Guru bahasa kami menyarankan saya ikut lomba menulis cerpen tahun depan.

Yes, Indonesian noun phrases are often built head first, modifier after.

So:

• guru = teacher
• bahasa = language
• kami = our

That gives:

• guru bahasa = language teacher
• guru bahasa kami = our language teacher

This is normal Indonesian word order. English usually puts modifiers before the noun, but Indonesian often puts them after it.

Indonesian has two common words for we / our:

• kami = we/us/our excluding the person being spoken to
• kita = we/us/our including the person being spoken to

In guru bahasa kami, the speaker means our language teacher as in my classmates’ and my teacher, not including the listener. So kami is the natural choice.

If the listener were part of the same group, kita could be used instead, but in many contexts kami sounds more natural when talking about one’s own school/class group.

menyarankan means to recommend or to suggest.

It comes from the base saran = advice, suggestion.

With affixes:

• meN- ... -kan → menyarankan

So the verb means something like to give a suggestion / to recommend something to someone.

In this sentence, menyarankan is the main verb:

• Guru bahasa kami menyarankan saya ...
• Our language teacher recommended/suggested that I ...

Both patterns can exist, but this sentence uses a very common structure:

• menyarankan + someone + verb phrase

So:

• menyarankan saya ikut lomba = recommended that I join the competition

You may also hear:

• menyarankan saya untuk ikut lomba

The untuk is often optional here. Without untuk, the sentence sounds direct and natural. With untuk, it can sound a little more explicit or formal depending on context.

After verbs like menyarankan, Indonesian often puts the person affected directly before the action being recommended.

So:

• menyarankan saya ikut lomba literally looks like:
• recommended me join the competition

This is normal Indonesian grammar.

Other possible ways to express a similar idea are:

• menyarankan agar saya ikut lomba
• menyarankan saya untuk ikut lomba

All are understandable, but the original sentence is perfectly natural.

Here ikut means join / take part in.

Ikut has a broad range of meanings depending on context, including:

• follow
• come along
• participate
• join in

In ikut lomba, the meaning is clearly to participate in a competition.

So:

• ikut lomba = join a competition / take part in a competition

Yes. Lomba menulis cerpen means a short-story writing competition.

Breakdown:

• lomba = competition
• menulis = writing / to write
• cerpen = short story

So the phrase means a competition whose activity is writing short stories.

Indonesian often strings nouns and modifiers together without extra words like for, of, or hyphens:

• lomba menulis cerpen = short-story writing competition

Yes. Cerpen is a very common abbreviation of:

• cerita pendek
• literally short story / short narrative

So:

• cerpen = short story
• menulis cerpen = write short stories / write a short story, depending on context

This abbreviation is extremely common and standard.

Indonesian often uses time expressions directly, without a preposition.

So:

• tahun depan = next year

You do not need a word equivalent to English in here.

Examples:

• Saya pergi besok. = I’m going tomorrow.
• Mereka datang minggu depan. = They’re coming next week.
• Kami ujian bulan ini. = We have exams this month.

So ikut lomba menulis cerpen tahun depan naturally means join the short-story writing competition next year.

In normal interpretation, tahun depan goes with ikut lomba menulis cerpen.

So the idea is:

• the teacher recommended that I join the competition next year

It does not normally mean the act of recommending happened next year. That reading would be much less likely unless the wider context forced it.

Indonesian time expressions often come near the end of the sentence and modify the most relevant action phrase.

Possibly, but not necessarily.

Guru bahasa literally means language teacher. Depending on context, it could mean:

• Indonesian language teacher
• English teacher
• another language teacher

In real school contexts, people may shorten the subject name if the context already makes it clear. So guru bahasa kami could be understood as our language teacher, and the exact language may already be known from the situation.

Grammatically, that literal reading is possible if you isolate the words, but in normal usage it is understood as our language teacher.

Why? Because:

• guru bahasa is already a set-like phrase meaning language teacher
• then kami naturally attaches to the whole phrase

So native speakers will normally parse it as:

• [guru bahasa] kami
• our language teacher

not:

• guru [bahasa kami]
• teacher of our language

Context and common phrasing strongly favor the first meaning.

It is mostly neutral to fairly formal.

Some clues:

• saya is neutral/formal for I
• menyarankan is a standard, somewhat formal verb
• the structure is complete and careful

In more casual spoken Indonesian, someone might say things like:

• Guru bahasa kami nyaranin aku ikut lomba nulis cerpen tahun depan.

That version is more conversational:

• nyaranin instead of menyarankan
• aku instead of saya
• nulis instead of menulis

So the original sentence sounds natural in writing and in polite speech.

Yes. A few natural alternatives are:

• Guru bahasa kami menyarankan agar saya ikut lomba menulis cerpen tahun depan.
• Guru bahasa kami menyarankan supaya saya ikut lomba menulis cerpen tahun depan.

These make the clause boundary a little clearer:

• recommended that I join...

The original version without agar/supaya is still completely normal.

Indonesian verbs usually do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So:

• menyarankan does not by itself mean specifically recommended or recommends
• the time is understood from context

In this sentence:

• tahun depan clearly refers to the future time of joining the competition
• the time of menyarankan is not explicitly marked

English forces you to choose something like recommended or recommends, but Indonesian often leaves that open unless context makes it important.

Yes. In many contexts, ikut lomba can cover both ideas.

It can mean:

• enter a competition
• join a competition
• take part in a competition

The exact English translation depends on context, but the Indonesian phrase is very natural and broad.