Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya menghargai keberanian teman saya berbicara jujur. - I appreciate my friend's courage to speak honestly.

It comes from harga (price, value) + prefix meN-
- suffix -i.
It is a transitive verb, so it normally takes a direct object:
- Saya menghargai keberanianmu. – I appreciate your courage.
- Kami menghargai waktu Anda. – We appreciate your time.

Nuance:

menghargai = recognize the value of something/someone.
menghormati = respect, often with a stronger sense of honor/deference.

In the sentence Saya menghargai keberanian teman saya berbicara jujur, the thing being appreciated is keberanian (courage).

2. What is keberanian, and how is it different from berani?

Berani is an adjective: brave, courageous.
Keberanian is a noun: bravery, courage.

Formed as: ke- + berani + -an → keberanian, a common way to turn adjectives into abstract nouns:

tinggi (tall) → ketinggian (height)
miskin (poor) → kemiskinan (poverty)

Compare:

Teman saya berani berbicara jujur. – My friend is brave enough to speak honestly.
Saya menghargai keberanian teman saya. – I appreciate my friend’s courage.

So in this sentence, keberanian is the direct object of menghargai.

3. How does keberanian teman saya mean my friend’s courage?

In Indonesian, possession is often shown by simply putting the possessor after the thing possessed:

rumah saya – my house
buku dia – his/her book
keberanian teman saya – my friend’s courage

Structure:

keberanian = courage (head noun)
teman saya = my friend (possessor)
Together: keberanian teman saya = the courage of my friend.

You could also say keberanian dari teman saya, but the dari phrase is usually not necessary and sounds heavier.

4. Is the sentence missing untuk before berbicara? Should it be …keberanian teman saya untuk berbicara jujur?

Both forms are possible:

Saya menghargai keberanian teman saya berbicara jujur.
Saya menghargai keberanian teman saya untuk berbicara jujur.

Sentence 2 is more explicit and more clearly shows:

keberanian … untuk berbicara jujur = courage to speak honestly.

Without untuk, sentence 1 is still understandable and natural in speech, but some speakers might feel that untuk makes the grammar clearer, especially in careful or formal writing.

So:

With untuk: more explicit, slightly more formal/clear.
Without untuk: more compact, common in spoken Indonesian.

5. Does berbicara jujur mean the same as berkata jujur? Which is better here?

Both are correct, but they differ slightly:

berbicara = to speak, to talk (focus on the act of speaking)
berkata = to say (focus more on the content/utterance)

jujur = honest(ly), so:

berbicara jujur – to speak honestly (in how you talk in general)
berkata jujur – to say something honestly / to tell the truth

In this sentence:

berbicara jujur suggests a way of speaking: my friend speaks honestly.
berkata jujur would put more emphasis on telling the truth (maybe about a specific fact).

Both would be understood; berbicara jujur is very natural here.

6. Why is jujur used directly, not dengan jujur?

Adverbs can often be used without dengan in Indonesian:

Dia berbicara jujur. – He/She speaks honestly.
Dia bekerja keras. – He/She works hard.

dengan jujur is also grammatically correct:

Dia berbicara dengan jujur.

But:

berbicara jujur is simpler and very common.
Adding dengan can sound slightly more formal or emphatic, but not required.

So berbicara jujur is perfectly natural and standard.

7. What level of formality and politeness does this sentence have?

The sentence is neutral to slightly formal:

Saya = neutral/formal I (polite, safe in almost all situations).
No slang, no regional pronouns.
Verbs and nouns are standard.

Informal versions might look like:

Gue menghargai keberanian temen gue ngomong jujur. (Jakarta slang)
Aku menghargai keberanian teman aku buat ngomong jujur. (casual, non-formal)

So Saya menghargai keberanian teman saya berbicara jujur is appropriate in:

writing,
work context,
talking politely to someone not very close.

8. Why is it menghargai and not something like mengharga?

The basic root is harga (price, value).
The verb to appreciate / to value is conventionally formed as:

meN- + harga + -i → menghargai

There is no common verb mengharga in standard Indonesian.
The productive pattern here is meN- + root + -i forming a verb that takes an object:

meN- + bantu + -i → membantu(i) – to help (someone)
meN- + isi + -i → mengisi – to fill (something)

So menghargai is the only natural standard choice meaning to appreciate / value / respect.

9. Where is the past tense in this sentence? How do we know when it happened?

Indonesian verbs usually don’t change form for tense:

Saya menghargai keberanian teman saya berbicara jujur.

This can mean:

I appreciated (in the past)
I appreciate (now)
I will appreciate (in the future) – less common without a time word, but possible in context.

Time is normally shown with time expressions, not verb changes:

Tadi saya menghargai… – Earlier I appreciated…
Sekarang saya menghargai… – Now I appreciate…
Nanti saya akan menghargai… – Later I will appreciate…

So tense is understood from context, not from the form menghargai.

10. Could I say Saya menghargai teman saya karena dia berbicara jujur instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that sentence is also correct:

Saya menghargai keberanian teman saya berbicara jujur.
Focus: the courage itself. You appreciate the courage (an abstract quality).
Saya menghargai teman saya karena dia berbicara jujur.
Focus: the friend as a person. You appreciate your friend because of what they did.

So:

If you want to highlight courage as a trait, use keberanian teman saya.
If you want to highlight your friend, use Saya menghargai teman saya karena… or similar.