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The original was posted on /r/indonesian by /u/hlgv on 2023-07-23 14:31:09.
I noticed that the most natural way for me to translate what's in my mind from Indonesian to English would be using the passive voice, especially since most things in my mind are more object-oriented.
Si Bambang dibawa ke rumah sakit. > Bambang was taken to the hospital.
For me, who took him to the hospital doesn't really matter—I might not even ask. My questions would be: what happened? Is he okay? Where is it? Can we visit him? Is it serious? Did you/they tell his family about his situation? Who's looking after their children? In English, though, this construction is too formal, and not as natural.
On the contrary, I noticed many people learning Indonesian tends to keep the active/subject-focused syntax:
They took Bambang to the hospital > Mereka membawa Bambang ke rumah sakit.
While it's not wrong per se in terms of grammar, I kinda feel like this sentence shifts the focus from Bambang to "they": who are they? Why are they the ones taking him? Are they the ones responsible for all these? But this is the most natural-sound way to say it in English (cmiiw).
What do you guys think?