Kami menunda liburan karena harga tiket pesawat terlalu mahal.

Both kami and kita can mean we, but they are different:

• kami = we, not including the person being spoken to
• kita = we, including the person being spoken to

So Kami menunda liburan... means We postponed the vacation..., but the listener is not part of that we.

If the speaker wanted to include the listener, they would use kita.

Menunda means to postpone or to delay.

Its base/root is tunda. When the prefix meN- is added, it becomes menunda.

This is a very common Indonesian verb pattern:

• root: tunda = delay/postponement
• verb: menunda = to delay/postpone

The prefix meN- often forms active verbs. In this case, the t at the start of tunda disappears after the prefix, which is a normal sound/spelling change in Indonesian.

So:

• tunda
• meN- + tunda → menunda

Indonesian does not normally use articles like a, an, or the.

So words like:

• liburan can mean a vacation, the vacation, or just vacation/holiday
• harga tiket pesawat can mean the price of plane tickets or plane ticket prices

The exact meaning depends on context, not on articles.

That is very normal in Indonesian.

Here, liburan is a noun, meaning vacation or holiday.

In this sentence:

• menunda liburan = to postpone the vacation

Be careful, because libur and related forms can appear in different ways:

• libur = holiday / off day / to be off
• liburan = vacation, holiday period

So in this sentence, liburan is best understood as the trip/holiday/vacation that was postponed.

Karena means because.

It connects the main clause and the reason:

• Kami menunda liburan = We postponed the vacation
• karena harga tiket pesawat terlalu mahal = because plane ticket prices were too expensive

So the structure is:

main statement + karena + reason

This is very similar to English because.

Indonesian often puts nouns together directly, without using of.

So:

• harga = price
• tiket = ticket
• pesawat = airplane / plane

Together:

• tiket pesawat = plane ticket / airplane ticket
• harga tiket pesawat = the price of plane tickets / plane ticket prices

You can think of Indonesian noun phrases as building from the main noun first, followed by words that describe or specify it.

So:

• harga is the main noun
• tiket pesawat tells us what kind of price

This is very common in Indonesian.

In Indonesian, pesawat by itself often means airplane in everyday usage, especially in phrases like:

• tiket pesawat = plane ticket
• naik pesawat = go by plane / take a plane

A fuller form is pesawat terbang, which literally means flying machine/aircraft, but in daily conversation pesawat is often enough.

So tiket pesawat is the normal way to say plane ticket.

Terlalu mahal means too expensive.

• terlalu = too, excessively
• mahal = expensive

So:

• mahal = expensive
• terlalu mahal = too expensive

This is stronger than just saying something is expensive. It suggests the price is more than acceptable or more than the speaker wants to pay.

Indonesian often does not use a verb equivalent to to be in simple statements.

So instead of saying:

• ticket prices were too expensive

Indonesian simply says:

• harga tiket pesawat terlalu mahal

Literally, this is something like:

• plane ticket prices too expensive

This is completely normal. In Indonesian, adjectives can directly describe the subject without needing is/are/was/were.

Examples:

• Dia sakit = He/she is sick
• Rumah itu besar = That house is big
• Harga tiket pesawat terlalu mahal = Plane ticket prices are/were too expensive

Indonesian verbs usually do not change form for tense.

So menunda does not by itself tell you whether something is present, past, or future.

The time is understood from:

• context
• time words, if present

In this sentence, English might translate it as We postponed the vacation because plane tickets were too expensive, but without more context, Indonesian itself does not explicitly mark past tense.

Depending on context, it could also be understood as:

• We are postponing the vacation...
• We postponed the vacation...
• We postpone the vacation...

Usually the surrounding conversation makes it clear.

Indonesian nouns usually do not have separate singular and plural forms the way English does.

So tiket pesawat can mean:

• a plane ticket
• plane tickets
• airfare/plane ticket prices, depending on context

In this sentence, harga tiket pesawat is naturally understood as the price of plane tickets or airfare, which English often expresses in the plural.

Indonesian does have ways to show plurality, such as repetition:

• tiket-tiket

But that is not necessary here.

Yes. That is a very natural English translation.

Even though the Indonesian literally mentions the price of plane tickets, a smoother English equivalent is often:

• because airfare was too expensive

That kind of translation is common when the meaning is more important than matching each word one by one.

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun or after the thing being described.

So:

• rumah besar = big house
• mobil baru = new car
• harga tiket pesawat terlalu mahal = plane ticket prices too expensive

This is different from English, where adjectives usually come before nouns. But in this sentence, mahal is not inside the noun phrase in quite the same way as big house; it is acting as the predicate, describing harga tiket pesawat.

So the pattern is:

• subject + adjective
• harga tiket pesawat + terlalu mahal

Yes. Sebab can also mean because or since.

So this version is grammatical:

• Kami menunda liburan sebab harga tiket pesawat terlalu mahal.

However:

• karena is extremely common in everyday Indonesian
• sebab can sound a little more formal or written, depending on context

Both are correct.

It depends on what you want to negate.

If you want to say We did not postpone the vacation...:

• Kami tidak menunda liburan karena harga tiket pesawat terlalu mahal.

If you want to say Plane ticket prices were not too expensive:

• Harga tiket pesawat tidak terlalu mahal.

A useful rule:

• tidak is used with verbs and adjectives

Examples:

• tidak menunda = did not postpone
• tidak mahal = not expensive

A simple pronunciation guide is:

Kami menunda liburan karena harga tiket pesawat terlalu mahal
KAH-mee muh-NOON-dah lee-boo-RAHN kuh-REH-nah HAR-gah tee-ket puh-SAH-waht ter-LAH-loo mah-HAHL

A few notes:

• kami = KAH-mee
• menunda = muh-NOON-dah
• liburan = lee-boo-RAHN
• karena = kuh-REH-nah
• mahal = mah-HAHL

Indonesian pronunciation is generally quite regular compared with English.