Saya mendengar kabar yang tidak enak pagi ini.

Mendengar means to hear or to come to hear something. It often refers to receiving information by hearing it.

Mendengarkan means to listen to and usually suggests a more deliberate action.

So in this sentence, Saya mendengar kabar... is natural because the speaker is talking about hearing some news, not actively listening to something like music, a speech, or a podcast.

• mendengar kabar = to hear news
• mendengarkan musik = to listen to music

Kabar means news, tidings, or information, often in a fairly personal or everyday sense.

It is very common in expressions like:

• mendengar kabar = to hear news
• apa kabar? = how are you? / what’s the news?

In this sentence, kabar refers to some piece of news or information the speaker received.

Both can mean news, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

• kabar often feels more personal, conversational, or general
• berita often sounds more formal, like a news report or an announced piece of news

So mendengar kabar yang tidak enak sounds very natural for unpleasant personal or general news.

If you said berita, it could also work, but it may sound a bit more formal depending on context.

Yang introduces a phrase that describes the noun before it.

Here, yang tidak enak describes kabar.

So:

• kabar = news
• yang tidak enak = that is unpleasant / bad

Together, kabar yang tidak enak means news that is unpleasant or bad news.

This is a very common Indonesian pattern:

• orang yang baik = a person who is kind
• buku yang baru = a book that is new
• makanan yang enak = food that is delicious

Yes, enak very often means delicious when talking about food, but it has a broader meaning: pleasant, nice, comfortable, or agreeable.

Because of that, tidak enak can mean:

• not tasty
• unpleasant
• uncomfortable
• awkward
• bad, depending on context

With kabar, tidak enak means the news is unpleasant or bad.

So this is not about taste at all. It is about emotional effect.

Yes. Kabar buruk is a very common and direct way to say bad news.

The difference is mainly in nuance:

• kabar buruk = bad news, direct and straightforward
• kabar yang tidak enak = unpleasant news, slightly softer or less blunt

So both are possible, but yang tidak enak can sound a bit more indirect.

In Indonesian:

• tidak negates verbs and adjectives
• bukan negates nouns and noun phrases

Here, enak is an adjective, so the correct negation is tidak enak.

Examples:

• tidak enak = not pleasant
• tidak tahu = do not know
• bukan dokter = not a doctor
• bukan masalah besar = not a big problem

So kabar yang bukan enak would be incorrect.

In Indonesian, descriptions usually come after the noun, not before it as in English.

So instead of saying something like bad news, Indonesian often builds it as:

• noun first: kabar
• then the description: yang tidak enak

This noun-first pattern is very normal in Indonesian:

• rumah besar = big house
• orang pintar = smart person
• kabar yang tidak enak = unpleasant news

Pagi ini means this morning.

Time expressions in Indonesian are fairly flexible. Putting pagi ini at the end is completely natural.

So this sentence structure is normal:

• Saya mendengar kabar yang tidak enak pagi ini.

You could also say:

• Pagi ini, saya mendengar kabar yang tidak enak.

Both are correct. The second version puts more focus on the time.

Yes, depending on context.

• saya = neutral and polite
• aku = more informal and personal

So:

• Saya mendengar kabar yang tidak enak pagi ini.
  neutral/polite
• Aku mendengar kabar yang tidak enak pagi ini.
  casual

Indonesian also often drops the subject if it is already clear from context, but including saya is perfectly normal and often better for learners.

It is mostly neutral.

• saya makes it polite or neutral
• kabar is everyday, natural Indonesian
• the whole sentence works in normal conversation and in writing

It is not extremely formal, but it is not slangy either. That makes it a very useful standard sentence pattern for learners.

Not necessarily.

In Indonesian, mendengar kabar often means to hear news in the same broad way English uses hear in expressions like I heard some bad news.

It does not have to mean you physically heard spoken words directly. It could mean you found out through someone, by phone, or in some other way. The focus is on receiving the news.

Yes. Indonesian word order is flexible, especially with time expressions.

Natural alternatives include:

• Pagi ini saya mendengar kabar yang tidak enak.
• Saya pagi ini mendengar kabar yang tidak enak.
  possible, but less common
• Saya mendengar kabar yang tidak enak tadi pagi.
  if you specifically mean earlier this morning

The original version is very natural and clear.