Konsultan itu berkata bahwa target realistis membantu kita tidak terlalu pesimis saat gagal.

That consultant said that realistic targets help us not be too pessimistic when we fail.

Breakdown of Konsultan itu berkata bahwa target realistis membantu kita tidak terlalu pesimis saat gagal.

• itu: that
• tidak: not
• terlalu: too
• kita: we
• membantu: to help
• bahwa: that
• saat: when
• gagal: to fail
• berkata: to say
• target: the target
• realistis: realistic
• konsultan: the consultant
• pesimis: pessimistic

Questions & Answers about Konsultan itu berkata bahwa target realistis membantu kita tidak terlalu pesimis saat gagal.

What does itu in konsultan itu mean? Is it that consultant or the consultant?

Itu is a demonstrative that usually means that, but very often it functions like the in English, simply making the noun definite.

• konsultan itu
  = that consultant / the consultant
  (someone already known in the context)

If you said just konsultan, it would sound more like a consultant in a general sense, not a specific one. So here konsultan itu is best understood as the consultant that both speaker and listener know about.

What is the difference between berkata and mengatakan, and could we say Konsultan itu mengatakan bahwa … instead?

Both berkata and mengatakan can translate as to say or to state, but their grammar patterns differ slightly.

• berkata

  • Often followed by bahwa (that) or by direct speech.
  • Pattern: berkata (kepada seseorang) bahwa …
    
    • Konsultan itu berkata bahwa …
  • Slightly more neutral / conversational in many contexts.

• mengatakan

  • Takes a direct object (what is said).
  • Pattern: mengatakan sesuatu (kepada seseorang) bahwa …
    
    • Konsultan itu mengatakan bahwa target realistis membantu …

In this sentence you can say:

• Konsultan itu mengatakan bahwa target realistis membantu kita tidak terlalu pesimis saat gagal.

It sounds fully natural and grammatical. The nuance difference here is minimal; berkata vs mengatakan is more about pattern than meaning in this case.

Is bahwa required after berkata, or can it be left out?

Bahwa corresponds to English that introducing a clause:

• Konsultan itu berkata bahwa target realistis membantu kita …
  = The consultant said that realistic targets help us …

In Indonesian, bahwa is often optional, especially in speech:

• Konsultan itu berkata target realistis membantu kita tidak terlalu pesimis saat gagal.

This is still correct and common. Using bahwa:

• makes the sentence a bit clearer formally,
• sounds slightly more formal or careful.

So: it is not strictly required, but it is perfectly fine and quite natural to include it, particularly in written or formal language.

Why is it target realistis and not realistis target?

In Indonesian, the normal word order is:

• Noun + Adjective

So you say:

• target realistis = realistic target
• rumah besar = big house
• ide bagus = good idea

Putting the adjective first (realistis target) would be ungrammatical in standard Indonesian and would sound wrong to native speakers.

What is the difference between target realistis and target yang realistis?

Both can mean realistic target, but there is a nuance:

• target realistis

  • Simple noun phrase.
  • Feels a bit more compact and neutral.
  • Common in general statements like this sentence.

• target yang realistis

  • The yang makes it a relative / descriptive phrase.
  • Can feel slightly more emphatic or contrastive, like stressing that the target must be realistic.
  • Often used if you are contrasting it with some other kind of target, e.g. target yang realistis, bukan target yang terlalu tinggi (realistic targets, not targets that are too high).

In this sentence, both are correct:

• … bahwa target realistis membantu kita …
• … bahwa target yang realistis membantu kita …

The version without yang is a bit shorter and very natural for a general statement.

How exactly is membantu kita tidak terlalu pesimis structured? What is the role of kita and tidak terlalu pesimis?

The structure is:

• membantu = help
• kita = us / we (object here)
• tidak terlalu pesimis = not too pessimistic

So literally:

• target realistis membantu kita tidak terlalu pesimis
  ≈ realistic targets help us (to) not be too pessimistic

You can think of it as:

• membantu [kita] [tidak terlalu pesimis]
  
  • kita is the one being helped (the object).
  • tidak terlalu pesimis is what we are helped to be (a complement of kita, describing our state).

Indonesian does not need a separate word like to before tidak terlalu pesimis; the verb membantu can go directly followed by what the person is helped to do or be.

Could we add untuk or agar before tidak terlalu pesimis, like membantu kita untuk tidak terlalu pesimis? Is that more correct?

Yes, you can add untuk or agar, and it is still correct:

• membantu kita untuk tidak terlalu pesimis
• membantu kita agar tidak terlalu pesimis

Nuance:

• tanpa apa-apa: membantu kita tidak terlalu pesimis

  • Very natural and common.
  • Slightly more direct and conversational.

• dengan untuk: membantu kita untuk tidak terlalu pesimis

  • Also common.
  • Feels a bit more explicit about the purpose or result.

• dengan agar: membantu kita agar tidak terlalu pesimis

  • agar means so that / in order that.
  • Sounds a little more formal or literary in some contexts.

All three are grammatically acceptable. The original sentence without untuk or agar is quite natural.

In tidak terlalu pesimis, why does tidak come before terlalu? Could we say terlalu tidak pesimis?

Tidak terlalu pesimis means:

• not too pessimistic

The usual order is:

• tidak (negator) + terlalu (too) + adjective
  → tidak terlalu pesimis

If you say terlalu tidak pesimis, it would literally mean:

• too not pessimistic (too un-pessimistic)

This sounds very strange and unnatural in Indonesian, just like in English. So:

• tidak terlalu pesimis = natural and correct (not too pessimistic)
• terlalu tidak pesimis = grammatically odd and not used in normal speech.

In saat gagal, who is failing? How do we know it means when we fail?

Saat gagal literally means when failing or at the time of failing.

Indonesian often omits the subject when it is clear from context. Earlier in the sentence, we have kita (we/us), so the listener naturally understands that kita is also the subject of gagal.

So:

• saat gagal here is understood as:
  • saat kita gagal = when we fail.

This kind of subject omission is very common in Indonesian when repeating the subject would be redundant.

What is the difference between saat, ketika, and kalau for the meaning when? Why use saat here?

All three can be translated as when, but they differ slightly:

• saat

  • Literally moment / time.
  • Often used in slightly more formal or neutral contexts.
  • Works well in written language or when being a bit careful with wording.
  • saat gagal = at the time (we) fail / when (we) fail.

• ketika

  • Very close in meaning to saat.
  • Also neutral and widely used.
  • You could say ketika gagal or ketika kita gagal with almost the same feel.

• kalau

  • More like if / when (conditional).
  • Very common in everyday speech.
  • kalau kita gagal adds more of an if/whenever we fail nuance.

In this sentence, saat fits well because it sounds neutral, a bit general, and works both in spoken and written Indonesian. You could also say:

• … tidak terlalu pesimis ketika gagal
• … tidak terlalu pesimis ketika kita gagal

and the meaning would be essentially the same.

Does gagal here act as a verb (to fail) or an adjective (failed)?

In saat gagal, gagal functions like a verb, meaning to fail.

• saat gagal = when (we) fail.

Gagal can be:

• a verb: Dia gagal (He/She failed)
• an adjective-like predicate: Usaha itu gagal (That effort failed / was unsuccessful)

In this sentence, interpreting it as when (we) fail is the most natural reading, matching the English meaning.

There is no tense marking in membantu or gagal. How do we know it means helps us and when we fail, not helped us or when we failed?

Indonesian verbs generally do not change form for tense. Time is understood from context or from time expressions.

In:

• target realistis membantu kita tidak terlalu pesimis saat gagal

there is no specific time expression (like kemarin = yesterday, besok = tomorrow), and the sentence describes a general truth or principle. So it is understood as:

• Realistic targets help us not be too pessimistic when we fail.
  (general, timeless statement)

If you needed to specify past or future, you would add separate words:

• Past: dulu, tadi, kemarin
• Future: nanti, besok, akan

For example:

• Dulu, target realistis membantu kita tidak terlalu pesimis saat gagal.
  = In the past, realistic targets helped us not be too pessimistic when we failed.