Pas saya bercermin, saya melihat jerawat kecil di wajah, jadi saya membersihkannya dengan kapas.

Here, pas means when or at the moment when.

So Pas saya bercermin means something like:

• When I looked in the mirror
• As I was looking in the mirror

A few useful notes:

• pas is common in everyday speech and informal writing.
• In more formal Indonesian, you might see ketika or saat instead.

Examples:

• Pas saya datang, dia sudah pergi.
  = When I arrived, he had already left.
• Saat saya datang, dia sudah pergi.
  = same meaning, a bit more neutral/formal

Bercermin means to look at oneself in a mirror or to use a mirror.

It comes from cermin = mirror, plus the prefix ber-.

In many cases, ber- forms an intransitive verb, often meaning:

• to do something
• to use something
• to have something related to the root

So:

• cermin = mirror
• bercermin = to mirror oneself / to look in the mirror

This is more natural than translating English word-for-word as melihat cermin.

Compare:

• Saya bercermin.
  = I looked in the mirror.
• Saya melihat cermin.
  = I looked at a mirror.

The second one is possible, but it focuses on the mirror as an object, not on checking your reflection.

Because Indonesian often repeats the subject in a new clause, even when English might not.

Sentence structure:

• Pas saya bercermin, saya melihat jerawat kecil di wajah...

Literally:

• When I looked in the mirror, I saw a small pimple on my face...

The second saya is not strange or redundant in Indonesian. It helps keep the sentence clear.

You could sometimes omit repeated subjects in casual speech if the meaning is obvious, but repeating saya is very normal and natural.

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun.

So:

• jerawat kecil = small pimple
• rumah besar = big house
• buku baru = new book

This is one of the basic word-order differences from English.

So:

• English: small pimple
• Indonesian: jerawat kecil

Di wajah means on the face or in the face area.

Here, di is a preposition of location, often meaning:

• in
• on
• at

So:

• di rumah = at home
• di meja = on the table
• di wajah = on the face

Even though English strongly prefers on my face, Indonesian commonly uses di wajah for location in a broader sense.

Also note:

• di wajah = on the face / on my face if context makes it clear
• If you want to be more explicit, you could say di wajah saya

Because Indonesian often leaves out possessive words when the owner is obvious from context.

In this sentence:

• Pas saya bercermin, saya melihat jerawat kecil di wajah...

It is already very clear that the face is the speaker’s own face, because the speaker is looking in a mirror.

So di wajah naturally implies on my face here.

If you want to be extra explicit, you can say:

• di wajah saya

Both are understandable, but the shorter version sounds natural in context.

Jadi here means so, therefore, or as a result.

It connects the two ideas:

1. I saw a small pimple on my face.
2. As a result, I cleaned it with cotton.

So:

• ..., jadi saya membersihkannya... = ..., so I cleaned it...

Be aware that jadi can have other meanings too, depending on context, such as:

• to become
• finished / done
• so / then

But in this sentence, it is clearly a connector meaning so.

Membersihkannya can be broken down like this:

• bersih = clean
• meN- ... -kan → membersihkan = to clean something
• -nya = it / him / her / them, depending on context

So:

• membersihkan = to clean
• membersihkannya = to clean it

A helpful grammatical point:

• membersihkan is a transitive verb, so it takes an object.
• The object can be stated as a noun:
  • Saya membersihkan jerawat itu.
• Or replaced with -nya:
  • Saya membersihkannya.

In this sentence, -nya most naturally refers to jerawat kecil.

So:

• saya melihat jerawat kecil di wajah
• jadi saya membersihkannya
• = I saw a small pimple on my face, so I cleaned it

A few important things about -nya:

• It often means him/her/it/them
• It does not always show singular vs. plural clearly
• You understand the reference from context

Here, the context strongly suggests the pimple.

Using -nya avoids repetition and sounds natural.

Compare:

• ... jadi saya membersihkannya dengan kapas.
• ... jadi saya membersihkan jerawat kecil itu dengan kapas.

Both are grammatical, but the first one is smoother because the object has just been mentioned.

This is similar to English using it instead of repeating the small pimple.

Yes, kapas means cotton.

So dengan kapas means with cotton.

In natural English, depending on the situation, you might translate it more idiomatically as:

• with cotton
• with a cotton pad
• using cotton

Context matters, because English often wants a more specific item than Indonesian does.

For example:

• Saya membersihkannya dengan kapas. = I cleaned it with cotton. = I cleaned it using a cotton pad.

The sentence is understood as past in English, but Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So the verbs:

• bercermin
• melihat
• membersihkannya

do not themselves mean specifically past, present, or future.

The time is understood from context.

In this sentence, the sequence of events makes a past reading very natural:

1. looked in the mirror
2. saw a pimple
3. cleaned it

If needed, Indonesian can add time words, for example:

• tadi = earlier / just now
• kemarin = yesterday
• baru saja = just

Example:

• Tadi, pas saya bercermin, saya melihat jerawat kecil di wajah...

Yes.

These are all possible:

• Pas saya bercermin...
• Saat saya bercermin...
• Ketika saya bercermin...

General difference:

• pas = more casual, conversational
• saat = neutral
• ketika = slightly more formal or written

The meaning is very similar in this sentence.

Yes, in Indonesian this can be said naturally, even if in English clean the pimple may sound slightly unusual depending on context.

Indonesian often allows this kind of wording where English might prefer something like:

• I cleaned the area with cotton
• I dabbed it with cotton
• I wiped it with cotton

But grammatically, membersihkannya is fine and clear in Indonesian.

So the Indonesian is natural, even if the most natural English translation might vary depending on the exact situation.

Yes.

Jerawat can refer to:

• a pimple
• acne
• pimples/acne in a general sense

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, because it says jerawat kecil and seems to refer to one visible spot, English would most naturally say:

• a small pimple

If the sentence were about a general skin condition, acne might be a better translation.