Cat di dinding itu mulai mengelupas, dan retaknya kelihatan lebih jelas.

In Indonesian, cat has two unrelated meanings:

• cat = paint
• kucing = cat, the animal

So in everyday use, cat often means paint, especially in a context like di dinding and mengelupas. Since walls can have paint that peels, the meaning is clearly paint here.

It breaks down like this:

• di = in / on / at
• dinding = wall
• itu = that / the

So di dinding itu means on that wall or on the wall.

In Indonesian, itu usually comes after the noun, not before it. So:

• dinding itu = that wall
• not itu dinding

Here it is a preposition.

A very useful clue is spacing:

• di dinding = di is separate, so it means on / at / in
• dilihat = di- is attached to a verb, so it is the passive prefix

So in this sentence, di dinding itu is just a location phrase: on that wall.

mulai means to start / begin, and mengelupas means to peel / flake off.

So:

• mulai mengelupas = is starting to peel / has begun to peel

It describes the beginning of a process.

These forms are related, but they are not exactly the same.

• mengelupas usually describes the process of peeling
• terkelupas usually describes the state/result of having peeled off

So:

• Cat di dinding itu mulai mengelupas = The paint is starting to peel.
• Cat di dinding itu sudah terkelupas = The paint on that wall is already peeled off.

In your sentence, mengelupas fits because the sentence is talking about the paint beginning to peel.

retak means crack or cracked, depending on context.

In retaknya, the -nya can make the word feel more specific or refer to something already understood from context. Here it is most naturally understood as something like:

• the crack
• the cracks
• the cracking

So retaknya kelihatan lebih jelas means that the crack or cracking is more visible.

In Indonesian, -nya is very flexible. It can sometimes mean his/her/its, but it can also work a bit like the, or point to something already known in the situation.

Indonesian often does not force you to choose between singular and plural.

So retaknya could mean:

• the crack
• the cracks
• the cracking

Context decides.

If the speaker really wanted to make plurality more explicit, they could use a different wording, but in natural Indonesian it is very common to leave that unmarked.

kelihatan means something like:

• visible
• can be seen
• looks
• appears

In this sentence, kelihatan lebih jelas means is more visible or can be seen more clearly.

So it is not just about physical eyesight; it can also mean that something has become more noticeable.

Both are possible, and they are very close in meaning.

• kelihatan = more conversational, common in speech
• terlihat = slightly more formal or neutral in writing

So:

• retaknya kelihatan lebih jelas
• retaknya terlihat lebih jelas

Both are natural. The version with kelihatan feels a bit more everyday and spoken.

lebih means more, and jelas means clear.

So lebih jelas literally means more clear, but in natural English here it is better understood as:

• clearer
• more obvious
• more noticeable
• easier to see

So retaknya kelihatan lebih jelas is not just saying the crack is visually clear in some abstract way; it means the crack stands out more.

Because Indonesian often does not use a verb like to be in places where English does.

English needs:

• The crack is more visible

But Indonesian can simply say:

• retaknya kelihatan lebih jelas

This is completely normal. Indonesian predicates often work without a separate word for is / am / are.

Here it naturally means the paint on that wall.

The structure is:

• cat = paint
• di dinding itu = on that wall

So the prepositional phrase describes where the paint is.

It would not normally be understood as something like that paint is on the wall. The whole phrase functions as a noun phrase: the paint on that wall.

A simple way to see it is:

• Cat di dinding itu = the paint on that wall
• mulai mengelupas = is starting to peel
• dan = and
• retaknya = the crack / the cracking
• kelihatan lebih jelas = is more visible / can be seen more clearly

So the sentence has two linked parts:

• first clause: the paint is starting to peel
• second clause: the crack/cracking is becoming easier to see

That is why the comma before dan feels natural here: it joins two related clauses.