Guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.

The music teacher explains the notes slowly.

Breakdown of Guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.

• pelan-pelan: slowly
• menjelaskan: to explain
• guru musik: the music teacher
• nada: the tone

Questions & Answers about Guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.

What is the basic structure of this sentence? Which word is the subject, verb, and object?

The sentence Guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan. follows the typical Indonesian S–V–O (Subject–Verb–Object) order:

• Guru musik = subject (music teacher / the music teacher)
• menjelaskan = verb (explains / explained / is explaining)
• nada = object (the note / the notes / pitch)
• pelan-pelan = adverb describing how the explaining is done (slowly)

So literally: Music teacher – explains – note – slowly.

Is guru musik one idea like “music teacher,” or does it mean “teacher” + “music” separately?

Guru musik is a noun phrase that functions as a single idea: a music teacher or the music teacher.

• guru = teacher
• musik = music

When you put them together, musik describes what kind of teacher it is. It is not “teacher and music” but teacher of music. Indonesian often uses simple noun–noun sequences like this:

• guru matematika = math teacher
• guru bahasa Inggris = English teacher

There is no “a” or “the” in guru musik. How do I know if it means “a music teacher” or “the music teacher”?

Indonesian normally does not use articles like a/an/the. The context tells you whether it’s specific or general.

Guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan. could be:

• A music teacher explained the notes slowly.
• The music teacher explains the note slowly.

If you want to make it more clearly indefinite (“a music teacher”), you can say:

• Seorang guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.
  (seorang roughly adds the sense of “one / a certain”.)

If you want to make it clearly definite (“the music teacher”), you can add:

• Guru musik itu menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.
  (itu = that / the, referring to a specific one known to speaker and listener.)

What does nada mean exactly? Is it “note,” “tone,” or something else?

Nada in Indonesian is a music-related term. Its meaning depends a bit on context:

• In music class, nada often means a musical note or pitch.
• It can also refer more generally to tone in a musical sense (high/low sounds).

It does not normally mean “lyric” (that would be lirik) or “song” (lagu).

So in this sentence, menjelaskan nada is best understood as:

• explained the musical notes/pitches or
• explained pitch (depending on the wider context).

What is the difference between jelas and menjelaskan? Why do we use menjelaskan here?

• jelas is an adjective: clear

  • Penjelasannya jelas. = The explanation is clear.

• menjelaskan is a verb: to explain / to make something clear

  • Guru musik menjelaskan nada. = The music teacher explains the notes.

Formally, menjelaskan comes from:

• jelas (clear)
• meN-
  • -kan → menjelaskan = “to make (something) clear,” i.e. to explain.

In this sentence, we need an action verb (“explains”), so menjelaskan is required. Jelas alone cannot function as the main verb “explain” here.

Could we use menerangkan instead of menjelaskan? Are they different?

Yes, you could say:

• Guru musik menerangkan nada pelan-pelan.

Menjelaskan and menerangkan are very close in meaning and often interchangeable, both meaning roughly to explain.

Subtle differences (which many native speakers don’t consciously think about):

• menjelaskan (from jelas) focuses slightly more on making something clear.
• menerangkan (from terang = bright/clear) can feel a bit more “formal” or “bookish” in some regions, but it is still common and natural.

In everyday modern Indonesian, menjelaskan is extremely common and completely natural here.

What does pelan-pelan mean, and why is it repeated?

Pelan-pelan means slowly, describing how the action is done.

• pelan by itself means slow.
• Reduplication (pelan-pelan) is a very common pattern in Indonesian.

In this case, pelan → pelan-pelan does two things:

1. Turns it into a more natural-sounding adverb: “slowly”.
2. Can add a nuance of gently / carefully / bit by bit, depending on context.

So:

• Guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.
  = The music teacher explained the notes slowly / carefully / step by step.

Is there a difference in nuance between pelan and pelan-pelan?

Yes, there is a small nuance difference:

• pelan (single) = slow (basic description)

  • Mobil itu pelan. = That car is slow.

• pelan-pelan = slowly, often with a feeling of

  • carefully, gently, little by little, or take your time.

Examples:

• Jalan pelan-pelan. = Walk slowly (and carefully / don’t rush).
• Bisa jelaskan pelan-pelan? = Can you explain it slowly (so I can follow)?

In Guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan, pelan-pelan makes it sound like the teacher is taking time and care to make the explanation easy to follow.

Can pelan-pelan go in another position in the sentence, or must it go at the end?

You have some flexibility. All of these are possible and grammatical:

1. Guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.
   – Very natural: “The music teacher explained the notes slowly.”

2. Guru musik menjelaskan pelan-pelan nada.
   – Technically possible, but sounds a bit odd and less natural.

3. Guru musik pelan-pelan menjelaskan nada.
   – Also possible; here pelan-pelan clearly modifies menjelaskan.
   – This can emphasize the manner of explaining a bit more.

In practice, putting pelan-pelan at the end (version 1) is the most common and natural in everyday speech for this sentence.

Is pelan-pelan informal? Are there more formal alternatives?

Pelan-pelan itself is neutral and perfectly fine in both speech and writing. It may feel a bit more “spoken” in tone, but it is not slang.

More formal or neutral alternatives include:

• perlahan-lahan = slowly (more standard/formal)
• dengan pelan = slowly (literally “with slow[ness]”)
• secara perlahan = slowly (quite formal, written style)

So you could also say:

• Guru musik menjelaskan nada perlahan-lahan.
• Guru musik menjelaskan nada dengan pelan.

These still mean that the explanation is given slowly.

How would I make this clearly past, present, or future in Indonesian? There’s no tense marker in the verb.

Indonesian verbs like menjelaskan do not change form for tense. Time is usually shown by time words or context.

Examples:

• Past:

  • Tadi guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.
    = Earlier, the music teacher explained the notes slowly.
  • Kemarin guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.
    = Yesterday the music teacher explained the notes slowly.

• Present (ongoing):

  • Guru musik sedang menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.
    = The music teacher is explaining the notes slowly (right now).

• Future:

  • Besok guru musik akan menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan.
    = Tomorrow the music teacher will explain the notes slowly.

So menjelaskan itself stays the same; you add words like tadi, kemarin, sedang, akan, besok, etc.

Can I drop nada and just say Guru musik menjelaskan pelan-pelan?

Yes, you can say:

• Guru musik menjelaskan pelan-pelan.

This would mean something like:

• The music teacher explains (it) slowly.
• The music teacher explained (things) slowly.

However:

• Without nada, the object becomes implicit.
• The listener will assume from context what is being explained (maybe a song, a concept, a lesson).

In your original sentence, nada makes the meaning more specific: the teacher is explaining the notes/pitch.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would it sound different in casual speech?

Guru musik menjelaskan nada pelan-pelan. is neutral Indonesian. It’s fine in writing, in class, and in everyday conversation.

In more casual, spoken Indonesian (especially in some regions), people might say something like:

• Guru musik ngejelasin nada pelan-pelan.
  (ngejelasin is a colloquial form of menjelaskan.)

But your original sentence is standard, clear, and appropriate in almost all situations.