Dia mengakui bahwa dia pernah berbohong tentang alasan keterlambatannya, dan sekarang dia menyesal.

Mengakui means to admit or to acknowledge.

It is built from the base aku in the sense of acknowledging/admitting, plus the verbal prefix meng-. In Indonesian, this kind of prefix often forms an active verb.

So:

• mengakui = to admit / to acknowledge

In this sentence, Dia mengakui bahwa... means He/She admitted that...

Do not confuse this aku with the pronoun aku meaning I. They happen to look the same, but here we are dealing with the verb mengakui.

Indonesian often repeats pronouns where English might omit them or vary the wording.

In this sentence:

• Dia mengakui bahwa dia pernah berbohong...
• literally: He/She admitted that he/she had once lied...

The first dia is the subject of mengakui. The second dia is the subject of pernah berbohong.

This repetition is completely normal in Indonesian and usually sounds clearer, not awkward.

Dia can mean either he or she. Indonesian pronouns usually do not mark gender.

So without more context, dia is simply he/she.

That means:

• Dia mengakui... = He admitted... or She admitted...

The listener usually understands the gender from context.

Bahwa means that and introduces a clause.

So:

• Dia mengakui bahwa dia pernah berbohong...
• He/She admitted that he/she had lied...

It works much like English that.

In many cases, bahwa can be omitted in natural Indonesian, especially in speech:

• Dia mengakui dia pernah berbohong...

That would still be understandable. But using bahwa makes the sentence more explicit and often slightly more formal or careful.

Pernah means something like ever, once, or at some time in the past.

Here:

• dia pernah berbohong
• he/she once lied or he/she had lied before

It tells you that the action happened at least once in the past.

Compare:

• dia berbohong = he/she lies / lied
• dia pernah berbohong = he/she has lied before / once lied

So pernah is very helpful because Indonesian does not mark tense the way English does.

Bohong by itself means a lie or lying / false depending on context.

Berbohong is the verb to lie.

The prefix ber- often forms intransitive verbs, especially actions or states associated with the base word.

So:

• bohong = lie / falsehood / false
• berbohong = to lie

In this sentence, a verb is needed, so berbohong is the natural choice.

Tentang means about.

So:

• berbohong tentang alasan keterlambatannya
• to lie about the reason for his/her lateness

This shows what the lie concerned.

A natural way to think about it is:

• berbohong = to lie
• tentang X = about X

Together:

• berbohong tentang X = to lie about X

Keterlambatannya means his/her lateness or the lateness depending on context.

It is built in parts:

• terlambat = late
• keterlambatan = lateness
• keterlambatannya = his/her lateness or the lateness

The pattern ke-...-an often turns an adjective or verb-related base into a noun.

So:

• terlambat = late
• keterlambatan = lateness

Then -nya is added at the end, giving keterlambatannya.

Here -nya most naturally means his/her:

• alasan keterlambatannya = the reason for his/her lateness

So the full phrase means the reason for that person's being late.

In Indonesian, -nya can do several jobs, including:

• his/her
• its
• the in some contexts
• a kind of general third-person reference

In this sentence, because dia is the person being talked about, -nya is understood as his/her.

Indonesian does not have verb tense endings like English.

Instead, time is usually shown through context or time-related words.

In this sentence, past meaning comes from words like:

• pernah = indicates a past occurrence
• sekarang = indicates the present moment now

So even though mengakui, berbohong, and menyesal do not change form, the sentence is still clear in time:

• mengakui = admitted
• pernah berbohong = had lied / once lied
• sekarang menyesal = now regrets

Indonesian relies much more on context than English does for tense.

Yes, ia could be used in some parts of this sentence, but dia is more common in everyday Indonesian.

General guideline:

• dia = common, neutral, very frequent in speech and writing
• ia = more formal/literary, usually used only as a subject

For example:

• Dia mengakui... is very natural.
• Ia mengakui... is also correct, but more formal.

One important point: ia is generally used only as a subject, while dia is more flexible.

Menyesal by itself already means to regret or to feel sorry/remorseful.

So:

• sekarang dia menyesal = now he/she regrets it or now he/she is remorseful

You can say merasa menyesal, but that is more like to feel regret and is not necessary here.

Using just menyesal is natural, simple, and idiomatic.

Dan sekarang means and now.

It creates a clear contrast between:

1. the earlier action: admitting that he/she lied
2. the current emotional state: regretting it now

So the structure is:

• Dia mengakui bahwa...
• and now
• dia menyesal

This helps show a sequence: first there was lying, then an admission, and now remorse.

Yes. The given sentence is already correct and natural, but in casual speech, a speaker might simplify it a little by dropping bahwa:

• Dia mengakui dia pernah berbohong tentang alasan keterlambatannya, dan sekarang dia menyesal.

That sounds slightly more conversational.

A speaker might also rephrase it in other natural ways, for example:

• Dia mengaku pernah berbohong soal alasan keterlambatannya, dan sekarang dia menyesal.

Notes:

• mengaku is a common alternative to mengakui in many contexts
• soal is a more casual alternative to tentang

But the original sentence is perfectly good Indonesian.