Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Sering dikatakan bahwa belajar bahasa Indonesia mudah. - It is often said that learning Indonesian is easy.

You could also say Ini sering dikatakan bahwa…, but Indonesian commonly drops an explicit subject and just starts with Sering + passive verb for this kind of impersonal statement.

What exactly is dikatakan, and how is it formed?

Dikatakan is a passive verb meaning is said / is stated.

Morphology:

Root noun: kata = word
Active verb: mengatakan = to say / to state
- meN- (active prefix) + kata
  - -kan
Passive verb: dikatakan = to be said
- di- (passive prefix) + kata
  - -kan

So Sering dikatakan… = It is often said…

Indonesian frequently uses this passive pattern without mentioning who is doing the saying.

Who is the subject of dikatakan? Who is doing the saying?

Grammatically, there is no explicit subject in the sentence. Indonesian allows an impersonal passive, where the agent (the one who says it) is simply not mentioned.

The sentence corresponds to English “It is often said that …”, where “it” is a dummy subject and doesn’t refer to anything specific.

If you wanted to mention the people doing the saying, you could say:

Orang sering mengatakan bahwa…
People often say that…

But in the original sentence, the focus is on the statement itself, not on who says it.

Why do we use the passive dikatakan instead of the active mengatakan?

Using dikatakan (passive) shifts focus away from the speaker and onto the statement itself. This is common when:

The agent is unknown, unimportant, or obvious.
You want a more formal or objective tone.

Compare:

Sering dikatakan bahwa…
It is often said that… (impersonal, formal, focuses on the idea)
Orang sering mengatakan bahwa…
People often say that… (more concrete subject, a bit less formal)

Both are correct, but dikatakan sounds more like written or formal Indonesian.

What is the function of bahwa in this sentence?

Bahwa is a conjunction meaning that, introducing a clause which acts like the “content” of what is said.

Structure:

Sering dikatakan – It is often said
bahwa – that
belajar bahasa Indonesia mudah – learning Indonesian is easy

So bahwa introduces the reported idea or statement, just like “that” in:

It is often said *that learning Indonesian is easy.*

Can bahwa be left out?

Often, yes—especially in spoken or less formal Indonesian.

You might hear:

Sering dikatakan belajar bahasa Indonesia mudah.

This is still understandable and quite natural in speech. However:

With bahwa, the sentence sounds more formal and clear, especially in writing.
Without bahwa, the boundary between the main clause and the subordinate clause relies more on context and intonation.

In careful writing, bahwa is usually kept.

What exactly is belajar here: “to learn” or “learning”?

In Indonesian, belajar can correspond to both:

to learn / to study (infinitive)
learning / studying (gerund-like)

In this sentence, belajar bahasa Indonesia functions like “learning Indonesian” or “to learn Indonesian”. Indonesian doesn’t need to change the verb form; belajar covers both meanings.

So:

belajar bahasa Indonesia mudah
≈ learning Indonesian is easy / to learn Indonesian is easy

Why is there no subject like “it” or “learning Indonesian” before mudah?

In belajar bahasa Indonesia mudah:

belajar bahasa Indonesia acts as the topic/subject-like phrase
mudah is the predicate adjective (easy)

Indonesian often uses a simple [topic] + [description] structure without a linking verb “to be”.

It’s like saying:

Belajar bahasa Indonesia – learning Indonesian
mudah – (is) easy

There is no word for “is”; it’s understood from context and word order.

Why is mudah at the end of the sentence?

The typical order in an Indonesian equational sentence is:

Subject / topic
- predicate (adjective/noun)

So:

belajar bahasa Indonesia – learning Indonesian (topic)
mudah – easy (predicate)

Placing mudah at the end follows the normal pattern and sounds natural:

Belajar bahasa Indonesia mudah.
Learning Indonesian (is) easy.

You could also say:

Belajar bahasa Indonesia itu mudah.

Here itu adds emphasis: that activity of learning Indonesian is easy.

How is the whole sentence structured grammatically?

The sentence has a main clause and a subordinate clause:

Main clause (passive)
- Sering dikatakan = It is often said
- sering (adverb) + dikatakan (passive verb)
Subordinate “bahwa”-clause (content of what is said)
- bahwa belajar bahasa Indonesia mudah
- bahwa (that) + belajar bahasa Indonesia (topic) + mudah (predicate)

Overall:

Sering dikatakan
bahwa [belajar bahasa Indonesia mudah].

Why is it bahasa Indonesia and not just Indonesia?

Bahasa Indonesia literally means “Indonesian language”.

bahasa = language
Indonesia = Indonesia (the country/name)

In Indonesian, the noun bahasa is placed before the language name, like:

bahasa Inggris – English (language)
bahasa Jepang – Japanese (language)
bahasa Indonesia – Indonesian (language)

So belajar bahasa Indonesia = to learn the Indonesian language.

Should we write bahasa Indonesia or Bahasa Indonesia with a capital B?

In modern official Indonesian spelling:

bahasa Indonesia
is preferred: bahasa (common noun, lowercase) + Indonesia (proper name, capital).

You will also see Bahasa Indonesia (capital B) quite often, especially in English texts or informal contexts. However, according to the standard spelling rules, only Indonesia must be capitalized.

Are there more informal or colloquial ways to say the same thing?

Yes. Some common, more casual versions are:

Sering dibilang belajar bahasa Indonesia itu gampang.
- dibilang – is said (colloquial, from bilang)
- itu – that (emphasis)
- gampang – easy (informal synonym of mudah)
Orang sering bilang belajar bahasa Indonesia gampang.
People often say learning Indonesian is easy.

The original sentence:

Sering dikatakan bahwa belajar bahasa Indonesia mudah.

sounds more formal and neutral, suitable for writing or careful speech.