Mereka memulai bisnis kecil.

The base word is mulai, which means to begin or to start.

When Indonesian adds the meN- verb prefix to make an active verb, mulai becomes memulai, meaning to start something.

So:

• mulai = begin / start
• memulai = to begin or start something actively

In this sentence, mereka memulai bisnis kecil means they are actively starting a small business.

A useful comparison:

• Bisnis itu mulai berkembang. = The business began to grow.
• Mereka memulai bisnis itu. = They started that business.

So mulai can sometimes describe something beginning, while memulai more clearly shows a subject deliberately starting something.

Indonesian pronouns do not normally mark gender the way English sometimes does.

Mereka simply means they. It can refer to:

• all men
• all women
• a mixed group
• people in general

Indonesian usually does not need to specify gender unless it is important to the context.

So mereka is the normal and natural plural third-person pronoun here.

Usually, yes.

Mereka is generally used for people, not for things or animals. So it works naturally in this sentence because the subject is a group of people starting a business.

If you wanted to refer to things, Indonesian often just repeats the noun or uses a different structure instead of using mereka.

So mereka memulai bisnis kecil strongly suggests people started the business.

Indonesian does not have articles like English a, an, and the in the same way.

So:

• bisnis kecil can mean a small business
• depending on context, it could also be understood more generally as small business or the small business

In this sentence, English naturally translates it as a small business, but Indonesian does not need a separate word for a.

This is very common in Indonesian:

• Saya membeli buku. = I bought a book / the book, depending on context
• Dia punya mobil baru. = He/she has a new car

Context usually tells you which English article sounds best.

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• bisnis kecil = small business
• literally: business small

This is a very common pattern:

• rumah besar = big house
• mobil baru = new car
• anak pintar = smart child

So the word order is different from English, but it is normal in Indonesian.

Yes, it can, depending on context.

By itself, bisnis kecil can mean:

• a small business
• small business
• sometimes the small business, if the context is already clear

In this sentence, because of memulai and mereka, the most natural reading is They started a small business.

But Indonesian often leaves this kind of distinction to context rather than marking it directly.

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

So memulai itself does not mean specifically:

• started
• start
• are starting
• will start

The time is usually understood from context or from time words such as:

• kemarin = yesterday
• sekarang = now
• besok = tomorrow
• sudah = already
• sedang = in the process of
• akan = will

So Mereka memulai bisnis kecil could mean different things depending on context, though in many cases English would translate it as They started a small business or They are starting a small business.

Examples:

• Kemarin mereka memulai bisnis kecil. = Yesterday they started a small business.
• Sekarang mereka sedang memulai bisnis kecil. = They are now starting a small business.
• Besok mereka akan memulai bisnis kecil. = They will start a small business tomorrow.

Yes, you may hear or see that, especially in casual usage, but mereka memulai bisnis kecil is clearer and more standard for they started a small business.

The difference is roughly:

• mulai = begin / start
• memulai = start something

Because bisnis kecil is the object, memulai fits very neatly in formal standard Indonesian.

So:

• Mereka memulai bisnis kecil. = standard and clear
• Mereka mulai bisnis kecil. = understandable, often acceptable in conversation, but less formally precise

The object is bisnis kecil.

The sentence breaks down like this:

• Mereka = subject
• memulai = verb
• bisnis kecil = object

So the structure is:

Subject + Verb + Object

This is one of the most common Indonesian sentence patterns, and it is similar to English word order.

You can add extra words for clarity.

For the small business, you might say:

• Mereka memulai bisnis kecil itu.

Here, itu can make the noun more specific: that business or the business, depending on context.

For together, you can say:

• Mereka memulai bisnis kecil bersama.

Or, if you mean they did it jointly:

• Mereka bersama-sama memulai bisnis kecil.

So Indonesian often adds small words like itu or bersama when you want more precise meaning.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

meh-moo-LAI

More roughly by syllable:

• me
• mu
• lai

Notes:

• e in me is often like the e in sofa, a relaxed vowel
• u sounds like oo in food
• ai sounds like the eye sound in English my

And kecil is approximately:

kuh-CHEEL or keh-CHEEL, depending on accent and how carefully it is spoken.

Indonesian pronunciation is generally quite regular, so once you know the spelling patterns, words are usually pronounced close to how they are written.