make [something] clear)
The prefix meN- plus suffix -kan often makes a causative verb: “to cause X,” “to make X happen,” or “to do X to something.”
Roughly:
- jelas – clear
- menjelaskan sesuatu – to make something clear → to explain something
There is no correct verb *menjelas; the correct form is menjelaskan.
Related word:
- penjelasan – explanation (noun)
beda = different / to be different (informal, adjective/verb-like)
- Mereka beda. – They are different.
- Apa bedanya? – What’s the difference? (very common spoken form)
perbedaan = difference (a noun), more formal/neutral
It is formed with the circumfix per- … -an:
- beda (different) → perbedaan (difference)
In this sentence:
- perbedaan antara infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri
= the difference between a viral infection and a bacterial infection.
You could also see, for example:
- perbedaan budaya – cultural differences
- perbedaan pendapat – difference of opinion
The pattern perbedaan antara X dan Y is a very standard way to say “the difference between X and Y.”
- antara = between / among
- dan = and
So:
- perbedaan antara infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri
= the difference between viral infection and bacterial infection.
Variations:
- perbedaan antara X dan Y – very standard
- perbedaan antara X dengan Y – also common; here dengan functions very much like “and”
- perbedaan X dan Y – you can drop antara; still grammatical, a bit more compact
So for your sentence, these are all natural:
- Dokter menjelaskan perbedaan antara infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri.
- Dokter menjelaskan perbedaan antara infeksi virus dengan infeksi bakteri.
- Dokter menjelaskan perbedaan infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri.
You normally don’t drop both antara and dan/dengan; you need some way to link X and Y.
In Indonesian noun phrases, the main noun comes first, and its modifiers follow it.
Here:
- infeksi = infection (main noun)
- virus = virus (modifier, specifying the type of infection)
So infeksi virus is literally “infection [of] virus,” understood as “viral infection.”
You generally do not say virus infeksi. Some parallels:
- teh manis – sweet tea (tea sweet → sweet tea)
- rumah sakit – hospital (house sick → sick-house → hospital)
- infeksi bakteri – bacterial infection
So the pattern is:
[main noun] + [describing noun/adjective]
rather than English’s frequent [describing noun] + [main noun].
Indonesian bakteri is a loanword corresponding loosely to English “bacteria / bacterium”, but:
- bakteri itself is number‑neutral. It doesn’t change for singular/plural.
- It can mean “bacteria” (in general) or “a bacterium”, depending on context.
If you need to be explicit:
- satu bakteri – one bacterium
- banyak bakteri – many bacteria
- beberapa jenis bakteri – several types of bacteria
Indonesian does not normally use a separate form like bakteria for the plural; bakteri is the standard form for both singular and plural.
Repeating infeksi makes the structure very clear and balanced:
- infeksi virus – viral infection
- infeksi bakteri – bacterial infection
So infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri highlights two parallel things: type A infection and type B infection.
If you say infeksi virus dan bakteri, natives will usually still understand it as “viral and bacterial infections,” but:
- Grammatically, it can also be read as “infection of viruses and bacteria” (infection involving both viruses and bacteria).
- It’s slightly less neat and symmetrical, especially in careful/formal speech.
So:
- infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri – very clear, formal, and symmetrical
- infeksi virus dan bakteri – shorter, common in speech, but a bit more ambiguous
In explanations (like what a doctor says), repeating infeksi is preferred.
Yes. The passive voice in Indonesian usually uses the prefix di- on the verb.
Active (your sentence):
- Dokter menjelaskan perbedaan antara infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri.
– The doctor explained the difference…
Passive:
- Perbedaan antara infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri dijelaskan oleh dokter.
– The difference between viral and bacterial infection was explained by the doctor.
You can also drop oleh (by) in many contexts:
- Perbedaan antara infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri dijelaskan dokter.
The meaning is still clear: the difference is now the grammatical subject, and dokter is the agent.
In the given sentence, dokter is third‑person (“the doctor” as he/she/they). If you are speaking to the doctor, you usually use it like a title or form of address:
Common ways to address a doctor:
- Dokter – polite, neutral
- Dokter, tolong jelaskan perbedaan antara infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri.
- Dok – shorter, more casual but still very common
- Dok, tolong jelaskan…
- Dokter + Name
- Dokter Andi, tolong jelaskan…
- Pak Dokter / Bu Dokter – Mr Doctor / Mrs/Ms Doctor, polite and respectful
So yes, dokter is used directly to address them, but the full sentence would change to something like:
- Dokter, bisa jelaskan perbedaan antara infeksi virus dan infeksi bakteri?
– Doctor, could you explain the difference between a viral infection and a bacterial infection?