Senyumnya terlihat tulus, dan kata-katanya berhasil menghibur adik perempuan saya.

Here, -nya shows possession, so senyumnya means his/her smile.

A few useful things to know:

• senyum = smile
• senyumnya = his/her smile
• Indonesian -nya does not show gender, so it could mean his smile, her smile, or sometimes even their smile, depending on context.

In some contexts, -nya can also make something sound more definite, like the smile, but in this sentence the most natural reading is his/her smile.

Because the sentence is specifically describing the person's smile, not the whole person.

• dia terlihat tulus = he/she looks sincere
• senyumnya terlihat tulus = his/her smile looks sincere

So the focus is narrower and more precise. The speaker is not necessarily judging the whole person, only the impression given by the smile.

terlihat means looks, appears, or is seen as.

In this sentence:

• Senyumnya terlihat tulus = His/Her smile looks sincere

It comes from lihat = to see.
With the prefix ter-, terlihat often means something like:

• to be visible
• to appear
• to seem

So here it does not mean that someone is actively seeing the smile; it means the smile gives the appearance of sincerity.

They are very close in meaning.

• terlihat tulus = appears sincere
• kelihatan tulus = looks sincere

In many everyday situations, they can be used almost interchangeably.
A small difference is that kelihatan often sounds a bit more conversational, while terlihat can sound slightly more neutral or formal.

Because kata-kata is a reduplicated form of kata.

• kata = word
• kata-kata = words

Reduplication in Indonesian often marks plurality or a collective sense. So kata-katanya means his/her words or what he/she said.

In this sentence, it sounds more natural than just katanya if you want to emphasize the actual words or speech.

It can mean both, depending on context.

In this sentence, kata-katanya berhasil menghibur... is best understood as:

• his/her words
• what he/she said

So it does not have to mean individual dictionary-style words. It can refer more naturally to the person's speech, remarks, or comforting things they said.

For the same reason as senyumnya: -nya marks possession.

So:

• kata-kata = words
• kata-katanya = his/her words

The sentence has two possessed nouns:

• senyumnya = his/her smile
• kata-katanya = his/her words

This is a very common Indonesian pattern.

berhasil means to succeed or to be successful.

So:

• berhasil menghibur = succeeded in comforting / managed to comfort

This gives a slightly stronger meaning than simply saying menghibur. It suggests that the comforting was effective.

Compare:

• kata-katanya menghibur adik perempuan saya = his/her words comforted my younger sister
• kata-katanya berhasil menghibur adik perempuan saya = his/her words succeeded in comforting my younger sister

The second version highlights the result.

Because berhasil is commonly followed by a verb to show what someone managed to do.

Pattern:

• berhasil + verb

Examples:

• Dia berhasil menang. = He/She succeeded in winning.
• Mereka berhasil menemukan solusi. = They succeeded in finding a solution.
• Kata-katanya berhasil menghibur adik perempuan saya. = His/Her words succeeded in comforting my younger sister.

This is a very normal structure in Indonesian.

Because hibur is the root word, while menghibur is the active verb form.

• hibur = root related to entertaining/comforting
• menghibur = to comfort, to cheer up, to entertain

The prefix meng- is part of the common meN- verb system in Indonesian, which often forms active verbs.

So in this sentence, menghibur is the correct form for to comfort.

It can mean all of those, depending on context.

Common possibilities:

• comfort
• cheer up
• console
• entertain

In this sentence, because the object is adik perempuan saya, the most natural meaning is probably comfort or cheer up, rather than entertain.

So the idea is that the person's words made the younger sister feel better emotionally.

Because Indonesian family words work differently from English.

• adik = younger sibling
• kakak = older sibling

These words do not automatically tell you male or female. So if the speaker wants to be specific, they can add:

• adik perempuan = younger sister
• adik laki-laki = younger brother

So adik perempuan saya literally means my younger female sibling, which in natural English is my younger sister.

Yes, absolutely.

• adik saya = my younger sibling / my younger brother / my younger sister
• adik perempuan saya = my younger sister

If the gender is already known from context, adik saya is often enough.
Adding perempuan makes it explicit.

Because perempuan is the normal word used when talking about female gender in many basic descriptions like this.

• perempuan = female / woman
• wanita = woman, often more adult-specific or stylistically different

In family terms, adik perempuan is the standard expression for younger sister.
Adik wanita would sound unnatural here.

It has two coordinated clauses joined by dan.

1. Senyumnya terlihat tulus

   • senyumnya = his/her smile
   • terlihat = looks / appears
   • tulus = sincere

2. dan kata-katanya berhasil menghibur adik perempuan saya

   • dan = and
   • kata-katanya = his/her words
   • berhasil = succeeded / managed
   • menghibur = to comfort
   • adik perempuan saya = my younger sister

So the sentence links two observations about the same person: the person's smile and the person's words.

No. Indonesian usually does not mark gender in pronouns or possessive endings the way English does.

In this sentence:

• -nya can mean his or her
• nothing in the grammar forces a male or female reading

The only clearly female reference is adik perempuan saya, which refers to my younger sister, not to the person whose smile and words are being described.

Yes, it sounds natural and grammatically correct.

It has a slightly polished, descriptive feel because of words like:

• terlihat
• tulus
• berhasil menghibur

But it is still perfectly natural. In more casual speech, someone might choose slightly simpler wording, but this version is very normal, especially in writing or careful speech.