Ayah selalu memberi nasihat yang bijaksana ketika kami bingung mengambil keputusan.

Ayah means father/dad and is a fairly personal, family word. In this sentence, it means Dad.

Bapak can also mean father, but it is often more formal and is also widely used as a respectful title meaning Mr. or sir. So:

• Ayah = dad, father
• Bapak = father (more formal) / Mr. / sir

In a family context, Ayah sounds natural if you are talking about your own father.

In Indonesian, adverbs like selalu (always) often come after the subject and before the verb.

So the pattern here is:

• Ayah = subject
• selalu = adverb
• memberi = verb

This is very natural Indonesian word order:

• Ayah selalu memberi nasihat...
• Kami sering pergi...
• Dia sudah makan.

English speakers may expect more flexibility, but this placement is one of the most common patterns in Indonesian.

Yes, memberikan would also be possible here.

Both memberi and memberikan can mean to give, but they differ slightly in how they focus the sentence.

• memberi often highlights the recipient more naturally
• memberikan often highlights the thing being given more naturally

In this sentence:

• Ayah selalu memberi nasihat yang bijaksana... = very natural
• Ayah selalu memberikan nasihat yang bijaksana... = also natural

Because there is no explicit recipient like kepada kami, either form works well.

The word yang connects the noun nasihat (advice) to the description bijaksana (wise).

So:

• nasihat yang bijaksana = advice that is wise / wise advice

In Indonesian, yang is very commonly used when a noun is followed by a descriptive adjective or phrase, especially in fuller or more careful style.

Sometimes Indonesian can omit yang in certain noun + adjective combinations, but with this sentence, nasihat yang bijaksana sounds very natural and clear.

Here, yang acts like a linker between the noun and the descriptive part that follows it.

Structure:

• nasihat = advice
• yang bijaksana = that is wise

So literally:

• nasihat yang bijaksana = advice that is wise

It often works similarly to that, which, or sometimes just marks an adjective phrase after a noun in natural English translation.

Yes, bijaksana is an adjective meaning wise or prudent.

It can describe:

• people: orang yang bijaksana = a wise person
• advice: nasihat yang bijaksana = wise advice
• decisions/actions: keputusan yang bijaksana = a wise decision

So in this sentence, it describes the advice.

Yes, ketika, saat, and waktu can all often mean when in sentences like this.

• ketika kami bingung mengambil keputusan
• saat kami bingung mengambil keputusan
• waktu kami bingung mengambil keputusan

All are possible.

A few notes:

• ketika can sound a bit more formal or written
• saat is very common and natural
• waktu is also common in everyday use

So ketika is perfectly good here, but not the only option.

In Indonesian, there are two common words for we:

• kami = we, not including the listener
• kita = we, including the listener

So kami tells you that the speaker is talking about their own group, but the person being spoken to is not part of that group.

That is an important distinction in Indonesian and one that English does not usually make.

Literally, it means something like:

• bingung = confused
• mengambil keputusan = to make/take a decision

So:

• kami bingung mengambil keputusan = we were confused about making a decision / we were unsure what decision to make

A very literal translation would be:

• we were confused taking a decision

But in natural English, you would usually say:

• we were confused about what decision to make
• we were unsure when making a decision
• we had trouble making a decision

Yes, literally it is take a decision.

But this is a standard Indonesian expression meaning to make a decision.

This is a good example of how different languages package ideas differently. English says make a decision, while Indonesian commonly says mengambil keputusan.

You should learn it as a fixed collocation:

• mengambil keputusan = make a decision

Another possible verb is memutuskan = to decide:

• kami bingung memutuskan = we were confused about deciding
• kami bingung mengambil keputusan = we were confused about making a decision

The base word is ambil (take). Adding the prefix meN- creates an active verb:

• ambil = take
• mengambil = to take / taking

In this sentence, mengambil is part of the verbal phrase bingung mengambil keputusan.

The prefix marks it as an active verb, which is the normal form here.

Good question. Indonesian often leaves out information that is clear from context.

In this sentence, the receiver of the advice is understood from the clause:

• ketika kami bingung... = when we were confused...

So even though kami is not directly stated after memberi, it is easy to understand that the father was giving advice to us.

A fuller version could be:

• Ayah selalu memberi kami nasihat yang bijaksana ketika kami bingung mengambil keputusan.

This makes the recipient explicit:

• memberi kami nasihat = give us advice

Both versions are natural.

Yes, absolutely.

• Ayah selalu memberi nasihat yang bijaksana ketika kami bingung mengambil keputusan.
• Ayah selalu memberi kami nasihat yang bijaksana ketika kami bingung mengambil keputusan.

Both are correct.

The second version is more explicit because it clearly states kami as the recipient of the advice. The original version sounds a little more streamlined, but the meaning is still clear.

In this sentence, nasihat behaves more like advice in English, which is usually uncountable.

So:

• memberi nasihat = give advice

If you want to count pieces of advice, Indonesian often uses classifiers or context, for example:

• sebuah nasihat = a piece of advice / one advice item

But most of the time, nasihat is used without needing to mark singular or plural.

Indonesian verbs usually do not change form for tense. The verb memberi can refer to present, past, or even habitual action depending on context.

Here, selalu (always) tells us this is a habitual action:

• Ayah selalu memberi... = Dad always gives / used to always give...

Without more context, it could describe:

• a general truth
• a repeated past habit
• a continuing present habit

Indonesian often relies on time words and context instead of verb conjugation.

A simple breakdown is:

• Ayah = subject
• selalu = adverb
• memberi = verb
• nasihat yang bijaksana = object
• ketika kami bingung mengambil keputusan = time clause

So the overall structure is:

Subject + adverb + verb + object + subordinate clause

That last part, starting with ketika, explains when the action happened.

Grammatically yes, but the meaning changes.

• bijaksana = wise, prudent
• baik = good, kind
• bagus = good, nice, excellent

For advice, bijaksana is the best fit because advice is often described as wise rather than merely good or nice.

So:

• nasihat yang bijaksana = wise advice
• nasihat yang baik = good advice
• nasihat yang bagus = less natural in many contexts, though still understandable

Yes. In Indonesian, bingung can be followed by a verb or verb phrase to show what someone is confused about.

Examples:

• Saya bingung memilih. = I’m confused about choosing.
• Dia bingung menjawab. = He/she is confused about answering.
• Kami bingung mengambil keputusan. = We were confused about making a decision.

This is a very common and natural pattern.

It is natural Indonesian and works well in both careful everyday speech and writing.

Some parts feel slightly polished or neutral rather than very casual:

• ketika is a bit more formal than waktu
• nasihat yang bijaksana sounds thoughtful and well-formed

But the sentence is absolutely normal and not overly stiff. It would fit well in conversation, school materials, or writing.