Pelatih berpengalaman itu membantu tim kami.

That experienced coach helps our team.

Breakdown of Pelatih berpengalaman itu membantu tim kami.

• itu: that
• membantu: to help
• kami: our
• tim: the team
• pelatih: the coach
• berpengalaman: experienced

Questions & Answers about Pelatih berpengalaman itu membantu tim kami.

In this sentence, which part is the subject and which is the object?

The structure is:

• Pelatih berpengalaman itu = subject

  • pelatih = coach
  • berpengalaman = experienced
  • itu = that / the (specific)

  So together: that experienced coach / the experienced coach

• membantu = verb: to help

• tim kami = object

  • tim = team
  • kami = our (we, excluding the listener)

So the sentence literally is: That experienced coach helped our team.
Subject: Pelatih berpengalaman itu
Object: tim kami

What does pelatih mean, and how is it formed?

Pelatih means coach or trainer (a person who trains or coaches others).

It comes from the root latih (to train) with the prefix pe-, which often turns verbs into nouns that describe a person who does the action:

• latih = to train
• pelatih = trainer / coach

So pelatih is the person whose job/action is melatih (to train).

What does berpengalaman mean exactly, and what does the prefix ber- do?

Berpengalaman means experienced (having experience).

Breakdown:

• pengalaman = experience
  
  • from peng-
    • alam (not important here), but you just need to know pengalaman = experience
• ber- is a prefix that can mean to have, to possess, or to be in a state of.

So:

• berpengalaman = to have experience / to be experienced

In English we use an adjective experienced, but in Indonesian it is a verb/adjective-like form with ber- that literally suggests “having experience”.

Why is it pelatih berpengalaman itu, not berpengalaman pelatih itu?

In Indonesian, modifiers like adjectives and descriptive words usually come after the noun they modify:

• pelatih berpengalaman = experienced coach
  (literally: coach experienced)

Putting berpengalaman before pelatih would be wrong here.

Then itu comes at the end of the noun phrase:

• pelatih berpengalaman itu = that experienced coach / the experienced coach

So the pattern is:

• noun + (description/adjective) + itu/ini

What is the function of itu here? Is it “that” or “the”?

Itu literally means that, but very often it works like “that specific” or even like “the” when you are talking about a particular, known thing or person.

In Pelatih berpengalaman itu:

• It can be understood as that experienced coach (pointing to a specific one)
• In natural English, we might just say the experienced coach if the context is clear.

So itu here signals that we’re talking about a specific coach, not just any experienced coach in general.

Could I also say Pelatih itu berpengalaman? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say both, and both are correct:

1. Pelatih berpengalaman itu membantu tim kami.

   • Focus: that specific coach who is experienced helped our team.
   • The phrase berpengalaman is tightly linked to pelatih as a description inside the noun phrase.

2. Pelatih itu berpengalaman. (as a separate sentence)

   • Means: That coach is experienced.
   • Here, pelatih itu is the subject, berpengalaman is like a predicate/adjective (no verb is is needed in Indonesian).

In your original sentence, if you said:

• Pelatih itu membantu tim kami.
  You’d just say That coach helped our team (without saying that the coach is experienced).

So adding berpengalaman inside the noun phrase gives extra descriptive information about which coach you mean.

How do I translate membantu in terms of tense? Is it past or present?

Membantu is the base verb to help. Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense.

So membantu can mean:

• helps / is helping (present)
• helped (past)
• will help (future) — if the context or a time word suggests future

The tense is understood from context or from extra words like:

• tadi (earlier)
• kemarin (yesterday)
• sekarang (now)
• nanti (later)
• akan (will)

So your sentence could be translated as:

• That experienced coach helps our team.
• That experienced coach helped our team.

Both are possible depending on context.

What is the difference between membantu and menolong?

Both membantu and menolong mean to help, and often they can be used interchangeably.

Nuance (very roughly):

• membantu

  • a bit more general and very common
  • often used in everyday speech and formal contexts
  • can suggest giving assistance, support, or aid

• menolong

  • sometimes feels a bit more like helping someone in need, rescuing, or saving
  • more emotional or urgent in some contexts

In your sentence, Pelatih berpengalaman itu membantu tim kami is more natural than using menolong, because we usually talk about a coach helping/assisting the team, not “rescuing” it (unless you really mean that).

What does tim mean, and why isn’t it marked as plural?

Tim is a loanword from English team and has a similar meaning.

In Indonesian, nouns are usually not marked for plural:

• tim can mean team or teams, depending on context.
• Plural can be shown by:
  • context (numbers, other words), or
  • reduplication: tim-tim (teams)

In tim kami, we understand it as our team (singular) because a coach helping our team is the most natural reading. If you really wanted to say our teams, you could say tim-tim kami or use a number/context.

What does kami mean, and how is it different from kita?

Both kami and kita relate to “we / us / our”, but they have a key difference:

• kami = we/us excluding the listener
  
  • “our (but not including you)”
• kita = we/us including the listener
  
  • “our (including you)”

In tim kami:

• tim kami = our team (a team that belongs to “us”, but the speaker is not including the listener in that group).

If you said tim kita, it would mean our team that includes you as well (you and I are on the same team).

Is tim kami the same as saying our team, or do I need to add something like “kami punya tim”?

Tim kami already means our team. You don’t need anything extra.

Patterns:

• tim kami = our team
• rumah kami = our house
• guru kami = our teacher

You only need punya (to have) if you want a full sentence about possession, like:

• Kami punya tim. = We have a team.

In your sentence, tim kami is just a noun phrase functioning as the object: that coach helped our team.

Could I say Pelatih yang berpengalaman itu membantu tim kami? What does yang do, and is there a difference?

Yes, Pelatih yang berpengalaman itu membantu tim kami is also correct.

Here’s the nuance:

• Pelatih berpengalaman itu

  • Descriptive word berpengalaman directly modifies pelatih.
  • Feels compact, like one set phrase: the experienced coach.

• Pelatih yang berpengalaman itu

  • yang introduces a kind of relative clause or fuller description:
    the coach who is experienced.
  • A tiny bit more formal or explicit in spelling out the description.

Meaning-wise in most contexts, they are effectively the same: That experienced coach helped our team.
Without a strong contrast, the difference is subtle, and both forms are widely used.