Kakak perempuan saya mengiris mentimun tipis-tipis untuk salad.

Kakak perempuan saya is the natural way to say my older sister.

• kakak = older sibling
• perempuan = female
• saya = my / I

So together, it means my older female sibling.

By contrast, saudara perempuan saya is understandable, but it sounds more formal and less everyday. Native speakers usually say:

• kakak perempuan saya = my older sister
• adik perempuan saya = my younger sister

So this sentence uses the normal, conversational choice.

Not exactly. Kakak means older sibling, without saying whether that sibling is male or female.

So:

• kakak = older sibling
• kakak laki-laki = older brother
• kakak perempuan = older sister

People often omit laki-laki or perempuan if the gender is already clear from context. But adding perempuan makes it completely specific.

In Indonesian, possessors usually come after the noun.

So:

• kakak perempuan saya = my older sister
• literally: older sister my

This is normal Indonesian word order.

Other examples:

• rumah saya = my house
• teman saya = my friend
• buku saya = my book

English puts the possessor first; Indonesian usually puts it after the noun.

Mengiris means to slice.

It comes from the root:

• iris = slice / cut into slices

With the verbal prefix meN-, it becomes an active verb:

• mengiris = to slice something

This is a very common Indonesian pattern:

• masak → memasak = cook
• baca → membaca = read
• iris → mengiris = slice

In this sentence, mengiris is an active transitive verb, meaning the subject is doing the action to an object:

• kakak perempuan saya = subject
• mengiris = verb
• mentimun = object

Tipis-tipis comes from tipis, which means thin.

The reduplicated form tipis-tipis here means something like:

• thinly
• into thin slices
• in thin pieces

So mengiris mentimun tipis-tipis means slicing the cucumber so that the slices are thin.

In Indonesian, reduplication often adds a sense of:

• repetition
• distribution
• variety
• softening the meaning
• doing something in a certain way

Here it gives a natural expression for how the cucumber is sliced.

Yes, you could, but tipis-tipis sounds more natural in this context.

Compare:

• mengiris mentimun tipis = slice the cucumber thin
• mengiris mentimun tipis-tipis = slice the cucumber into thin slices / thinly

The reduplicated form often sounds more idiomatic when describing how something is cut, arranged, or done in small/thin pieces.

You hear similar patterns in Indonesian, such as:

• kecil-kecil = into small pieces / small ones
• halus-halus = finely / into fine pieces
• tipis-tipis = thinly / into thin slices

It behaves a bit like an adverbial complement here.

Basically, it tells you how the cucumber is sliced. In English, we would often use an adverb like thinly, but Indonesian often uses adjectives in this kind of role.

So while tipis is basically an adjective (thin), in this sentence tipis-tipis describes the result or manner of the slicing:

• mengiris mentimun tipis-tipis = slice the cucumber thin / into thin slices

This is very normal in Indonesian.

Both mean cucumber.

• mentimun is a standard full form
• timun is a very common shorter form

Both are widely understood, and in many situations they are interchangeable.

So you may hear:

• mentimun
• timun

with basically the same meaning.

Indonesian does not normally use articles like English a, an, and the.

So:

• mentimun can mean cucumber, a cucumber, or the cucumber
• salad can mean salad, a salad, or the salad

The exact meaning depends on context.

This is very common for English speakers to notice, because English requires articles much more often than Indonesian does.

Untuk usually means for.

Here it shows purpose or intended use:

• untuk salad = for salad / for a salad

So the idea is that the cucumber is being sliced for use in a salad.

Other examples:

• air untuk minum = water for drinking
• hadiah untuk ibu = a gift for mother
• uang untuk makan = money for food

Yes. Salad is a borrowed word used in Indonesian.

Indonesian includes many loanwords, especially for foods, modern objects, and international concepts. So salad is perfectly normal.

Indonesian spelling often keeps such words quite close to the original, especially in modern usage.

Sometimes yes, but the original order is very natural:

• Kakak perempuan saya mengiris mentimun tipis-tipis untuk salad.

This flows well as:

1. subject
2. verb
3. object
4. manner/result
5. purpose

You might hear variations in other contexts, but this sentence is already in a very standard and natural order.

By itself, saya can mean I. But in this sentence, because it comes after a noun phrase, it functions as a possessor:

• kakak perempuan saya = my older sister

So here it clearly means my, not I.

This is another common Indonesian pattern:

• nama saya = my name
• ayah saya = my father
• guru saya = my teacher

It is natural and correct, and it leans slightly toward neutral/standard Indonesian.

A more casual spoken version might be something like:

• Kakak saya ngiris timun tipis-tipis buat salad.

Differences:

• mengiris → ngiris = more casual speech
• mentimun → timun = common shorter form
• untuk → buat = more conversational

But the original sentence is completely normal and good Indonesian, especially for learners to study.