Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Sebagian pelamar memilih magang di start-up kecil untuk belajar menjadi wirausaha. - Some applicants choose internships at small start-ups to learn to become entrepreneurs.

Sebagian pelamar literally means “a portion of the applicants / some of the applicants (as a subset of a larger group)”. The focus is on part of a known group.

sebagian pelamar = some of the applicants (implies a larger total group exists; we’re talking about a portion of them)
beberapa pelamar = several applicants / some applicants (just “some”, without emphasizing that they’re a portion of a specific whole)
para pelamar = the applicants (a respectful collective plural; “the group of applicants as a whole”)

So:

Sebagian pelamar memilih magang… = Some (but not all) applicants choose to intern…
Beberapa pelamar memilih magang… = Several applicants choose to intern… (more neutral about the rest)
Para pelamar memilih magang… = The applicants (as a group) choose to intern…

What exactly does pelamar mean, and how is the word formed?

Pelamar means “applicant”, usually in the context of:

pelamar kerja = job applicant
pelamar beasiswa = scholarship applicant

Morphologically:

The root is lamar = to apply (for a job, etc.) / to propose (in marriage)
pe- + lamar → pelamar = “someone who applies / proposes”

So pelamar is “one who applies”. In this sentence, context clearly makes it job applicants.

Why is it memilih magang and not memilih untuk magang? Are both correct?

Both memilih magang and memilih untuk magang are grammatically correct, but they feel slightly different:

memilih magang di start-up kecil
– literally “choose internship / choose to intern at a small start-up”
– magang here can be felt as a noun (“internship”) or as a bare verb (“to intern”)
– Sounds a bit more natural and concise in everyday Indonesian.
memilih untuk magang di start-up kecil
– literally “choose to intern at a small start-up”
– untuk explicitly marks the following word as a purpose / intended action.

In many real-life sentences, Indonesians drop untuk after memilih, ingin, coba, etc., if it’s still perfectly clear:

Saya memilih kerja dulu. (instead of memilih untuk kerja dulu)
Dia ingin belajar bahasa Indonesia. (instead of ingin untuk belajar)

So memilih magang is slightly simpler and very natural.

Is magang a noun (“an internship”) or a verb (“to intern”)? How is it used?

Magang can function as both:

As a verb (to intern / do an internship):
- Saya mau magang di Jakarta. = I want to intern in Jakarta.
- Dia sedang magang di bank. = He/She is interning at a bank.
As a noun (an internship):
- Saya sudah menyelesaikan magang. = I have finished my internship.
- Magang ini berlangsung tiga bulan. = This internship lasts three months.

In memilih magang di start-up kecil, you can understand it as:

“choose to intern at a small start-up” (verb), or
“choose an internship at a small start-up” (noun).

Both interpretations fit, and Indonesian allows this kind of flexibility.

Why is it di start-up kecil and not di kecil start-up? What is the adjective order here?

In Indonesian, adjectives normally come after nouns:

rumah besar = big house
perusahaan kecil = small company
start-up kecil = small start-up

So the pattern is:

[preposition] + [noun] + [adjective]
di start-up kecil = at a small start-up

Putting the adjective before the noun (kecil start-up) is not natural in Indonesian. That order is influenced by English and should be avoided in standard Indonesian.

Is di the only correct preposition in magang di start-up kecil, or can I use pada or something else?

In this sentence, di is the most natural and common choice:

magang di start-up kecil = intern at a small start-up

Other options:

pada is more formal and often used in writing, especially with abstract nouns or institutions:
- magang pada sebuah perusahaan multinasional (formal, written)
di is preferred in everyday speech and neutral writing when talking about locations or organizations:
- magang di perusahaan teknologi (normal, natural)

So di start-up kecil is exactly what most native speakers would say.

What does untuk contribute in untuk belajar menjadi wirausaha? Could we say the sentence without untuk?

Untuk introduces a purpose: “in order to / for the purpose of”.

…magang di start-up kecil untuk belajar…
= intern at small start-ups in order to learn…

Could you drop untuk?

If you move the purpose part to the front, you can often drop untuk:
- Mereka magang di start-up kecil untuk belajar menjadi wirausaha.
- Untuk belajar menjadi wirausaha, mereka magang di start-up kecil. ✔️
- Belajar menjadi wirausaha, mereka magang di start-up kecil. (possible, more literary)
But in the original word order, if you remove untuk, it feels unnatural:
- Sebagian pelamar memilih magang di start-up kecil belajar menjadi wirausaha. ✖️ (sounds wrong)

So here untuk is important to clearly mark “this is the purpose of choosing to intern.”

Why do we have two verbs belajar menjadi together? How does this structure work?

Belajar = to learn
Menjadi = to become

Belajar menjadi X literally means “learn to become X”.

This kind of verb + verb structure is common:

belajar memasak = learn to cook
belajar berbicara bahasa Indonesia = learn to speak Indonesian
belajar mengajar anak-anak = learn to teach children

So:

belajar menjadi wirausaha = learn to become an entrepreneur

Here, belajar is the main verb, and menjadi wirausaha is the thing being learned (the “activity” or “role”).

What is the difference between wirausaha and pengusaha? Do they both mean “entrepreneur”?

Both wirausaha and pengusaha are related to business, but they have slightly different nuances:

pengusaha
- Literally: businessperson / entrepreneur.
- Very common, neutral, everyday word.
- Often used for anyone running a business, big or small.
wirausaha
- Often associated specifically with the spirit of entrepreneurship: innovative, risk-taking, creating something new.
- Common in educational, motivational, or government contexts:
  - pelatihan wirausaha = entrepreneurship training
  - jiwa wirausaha = entrepreneurial spirit

In many contexts, they overlap; wirausaha here nicely fits the idea of learning to become an entrepreneur in a more modern/start‑up sense.

The Indonesian sentence has no tense markers. How do we know if it’s present, past, or general?

Indonesian usually doesn’t mark tense with verb changes like English does. Context decides whether it’s:

Present habit / general truth
Past
Future

Sebagian pelamar memilih magang di start-up kecil untuk belajar menjadi wirausaha.

Can be understood as:

General / habitual:
- “Some applicants choose to intern at small start-ups to learn to become entrepreneurs.”
Past, if the context points to a completed event:
- “Some applicants chose to intern…”

If you want to make time more explicit, you can add time words or aspect markers:

Dulu, sebagian pelamar memilih… = In the past, some applicants chose…
Sekarang, sebagian pelamar memilih… = Now, some applicants choose…
Tahun lalu sebagian pelamar memilih… = Last year some applicants chose…

But the base verb forms don’t change with tense.

Does pelamar automatically mean plural here? How would I clearly say “the applicants” versus “some applicants”?

Nouns in Indonesian don’t change form for singular/plural. Plurality is usually shown by:

context,
quantifiers (like sebagian, beberapa, banyak),
or plural markers (like para, or reduplication in some cases).

In this sentence:

pelamar by itself could be singular or plural.
sebagian pelamar makes it clearly plural, because “a portion of applicants” must refer to multiple people.

Other common ways:

pelamar = an applicant / applicants (ambiguous, depends on context)
para pelamar = the applicants (group, plural, often more formal/polite)
banyak pelamar = many applicants
sebagian pelamar = some (portion) of the applicants

Could we replace untuk with demi or agar in this sentence? How would that change the nuance?

You could, but the nuance changes slightly:

untuk (most neutral, used in the original)
- …magang di start-up kecil untuk belajar menjadi wirausaha.
  = intern at small start-ups in order to learn to become entrepreneurs.
  Neutral expression of purpose.
agar (more about desired outcome)
- …magang di start-up kecil agar bisa belajar menjadi wirausaha.
  = …so that they can learn to become entrepreneurs.
  Adds a sense of result / goal (often with bisa, dapat, lebih, etc.).
demi (stronger sense of “for the sake of”)
- …magang di start-up kecil demi belajar menjadi wirausaha.
  = …intern at small start-ups for the sake of learning to become entrepreneurs.
  Feels more sacrificial or idealistic, like they’re doing it “for the sake of” that goal.

The original untuk is the most neutral and common choice for simple “in order to” purpose.