Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di tingkat menengah, PR kami tidak hanya menyalin kalimat, tetapi juga membuat terjemahan dan komentar singkat. - At the intermediate level, our homework is not only to copy sentences, but also to make translations and short comments.

di is a very common preposition meaning “at / in / on”, used for locations or levels:
- di rumah – at home
- di sekolah – at school
- di tingkat menengah – at the intermediate level
You can also say pada tingkat menengah. pada is a bit more formal and is often used in writing, but in everyday speech di here sounds completely natural.

So: di tingkat menengah = at the intermediate level (of a course, program, etc.).

What exactly does PR mean here, and is it normal to write it in capital letters?

PR is an abbreviation of pekerjaan rumah, literally “house work,” but in this context it means “homework.”

It’s very commonly used in schools, just like “HW” (homework) in English.
People normally write it as capital letters PR and pronounce it “pe-er” (saying the letters in Indonesian).

You could write the full form:

Di tingkat menengah, pekerjaan rumah kami…

but everyday speech and informal writing almost always use PR.

In PR kami tidak hanya menyalin kalimat, is PR kami really the subject? Can “homework” do an action like copy sentences?

Grammatically, yes: PR kami is the subject of the sentence.

PR kami – our homework
tidak hanya menyalin kalimat – does not only copy sentences

This corresponds to a natural English structure:

Our homework isn’t just copying sentences…

In both languages, “homework” is treated as an activity or set of tasks that can be described by a verb phrase like “copying sentences” / “menyalin kalimat.”

So the structure is:

Subject: PR kami
Predicate (what it does / what it’s like): tidak hanya menyalin kalimat, tetapi juga…

No extra word like “to be” is needed.

Why is there no adalah after PR kami? Can I say PR kami adalah tidak hanya menyalin kalimat…?

You should not put adalah there.

In Indonesian:

adalah is mainly used when the predicate is a noun phrase or adjective phrase, e.g.
- PR kami adalah tugas penting. – Our homework is an important task.
- Dia adalah guru saya. – He/She is my teacher.

In the original sentence, the predicate starts with a verb (menyalin):

PR kami tidak hanya menyalin kalimat…

When the predicate is a verb phrase, you do not use adalah.

So:

✅ PR kami tidak hanya menyalin kalimat…
❌ PR kami adalah tidak hanya menyalin kalimat…

What does the pattern tidak hanya … tetapi juga … mean, and how is it used?

tidak hanya … tetapi juga … means “not only … but also …”. It’s a very common correlative structure.

In the sentence:

PR kami tidak hanya menyalin kalimat, tetapi juga membuat terjemahan dan komentar singkat.
→ Our homework not only involves copying sentences, but also making translations and short comments.

Basic pattern:

Subjek + tidak hanya + [thing/action 1], tetapi juga + [thing/action 2].

Examples:

Dia tidak hanya pintar, tetapi juga rajin.
He is not only smart, but also diligent.
Kami tidak hanya belajar tata bahasa, tetapi juga berlatih percakapan.
We not only study grammar, but also practice conversation.

Sometimes in writing you might see “tidak hanya …, tetapi juga …” with a comma, just like in English.

What is the nuance of menyalin? Is it just “to copy,” and does it sound like plagiarism?

menyalin means to copy (by writing/typing it down).

Typical uses:

menyalin kalimat – copy sentences
menyalin teks dari papan tulis – copy text from the board
menyalin dokumen – copy a document (by hand, or by retyping)

It doesn’t automatically imply plagiarism; it can be neutral “copying” as an exercise (like students copying example sentences), or mechanically reproducing text.

If you want to emphasize illegal or unethical copying (plagiarism, piracy), you would more likely see:

menjiplak – to plagiarize / to crib
membajak – to pirate (software, media, etc.)

Here, menyalin kalimat is just the normal school exercise sense of “copying sentences.”

Why say membuat terjemahan instead of just menerjemahkan?

Both are correct, but they have slightly different focuses:

menerjemahkan – to translate (verb focused)
- Kami menerjemahkan kalimat-kalimat itu.
  We translate those sentences.
membuat terjemahan – to make a translation (focus on the product, the translation as a noun)
- Kami membuat terjemahan dan komentar singkat.
  We make a translation and brief comments.

In your sentence, membuat terjemahan dan komentar singkat treats both terjemahan and komentar as things we produce as part of the homework. It also keeps the structure parallel:

menyalin kalimat (copy sentences)
membuat terjemahan dan komentar singkat (make translations and short comments)

You could say:

… tidak hanya menyalin kalimat, tetapi juga menerjemahkan dan memberi komentar singkat.

That’s also natural—just a different style.

Does komentar singkat mean one short comment, or several? Why isn’t it plural?

Indonesian usually doesn’t mark plural the way English does. komentar singkat can mean:

a short comment
short comments

depending on context.

Plurality is often understood from the situation or added words:

beberapa komentar singkat – several short comments
banyak komentar singkat – many short comments
komentar-komentar singkat – comments (plural marked by reduplication, more formal/written)

In a homework description like this, komentar singkat is naturally interpreted as short comments (in general), not just one.

Does singkat describe only komentar, or both terjemahan and komentar?

Grammatically, singkat is directly attached to komentar, so the most literal reading is:

terjemahan – translations
komentar singkat – short comments

So only komentar is explicitly described as singkat.

If you wanted to clearly say short translations and short comments, you’d normally repeat or move the adjective:

… membuat terjemahan singkat dan komentar singkat.
… membuat terjemahan dan komentar yang singkat.

However, in real usage, it’s possible that the speaker intends both to be short; the grammar only guarantees that komentar is short.

Can I move di tingkat menengah somewhere else in the sentence? For example: PR kami di tingkat menengah tidak hanya…?

Yes, you can move di tingkat menengah, and the meaning stays essentially the same, though the emphasis can shift slightly.

Some natural options:

Di tingkat menengah, PR kami tidak hanya menyalin kalimat…
– At the intermediate level, our homework doesn’t only copy sentences…
PR kami di tingkat menengah tidak hanya menyalin kalimat…
– Our homework at the intermediate level doesn’t only copy sentences…
PR kami tidak hanya menyalin kalimat di tingkat menengah, tetapi juga…
– Our homework doesn’t only (in the intermediate level) copy sentences, but also…

Version (1) is very typical as a general statement about the intermediate level in your program. Version (2) sounds like you are distinguishing your intermediate-level homework from other levels’ homework. All are grammatically fine.

Why use kami and not kita here?

Both kami and kita mean “we / us”, but:

kami – we (excluding the listener)
kita – we (including the listener)

In a typical explanation about a course (e.g. a teacher describing students’ homework to someone else), PR kami = our homework (the speaker + their group), not including the listener.

If a teacher is talking directly to their students and wants to sound inclusive, they might say:

PR kita di tingkat menengah tidak hanya…
– Our homework (yours and mine / in this class) at the intermediate level is not only…

So kami vs kita depends on whether the listener is part of the “we” or not. Here, kami fits a neutral descriptive explanation.