Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Aksen bahasa Indonesia guru kami terdengar natural. - Our teacher's Indonesian accent sounds natural.

Aksen = accent
bahasa Indonesia = the Indonesian language
- bahasa = language
- Indonesia = Indonesia
guru = teacher
kami = we / us (exclusive), here functioning as our
terdengar = is heard / sounds (to the ear)
- ter- (prefix) + dengar (to hear)
natural = natural

A very literal gloss would be:
Accent (of the) Indonesian language (of) teacher we sounds natural.
Natural English: Our teacher’s Indonesian accent sounds natural.

Why is it guru kami and not kami guru for our teacher?

In Indonesian, possessive pronouns normally come after the noun:

guru kami = our teacher
rumah mereka = their house
buku saya = my book

So guru kami literally is teacher we, which corresponds to our teacher.

Kami guru would be interpreted as we (are) teachers (a noun phrase meaning the group we whose profession is teacher), not our teacher. Position matters:

Noun + pronoun → possession (teacher our)
Pronoun + noun → usually a subject plus a complement (we teachers)

What is the difference between kami and kita? Could I say guru kita instead?

Both kami and kita mean we / us, but:

kami = we (exclusive): excludes the person you are talking to
kita = we (inclusive): includes the person you are talking to

So:

guru kami = our teacher, but not your teacher (the listener is outside the group)
guru kita = our teacher, including you (the listener shares the teacher)

Whether guru kita is correct depends on the situation:

Talking to classmates who share the same teacher → guru kita is natural.
Talking to someone who does not have that teacher → guru kami is more accurate.

Why is bahasa Indonesia after aksen, unlike English Indonesian accent?

In Indonesian, the head noun usually comes first, and modifiers follow it:

aksen bahasa Indonesia = accent (of) Indonesian language
aksen Inggris = English accent
buku bahasa Indonesia = Indonesian‑language book
film Jepang = Japanese film

So the pattern is:

head noun + modifying noun phrase

Here:

aksen is the head noun
bahasa Indonesia tells you which accent (the accent when speaking Indonesian)

So aksen bahasa Indonesia corresponds to Indonesian accent, just with the reversed order compared to English.

Does aksen bahasa Indonesia guru kami form one long noun phrase? How is it structured?

Yes, it’s one long noun phrase functioning as the subject.

You can think of it as:

Aksen [bahasa Indonesia] [guru kami]
- aksen = accent (head)
- bahasa Indonesia = of the Indonesian language (which accent)
- guru kami = of our teacher (whose accent)

So the sentence structure is:

Subject: Aksen bahasa Indonesia guru kami
Predicate: terdengar natural

Meaning: The Indonesian accent of our teacher sounds natural.

Could I say Aksen guru kami dalam bahasa Indonesia terdengar natural instead? Is there a difference?

Yes, that sentence is also grammatical and natural:

Aksen guru kami dalam bahasa Indonesia terdengar natural.
= Our teacher’s accent in Indonesian sounds natural.

Nuance:

Aksen bahasa Indonesia guru kami
- Very compact; treats bahasa Indonesia as directly modifying aksen.
- Feels like our teacher’s Indonesian accent as a fixed descriptor.
Aksen guru kami dalam bahasa Indonesia
- Literally our teacher’s accent in Indonesian.
- Slightly more explicit about the context (when speaking in Indonesian).

In practice, both are fine; context decides which sounds smoother.

What exactly does terdengar mean, and how is it related to dengar?

The root is:

dengar = to hear

From that, we get:

mendengar = to hear (actively)
- Saya mendengar musik. = I hear music.
terdengar = to be heard / to sound
- No explicit subject doing the hearing.
- Describes how something sounds.

So in the sentence:

terdengar natural = sounds natural / is heard as natural

Pattern:

lampu itu terang = that lamp is bright
musik itu terdengar pelan = that music sounds quiet
aksen … terdengar natural = the accent sounds natural

Ter- here often makes a stative form: the state of being heard, seen, etc. Compare:

lihat → terlihat (to be seen / to look)
rasa → terasa (to be felt / to feel)

Is natural here an adjective, like in sounds natural in English? Is this pattern common?

Yes, natural is functioning as an adjective (a descriptive word).

The pattern [verb of perception] + adjective is very common:

terdengar aneh = sounds strange
terdengar lucu = sounds funny
kedengaran jelas = sounds clear
kelihatan capek = looks tired
terasa dingin = feels cold

So:

terdengar natural = sounds natural

You can also modify it:

terdengar sangat natural = sounds very natural
terdengar kurang natural = sounds not very natural / a bit unnatural

Is natural an English loan word here? Could I use an Indonesian equivalent instead?

Yes, natural is a loan word from English and is widely used in casual and semi‑formal Indonesian, especially in speech.

Common alternatives:

alami = natural (often for things like nature, processes)
- Aksen guru kami terdengar sangat alami.
wajar = natural / reasonable / as expected
- Aksen guru kami terdengar wajar.
fasih = fluent
- Focuses more on fluency than on a native‑like accent.

Nuance:

natural often sounds modern/casual and is very common in everyday conversation.
alami can sound a bit more formal or “pure” Indonesian.

All are understandable; choice depends on style and exact meaning you want.

Why isn’t there a word for is in the sentence, like adalah?

Indonesian normally does not use a separate to be verb before a normal verb.

Here, terdengar itself is the verb:

Aksen … terdengar natural.
= The accent sounds natural.

If you added adalah, you’d get something like:

Aksen … adalah terdengar natural.

which is ungrammatical or at least very unnatural, like saying is sounds natural in English.

Guideline:

Use adalah mainly when linking a subject to a noun, pronoun, or some phrase:
- Dia adalah guru. = He/She is a teacher.
- Masalahnya adalah waktu. = The problem is time.
Do not use adalah before regular verbs like makan, datang, terdengar, etc.

Do we need something like the or a before aksen? How is definiteness expressed?

Indonesian has no articles like a / an / the.

Definiteness is usually understood from context, or shown with things like:

itu = that / the (specific)
ini = this
possessive pronouns (-ku, -mu, -nya, kami, etc.)

In Aksen bahasa Indonesia guru kami terdengar natural:

Context and guru kami already make aksen definite:
you are clearly talking about our teacher’s accent, not just any accent.

If you really want to emphasize a specific accent, you can say:

Aksen bahasa Indonesia guru kami itu terdengar natural.
≈ That Indonesian accent of our teacher sounds natural.

But grammatically, no article is required or expected.

Could we drop bahasa Indonesia and say Aksen guru kami terdengar natural? What changes?

Yes, that sentence is completely grammatical:

Aksen guru kami terdengar natural.
= Our teacher’s accent sounds natural.

Difference:

With bahasa Indonesia:
- Specifies which language: the accent when speaking Indonesian.
Without bahasa Indonesia:
- Just our teacher’s accent in general.
- The language is not specified; listeners must infer it from context.

So use bahasa Indonesia if you need to be clear about the language.

Why is it written bahasa Indonesia and not Bahasa Indonesia with a capital B?

Official modern Indonesian spelling rules are:

bahasa Indonesia
- bahasa (language) → lowercase
- Indonesia (the country / proper name) → capitalized

So:

bahasa Inggris = English (language)
bahasa Jepang = Japanese (language)

However, in practice you will often see Bahasa Indonesia (capital B) in signs, course names, and informal writing. It is very common, but if you follow the official standard, bahasa Indonesia (lowercase b) is preferred. This is an orthography issue, not a grammar issue.