Mobil kami baru di servis kemarin, jadi Ayah lebih tenang di jalan tol.

In Indonesian, baru has two very common meanings:

• new
• just / recently

In this sentence, baru means just/recently because of the context:

• Mobil kami baru di servis kemarin = Our car was just serviced yesterday

If baru meant new, the sentence would sound like it was talking about a new car, not a recent service.

A useful comparison:

• mobil baru = a new car
• baru diservis = just serviced

So position and context matter a lot.

Yes. di servis is a passive construction, meaning was serviced.

So:

• servis = to service / service
• di servis = to be serviced / was serviced

In this sentence:

• Mobil kami baru di servis kemarin
  literally: Our car was just serviced yesterday

This is a very common pattern in Indonesian:

• di- + verb = passive voice

For example:

• Mobil itu dicuci = The car was washed
• Rumahnya dijual = His/her house was sold

So the focus is on the car, not on who did the servicing.

Standard Indonesian usually writes this as diservis in one word.

Why?

• di as a prefix for passive verbs is attached to the verb:
  • diservis
  • dicuci
  • dibeli

But:

• di as a preposition meaning in / at / on is written separately:
  • di rumah = at home
  • di jalan = on the road

So in formal writing, diservis is preferred.

The sentence you were given uses di servis, which you may see in informal writing, texting, or less careful spelling. Learners should recognize it, but it is good to know that diservis is the standard spelling.

Yes, servis is a loanword ultimately related to English service, but in Indonesian it can function naturally in everyday speech and writing.

In contexts like cars, electronics, and machines:

• servis can refer to maintenance/service
• menservis or more commonly servis in practice can mean to service
• diservis = to be serviced

Examples:

• Saya mau servis motor. = I want to get the motorcycle serviced.
• AC-nya belum diservis. = The AC hasn’t been serviced yet.

So even though it is borrowed, it behaves like a normal Indonesian word.

This is a very important distinction in Indonesian.

• kami = we/us, excluding the listener
• kita = we/us, including the listener

So:

• Mobil kami = our car (but not yours)
• Mobil kita = our car (including you)

In this sentence, kami suggests the speaker is talking about their family’s car, not a car shared with the person being spoken to.

This distinction does not exist in standard English, so it often takes practice for English speakers.

In Indonesian, family terms are very often used like names or pronouns.

So Ayah can mean:

• father/dad as a noun
• effectively Dad as the subject of the sentence

In English, we might say:

• Dad feels calmer on the toll road
• My father feels calmer on the highway

In Indonesian, using Ayah, Ibu, Kakak, Adik, etc. as subjects is completely normal and very common.

This often sounds more natural than repeatedly using pronouns.

Lebih means more, and tenang means calm.

So:

• lebih tenang = more calm / calmer

Yes, Indonesian often leaves out the comparison target when it is obvious from context.

So this sentence means:

• Ayah is calmer
• understood as: calmer than before or calmer than he would otherwise be

If you want to state the comparison explicitly, you can add daripada:

• Ayah lebih tenang daripada sebelumnya.
  = Dad is calmer than before.

But in the original sentence, that comparison is simply implied.

Here, jadi means so, therefore, or as a result.

It connects the two parts of the sentence:

• Mobil kami baru diservis kemarin = Our car was just serviced yesterday
• jadi Ayah lebih tenang di jalan tol = so Dad feels calmer on the toll road

So jadi is acting like a connector showing result or consequence.

Other examples:

• Hujan deras, jadi kami di rumah saja.
  = It was raining heavily, so we just stayed home.

Literally:

• di = on / in / at
• jalan tol = toll road

So di jalan tol literally means on the toll road.

In natural English, depending on the country, this could be translated as:

• on the toll road
• on the expressway
• on the highway / freeway
  if that fits the situation better

A quick note:

• jalan = road/street
• tol = toll

So jalan tol is the standard Indonesian term for a toll road or expressway.

Because kemarin is a time expression, and in Indonesian it often comes after the verb or predicate.

So:

• baru diservis kemarin = was just serviced yesterday

This is very natural Indonesian word order.

You could also move time expressions around in some contexts, but the original order sounds normal and smooth.

Compare:

• Mobil kami diservis kemarin. = Our car was serviced yesterday.
• Kemarin mobil kami diservis. = Yesterday our car was serviced.

Both are possible, but the emphasis changes slightly.

It is fairly natural everyday Indonesian, but with one spelling point that is less standard:

• di servis → standard spelling would be diservis

So overall:

• the grammar and vocabulary are normal for everyday speech
• the spelling is slightly informal/nonstandard

A more standard written version would be:

• Mobil kami baru diservis kemarin, jadi Ayah lebih tenang di jalan tol.

That version would be better in formal writing, textbooks, or edited prose.

Yes, the agent is omitted, and that is very normal.

The sentence focuses on the result:

• the car was serviced

It does not say who did it. That could be:

• a mechanic
• a workshop
• a dealership
• someone else

Indonesian often leaves the agent out when it is not important or obvious from context.

If you wanted to include it, you could say something like:

• Mobil kami baru diservis di bengkel kemarin
  = Our car was just serviced at the workshop yesterday

or

• Mobil kami baru diservis montir kemarin
  = Our car was just serviced by a mechanic yesterday

But leaving the agent unstated is perfectly natural.

No, not naturally.

Even though a learner might try to interpret the words one by one, Indonesian is not working that way here.

The key points are:

• baru here means just/recently
• diservis is a passive verb meaning was serviced
• kemarin gives the time: yesterday

So the phrase as a whole is clearly:

• was just serviced yesterday

This is a good example of why learning common patterns is more useful than translating each word separately.