A Basic Grammar For Bahasa Indonesia

Word Order
Unlike in English the word order in bahasa Indonesia is ‘the primary word is placed in the front,
followed by the defining word’, whilst in English the defining words precede the primary word. For
example: Blue book buku biru
The word “book” is called the ‘noun’, and the word “blue” is the ‘adjective’. In English the adjective
comes before the noun. But in Indonesian the noun may come first and the adjective follows.
EXAMPLES
Kopi manis Sweet Coffee
Kopi pahit Black Coffee
Kopi susu Coffee with milk
Ayam goreng Fried chicken
Nasi goreng Fried rice
Air putih (white) Water
Daging Kambing Lamb meat
Roti bakar Toast
Telur rebus Boiled egg
Bir Bintang Bintang beer
Tas ini This bag
Meja itu That table
This also applies in noun phrases that express possession:
nama Anda your name
toko Anda your shop
gedung saya my building
kantor saya my office
sekolah John John’s school
rumah Bu Nur Mrs Nur’s house
Note: *Anda gedung, literally “you are a building”!
EXAMPLES
Saya akan pergi ke pasar dengan ibu saya.
I am going to the market with my mother.
Saya mau makan di restoran Anda.
I want to eat in your restaurant.
Saya suka minum kopi pahit di rumah bu Nur.
I like to drink black coffee at Mrs. Nur’s house.
When you want to say the name of a place – the name (the modifier adjunct) comes after the place
(the headword).
For example you say kota New York (New York city), Bank Mandiri (Mandiri Bank), Toko Fajar (Fajar
store), sekolah Santo Paulus (St. Pauls’s school), gedung Lippo (the Lippo Building), Jalan Lumumba
(Lumumba Street), Mesjid Al-Akbar (Al-Akbar Mosque) and so on.
Study these sentences and observe how word order works in noun phrases and place names.
Saya mau makan di Rumah Makan Padang.
I am going to eat at Padang Restaurant.
Santi akan pergi ke Mesjid An-Nur.
Santi is going to go to An-Nur Mosque.
Apakah Anda bisa pergi ke gedung administrasi?
Can you go to the administration building?
Apa kamu suka tinggal di Jalan Kesambi?
Do you like living in Kesambi Street?
Pak Purba di toko buku sekarang.
Mr Purba is at the book shop right now.
Sentence
The Structure
There are six basic sentence patterns in Indonesian:
1. Subject – Complement
2. Subject – Predicate – Adverb
3. Subject – Predicate – Object – Adverb
4. Subject – Predicate – Complement – Adverb
5. Subject – Predicate – Object – Complement
6. Subject – Predicate – Object – Object
The Active and The Passive

Beside active sentences, passive sentences are used far more common in Indonesian than in English,
specially in newspaper headlines. Passive sentences sometimes can be frustrating also because some
students fail to grasp the basic concept of when to use it, and practically no students learn to use it
as often as Indonesians do.
The Functions
Based on their functions or meanings, Indonesian sentences can be classified into four types:
1. statements or declarative sentences
2. questions or interrogative sentences
3. commands or imperative sentences
4. exclamations or exclamatory sentences
Reference: Indonesian Grammar Made Easy by Dr. Liaw Yock Fang, TIMES 1996
Sentence Pattern
Subject – Complement
A simple sentence can be built by adding a noun, an adjective, a prepositional phrase or a numeral to
complement the subject. There is no verb ‘to be’ in Indonesian. However, because of the influence
of English, a sort of copula verb ‘adalah‘ or ‘ialah‘ is often inserted between the subject and
comlement.
Dewi peragawati. Noun
Dewi (is a) catwalk model.
Dewi adalah seorang peragawati. copula verb
Dewi is a catwalk model.
Dia cantik. adjective
She (is) beautiful.
Bapak di kantor. preposition phrase
Father (is) at the office.
Anaknya satu. numeral
His son is one.
Dewi bukan peragawati. negative sentence
Dewi is not a catwalk model.
Apakah Dewi peragawati? interrogative sentence
Is Dewi a catwalk model?
Dewilah peragawatinya predicate marker
Dewi is the catwalk model.
Subject – Predicate – Adverb

The predicator may be a simple intransitive verb without any affixes. It may also take the
prefix ber-, me-, or ter-. Adverbial is an optional element.
Subject Predicate Adverb
Ibu saya ada di rumah.
My mother is at home.
Latihan menari sudah selesai kemarin.
The dance rehearsal has concluded yesterday.
Uangnya tersimpan dengan baik.
His money was kept safely.
Subject – Predicate – Object – Adverb

The predicator may be a simple verb without any affixes. It may also take the affixes me-, -i, me-i,
memer-i, me-kan, memper-kan. Adverbial is an optional element.
Subject Predicate Object Adverb

Mereka sudah mengerjakan laporan itu kemarin.
They have done the report yesterday.
Dia mengalami kesulitan sebagai

He experienced many difficulties as student.
Polisi Bekuk pencuri pelajar.

The police arrested the thief.
Subject – Predicate – Complement – Adverb

The complement may be a noun phrase, an adjective, or a noun phrase preceded by an adjective-like
verb. It may be also a noun preceded by an adjective as predicate. Adverbial is an optional element.
Subject Predicate Complement Adverbial
Noun Verb Noun Adverb
Ujian tinggal dua hari lagi.
The exam is two days away.
Dia berdagang batik di pasar
He traded batik in the market.
Ayahnya menjadi guru
His father becomes a teacher.
Subject Predicate Complement

Noun Verb Adjective
Bajunya Berwarna kuning.
His shirt is yellow.
Dia merasa beruntung
He felt lucky.
Subject Predicate Complement

Noun Adjective Noun
Mangga itu manis rasanya.
That mango is sweet in taste.
Pohon ini banyak buahnya.

This tree has many fruits.
Orang itu lambat jalannya.
That person are slow in walking.
Subject – Predicate – Object – Complement

The complement may be a noun phrase, an adjective, a noun phrase or a verb.
Subject Predicate Object Complement
Noun Verb Noun Adjective
Dia merasa badannya lemah.
Masalah itu membuat dia marah
He felt his body weak.
That problem made him angry.

Noun Verb Noun Noun
Dia mengira saya orang Jawa.
mereka menanai bayi itu Amir
He thought me a Javanese/He thought I was a Javanese.
They named the baby Amir.

Noun Verb Noun Verb
Dia meyuruh saya keluar.

Mereka mengajarkan kami Menari.
He asked me to go out.
They taught us dancing.
Subject – Predicate – Object – Object

The structure has two objects. The first object is indirect object and the second one is direct object.
The indirect object is often called the beneficiary of an action.
Subject Predicate Indirect Object Direct Object
Noun Verb Noun Noun
Saya sedang mencarikan adik saya pekerjaan.
Dia menawari saya pekerjaan
I am getting my sister a job.
He offered me a job.
Passive Sentences
Not all active sentences have corresponding forms in the passive. Only active and transitive
sentences(SPOC* and SPOA*) can be transformed into passive sentences.
Transitive sentences can be transformed into passive sentences by:
1. making the object of the active sentence become the subject of the passive sentence;
2. replacing the prefix me- with di- (see prefix di- chapter)
3. making the subject of the active sentence become the agent, recipient of the passive form
signaled by the preposition oleh(by) which may be left out if the doer is obvious or
unimportant.
SPOC: Subject – Predicate – Object – Complement
SPOA: Subject – Predicate – Object – Adverb
Agentive Passive Sentences

Agentive passive sentences are where the doer or the agent is explicitly expressed by the proposition
‘oleh‘(by) plus agent.
Active Sentences
Subject Predicate Object Adverb
Anwar sudah mendengar berita itu kemarin.

He heard the news yesterday.
Dia bisa meminjam uang dari Bank.

He can borrow the money from the bank
Passive Sentences
Subject Predicate Agent Adverb
Berita itu sudah didengar oleh Anwar kemarin.
Uang bisa dipinjam olehnya dari Bank

The news was heard by Anwar yesterday.
Money can be borrowed by him from the bank.
Passive sentences are also called object-focus sentences, because the object is the focus of the
attention. They are commonly used especially in newspaper headlines.
Passive Sentences For The First and Second Person

Some grammarians argue that the rules for transforming active sentences into passive sentences are
not applicable for the first(saya, aku) or second person(kamu, kau, engkau, Anda). It only applies if
the subject or doer is the third person.
EXAMPLES
Active Sentences
Passive Sentences(1) Passive Sentences(2)
Saya menulis buku itu.

Aku menulis buku itu.
Buku itu ditulis oleh saya. Buku itu saya tulis.

Buku itu ditulis oleh aku. Buku itu kutulis.
I wrote the book.

The book was written by me.
Kamu menerima bungkusan itu kemarin.

Kau menerima bungkusan itu.
Bungkusan itu diterima olehmu (oleh Bungkusan itu kamu terima kemarin.
kamu) kemarin.
Bungkusan itu diterima oleh engkau Bungkusan itu kauterima kemarin.
kemarin.(never said this way)
You received the packaged yesterday.

The packaged was received by you yesterday
When the first and the second pronoun happen to be aku(I) and engkau, kau(you), the clitic form
‘ku’ and ‘kau’ is used and is joined together with the verbs.
Most grammarians think the correct passive form is Passive Sentences(2). The only grammarians
who accept both Passive Sentences(1) and (2) are Dr. Gorys Keraf, R. Ross Macdonald and Prof. Dr.
Soenjono Darjowidjojo.
Read also this article: The Passive: Apa yang Sebaiknya Guru Ajarkan?
Non-agentive Passive Sentences

Newspaper headlines are full of non-agentive passive sentences where doers are omitted because
they are understood or not important.
Tiga pejabat baru dilantik.

Three new officers were appointed.
Dua polisi ditindak.
Two policemen were disciplined.
Supaya mudah dibaca, tulislah besar-besar.
To make it easy for people to read, please write in big letters.
Passive Sentences With Prefix ter-

The prefix ter- is also used to express the passive voice but the prefix ter- implies that the action is
accidentally done.(see prefix ter- chapter)
Penumpang itu dilempar ke luar.

Penumpang itu terlempar ke laut.
The passenger was thrown outside.
The passenger was accidentally thrown outside.
Kaki orang itu diinjak oleh Ahmad.
Kaki orang itu terinjak oleh Ahmad.
The man’s foot was trampled on by Ahmad.
The man’s foot was accidentally trampled on by Ahmad.
Rumahnya dibakar tadi malam.

Rumahnya terbakar tadi malam.
The house was burned down last night.
The house was burned down by accident last night.
Passive Sentences With Affix ke-an

The affix ke-an has a passive tone also.
Saya kedinginan karena AC.

I suffered from the cold because of the air conditioner.
Mereka kehujanan kemarin.
They were caught in the rain(yesterday).
Soal itu ketahuan oleh orangtuanya.
The matter was found out by his parents.
Saya kehabisan uang.
I ran out of money.
Tadi malam saya kecurian dompet.
Last night my wallet was stolen.
Passive Sentences With The Word ‘Kena‘

Saya ditipu oleh orang itu.
Saya kena tipu orang itu.
I was cheated by that person.
Uangnya dicuri.
Uangnya kena curi.
His money was stolen.
Kami didenda polisi.

Kami kena denda polisi.
We were fined by the police.
Anak itu dihukum bapaknya.

Anak itu kena hokum bapaknya.
That boy was punished by his father.
Interrogative Sentences
Interrogatives can be formed by:
1. using Intonation and/or adding a question tag, ‘bukan‘ or ‘kan‘(colloquial) to the questions if
we wish to confirm our questions;
2. using particle –kah;
3. using the word apa or apakah;
4. using interrogative pronouns:apa, siapa, berapa, bagaimana;
5. using interrogative adverbs: mengapa, di mana, ke mana, kapan.
6.
Si Dul ada? Is Dul in/around?

Si Dul ada, bukan? Dul is in/around, isn’t he?
Si Dul ada, kan? Dul is in/around, isn’t he?
Si Dul ada kah? Is Dul in/around?
Menangiskah dia? Did she cry?
Apakah pak Ali guru? Is pak Ali a teacher?
Siapa duduk disana? Who was it that sat there?
Bagaimana dia? how is she?
Kapan dia pergi? When di he go?
Imperative Sentences
Imperative sentences are sentences that request the person we are speaking to to do or not to do
something. Based on the intonation used, imperative sentences can be divided into commands,
requests, invitations and warnings:
Command
Duduk! Sit!
Duduklah. Do sit.
Request
Tolong ambilkan buku saya.

Please get me my book.
Silakan duduk.
Please sit down
Izinkan saya menyampaikan sepatah dua patah kata.
Allow me to say one or two words.
Harap Anda tunggu di luar.
Please wait outside.
Invitation
Mari kita makan sekarang.

Let’s eat now.
Ayo, habiskan kue itu.
Come, finish the cake.
Warning
Jangan buang sampah di sini.

Don’t through rubbish here.
Awas ada anjing.
Beware of dog
Pronoun Substitutes
The use of second-person pronouns is very tricky. Engkau, kau and kamu can only be used to address
a younger person, one’s subordinate or among good friends. Because of this kinship terms are used as
pronoun substitutes.
Saudara, Saudari
Saudara for male and saudari for female, like anda, is widely used for ‘you’ to people of one’s own
age or younger. It has impersonal tone, and it generally used to whome the speaker is not well
acquainted.
Bapak, Ibu
These are respectful forms used to older people or to any adult of marriageable age. As pronoun
substitutes bapak and ibu can also mean ‘I’. They are restricted to use by older people to younger
people, whether their own children or not.
Bapak tinggal di sini? Do you live here? said to an older man

Ini anak ibu? Is this your child? said to an older woman
Ibu mau ke pasar. I am going to the market. said by a woman to someone younger
Berikan buku itu pada bapak! Give that book to me. said by a man to a younger person
Pak and bu are the abbreviated forms of bapak and ibu, but they can not be used alone as pronoun
substitutes. However, in combination with a name they can be used as terms for reference to a third
person or in addressing a second person as pronoun substitutes.
Pak Hasan mau makan sekarang? Do you want to eat now, Mr. Hasan? as pronoun substitute
Pak Hasan mau makan sekarang? Does Mr. Hasan want to eat now? reference to a third person
Personal Names
Personal names are commonly used as substitutes for ‘I’ and ‘you’, particularly among children.
Dina mau ikut. I want to come. said by a girl named Dina

Dina mau ikut? Do you want to come? addressed to a girl named Dina
Ini untuk Dina This is for you. said to a girl named Dina
Total avoidance or -nya

When there is uncertainty about how a person should be addressed, Indonesians have a number of
strategies for avoiding offense. They may avoid using a pronoun altogether, or use third person-nya.
In this case ‘-nya‘ is not used as a third person pronoun but as a second-person pronoun.
Tinggal dimana? Where do (you) live? avoid using a pronoun

Dimana rumahnya? Where do you live? use –nya as a second-person pronoun
Other Terms
Pronoun
Meaning Application
Substitutes
gue, gua; I, my, me; Colloquial Jakartan, only used among very closed
elo, elu, lu you friends
abang big brother informal, neutral, singular, to older male
adik younger brother/sister informal, neutral, singular, to younger person
om; tante uncle; aunt(Dutch) for older person, more informal than bapak, ibu
mas; mbak older brother; older informal, polite, can be used to older or younger
sister(Javanese) people
Asking For What You Want In Indonesian

Posted by Dr. Timothy Hassall on May 12, 2011 in Dr. Timothy Hassall, Vocabulary · 0 Comments
Whether you’re living in Indonesia or just on holiday there, some of your most useful phrases will be
formulas to ask for things – goods, services and information. You have to pick your words carefully for
this. With the right verbal toolbox it can be simpler than you think. Here are a few formulas which
together make an excellent set of tools for this purpose.
1. Polite ‘commands’
In English we tend to avoid issuing commands (e.g. ‘Wash this’, ‘Turn that down’). But in Indonesian,
in situations where the other person is more or less obliged by their position to give us what we’re
asking for, we often do give commands. However, we make our commands adequately polite by
adding little softeners to them. Look at typical commands below.
You say: Literally:
[to maid outside your hotel room] [to maid outside your hotel room]
Mbak, kamarnya tolong dibersihkan Mbak, the room please be cleaned
nanti ya. later, yes.
[to conductor in a city bus] [to conductor in a city bus]

Pak, tolong dikasihtahu ya kalau Pak, please I be told, yes, when we
sudah sampai di Jalan Kartini. get to Jalan Kartini.
[to servant in your losmen who is [to servant in your losmen who is
about to leave your room about to leave your room
without closing the door] without closing the door]
Pintunya ditutup ya. The door be closed, yes.
[to your taxi driver who is playing [to your taxi driver who is playing
the radio loudly] the radio loudly]
Pak, tolong dikecilkan dikit ya. Pak, please it be turned down a
little, yes.
Most use Tolong ‘please’.
▪ They all use the passive (di-). Instead of saying ‘Do this’, we said more obliquely, ‘This be done.’
(e.g. Pintunya ditutup.)
▪ They all use ya. This ya appeals to the other person for their cooperation, and so acts as a
softener.
This combination of “Tolong … di- … ya” is a very common and useful three-part formula for giving
polite commands. Also, of course, most of these commands include an address term (e.g. Pak or
Mbak). Address terms are very important for politeness, but are not special to making requests. They
are used much more widely than that (e.g. in formulas of greeting, farewell, thanking and apology as
well.)
2. Asking for permission

We can use bisa and boleh for this purpose in much the same way as we use ‘Can I’ or ‘May I’ in
English. Although
bisa/boleh requests are not as common as those English formulas are, they are still very common
indeed. They
tend to be used for requests where the other person is not obliged to comply, e.g. asking favours.
Typical ones:
You say: Meaning:
[to a student next to you in class] [to a student next to you in class]
Bisa pinjam bolpoin? Can I borrow a pen?
[to a customer who is hogging the [to a customer who is hogging the
bench space in a crowded warung] bench space in a crowded warung]
Bisa duduk di sini Pak? Can I sit here, Pak?
[to an official behind a counter] [to an official behind a counter]

Permisi Bu, bisa minta formulir Excuse me Bu,can I ask for a form
untuk perpanjangan visa? for a visa extension?
[to security officer in guardpost [to security officer in guardpost

outside govt building] outside govt building]
Boleh masuk sini Pak? May I come in here, Pak?
Notice two things about these requests:
▪ Most use bisa. Bisa is more common than boleh to ask for permission. But if you want to sound
more deferential you can use boleh instead, as in the last example above.
▪ We left out ‘I’ (saya). So we just said e.g. “Bisa duduk…?”. (‘Can sit …?’). It sounds a bit pedantic
to include the saya when it’s obvious you mean saya, although of course you can include it if you
want.
3. “I ask for X.”

Minta is a simple and handy formula for asking for objects in routine situations.
Examples:
1 Literally:
[to a nearby waiter in a rumah [to a nearby waiter in a rumah

makan] makan]
Mas, minta menunya. ‘Mas, I ask for a menu.’
[to shop assistant] [to shop assistant]

Minta yang biru Mbak. ‘I ask for the blue one, Mbak.’
[at hotel reception when filling in [at hotel reception when filling in
registration form] registration form]
Minta bolpoin Mbak. ‘I ask for a pen, Mbak.’
This is neutrally polite, roughly like saying “Have you got a menu?”, or “I’ll have the blue one” or
“Can I have a pen?” in the same situations in English.
4. Asking for information.

This is a little different from other requests. It’s not hard to do but it has a special feature. Look
below:
You say: Literally:
[in street to stranger] [in street to stranger]

Permisi Bu, bisa nanya, kantor ‘Excuse me Bu, can I ask, where’s the
pos di mana ya? post office,yes?
[at bus terminal, to an [at bus terminal, to an employee]

employee] ‘Pak, I want to ask, the bus that goes
Pak, mau tanya, bis yang ke Solo to Solo is which one, yes?
itu yang mana ya?
The main thing to notice here is the “pre-question.” Before demanding information from a stranger
you prepare them for it by saying ‘Can I ask (a question)?” or “I want to ask (a question).” This might
strike you as over elaborate, but without it you will often sound abrupt.
This pre-question has many variants, from boleh (saya) bertanya to the less formal and more common
numpang tanya, bisa tanya, bisa nanya, mau tanya, or mau nanya.
Notice also how we added ya to the real question to soften it (so e.g. “… di mana ya?”) This also
helps to make the question more polite.
I hope this helps you to get what you want in Indonesian – well, some of the time. Of course now and
then even your most beautifully phrased requests will meet a refusal, or, in the case of requests for
information, meet a wrong answer invented for pure convenience or to save face. But that’s another
story, and at least you’ll have done your best.
Postscript – just a little puzzle: how do you ask a waiter for the bill in a rumah makan?
That vexed me for a long time during my first trip to Indonesia. I asked Indonesians what the word for
the ‘bill’ is, and they told me bon, but waiters still didn’t understand what I wanted. Solution? You
don’t ask for the bill at all. You just say ‘Mau bayar.’ (I want to pay.’)
Reference:  Indonesian Reference Grammar by James Neil Sneddon, 1996.

Verb
Probably no feature of Indonesian is more difficult for foreign learners than verbs. Many students of
Indonesian do find that an understanding of the grammatical system can sometimes help improve
fluency, correctness and expressiveness. But knowledge of the grammatical system of a language can
only complement and never substitute for accurate imitation of models and memorable repetition as
tools for the attainment of practical correctness and fluency.
There are three kinds of verb:
1. Helper verbs or auxiliary verbs
2. Intransitive verbs
3. Transitive verbs
Helper verbs
Helper verbs or auxiliary verbs are verbs that sometimes occur on their own, but more usually occur
immediately in front of another verb. They function to give an extra dimension of meaning to the
second verb, especially by showing some aspect of how the doer of the action does the action or
relates to the action expressed in the second verb. Examples of helper verbs are:
dapat, suka, boleh, bisa, mau, mulai, ingin, harus, ikut, pandai
Helper verbs have only one form, and they never change form. So they are “nude” words, or single
indivisible morphemes.
Study these examples. The helper verbs are in italics.
Kami suka makan di Rumah Makan Kartika.
We like eating at the Kartika Restaurant.
Apakah Ibu Prawoto ikut makan nanti malam?
Is Mrs Prawoto going to join us for dinner tonight?
Maaf, saya kurang pandai menulis dalam bahasa Cina.
Sorry, I’m not really very good at writing in Chinese.
Mereka tidak dapat datang.
They can’t come.
Biasanya mahasiswa tidak mau masuk kuliah pada malam hari.
Students don’t usually want to follow lectures at night.
Saya sudah mulai belajar Ilmu Kimia.
I have begun to study Chemistry.
Intransitive verbs
Intransitive verb is one that “looks back” in the sense that it relates back to the doer of the action
and not to anyone or anything else. In other words it signifies an action that is done by someone or
something, but it is not done to anyone or anything. An example of an intransitive verb in English is
the verb “to die”. You can say:
“She died.”
But you cannot say:
*“She died her husband.”
Intransitive verbs take several forms in Indonesian. Some are single morphemes, others have
prefixes. Some examples of single-morpheme intransitive verbs are:
setuju, mandi, tidur, bangun, pergi, datang, terbang, masuk, duduk, kawin
Other intransitive verbs consist of a base word plus an affix. The most common affix on intransitive
verbs is the prefix ber-, in fact most (but not all) words that have a ber- prefix on them are
intransitive verbs.
berjalan, berhenti, beristirahat, berubah, berlibur, bermain, berbicara
A complicating factor here is that sometimes the ber- prefix is dropped, especially if you are
speaking rapidly or informally. Compare these pairs of sentences. Each pair has basically the same
meaning and both sentences are 100% correct, but the first is formal than the second informal.
Saya ingin berjalan kaki saja.
Aku kepengin jalan kaki aja.
I’d prefer to just walk.
Sesudah beristirahat dia mandi
Sesudah istirahat dia mandi.
After taking a rest she had a bath.
Pada hari Sabtu pagi biasanya saya bermain golf.
Sabtu pagi biasanya aku main golf.
I usually play golf on Saturday mornings.
There are also many intransitive verbs that have a meprefix. These are probably fewer in number
than those with a ber- prefix but you have already met one or two of them.
Apakah Anda pandai menyanyi?
Are you any good at singing?
Anak-anak ini belum bisa membaca dan menulis!
These children can’t read or write yet!
Di mana Anda mengajar?
Where do you teach?
Ibu Simatupang suka sekali memasak.
Mrs Simatupang enjoys cooking.
Katanya mereka akan menikah.
I’ve heard they’re going to get married.
Gunung Merapi meletus kemarin.
Mount Merapi erupted yesterday.
The prefix ber-, which is usually (but by no means always) a marker of an intransitive verb,
attaches directly on the front of a base word (usually) without any assimilation or fusion. Here are
some examples:
-ubah » berubah
-temu » bertemu
-cakap-cakap » bercakap-cakap
-belanja » berbelanja
-asal » berasal
-dansa » berdansa
-henti » berhenti
But in a few special cases some assimilation takes places. The /r/ in ber- may change to /l/ or
disappear altogether. For example:
-ajar » belajar
-kerja » bekerja
-renang » berenang
Compound Intransitive Verb

Another category of intransitive verb is the compound intransitive verb. A compound intransitive
verb takes the form of a phrase that usually consists of two words. Grammatically the phrase is a
single unit that functions exactly like an ordinary intransitive verb. Some examples of these that we
have already met are:
gosok gigi
terima telepon
main tenis (also often bermain tenis)
At first glance it might seem as if gigi, telpon and tenis are objects, and that gosok,
terima andmainmust be transitive verbs. But in fact the meprefix that marks subjectfocus transitive
verbs only rarely appears attached to the front of these phrases, and in every respect the phrases
behave as if they were intransitive verbs.
Other such compound intransitive verbs are:
berganti pakaian
to get changed (of clothes)
mengisi bensin
to fill up (the tank of a motor vehicle with petrol/gasoline)
Compounds involving merasa and menjadi probably also belong to this category. For example, in the
sentence
Saya merasa sakit (I feel ill), rasa sakit is a compound base form, and the whole phrase merasa
sakit behaves exactly like an intransitive verb.
Similarly in the sentence
Dia menjadi guru (She is a teacher) jadi guru seems to be a compound base form governed by
themeN- prefix, and the whole phrase menjadi guru behaves exactly like an intransitive verb.
Transitive Verbs
A transitive verb is one that “looks forward” in the sense that it signifies an action that is done to
someone or something. An example of a transitive verb in English is “to fell”. In English you can say:
“She felled the tree.”
But unlike “She died” we cannot say:
*“She felled.”
Actually, verbs like “to fell” are a bit of a rarity in English. As you can see, it cannot be intransitive.
But most verbs in English can be either transitive or intransitive, and what’s more they look the same
whether they are transitive or intransitive. Take, for example, the verb “to stop”. You can say:
“The bus stopped.”
Here the verb “to stop” is intransitive because it is simply signifying an action and it is “looking
back” at the doer of the action, the bus. But “to stop” can also be used transitively.
“He thought he could get away with it, but I stopped him.”
In the latter sentence the verb “to stop” is looking forward, indicating that something was done to
“him”. So far so good. Now let’s turn to transitive verbs in Indonesian.
Transitive verbs in Indonesian differ from intransitive verbs and auxiliary verbs in several respects.
One important difference is that transitive verbs have “endings” that change according to the
grammatical role the verb is called upon to play in a sentence. Intransitive and auxiliary verbs, on
the other hand, don’t change their form (except for some variation in form between formal and
informal usage as mentioned above, a variation that is stylistic rather than grammatical).
If a verb has a meprefix this indicates two things. First, as mentioned above, the verb is transitive.
So it has a receiver (often called the goal). The receiver is on the receiving end of the action
expressed in the verb. Second, there is an emphasis, or focus, in the sentence on the doer of the
action, often called by grammarians the actor. What this means is, in a subtle way, the doer of the
action is in clear focus in the mind of the speaker, whereas the receiver of the action is a bit vague.
Take this example.
Pak Sukamtono memukul anjing.
Mr Sukamtono hit the dog.
In this sentence it is clear who the doer of the action is. In the context of the “text” from which this
sentence has been lifted, we can assume that there has been previous mention of Pak Sukamtono.
The speaker knows who he is. He is in sharp, unambiguous focus. But the receiver of the action
(anjing) is not so clear. Yes, we know it is a dog, but one dog? … or dogs in general? … or any old dog?
… or a particular dog? It is not so clear.
So this sentence has a focus on the hitter of the dog, the doer of the action. The grammar of
Indonesian requires this “actor focus” to be expressed by attaching a meprefix to the front of the
base form of the transitive verb.
The transitive verb here is -pukul (to hit). In its actor focus form this verb assumes the
formmemukul. You will see that the meprefix seems to “fuse” with the base word pukul, melting
the /p/ of -pukul and turning it into a nasal sound, an /m/. This nasal sound takes a variety of forms,
but grammarians usually represent it generically with a capital “N” (standing for “nasalised
assimilation”). So in grammatical descriptions the meprefix, when it is written on its own, is usually
written meN-, where /N/ could be any one of four nasalised consonant sounds, /m/, /n/, /ny/ and
/ng/, depending on the first sound in the base form of the verb.
You have already met and used some actor focus transitive verbs. Study these examples. The
transitive verb is in italics.
Saya suka menonton televisi.
I like watching television
Dia akan mengambil uang di bank.
She’s going to get some money at the bank.
Saya selalu membeli surat kabar.
I always buy a newspaper.
Kami tidak melihat Anda di pasar.
We didn’t see you at the market.
Katanya, Pak Hasan sudah menulis buku.
I’ve heard that Mr Hasan has written a book.
Anda harus dapat memakai kata kerja dengan baik.
You’ve got to be able to use verbs properly.
Sebaiknya mencuci pakaian sebelum siang hari.
It’s best to wash clothes before the middle of the day.
The verbs in these sentences consist of a prefix and a base word. The prefix fuses, or “assimilates”,
to the base word in some way. So the verbs can be analysed as follows.
menonton consists of meN- + –tonton
mengambil consists of meN- + –ambil
membeli consists of meN- + –beli
melihat consists of meN- + –lihat
menulis consists of meN- + –tulis
memakai consists of meN- + –pakai
mencuci consists of meN- + cuci
Some base words that begin with “m” often (or in some cases always) drop the initial meN- prefix
when they function as a transitive verb. The most common of these are:
minta, minum, makan, mohon, mulai, masak
Biasanya mereka makan nasi goreng pada pagi hari. (not memakan)
They usually have fried rice for breakfast.
Boleh saya minta teh? (usually minta but sometimes meminta)
Could you give me some tea? (Literally: “May I request tea?”)
Apakah Anda mau minum kopi? (not meminum)
Would you like to drink coffee?
Dia mulai perjalanannya di Padang. (also fairly commonly memulai)
She began her journey in Padang.
Mereka tidak mau mohon maaf. (usually mohon but sometimes memohon)
They didn’t want to apologise. (Literally: “to ask for forgiveness”)
Dia masak ayam dan sayur-sayuran. (usually masak but sometimes memasak)
She cooked chicken and vegetables.
Pronoun
“You” Avoidance
Posted by Dr. George Quinn on June 18, 2011 in Dr. George Quinn, Dr. Uli Kozok, Pronoun · 0 Comments
Contributed and posted by ‘The Indonesian Way’, a textbook for the Indonesian language by
George Quinn and Uli Kozok.
The use of second person pronouns is one of the most difficult areas of Indonesian. Even the few
tentative steps we are starting to take at this point present fairly formidable, prickly, subtle
difficulties.
If it is any consolation, you might be interested to know that Indonesians themselves often put the
choice of the right pronoun into the too hard basket. In fact, very often people will go through some
fairly spectacular contortions (verbal contortions, that is) to avoid altogether using a word for “you”,
especially if they are in doubt about whether to be casual or formal with the person they are talking
to.
You have already met an instance of “you-avoidance” in the greeting
Mau ke mana?
Tinggal di mana? (Where do you live?),
Mau makan apa? (What would you like to eat?),
Turun di mana? (Where are you getting off?).
A slightly bizarre variant of this, but also very common, is the substitution of the more neutral third-
person pronoun –nya for the second person pronoun. Thus you will hear people say, for example,
Rumahnya di mana?(Where is your house?)
Anaknya berapa? (How many children do you have)
Namanya siapa? (What is your name?)
Anda and Kamu
Posted by Prof. Dr. Uli Kozok on May 27, 2011 in Dr. Uli Kozok, Pronoun · 0 Comments
There are many words for “you”: Anda is just one of them and is by no means the most commonly
used. In fact Anda is a fairly recent invention, dating from the 1950s. It is slightly trendy, a bit
formal, and is mostly used among Indonesia’s educated, urbanised minority. It is also widely used in
advertising and public announcements. It is the closest Indonesian has to the all-purpose English
“you”.
But unlike “you”, Anda cannot be used indiscriminately to all and sundry. That is why it is important
to master the use of Bapak and Ibu (and, little by little, the many other words for “you” in
Indonesian).
When two people are close friends, they will probably address each other with the second person
pronoun kamu. Kamu is sometimes misused by foreign learners of Indonesian, as if it were the
equivalent of the English “you” and can be used to address all and sundry. It cannot.
Kamu is used in three main ways.
(1) It is used between two people of roughly similar age who are on very intimate terms with each
other.
(2) It is used by an adult or a parent to address a child, son or daughter (but may not be used by the
child to talk back to the adult).
(3) It is also sometimes used by adults to express disdain, or to “talk down” to another adult.
By the way, when kamu is used as a possessive pronoun (“your”) it is often (though far from always)
abbreviated to –mu and tacked on to a noun as a suffix.
Rumahmu / rumah kamu = your house
orang-tuamu / orang-tua kamu = your parents
Bapak and Ibu
Posted by Dr. George Quinn on June 17, 2011 in Dr. George Quinn, Dr. Uli Kozok, Useful Words, Vocabulary · 2
Comments
Contributed and posted by ‘The Indonesian Way’, a textbook for the Indonesian language by
George Quinn and Uli Kozok.
In English, basically we have just one second person pronoun: “you”. Except in a few exceptional
circumstances, “you” can be used to address practically anyone at all. In some European languages
there are two words for “you”. French, for example, has tu and vous. You use tu when you are
talking to someone with whom you are on familiar or intimate terms. It is also often used to address
children, even if you are not on familiar terms with the child, or for “talking down” in an insulting or
contemptuous way to adults.
Vous, on the other hand, is more formal and respectful. It implies a distance between the speakers.
It is the “safe” word to use.Most Indonesians are ultra-sensitive to differences in rank, age, gender
and formality. When two people talk to each other, as a rule the words they use for “you” will
reflect their view of the relationship between them. Are they social equals? Are they the same sex?
Are they roughly the same or very different in age? Do they know each other well or only distantly?
All these factors can influence their choice of a word for “you”. Indeed, sometimes even ethnic
differences, or vocational differences, or kinship differences can play a role in determining one’s
choice of a word for “you”.
And there are plenty of second person pronouns (i.e. words that mean “you”) to choose from in
Indonesian. If English has just one and French has two, Indonesian has around a dozen that are in
common use, and probably more than fifty altogether. George Quinn’s Learner’s Dictionary of
Today’s Indonesian gives 24 words for “you”.
One of the interesting features of the Indonesian language (and of Indonesian society as a whole) is
the impulse to relate to people as if they are members of one’s own family. It is almost as if you can
only communicate with someone by making that person an “honorary” member of your family.
We have a few remote echoes of this practice in European culture. For example, in the Catholic
Church priests are addressed as “Father” or “Brother” depending on their rank and functions, and
female members of certain orders may be addressed as “Mother” or “Sister”. Presumably this
practice is a manifestation of the idea that the Christian community is a big family.
Similarly, activists in certain causes may address one another as “Sister” (in some branches of the
feminist movement) or “Brother” (among some activists for the welfare of African Americans). Again,
behind this practice lies the idea that members of a family are close to one another, will support one
another and won’t betray one another. At the same time, the use of kinship terms may function to
indicate differences in power and status within a community (as in the Catholic Church where a
“Father” has higher status than a “Brother”) or that all members are equal (as in the use by
egalitarian activists of terms referring to members of the same generation like “Brother” and
“Sister”).
In Indonesian, the very widespread use of kinship terms as second person pronouns seems to function
both to “incorporate” the addressee into an imagined community or “family”, and to make clear the
differences in status that are perceived to exist between addresser and addressee. Here are some of
the most common words for “you” that are also kinship terms.
Bapak Ibu
father mother
Adik Saudara
younger brother/sister brother/sister
Oom Tante
uncle aunt
‘Bapak’ with Capital Letter?
Posted by Prof. Dr. Uli Kozok on January 20, 2011 in Dr. Uli Kozok, Pronoun, Vocabulary · 5442 Comments
You should note that when the kinship terms bapak (a father) and ibu (a mother) are used as second
person pronouns (i.e. meaning “you”) they are written with an initial capital letter, but when they
are used in their ordinary, referential sense as kinship terms they are not capitalised (except at the
beginning of a sentence, of course).
By the way, in Module 3 you learned that ibu means “a mother”, but the word given for “a father”
was ayah, not bapak. There are two points to remember about this. First, bapak is the Javanese word
for “a father” and ayah is the more traditionally Malay word. So you are more likely to
hear ayah used in Sumatra and among educated speakers or “purists” (which is why it is used in The
Indonesian Way – be grateful!). On the other hand, bapak has been enthusiastically adopted into
Indonesian and you will commonly hear it used to refer to “a father”, especially in Java and among
less fastidious users of the language.
Second, ayah is used to mean “you” only when you are addressing your own real father. If you are
not talking to your real father, but to a “pseudo-father” you should address him as Bapak.
Kami versus Kita
Posted by Prof. Dr. Uli Kozok on June 1, 2010 in Dr. Uli Kozok, Pronoun · 0 Comments
“We” is a small word and it can sometimes be a small problem for English speaking students of
Indonesian. The problem is that there are two words for “we” in Indonesian: kami and kita.
Kami means “we” but excludes the person or persons you are talking to. It could be translated “we
(but not you)”. Depending on where it appears in a clause it might also mean “us (but not you)”.
Kami mau menonton film. Mau ikut?
We are off to see a movie. Would you like to come?
Kita, on the other hand, includes the person or persons you are talking to. It could be translated “we
(and that means you too)”. Again, depending on where it appears in a clause it might also mean “us
(and that includes you too)”.
Kita ke mana sekarang? Ke bioskop? Ke toko musik? Ayo, ke mana kita?
Where shall we go now? To the cinema? To the music shop? Come on, where are we off to?
-nya
As a Pronoun
Formal Form Colloquial Form Meaning
Bagaimana cara mendapatkannya? Gimana cara dapetinnya? How can I find it?
Saya baru seminggu di New Gua baru seminggu di New I’d only been a week in
York, bahasa Inggris sayamasih York, Inggrisnyamasih ngaco. New York, my English is
kacau. Katanya sekarang dia di still poor.
Saya dengar sekarang dia di London. I hear she’s now in London.
London.
As a Ligature
It links possessive nouns to the possessed. It can also occur with pronoun substitutes.
Bu Siti, berapa tahunkah usia ibu Bu Siti, beda berapa taun Mrs. Siti, what’s the
berbeda dengan kakak ibu? sama kakaknya? age difference
between you and your
sister?
Saya putus dengan pacar saya Gue putus sama cewek gue gara-
karena ibunya. gara ibunya dia.
I broke up with my
girlfriend because of
her mother.
As a Marker of Definiteness and As an Emphasizer
Tinggal di daerah mana di Di Jakartanya In which part of Jakarta do

Jakarta? dimana tinggalnya? you live?
Pemeran penjahat di film itu Di film itu penjahatnya In that movie the bad guy is
akhirnya mati. akhirnya mati. finally dead.
Minuman ini terlalu manis. Minumannyaterlalu manis. The drink is too sweet.
Kamu? bagaimana perasaan Elunya gimana perasannya? How do you feel?
kamu?
Selamat malam, Budi ada? Selamat malam, Budinya ada? Good evening, is Budi in?
Emphasizing Words Other Than Nouns
Dulu saya seorang Saya penyanyi dulunya. I used to be a singer.

penyanyi. Siapanya yang nggak Who is actually not
Siapa yang tidak siap? siap? ready?
As a Nominaliser
Formal Form Colloquial Form
Ayah saya sudah meninggal. Beliau Babe gue udah meninggal. Meninggalnya tahun
meninggal tahun 2005. 2005.
Nama saya sebenarnya Armand, tapi Nama gue sebenernya Armand, tapi di mana-
dimana-mana saya dipanggil Maman. mana dipanggilnya Maman.
My father has died. He died in 2005.

My real name is Armand, but everywhere I’m called Maman.
Reference: Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian by James Neil Sneddon, 2006.

For more information or articles about colloquial, colloquial Indonesian, colloquial Jakartan Indonesian
by Dr. Timothy Hassall from ANU, Canberra, Australia, click here.
Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are ‘ini’(this) and ‘itu’(that):
Ini besar. – This is big.
Itu rumah saya. – That is my house.
‘Ini’ and ‘itu’ can also give emphasis to first person pronouns:
Kau kira saya ini pelayanmu? – Do you think I am your servant?
Mereka itu tetangga saya. – They(who have been mentioned) are my neighbors.
Reference: Indonesian Reference Grammar by James Neil Sneddon, 1996.
Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns are pronouns which refer to people. They reflect social relations between people.
Person Singular Plural
Pertama saya, aku kita, kami

First I, me, my we, us
Kedua engkau, kau, kamu, anda kalian, kamu(sekalian)
Second you, your you, all of you
Ketiga ia, dia, beliau mereka, nya
Third he/she, his/her, it/its they, them, their
Personal pronouns should be used with care. Both ‘saya‘ and ‘aku‘ mean ‘I’, ‘me’, but ‘aku’ is only
used when speaking to intimate friends only. ‘Kita‘ means ‘we’ where the person being spoken to is
included, that is ‘I and you’. ‘Kami‘ means ‘we’ where the person being spoken to is not included,
that is ‘I and others but not you’.
‘Aku, engkau, kau, kamu, kalian‘, are intimate forms, used to children and between equals who
have a close relationship with each other. They are sometimes used to younger adults although this
always conveys a suggestion of social superiority on the part of the speaker.
‘Anda‘ is confined to impersonal situations, such as addressing strangers of the same age as or
younger than the speaker. It is not widely used in addressing individuals because it does not convey
respect. It can not be used by a junior to a senior. It is mostly used in advertisements, public
announcements, conferences, and people in gatherings.
Kenakan sabuk pengaman selama anda duduk.
Fasten your seatbelt while you are seated.
Apakah mesin fotokopi anda mencemari lingkungan?
Does your photocopier pollute the environment?
‘Beliau‘ carries social connotation, referring to people who are held in high respect.
Bound Forms
The singular pronouns aku, engkau, kamu and dia have bound variants in certain situations. The
bound forms are:
prefixed
First ku- Kubuka pintu ini. I open this door.

Second kau- Buku ini sudah kaubaca You have read this book.
suffixed
First -ku Dia menunggguku. She is waiting for me.

Second -mu Buku ini untukmu? This book is for you.
Third -nya Kue itu dimakannya. The cake was eaten by him.
Bound form can occur as possessive pronouns:

suffixed
First -ku Ini bukuku. This is my book.

Second -mu Di mana rumahmu? Where is your house?
Third -nya Ini mobilnya. This is his car.
The bound form -nya can refer to non-human animate and inanimate nouns, both single and plural:
Apa namanya? What’s its name?/their names?

Saya sudah membaca nya . I have read it/them.
Reference:   Indonesian Reference Grammar by James Neil Sneddon, 1996.
Number Pronouns
Number pronouns can be formed by adding affixes ke- .. -nya to the collective numbers. These forms
can also have a reduplicated base with or without prefix ke-.
Kedua anak itu baik hatinya. Those two boys are very kind.
Kedua-duanya baik hatinya. Both of them are very kind.
Dua-duanya baik hatinya. Both of them are very kind.
Keduanya baik hatinya. Both of them are very kind.
Some indefinite numbers can occur as pronouns also with suffix -nya:
semuanya – all of them
segalanya – all of them
seluruhnya – all of it, the whole
Masing-masing which can occur as number pronoun does not take suffix -nya. It means ‘each of
them’.
Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns indicate that a person or thing is being spoken about without a particular person
or thing being identified.
The pronouns ‘seseorang’ and ‘sesuatu’ correspond to English ‘someone’ and ‘something’
respectively. The phrase ‘segala sesuatu’ refers to all the things being discussed without them being
named individually.
Saya menyuruh seseorang untuk menjemput I told someone to meet them.

mereka. He ate something.
Dia makan sesuatu. He discussed everything.
Dia membicarakan segala sesuatu. There is something which isn’t good.
Ada sesuatu yang kurang baik. Everything he says is always
Segala sesuatu yang dikatakannya selalu menarik. interesting.
Other indefinite pronouns are:
siapa saja anyone mana saja any

apa saja anything kapan saja any time
di/ke/dari mana saja (at/to/from) anywhere berapa saja any amount
All the above interrogatives except kapan and berapa can be followed by ‘pun‘ instead of ‘saja‘. See
‘saja’ on Glossary chapter.
Siapa saja boleh ikut.
Siapa pun boleh ikut.
Anyone can come along.
Alternative to siapa saja and apa saja, though more formal, are ‘barang siapa'(anyone) and ‘barang
apa'(anything).
Barang siapa yang bersalah harus dihukum.
Anyone who is guilty must be punished.
Barang apa yang diceritakannya selalu benar.
Anything she said was always true.
Reduplicated forms of siapa, apa and mana have the same meaning as those words with ‘saja‘ and
‘pun‘, but follow a negated predicate. However ‘mana-mana‘ can also follow a positive predicate.
Saya tidak bertemu dengan siapa-siapa. I didn’t meet anyone.

Dia tidak tahu apa-apa. He doesn’t know anything.
Saya tidak pergi ke mana-mana. I didn’t go anywhere.
Pengungsi itu datang dari mana-mana. The refugees came from everywhere.
Because siapa-siapa and apa-apa must follow a negated predicate, therefore they cannot occur in
subject position. To be in subject position it has to be in the following forms:
Tidak seorangpun mengenal saya di sini. No one knows me here.

Saya tidak mengenal siapa-siapa di sini. I don’t know anyone here.
Tidak satupun menarik perhatiannya. Nothing interests her.
Dia tidak tertarik pada apa-apa. She’s not interested in anything

Prefix
Words can be simple or complex. A simple word consists solely of a base or root word, which can not
be broken down into smaller units. A base carries the essential meaning of a word.
Primary verbs are either intransitive or transitive. Some intransitive verbs are also simple. They have
no affix. Examples:
bangun – wake up
hidup – live
gagal – fail
mandi – bath
However, a word can also consist of a base with one or more affixes. There are three types of affix in
Indonesian: prefixes, suffixes and circumfixes or confixes. A prefix is attached before the base, a
suffix comes after the base and a circumfix or confix contains two parts, one occurring before the
base and one after.
Indonesian prefixes are me-, ber-, ter-, di-, pe-, se-, ke-.
me-
A prefix is attached before the base or root word. A number of sound changes occur when the
following prefixes are combined with root words in order to facilitate a smooth transition in
pronunciation. What the sound will be in a particular word depends on the first sound of the root
word following the prefix.
EXAMPLES
First Root
Letter Inflection Word Example Meaning
to see
l lihat melihat
to cook
m masak masak
to sing
ny me + root nyanyi menyanyi
to destroy
r rusak merusak
to become
w wabah mewabah
epidemic
Vowel alir mengalir to flow

g me + ng gali menggali to dig
h hapus menghapus to erase
c cuci mencuci to wash

d me + n didik mendidik to educate
j jual menjual to sell
b buat membuat to make
f me + m fokus memfokus to focus
v vonis memvonis to sentence
First Root
Letter Inflection Word Example Meaning
me + ng + drop the to
k kenang mengenang
‘k’ remember
me + n + drop the
t tulis menulis to write
‘t’
me + ny + drop the
s sapu menyapu to sweep
‘s’
First Letter Inflection Root Word Example Meaning
p me + m + drop the ‘p’ pilih memilih to choose
punya mempunyai to have, to own

p* me + m + root word + suffix ‘i’
pengaruh mempengaruhi to influence
* In this case first letter or initial ‘p’ is retained.

With single syllable bases, which are all borrowings from other languages, me- optionally becomes
menge-. In this case initial p. t. s and k are not lost as forms without them would sometimes be
difficult to interpret.
EXAMPLES
Monosyllabic Inflection Example Meaning
cat me + nge mengecat to paint
pel mengepel to mop
bom mengebom to bomb
Prefix me- can also be combined with any nouns, any adjective, numbers, and even verbs themselves
to form another verb as follows:
me+ transitive Verb*

Root Word Examples Meaning Remarks
‘masak’ can be used in their infinitive
masak Dia memasak(or ‘masak’) nasi She cooks rice
forms
‘makan’ is used in their infinitive

makan Dia makan nasi She eats rice
forms
‘minum’ is used in their infinitive

minum Dia minum susu She drinks milk
forms
* Transitive verbs: verbs that can have objects
me+ intransitive Verb**

most intransitive verbs can be used in their

nangis Dia menangis She cries
infinitive forms
most intransitive verbs can be used in their

Dia nangis(casual) She cries
infinitive forms
** Intransitive verbs: verbs that cannot have objects, [almost] equivalent to reflexive verbs
me+ Noun
rokok Dia merokok He’s smoking
‘ngopi’ derives from ‘mengopi’ but

kopi Ngopi yuk! Let’s have coffee
‘mengopi’ is slang word
me+ Adjective
besar Badannya membesar His body is getting bigger it indicates the subject changes
me+ Number
Root Word Examples Meaning
satu Menyatu dengan alam Blend(become one) with the nature

me+ Place
darat Pesawat itu mendarat hari ini That planes lands today
me+ Expletive
erang Dia mengerang She groans
Reference: Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge Grammars) by James Neil Sneddon(Dec 26,
1996)
Understanding Indonesian Grammar: A Student’s Reference and Workbook by James Neil Sneddon (Mar
2008)
ber-
Prefix ber- can be combined with a noun, adjective or a verb.
Ber + Noun is ‘to have’

The general meaning of prefix ber- is “to have” the thing represented by the noun. For example: ber
+ rumah = to have a house; ber+mobil = to have a car.
Root In Sentence Meaning
nama Ayah saya bernama Didi. My father’s name is Didi.

uban Rambut ibu saya sudah beruban. My mother’s hair has grays.
debu Mejanya berdebu. His desk is dusty (literally ‘have dust‘).
kulit Dia berkulit putih She has fair skin.
Ber + Noun is ‘to use, to wear, to travel by’

kuda Ayah saya berkuda setiap hari Minggu. My father rides a horse every Sunday.
topi Lihatlah orang yang bertopi itu. Look at that person who wears a hat.
bapak Dia selalu berbapak kepada saya. He always use ‘bapak’ when speaking to me
Ber + Noun is ‘produce’

keringat Cuaca panas membuat saya berkeringat. The hot weather makes me sweating.
telur Ayam-ayam kami sudah bertelur. Our hens have laid eggs.
bunyi Pintu rumah kami selalu berbunyi kalau Our house door always make a soundevery time
dibuka. we open it.
Ber + Noun is ‘reciprocal’

It indicates two people stand in the same relationship to each other as specified by the base.
tetangga Ali dan Tomo bertetangga Didi. Ali dan Tomo are neighbors of Didi.
teman Saya dan Susi sudah berteman lama. Susi and I have been friends for long.
tunangan Toni dan Nina bertunangan kemarin. Toni and Nina got engaged (to each other)
saingan Dia dan kakaknya selalu bersaing. yesterday.
He and his older brother always compete with
each other.
Ber + Noun/Verb refers to work

The work is regularly performed or done for a living.
ternak Pak Tomo hidup dari beternak*. Tomo earns his living by engaging in animal farming.
dagang Dia berdagang setiap hari. He engages in trade everyday.
*irregular prefix
Ber + Verb = Reflexive verb

A reflexive verb is one in which the subject of the verb does something to itself.
dansa Kakak saya suka berdansa. My sister loves to dance.

dandan Dia perlu waktu lama untuk berdandan. She needs a lot of time to dress up.
doa Dia berdoa setiap malam. She prays every night.
henti Taxi kami berhenti di depan rumah. Our taxi stops in front of the house.
tanya Boleh saya bertanya? May I ask?
Ber+ Adjective
sedih Kakak saya sering bersedih. My sister often feels sad.

gembira Dia sedang bergembira. She is in a happy state.
duka Saya ikut berduka. My condolences.
The Irregular Prefix ber-

‘ber’ + ‘kerja’ = ‘bekerja’ means ‘work’
‘ber’ + ‘ternak’ = ‘beternak’ means ‘engage in farming’
‘ber’ + ‘serta’ = ‘beserta’ means ‘along with’
‘ber’ + ‘ajar’ = ‘belajar’ means ’study/learn’
(with the base ‘ajar’ the ‘r’ of the prefixes is replaced by ‘l’).
Notes
When the ‘root word’ begins with consonant ‘r’, then ‘r’ is lost or we drop one ‘r’. No double ‘r’ in
prefix formation:
rambut Kakak saya berambut panjang My sister has long hair

ber+ noun/verb
racun Tanaman itu beracun That plant is toxical
with ‘r’ as
ragam Jenis barang yang dijual beragam The stuff that she sells are diversed
the first letter
rencana Dia suka berencana He likes to have plan
Reference:Indonesian: A Comprehensive Grammar (Routledge Grammars) by James Neil Sneddon(Dec 26,

1996)
2008)
di-
The prefix ‘di-‘ is used to make the passive form of an active ‘me-‘ verb. But ‘di’, can also function
as a preposition that indicates location, often meaning ‘at’. ‘Di rumah’ means at home, and ‘di
kantor’ means ‘at the office’.
To differentiate the above, in written form ‘di’ as a prefix is wirtten in one word with the root verb.
As a preposition ‘di’ is written as a word separately from the noun(place). So the word
‘dikantor‘ is wrong because ‘mekantor’ is not a verb. As a proposition the correct form is ‘di
kantor’.
EXAMPLES
Sentences Meaning Forms
Nina menyanyikan lagu jazz Nina sings a jazz song active form
Lagu jazz dinyanyikan oleh Nina A jazz song is sung by Nina passive form
Dia mencuci piring She washes the dishes active form

Piring dicuci olehnya The dishes are washed by her passive form
ke-
Prefix ke- that is added to a few root words can form nouns.
Root Word Meaning Prefix ke- + Root Word Meaning
kasih love kekasih lover, beloved
hendak want kehendak desire/intention

rangka skeleton, framework kerangka skeleton
tua old ketua leader, chairman
Prefix ke- that is added to cardinal numbers will form ordinals or can be used for collective numbers.
Cardinal Numbers Meaning Ordinals/Collective Numbers Meaning
dua two kedua second, both
tiga ketiga three third, all three
empat four keempat fourth, all four

REFERENCE : INDONESIAN REFERENCE GRAMMAR , BY JAMES N EIL SNEDDON , 1996
pe-
Sound Changes
Like prefix me- a number of sound changes occur when prefix pe- is combined with root words in
order to facilitate a smooth transition in pronunciation. What the sound will be in a particular word
depends on the first sound of the root word following the prefix.
First Root
Letter Inflection Word Prefix Pe- Meaning
l lupa pelupa forgetful person

m musik pemusik musician
ny pe + root nyanyi penyanyi singer
r rusak perusak vandal
w waris pewaris heir
Vowel uji penguji examiner

g pe + ng + root gali penggali digger
h hapus penghapus eraser
c cuci pencuci washer

d pe + n + root didik pendidik teacher/educator
j jual penjual seller
b buat pembuat maker

pe + m + root
f fitnah pemfitnah detractor
pe + m + drop
p pahat pemahat sculpture, carver
‘p’ + root
pe + ng + drop author, writer,

k karang pengarang
the ‘k’ + root composer
pe + n + drop tulis penulis writer

t
the ‘t’ + root tari penari dancer
pe + ny + drop
s sapu penyapu sweeper
the ‘s’ + root
Function
The prefix pe- is used to show the doer/person who does the action; someone who is fond of doing; it
can be used to explain the character of the person; It can also form a noun that explain what that
noun does.
Roots Prefix pe- Meaning Function
nyanyi penyanyi singer

the doer/person who does the action
tulis penulis writer
cetak (mesin)pencetak printer

to inanimate objects, with which the
garis penggaris ruler
action is performed
hapus penghapus eraser
marah pemarah ill tempered

to explain the character of the person
malu pemalu shy person
balap pembalap racer someone who is fond of doing
pemain player
main
pemain bola footballer to refer to sporting activities
tenis
petenis tennis palyer
diri pendiri founder
cinta pecinta lover

In few cases both have the same meaning.
(men)cinta pencinta lover
tunjuk penunjuk indicator

In this case each has different meaning.
tunjuk petunjuk instructions, indication
jabat penjabat(menteri) acting (minister) Both have different meaning which are
jabat pejabat official not related to actor and patient.
1996)
Indonesian Reference Grammar, by James Neil Sneddon, 1996
2008)
Indonesian Grammar Made Easy by Liaw Yock Fang(Times Learner – 1996)
per-
Prefix ‘per’ is usually accompanied by prefix ‘me-‘ before it. In order to facilitate a smooth
transition in pronunciation letter ‘m’ is added between the prefix ‘me-‘ and ‘per-‘. However, the
first letter or initial ‘p’ from the prefix ‘per-‘ is retained.
EXAMPLES
Root me + m + per +
Meaning In a Sentence Meaning
Word Root Word
Polisi sudah memperketat Police have tightened security at

ketat tight memperketat
penjagaan di bandar udara the airport
Kardi sudah memperbesar

besar large memperbesar Kardi has enlarged his house
rumahnya
Keluarga itu harus That family has to

panjang long memperpanjang
memperpanjang liburannya extend(lengthen) their holiday
Bapak sedang mempertajam pisau

tajam sharp mempertajam Father is sharpening this knife
ini
Mahasiswa itu sudah That student has

lancar fluent memperlancar memperlancar bahasa improved(literally: made more
Indonesianya fluent) his Indonesian
1996)
2008)
se-
When prefix se- is combined with a noun it would mean ‘one of that noun’. In the example below,
‘gelas’ means glass. Therefore, segelas means one glass. In English, se + noun usually translates into
a / an.
EXAMPLES
Root Se + Root
In A Sentence Meaning
Word Word
gelas segelas Dia memberi saya segelas air He gives me one glass of water
Saya pergi ke sekolah semobil dengan I go to school with my friend in one

mobil semobil
teman saya car
orang seorang Yang lulus ujian cuma seorang Only one person passed the exam
In Indonesia we used to live in the

kota sekota Di Indonesia kami dulu tinggal sekota
same city
If it occurs with group numbers prefix se- is to form cardinal numbers and fractions.
EXAMPLES
Se + Root Word Meaning Se + Root Word Meaning
sejuta one million sepuluh ten
seribu one thousand sebelas eleven
setengah half sepertiga one third
seperdelapan one eight seperempat a quarter
It also replaces the number “satu” or one before classifiers. When a measure word is being used in
conjunction with only one object, the numeral prefix se- is used in front of the measure word,
not satu.
EXAMPLES
Root Word Se + Root Word Meaning
batang sebatang lilin a candle stick
buah sebuah apel an apple
cangkir secangkir teh a cup of tea
ekor seekor kambing a goat
gelas segelas air a glass of water
helai sehelai rambut one piece of hair
ikat seikat bunga a bunch of flowers
kejap sekejap mata in a blink of an eye
lembar selembar kertas one piece of paper
mangkuk semangkuk sup a bowl of soup
orang seorang wanita a woman
pasang sepasang sepatu a pair of shoes
piring sepiring makanan a plate of food
potong sepotong kue a slice of cake
sendok sesendok makan one table spoon
siung sesiung bawang putih a clove of garlic
suap sesuap nasi a mouthful of rice
tangkai setangkai bunga a flower
titik setitik darah a drop of blood

If you combine prefix se- with adjective it would mean ‘as good as that adjective’. In the example
below, cantik means beautiful. Therefore, secantik means as beautiful as.
EXAMPLES
Root Se + Root
In A Sentence Meaning
Word Word
cantik secantik Dia secantik ibunya She is as pretty as her mother
kuat sekuat Dia tidak sekuat dulu He is not as strong as he used to be
Dia tidak pernah tinggal di rumah He never lives in a house as small as

kecil sekecil
sekecil ini this
ter-
Verbs with prefix ter- have three categories:
Stative
These verbs refer to a state of affairs and there is no action involved.
Root ter – Root Meaning
Di Kalimantan Selatan ada

apung In South Kalimantan there is a floating market.
pasar terapung.
letak Koran itu terletak di atas meja. The newspaper is(located) on the table.
tulis Surat itu tertulis dalam bahasa Inggris. That letter is written in English.
buat Bajunya terbuat dari sutera. Her dress is made of silk.
Accidental
Verbs in Indonesian distinguish between accidental and deliberate action. The verb with prefix ter-
forms a term for a variety of uncontrolled actions, unintended, unexpected, involuntary or sudden.
Deliberate Accidental
Tasnya ditinggalkan di kantor. Tasnya tertinggal di kantor.

His bag was left at the office. His bag was left at the office.
It can be transitive or intransitive.
Intransitive Transitive
Maman tertidur di kelas. Buku saya terbawa oleh kamu.
Maman fell asleep in class. You took my book by mistake.
Tadi pagi saya terbangun jam lima. Obat itu terminum oleh saya.
This morning I woke at five o’clock. The medicine was accidentally drunk by me.
The prefix ter- is also used to express the passive voice, and the agent is of no importance:
Meaning
Penumpang itu terlempar ke laut. The passenger was accidentally thrown outside.
Kaki orang itu terinjak oleh The man’s foot was accidentally trampled on by
Ahmad. Ahmad.
Rumahnya terbakar tadi malam. The house was burned down by accident last night.
Abilitative
These verbs indicate that the agent has the ability to perform the action. All of them are transitive
verbs and usually negated, indicating the inability. Sometimes the agent is not expressed.
Meaning
Mobil itu tidak terbeli oleh saya I can’t afford to buy that car.
Suaranya tidak terdengar. Her voice can’t be heard.
Persoalan itu akhirnya terselesaikan. That problem is finally solved.
Kegagalan ini tidak terhindarkan. This malfunction is unavoidable.
Notes
The prefix ter- is also used to explain the greatest degree of a quality or quantity among two or more
persons or things as a superlative form to replace the word ‘paling’.
Root Meaning ter – Root Synonym Meaning
baik good terbaik paling baik the best
buruk bad terburuk paling buruk the worst
akhir end terakhir paling akhir the last one
banyak a lot terbanyak paling banyak the greatest number, majority, most
panjang long terpanjang paling panjang the longest
No double ‘r’ in prefix formation.
Root Meaning ter – Root Meaning
rampas seize, rob, plunder, capture terampas seized, robbed, plundered, captured
rencana plan terencana Planned

*) Reference: Indonesian Reference Grammar, by James Neil Sneddon, 1996
Suffix
Words can be simple or complex. A simple word consists solely of a base or root word, which can not
be broken down into smaller units. A base carries the essential meaning of a word.
A word can also consist of a base with one or more affixes. There are three types of affix in
Indonesian: prefixes, suffixes and circumfixes or confixes:
1. a prefix is attached before the base,
2. a suffix comes after the base and
3. a circumfix or confix contains two parts, one occurring before the base and one after.
However, not all base words can be combined with affixes, nor are they always consistent in their
subsequent usage and meaning.
Indonesian suffixes are -kan, -i, -an and -nya.
They can form a noun; can soft a command or add politeness; can direct the action; and derives
causatives or adjectives.
-kan(transitive)
The presence of suffix –kan can be used to make transitive verbs and benefactive verbs.
For one large group, ‘-kan’ is simply needed for the verb to be formed correctly. Although the ‘-kan’
has no obvious meaning it must be there. Examples:
Kami memikirkan hal itu. We thought about the matter. [not: "memikir hal itu”]
Mereka membicarakan seni. They discussed art. [not: "membicara seni”]
Gina mengerjakan PR-nya. Gina did her homework. [not: "mengerja PR-nya”]
Some of this group have a matching intransitive verb without “-kan”. Example:
Kami memikirkan [berpikir tentang] hal itu.
We thought about the matter.
In such pairs, the transitive “-kan” verb has an advantange over its intransitive ‘twin’; namely, it
allows you to focus on either the Actor or the Undergoer. So (e.g.) you can say either:
Kami memikirkan hal itu. [=focus on the Actor: "Kami”]
Hal itu kami pikirkan. [=focus on the Undergoer: "Hal itu”]
But if you use the intransitive verb, like ‘berpikir’ you cannot focus on the Undergoer. There is no
Undergoer. So you could not begin with “Hal itu…”. Instead, you must focus on the Actor, and say
“KAMI berpikir tentang hal itu.”
‘-kan’ can also be added to some verbs that are already transitive. In these cases, –kan shows that
the action is done for someone. There are two ways to say it:
Actor verb + -kan person it is done for the object meaning
Edy membelikan ibunya koran. Edy bought a paper for his mother.
Saya membawakan Ririn secangkir kopi. I brought a cup of coffee for Ririn.
OR
Actor verb + -kan the object person it is done for meaning
Edy membeli koran untuk ibunya. Edy bought a paper for his mother.
Saya membawakan secangkir kopi untuk Ririn. I brought a cup of coffee for Ririn.
When it is obvious whom the action is done for, that person is often not mentioned.
EXAMPLES:
Actor verb + -kan the object person it is done for [not mentioned]>
Wayan mengetuk dua kali, dan (i.e. knocking the door)

bu Tuti membukakan pintu. (i.e. opened it for Wayan).
Tolong bawakan Coca-Cola. (to a waiter – i.e. bring it for us)
Note:
Very often when speaking, Indonesians use both ‘-kan’ and ‘untuk’ to show that the action is done
for someone else (e.g. “Edy membelikan koran untuk ibunya.”. But not all educated speakers
regard this as correct.
Reference: Dr. Timothy Hassall, Indonesian Grammar, ANU – Canberra.
-kan(causative)
The presence of suffix –kan is used primarily to derive causatives, that is to express causation or to
cause something to happen. Many are based on an adjective. Most mean: to cause something to be
[what the adjective says].
EXAMPLES:
Lia membersihkan kamarnya. Lia cleaned her room. (she caused it to be bersih: clean)
Polisi membebaskan Hadi. The police freed Hadi. (they caused him to be bebas: free)
Dia menyelamatkan anaknya. She saved her child. (she caused it to be selamat: safe)
One special group is based on an adjective that describes a feeling.

EXAMPLES:
Kabar itu mengherankan. That news was surprising. (it causes one to be heran/surprised)
Film ini membosankan. This film is boring. (it causes one to be bosan/bored)
Sikapnya mengecewakan. His attitude is disappointing. (it causes one to be kecewa/disappointed)
Note that we did not say (although we could have):
Kabar itu mengherankan kami. That news surprised us.

Film ini membosankanpara penonton. This film bores the audience.
Sikapnya mengecewakan saya. His attitude disappoints me.
We just said “Kabar itu mengherankan,” etc. These -kan verbs are used like adjectives. Often they
can be translated by English adjectives ( “surprising”, “boring,” “disappointing”).
Many causative -kan verbs are based on an intransitive verb. Most mean: to cause something to do
[the action of that verb].
EXAMPLES:
Dia mengembalikan buku. He returned the books. he caused them to kembali: to return
Dia membangunkan anaknya. She woke up her child. she caused it to bangun: to wake up
Saya menghentikan mobil. I stopped the car. I caused it to berhenti: to stop
Some are based on a noun. A number mean: to cause something to be [what the noun says].
EXAMPLES:
Dia mengorbankankariernya demi She sacrificed her career for [i.e. she caused it to be a
keluarga. her family. korban: a sacrifice]
Kami mencalonkan Pak Gafur sebagai We nominated Pak Gafur as [i.e. we caused him to be a
ketua. chairman. calon: a candidate]
Mereka merahasiakanpembunuhan itu. They kept those killings a [i.e. they caused them to be a
secret. rahasia: a secret]
When the base noun is a place, the most common meaning is: to cause someone to go to that place.
EXAMPLES:
Mereka ingin They really want to send their [i.e. to cause it to go to

sekali menyekolahkananaknya. child to school. a sekolah: school
Tahun lalu banyak mahasiswa Last year many university students [i.e. were caused to go
yang dipenjarakan. were imprisoned. to a penjara: a prison]
Karena resesi ekonomi banyak buruh Because of the economy recession a [i.e. were caused to
yang harusdirumahkan. lot of workers needs to be made stay at home/made
redundant redundant]
-i
Suffix -i has two major functions:
1. to indicate that the object is the location of the action
2. to indicate repeated action
When suffix -i occurs with a base ending in i the sounds merge into one: beri + i = beri. The suffix “-i”
is used mainly in writing and formal speech.
Many -i locative verbs have noun bases. It means ‘apply or give(base) to the object’.
Base In A Sentence Meaning
tandatangan Dia menandatangani surat. She signed the letter.[signature is applied]

hormat Kita harus menghormatiorangtua. We must respect our parents.
warna Anak laki itu mewarnaigambarnya. The boy colored his drawing.[color is applied]
garam Ibu menggarami ayam goreng. Mother seasoned the fried chicken with salt.
In a few cases the verb(suffix -i with noun bases) means that what is expressed by the base is
removed from the object.
sisik Dia sedangmenyisiki ikan. She is scaling the fish.

kulit Dia sedang menguliti ayam. She is peeling the chicken skin.
tulang Dia sedang menulangi ayam. She is removing the chicken bone.
bulu Dia sedang membului ayam. She is plucking the chicken feather.
In a another case suffix -i with noun bases can mean ‘act as/be (base) with reference to object‘.
sutradara Pak Irwanmenyutradarai film itu. Pak Irwan directed that movie.
juara Dia menjuarai turnamen tenis itu. He won the tennis tournament.
wakil Didi mewakili Indonesia di SEA Games. Didi represented Indonesia at SEA Games.
dalang Dialah yang mendalangikeributan ini. He is the one who masterminded the chaos.
With bases which indicate approximation or relative position the suffix -i verb means ‘become the
distance indicated by the base from the object‘.
lampau past melampaui to pass by, exceed

damping close, flank mendampingi to stand beside
dekat near mendekati to approach
lalu past melalui to pass, to go through
The following suffix -i with verb bases have intransitive counterparts.
Base intransitive transitive
bohong berbohong lie membohongi lie to

datang datang come mendatangi come to, visit
tangis menangis weep, cry menangisi to weep over, to cry over
percaya percaya believe mempercayai trust, believe
Suffix -i can be added to a number of simple transitive verbs to indicate that the action is
performed more than once.
Dia memukuli adiknya. He hit his younger brother repeatedly.

Polisi menanyai tersangka. The police interrogated the suspect.
Dia menciumi anaknya. She kisses her child a number of times.
Dia meyirami tanaman. He water the plants.
-i vs -kan
With many verbs there is a neat contrast between -i and -kan.
Typically, with an “-i” verb: the Undergoer stays where it is, while the action is directed towards it.
Typically, with a “-kan” verb: the Undergoer moves from one place to another, while it is caused to
do or used to do the action.
Ari memasuki mesjid. Ari entered the mosque. The mosque stays where it is, while Ari enters it.
Ari memasukkan koin. Ali inserted a coin. The coin moves, when Ari inserts it.
Another example of it:
Bu Ani menawari tamu itu Bu Ani offered the The guest stays in one place, while this action
teh. guest tea. “menawari” is directed at him/her.
Bu Ani menawarkan teh Bu Ani offeredtea to . The tea moves, as this action “menawarkan” is
kepada tamu. the guest.. done.
The endings -i and -kan do not always contrast in this way. On a few verbs -i and -kan have the same
meaning. Examples: menyesali /menyesalkan (‘to regret something)’ ; menyakiti / menyakitkan (to
hurt someone)’; menamai /menamakan (to name someone).
To see that the Undergoer moves with a “-kan” verb, sometimes you need a little imagination.
EXAMPLES:
Mereka meneriakkan yel-yel. They shouted chants. (teriak = to The chants move because they fly
shout) through the air.
Dia menuliskan kata “Merdeka!” S/he wrote the word “Merdeka!” The word “Merdeka” moves from
pada tembok. on the wall. the pen onto the wall.
When you use Passive, the same rule applies. But now the Undergoer, i.e. the thing which moves or
doesn’t move, is on the left of the verb. E.g.
Ari memasuki mesjid. Ari entered the mosque. active
Mesjid itu dimasuki oleh Ari. The mosque was entered by Ari. passive
Ari memasukkan koin. Ari inserted a coin. active
Koin itu dimasukkan oleh Ali. The coin was inserted by Ari. passive
-nya
“-Nya” is a third person personal pronouns. It can be added to certain types of words to turn them
into nouns. It can be added to adjectives.
Kota itu kecil. Mereka heran melihat kecilNYA kota itu.
That town is small. They were surprised to see the smallness of the town.
If the adjective is in a group of words, you can add ‘nya’ to the group. So e.g.:
Kota itu masih kecil. Mereka heran melihat masih kecilNYA kota itu.
That town is still small. They were surprised to see that the town is still small.
(literally: ‘THE still-small[ness]’ of the town)
‘Nya’can also be added to intransitive verbs.
Ada tas di WC. AdaNYA sebuah tas di WC membuat satpam curiga.
There was a bag in the toilets. The presence of a bag in the toilets made the security guard
suspicious.
(literally: ‘THE there-was[ness]’ of a bag)
Or, if the verb in is a group of words, you can add ‘nya’ to the group:
Tidak ada bantuan. Kami kecewa dengan tidak adaNYA bantuan.
There isn’t any help. We were disappointed by the lack of help. (literally: ‘THE ‘there-isn’t[ness]’ of
help)
“Nya” can also be added to transitive verbs which are in their “di-” or “ter-” form.
Rp 1 miliar ditemukan. Polisi mengumumkan ditemukanNYA Rp 1 miliar.
A billion rupiah were found. Police announced the discovery of a billion rupiah.
(literally: THE ‘were-found[ness]’ of a billion rupiah)
Kapal itu belum ditemukan. Belum ditemukanNYA kapal itu sulit dipahami.
The ship hasn’t yet been found. The fact that the ship hasn’t been found yet is hard to understand.
(literally: THE ‘hasn’t-yet-been-found[ness]’ of the ship)
Wartawan itu terbunuh. Kasus terbunuhNYA wartawan itu sudah terkenal.
That journalist was killed. The case of the killing of that journalist is well-known.
(literally:. THE ‘was-killed[ness]’ of that journalist)
Notice that ‘nya’, to make nouns, is used for particular, concrete instances. When talking about
general ideas with no specific reference, we need to find another way express our idea. So:
Bu Titi menyesalkan dijualNYA mobil mereka oleh suaminya.
Bu Titi regretted the selling of their car by her husband. [=a particular, concrete instance of
selling.]
Bu Titi minta nasihat tentang penjualan mobil bekas.(not “dijualNYA”).
Bu Titi asked for advice about the selling of second-hand cars. [= selling in general; not any
particular instances of it.]
– an
Suffix -an derives nouns from verbs and to a lesser extent, from nouns, adjectives and other classes.
It also occurs with full and partial duplication. It has a number of different functions.
It attaches to verb bases:
Verb Base Meaning Noun Meaning
lukis to paint lukisan picture

tulis to write tulisan writing
minum to drink minuman drink
pilih to choose pilihan choice
It acts as modifiers to another noun:
barang curian stolen goods

binatang buruan hunted animals
rumah sewaan rented house
budak belian bought slaves
The followings are action nouns that describe the action of the verb and can occur as head of a
phrase containing prepositions such as terhadap.
ancaman terhadap pemerintah threat on the government

tuntutan rakyat people’s demand
bantuan bank dunia World bank aid/help
larangan terhadap pornografi prohibition on the pornography
buatan Amerika made in America
To indicate the instruments:
timbangan scale bendungan dam

kendaraan vehicle parkiran parking place
saluran channel gantungan hanger
angkutan transport ayunan craddle
It attaches to noun bases:
Noun Base Meaning Noun + an Meaning
darat land daratan mainland

gambar picture gambaran description
pasar market pasaran market
keluh sigh, groan keluhan complain
hari day harian daily
minggu week mingguan weekly
bulan month bulanan monthly
tahun year tahunan yearly
jam hour jam-jaman* hourly
*) This is an exception for one syllable root word.
To indicate a variety of what is indicated by the base. It is common with words for plants.
obat-obatan medicines
pohon-pohonan all kind of trees
bunga-bungaan all kind of flowers
buah-buahan all kind of fruits
sayur-sayuran all kind of vegetables
daun-daunan foliage
To indicate something that resembles or imitates what the base specifies:
mobil-mobilan toy car

perang-perangan manouvres
orang-orangan puppet, scarecrow
It attaches to adjective bases:
Adjective Base Meaning Noun Meaning
asin salty asinan pickle, salted vegetables

kotor dirty kotoran excrement, garbage
lanjut advanced lanjutan continuation
manis sweet manisan sweets
samar vague, indistinct samaran camouflage, disguise
A few forms with either full and partial duplication have verbal bases:
Verbal Base Meaning Noun Meaning
runtuh collapse reruntuhan ruins

tumbuh grow tumbuh-tumbuhan, tetumbuhan all sorts of plants
goreng fry goreng-gorengan fried foods
saji offer sesajian temple offerings
Confix
pe-..-an/per-..-an
Confix ‘pe-… -an’ creates an abstract noun that indicates the process of performing the action of
what the verb refers to.
EXAMPLES
Root Word Meaning pe – an Meaning
raga body, show off peragaan show, display, modeling, exhibition
makam grave pemakaman funeral
bubar dismiss pembubaran dissolution
tinggal remain peninggalan estate, inheritance
dapat earn, get pendapatan income, acquisition
tekan pressure penekanan pressing, emphasizing
sumbat plug, stooper penyumbatan clogging, blockage
Confix ‘per-… -an’forms noun and indicates the result of an action (as opposed to the process)
and may also indicate a place or location.
EXAMPLES
Root Word Meaning per – an Meaning
masalah problem permasalahan set of problems
janji promise perjanjian agreement
nikah marry pernikahan marriage
empat four perempatan junction, cross-roads
damai peace perdamaian peace
sahabat good friend persahabatan friendship
pe-..-an versus per-..-an

EXAMPLES
RootWord Meaning Confix Comparison Meaning
buat do, make per – an perbuatan deed, action, performance, conduct, act
pe-an pembuatan fabrication, construction, production
hitung calculate per – an perhitungan calculation, computation, consideration
pe-an penghitungan calculating

pecah break apart per – an perpecahan disunity, disunion
pe-an pemecahan sollution, fission, breakthrough
ber-..-an/ber-..-kan
This confix ber-..-an forms a verb that indicates mutuality or reciprocity.
EXAMPLES
Root Word Meaning ber-an Meaning
kejar chase, pursue berkejaran race each other
tabur spread bertaburan scattered
jatuh fall berjatuhan drop everywhere
desak push berdesakan jostle one another
Generally, verbs that use confix ‘ber-..-kan’ can be followed by a noun as its object since verbs with
suffix ‘ber-‘ have syntactically different meaning.
EXAMPLES
Root Meaningber – kan In a Sentence Meaning

Word
mandi bath bermandikan Malam ini langit bemandikan Tonight the sky is bathed in
cahaya bintang stars
dasar base berdasarkan Berdasarkan kenyataan …. Based on the fact …

se – nya
If prefix se- is combined with repeated adjective and suffix -nya, it will give you a totally different
meaning. In the example below, banyak means many. Therefore sebanyak-banyaknya means as many
as possible.
Root Word Se + Repeated Adjective + Suffix -Nya Meaning
ada seada-adanya whatever there is, as one finds it
baik sebaik-baiknya as good as possible
banyak sebanyak-banyaknya as many as possible
besar sebesar-besarnya as big as possible, deeply great
buruk seburuk-buruknya at worst
cepat secepat-cepatnya as fast as possible
dikit sedikit-dikitnya at the very least
enak seenak-enaknya as one wishes, as one likes
erat seerat-eratnya as tight as possible
habis sehabis-habisnya to the bitter end
jadi sejadi-jadinya with all one’s might
kuat sekuat-kuatnya as strong as possible
kurang sekurang-kurangnya at least
lama selama-lamanya as long as possible, forever
mau semau-maunya as one likes
pandai sepandai-pandainya no matter how good one is
tidak setidak-tidaknya in any case

di-..-kan/di-..-i
EXAMPLES OF CONFIX ‘DI-..-KAN’
Root Meaningdi – kan In a Sentence Meaning

Word
ajar teach diajarkan Setiap anak diajarkan untuk Each child is taught to understand
memahami sejarah Indonesia Indonesian History
beban load dibebankan Kenaikan harga minyak selalu Oil price increase is always
dibebankan pada konsumen imposed on the consumer
besar big dibesarkan Ayah saya dibesarkan oleh My father was raised by his uncle
pamannya
EXAMPLES OF CONFIX ‘DI-..-I’
Root Meaning di – i In a Sentence Meaning

Word
bumbu spice dibumbui Ayam ini hanya dibumbui This chicken is only spiced up by salt
garam dan merica and pepper
hantu ghost dihantui Dia masih dihantui oleh She’s still traumatised by her parents
perceraian orang tuanya divorce
beban encumberdibebani Tidak dibebani hutang- Unencumbered by debts.

hutang.
ke-..-an
Confix or circumfix ‘ke – an’ forma nouns from adjectives, verbs and other classes. Such noun are
generally of an abstract nature. It is used to form a noun that identify a state, character or condition
in connection with the root word in a general or vague sense.
EXAMPLES
Root Word Meaning ke – Root Word – an Meaning
sehat healthy kesehatan health
lapar hungry kelaparan hunger
bersih clean kebersihan cleanliness
merdeka free, independent kemerdekaan freedom, independence
tinggi high ketinggian altitude, elevated place
anggota member keanggotaan membership
To form an adjective with a sense of excessiveness:

EXAMPLES
Root Word Meaning ke – Root Word – an Synonym Meaning
dingin cold kedinginan terlalu dingin too cold
besar big kebesaran terlalu besar too big
kecil small kekecilan terlalu kecil too small
merah red kemerahan terlalu merah too red
In a few cases this is not so:

Examples
berat heavy keberatan objection
merah red kemerahan rather red
malu shy kemaluan genitals
terang clear keterangan explanation
The negative ‘tidak'(not) can combine with some adjectives to form a compound base for ke-..-
announs, i.e. ke – ROOT WORD – an. These correspond to English npuns with prefix dis- or in-
EXAMPLES
tidak sama unequal ketidak-saman inequality

tidak jujur dishonest ketidak-jujuran dishonesty
tidak adil unjust ketidak-adilan injustice
Several adjectives derived with prefix se- can form the base of a ke-..-an nouns:
EXAMPLES
seimbang blanced keseimbangan balance, equilibrium
sesuai appropriate, suitable kesesuaian suitability, compatibility
seragam uniform keseragaman uniformity
The noun can be formed from an intransitive verb:

EXAMPLES
datang come kedatangan arrival
hidup live kehidupan life
ingin wish keinginan wish, desire

Reference: Indonesian Reference Grammar (Paperback) by James Neil Sneddon
me-..-kan/me-..-i
Some base words that are combined with two affixes (eg. me + root word+ kan) can produce an
adjective rather than a verb, or even both.
EXAMPLES
Root Meaningme – kan In a sentence Meaning

Word
takut scared menakutkan Film itu menakutkan That movie is scarry
biar let membiarkan Saya membiarkan hal itu terjadi I am letting that happen
kerja work/do mengerjakan Dia sedang mengerjakan pekerjaan He’s doing his homework
rumah
bingung comfuse membingungkan Masalah ini membingungkan saya This problem confuses me
darat land mendaratkan Pilot itu mampu mendaratkan pesawat That pilot can land the
dengan selamat airplane safely
Confix ‘me-..-i’ will produce transitive verbs.

EXAMPLES
Root Meaning me – i In a Sentence Meaning

Word
teman friend menemani Saya harus menemani ibu saya I have to accompany my
mother
guru teacher menggurui Sikapnya selalu menggurui He’s always a know-it-all to

terhadap saya me
takut afraid, menakut-nakuti Dia senang menakut-nakuti He loves scaring his brother
scared adiknya away
Reduplication
By Iem Brown
Reduplication is a process of repeating a word, either wholly or partially. This process is very
productive and it shows a number of characteristics. It is used to express various grammatical
functions such as verbal aspect and some showing complex models.
A wide use of reduplication is one of the most prominent grammatical features of the Indonesian
languages. To some this sounds like a child language (hula-hula, caca).
Reduplication With Affixes

Some words are reduplicated with affixes. Most of reduplication with affixes is verbs and
adjectives.Reduplication of nouns with affixes is limited to the suffix -an.
ber-
Dia berjalan-jalan ke pasar. He takes a stroll to the market.
Gedung itu bertingkat-tingkat. The building has many storeys.
me-
Kalau mandi saya suka menyanyi-nyanyi. While bathing, I like to sing.
Dia meraba-raba dalam gelap. He is groping in the dark.
The other type of reduplication with prefix me- is usually a verb but maybe a nominal:
Mereka saling pandang memandang. They looked at each other.

Kita harus saling tolong-menolong. We have to help each other.
Dia sangat ahli dalam tari-menari. She is an expert on dancing.
ter-
Mereka tertawa-tawa mendengar berita gebira They laughed and laughed upon hearing the good
itu. news.
Pria itu tergila-gila pada wanita berkulit putih. That man is crazy about the woman with fair skin.
ber- -an
Murid-murid sedang berkejar-kejaran di halaman The pupils are chasing each other in the school
sekolah. yard.
Kami bersalam-salaman sebelum berpisah. We shake each other’s hand before we parted.
ke- -an
Usianya sudah dua puluh tapi masih kekanak-kanakan. He is twenty years old but he is still childish.
Airnya jernih kebiru-biruan. The water is clear, slightly blue.
se-
Sekonyong-konyong di memukul saya. All of sudden he hits me.
Saya akan berusaha sebaik-baiknya. I will try my best.
-an
sayur-sayuran variety of vegetables
mobil-mobilan toy cars
cubit-cubitan pinching each other
kucing-kucingan hide and seek
Full Reduplication
A word, whether simple or complex, can be fully reduplicated. It involves repeating the entire word
where the two parts of the word are separated by a hyphen. What can be fully reduplicated?
• Free bases(root words): kupu-kupu; tiba-tiba; buku-buku
• Base + an affix or more: perubahan-perubahan(from base ubah); tulisan-tulisan(from
base tulis)
• Reduplicated base + affixes: kemerah-merahan(from base merah); berkali-kali(from base
kali); melihat-lihat(from base lihat)
Reduplication Without Corresponding Single Bases

Sometimes reduplicated forms have no unreduplicated counterparts to which they can be related.
Such forms are often treated as single bases(root word) in dictionaries, although usually written with
a hyphen.
Such forms include:
• tiba-tiba (suddenly);
sia-sia (futile);
pura-pura (pretend);
megap-megap (pant);
masing-masing (each).
Reduplication of Noun
Some nouns consisting of repeated forms are single bases(root words). Many of these words are :
• names of plants,
animals,
types of food and
instruments:
EXAMPLES:
• cumi-cumi(squid);
kupu-kupu(butterfly);
alang-alang(tall grass species);
gado-gado(mixed vegetable dish);
oleh-oleh(gift).
Sometimes it also refers to something having two or more similar parts:
paru-paru (lungs);
baling-baling (propeller);
anting-anting(ear ring).
Reduplication That Produce Different Meaning
Reduplication may produce a meaning which is different but nevertheless related to the meaning of
the single base(root word), or similarity.
Base Meaning Reduplication Meaning
tiba arrive tiba-tiba suddenly

laki husband laki-laki man
mata eye mata-mata spy
langit sky langit-langit ceiling
gula sugar gula-gula sweets, lollies
kuda horse kuda-kuda and kuda-kudaan* easel, tresle and toy horses
mobil car mobil-mobilan toy cars
*) Kuda-kuda can also indicate plurality. See below. Kuda-kudaan is toy horse.
Reduplication to Indicate Plurality

Both simple and complex nouns can be reduplicated to indicate plurality:
• rumah-rumah(house);
perubahan-perubahan(changes);
singkatan-singkatan(abbreviations);
kuda-kuda(horses),
sayur-sayuran(vegetables)
Reduplication of Verbs
Sometimes bases are repeated and affixes then attached to them. There are several functions:
1. To give a connotation of action done in a casual or leisurely way:
Kami keliling-keliling di kebun teh. We are just going around the tea plantation.
Di toko itu kami hanya melihat-lihat. In that shop we were just looking
around/browsing.
Dia suka tidur-tiduran di lantai. He likes lying down on the floor.
Anak-anak sedang duduk-duduk di bawah The children are sitting about under the
pohon. tree.
2. To indicate continued action:
Dia berteriak-teriak memanggil ibunya. He shouted and shouted for his mother.
Kayu itu terapung-apung di sungai. The wood floated in the river.
Dia menangis terisak-isak. She sobs continuously.
Jangan suka menunda-nunda pekerjaan. Don’t keep delaying the work.
3. To give a meaning somewhat different from that of the single form, usually conveying a sense
of intensity:
menjadi(become) Kelakuannya menjadi-jadi. – His behavior is getting worse.

membesarkan(enlarge) Dia selalu membesar-besarkan persoalan. – He
always exaggeratethe problem.
berganti(replace) Setiap minggu kami berganti-ganti ruang rapat. –
Every week we keep changing the meeting room
meminta(request) Saya tidak akan meminta-minta. – I will not beg.
4. Accompanied by ‘tidak’ it can indicate that the action has not occurred, usually implying that
this is contrary to expectation;
Sudah seminggu dia tidak masuk-masuk. He hasn’t turned up for a week.

Saya tidak bertanya-tanya soal itu. I didn’t ask for that matter.
Reduplication of Pronouns
This is for emphasis and give a negative overtone:
Examples Meaning
Mengapa hanya saya-saya yang selalu Why is it always poor old me who gets
diberi tugas? these jobs?
Jangan ribut di sini, beliau-beliau sedang Don’t be noisy, the big shots are having a
rapat! meeting!
Reduplication of Adjectives
Reduplication of Adjectives explains intensity or degree of intensity, it is also used to form adverbs:
Examples Meaning
Kecil-kecil sudah mencuri. Even though he is still young, he already steals.

Tua-tua kurang ajar. Even though he’s already old, he doesn’t act
Barang di toko itu mahal-mahal. accordingly.
Semahal-mahalnya barang itu dia masih All the stuff in that store are very expensive.
membelinya. However expensive that stuff he still buys it.
Dialah teman saya yang sebaik-baiknya. He is the kindest friend.
Jangan berkata yang tidak-tidak. Don’t talk nonsense.
Dia sudah pergi diam-diam. He has left secretly/quietly.
Jangan sekali-kali kau berani berbuat begitu lagi. Don’t ever dare doing it again.
Saya akan coba sebisa-bisanya. I will try my best
Reduplication of Numbers
This forms adverbs meaning ‘in a group of so many’:
Examples Meaning
Bicaralah satu-satu. Speak one at time.

Mereka masuk dua-dua. They came in two at a time.
Reduplication as a means of forming Adverbs

Nouns, adjectives, verbs, numerals, when reduplicated may form adverbials. They can also show
plurality.
Examples Meaning
Datanglah pagi-pagi supaya tidak Come early so you won’t be late.

terlambat. Why do you leave so late at night?
Mengapa malam-malam baru berangkat? He went away quietly.
Dia pergi diam-diam. As soon as she arrived, she cried
Datang-datang dia langsung menangis. immediately.
Saya sudah memikirkannya masak-masak. I have thought about it carefully.
Ref: Indonesian Reference Grammar By Dr. James N. Sneddon

Dr. Uli Kozok, University of Hawaii in Manoa
Indonesian Grammar Made Easy by Dr. Liaw Yock Fang, TIMES 1996
Partial Reduplication
Partial reduplication occurs only with bases(root words) which begin with a consonant. It involves
placing before the base a syllable consisting of the first consonant of the base followed by ‘e’.
This type of reduplication is no longer productive in the language; it occurs with a few bases, mainly
nouns, and can not be applied to others. The reduplicated word has a meaning which is the same as
that of the single form or related to. Sometimes, as in the first example below, the historical
relationship is not obvious:
Meaning
tangga ladder Meaning
jaka bachelor tetangga neighbor
laki husband jejaka bachelor
luhur noble lelaki man
tamu guest leluhur ancestor
tua old tetamu guests
tetua elders
Imitative Reduplication
In imitative reduplication the two parts of the word are not identical, though they are similar. Nouns,
adjectives and verbs can all undergo imitative reduplication. The variation between the two parts of
the word can involve either consonants or vowels.
Imitative reduplication is not productive; new forms can not be created nor can the two parts of the
word change places. The reduplication usually indicates variety or emphasizes the meaning of the
first component.
Imitative reduplication is not greatly different from some types of compounding.
The Difference In The First Consonant

Meaning Meaning
sayur vegetable sayur-mayur vegetables
lauk side dish lauk-pauk side dishes
ramah friendly ramah-tamah hospitable & friendly
cerai separated cerai-berai scattered, dispersed
kaya rich kaya-raya very wealthy
pecah broken pecah-belah* broken into pieces

* In this case two consonants are different.
The Difference In The Vowels – Sound Change
There may be only one vowel difference.
Meaning
desas-desus rumour
warna-warni all kinds of color
gerak-gerik movements, gestures
Usually there are two vowel differences. It is most common for the first component to contain the
vowels o – a and the second component to contain the vowels a – i, although these are not the only
combinations. Often with this type neither part of the word can occur alone:
Meaning
bolak – balik to and fro
mundar – mandir back and forth
obrak – abrik destroy, smash to pieces
tindak – tanduk behaviour
pontang – panting run helter skelter
teka -teki riddle
asal -usul origin, descent

Temporal Marker
In Indonesian the form of the verb does not change to indicate tense or aspect. Time can be
indicated by a set of temporal markers within the predicate. These markers indicate that the action
has occurred, is occurring, or is yet to occur in relation to moment of utterance or in relation to
some other event referred to.
Adjuncts of Time
Time can be indicated by adjuncts of time such as:
setiap hari everyday

sebelum before
menjelang approaching, towards
sekarang, kini now
akhir-akhir ini recently
baru-baru ini recently
akhirnya finally
tadi recently, a short while ago
kelak later
tahun lalu, bulan lalu last year, last month
kemarin yesterday
lusa the day after tomorrow
tadi malam last night
nanti sore this evening
malam-malam late at night
tadi pagi this morning

sesudah after
sekitar around, about
dulu, dahulu earlier, previously
mula-mula at first
sebentar lagi in a moment
nanti soon, shortly
hari ini, bulan ini, tahun ini today, this month, this year
minggu depan/yang akan datang next week
besok tomorrow
kemarin dulu the day before yesterday
tadi pagi this morning
pagi-pagi early in the day
sore-sore late in the day
EXAMPLES:
Mereka berangkat tadi. They left a short time ago.

Kita harus berangkat pagi-pagi. We have to leave early in the morning.
Pak Susanto pindah ke Surabaya tahun lalu. Mr. Susanto moved to Surabaya last year.
Dia pergi ke kantor setiap hari He goes to the office everyday.
Sudah, Telah
Sudah and Telah have the same meaning. Those words usually indicate that an action has occured or
that state has been achieved.
Examples:
Ali sudah bangun. – Ali has woken up.
Dia telah pergi. – He has gone.
Sedang, Lagi, Tengah

Sedang indicates that an action is in progress. Lagi and Tengah can replace sedang.
EXAMPLES:
Mereka sedang/lagi makan. – They are eating
Hotel itu tengah dibangun. – The hotel is in the process of being built.
Masih
Masih indictes that an action is still occurring. Like sudah, it can occur with other predicate types.
EXAMPLES:
Dia masih makan – She is still eating.
Dia masih muda – She is still young.
Akan, Bakal
These indicate a future event. If the point of reference is the past, akan indicates that something
was going to happen(although sometimes it does not occur).
EXAMPLES:
Kami akan makan. – We will eat.
Dia bakal menjadi presiden. – He will become presidet.
Dia bakal presiden. – He is the future president.
Dia berjanji akan datang. – He promised he would come.
Baru
Baru indicates that an action or state has just occurred.
EXAMPLES:
Dia baru mandi. – He has just bathed.
Umurnya baru empat tahun. – She’s just four years old.
Pernah, Sudah, Telah

Pernah indicates that an action occurred in the far past. It can not be used of recent
events. Sudah and Telah indicate that an action had occurred before another action.
EXAMPLES:
Dia pernah belajar di Paris.
She once studied in Paris.
Sebelum meninggal dia telah menceritakan riwayat hidupnya.

Before dying he had related his life story.
Ketika saya sampai di rumahnya Tomi sudah bangun.

When I arived at his house Tom had already got up.
Ketika saya sampai di rumahnya Tomi sedang makan.

When I arived at his house Tom was eating.
Reference: Indonesian Reference Grammar by Dr. James Neil Sneddon.

Prepositions
Preposition selection is motivated not only by semantic considerations, but also by pragmatic and
discourse-related factors. Such things as whether the message is spoken or written, to whom it is
conveyed, and for what purpose it is conveyed.
Indonesian has locative prepositions and non locative prepositions.
Locative Prepositions
Locative prepositions indicate position and direction.
di, ke, and dari

Meaning:
di(in, at, on) – indicates that the action occurs in the place indicated by the following noun; there is
no movement. It is also used for some references to time. The word ‘pada‘ is usually used instead of
‘di‘ when location in time is referred to. ‘Pada‘ is also used in other contexts of figurative space.
ke(to) – indicates movement toward a place. It is often coupled with the word “pergi”, which means
to go. When the following noun refers to a person, ‘ke‘ is replaced by ‘kepada‘(to).
dari(from) – indicates movement from or the origin of something. It is also used for figurative
direction away.
Dia tinggal di kota. He lives in the city.

Dia lahir di tahun 1995. He was born in 1995.
Dia datang pada jam tiga. He came at three o’clock.
Saya tertarik pada pelajaran itu. I am interested in that subject.
Dia berangkat/pergi ke kota. He goes to the city.
Dia memberikan surat itu kepada saya. He gave that letter to me.
Dia jatuh cinta kepadaku. He’s falling in love with me.
Dia berangkat dari kota. He set off from the city.
Baju saya terbuat dari katun. My dress is made of cotton.
Mereka melindungi anaknya dari tentara. They protected their children from the army.
In spoken Indonesian it is acceptable to use ‘di‘ to indicate the existence of a noun at someone. In
formal Indonesian it is not correct to say: “Bukumu ada di saya” to mean “Your book is with me”.
Rather, you should use the particle “pada”, i.e. “Bukumu ada pada saya”.
Kepada and pada relate more to a person. ‘Kepada‘ is used for the verbs that need the particle ‘to‘.
But in spoken/informal Indonesian, people may violate this rule and use “ke” instead of the proper
“kepada“.
Untuk
“Untuk” can also relate to a person. It is almost synonymous with “for”. It is also to explain the
usage of a thing.
Kemeja ini untukmu. This shirt is for you.

Panci ini untuk memasak sup. This pot is for making soup.
Sini, Sana, and Situ
Meaning: Locative pronouns sini(here – near speaker), sana(there – far off) and situ(there – not far
off) indicate position in relation to the speaker. Application: The combination of the three locative
prepositions with these pronouns produces a nine-way distinction of location and direction.
di sini (at) here di sana (at) there

ke situ to there(close) ke sini to here
dari sana from there(far) dari situ from there(not far)
Ke sini has the same meaning as ‘kemari‘. It is written as a single word because ‘mari‘ does not
occur with other locative prepositions.
Mana
Meaning: where
Application: the three locative prepositions combine with ‘mana’
ke mana to where
di mana where (at)
dari mana from where
Locative Nouns
Meaning: The locative prepositions doesn’t convey any further detail on how the object is being
placed, whether it’s in front, inside, etc. To put additional detail, we put locative nouns after the
locative prepositions. Below is the list of locative nouns you may use:
atas top, above

depan front
samping side
antara between
tepi edge
seberang other side
bawah beneath, under
muka front
dalam inside
luar outside
belakang back
sebelah side
EXAMPLES:
Dia muncul dari belakang rumah. She appeared from behind the house.
Di sebelah rumah ada pohon mangga. At the side of the house there is a mango tree.
Mereka berenang ke seberang sungai. They swam to the other side of(across) the river.
Other Prepositions
Common
untuk, bagi, guna, buat for

dengan with
tentang about, concerning
oleh by
sampai until
seperti like
tanpa without
Complex, including a prefix
terhadap towards
beserta together with
sesudah, setelah after
Functions as verbs, as indicated in parentheses
menurut according to(follow)

mengenai about, concerning(affect, concern)
lewat via
Consist of two words
oleh karena because of, on account of

oleh sebab because of, on account of
bersama dengan together with
The forms ‘kepada'(to) and ‘daripada'(than, of) consist of two words written as one.
Function as both preposition and conjunction
sebab, karena because of, on account of

sebelum before
sesudah, sehabis after
selama during
dengan by means of, with
Terhadap
‘Terhadap‘ illustrates the variety of correspondences which might occur.
Sangsi terhadap orang yang melanggar kebiasaan sanctions against people who violate custom
sikapnya terhadap tamu-tamunya his attitude to/towards his guests
jengkel terhadap dirinya sendiri annoyed at himself
perlakuan Iran terhadap para sandera Iran’s treatment of the hostages
berminat terhadap sejarah interested in history
perang terhadap perjudian war on/against gambling
kemenangan terhadap Jepang victory over Japan
kebencian terhadap mereka hatred of/towards them
Oleh
‘Oleh‘ marks the agent of a passive verb and the agent attribute in a noun phrase. It can sometimes
follow an intransitive verb. It can also occur with an adjective predicate(being synonymous with
‘dengan'(with).
Buku itu ditulis oleh adik saya. The book was written by my brother.
Dia tewas oleh ledakan bom. He died as a result of explosion.
Pasar penuh sesak oleh orang yang datang The market was packed with people who
untuk harga khusus. came for the bargain.
Negation
There are four negative words: bukan, tidak, belum and jangan.
Bukan
Bukan negates a noun; that is, it is used if the predicate centre contains a noun or noun phrase,
Dia bukan guru. – She is not a teacher.
Bukan can replace tidak. As such it is emphatic, implying that a contradictory statement could
follow,
Dia bukan bodoh. – She is not stupid.
The contradiction can be expressed, for instance, as a clause beginning with melainkan(but rather),
Dia bukan bodoh melainkan malas saja. – He’s not stupid but just lazy.
A number of prepositions, including karena(because), untuk(for), seperti(like), can be negated by
either bukan or tidak.
Ini bukan/tidak untuk kamu. – These are not for you.
Penyakitnya bukan/tidak karena itu. – His illness is not because of that.
Ini bukan/tidak seperti desa kita. – This isn’t like our village.
Tidak
Tidak negates all types of predicate other than nouns, including verbs, adjectives, prepositional
phrases, examples:
Dia tidak disini. – She is not here.
Lalu lintas Jakarta tidak ramai saat Lebaran.
Traffic in Jakarta is not busy during Lebaran.
Several variants of tidak are tak and tiada. Tak has a literary flavour for most Indonesians. Tiada is a
literary form meaning the same as tidak ada(there isn’t). Tiada is mostly used in poems or song
lyrics. Examples:
Tak ada dosa yang tak terampuni. – There are no sins which can not be forgiven.
Tiada lagi cinta di hatiku. – There is no more love in my heart.
With some verbs tidak can be replaced by kurang(less) to indicate a lessened degree of negation or
to soften the impact of the negation. Example:
Aku kurang percaya akan kabar itu. – I didn’t really believe that news.
Both tidak and bukan can be emphasized by sama sekali(not at all, definitely not) and sedikitpun(not
even a little). Examples:
Ini sama sekali bukan uang orang lain – This is definitely not other people’s money.
Saya sama sekali tidak tergantung pada dia. – I’m not in the least dependent on him.
Mereka sediitapun tidak perduli pada orang lain. – They don’t in the slightest care about other
people.
Belum
Belum(not yet) combines the meanings of bukan/tidak plus temporal marker sudah.
Dia belum profesor. – He’s not a professor yet.
Mereka belum berangkat. – They haven’t left yet.
Jangan
Jangan(don’t) occurs in imperative constructions.
Jangan merokok disini! – Don’t smoke here!
Jangan tidur! – Don’t go to sleep!
In the presence of jangan prefix me-(active) and di-(passive) on transitive verb is optional.
Jangan (mem)baca buku itu sekarang!
Don’t read that book now!
Pakaian ini tidak kotor. Jangan (di)cuci!
These clothes aren’t dirty. Don’t wash them!
Jangan (men)cuci sekarang! Kita harus pergi.
Don’t was now! We have to go.
Diangkat! Jangan diseret!
Lift it! Don’t drag it!
The Classifiers: Buah, Orang and Ekor
The Indonesian language has a fairly large number of classifiers to count objects based on their
characteristics. Among the many classifiers for items, the most common one is buah, literally ‘fruit’.
If you count cars, for instance, the you can use the classifier: sebuah mobil ‘a car, one car’, dua buah
mobil ‘two cars’ etc.
The classifiers can come handy to singularize a word. The sentence Ada mobil di depan rumah kita
can mean ‘there is a car in front of our house’, or ‘there are cars in front of our house’ because
every noun in the Indonesian language can be singular or plural. In order to singularize the word you
can say Ada sebuah mobil di depan rumah kita ‘there is a car in front of our house’.
The classifier buah can be used with many objects. Even objects that should carry a different
classifier such as batang (used for stick-like objects), biji (used for very small round objects), helai
(used for flat soft items), or keping (used for flat rigid items) can often take the classifier buah.
Animals are counted by ekor ‘tail’: seekor kucing ‘a cat’, dua ekor anjing ‘two dogs’, and people by
orang: seorang perempuan ‘a woman’, dua orang perempuan ‘two women’ etc.
EXAMPLES
Root Word Se + Root Word Meaning
batang sebatang lilin a candle stick
buah sebuah apel an apple
cangkir secangkir teh a cup of tea
ekor seekor kambing a goat
gelas segelas air a glass of water
helai sehelai rambut one piece of hair
ikat seikat bunga a bunch of flowers
kejap sekejap mata in a blink of an eye
lembar selembar kertas one piece of paper
mangkuk semangkuk sup a bowl of soup
orang seorang wanita a woman
pasang sepasang sepatu a pair of shoes
piring sepiring makanan a plate of food
potong sepotong kue a slice of cake
sendok sesendok makan one table spoon
siung sesiung bawang putih a clove of garlic
suap sesuap nasi a mouthful of rice
tangkai setangkai bunga a flower
titik setitik darah a drop of blood

Particles: lah, pun, kah, per
-lah
‘-lah’ is a particle that is always attached to the preceding word. It is to mark the predicate when
the predicate is out of its normal position. It is never obligatory.
The particle -lah is quite often attached as a suffix to commands and prohibitions. It doesn’t have an
easily describable meaning. Basically it adds polite emphasis. But it seems to have a variety of
effects depending on context. For example, while it can make a command or prohibition more
imperious and emphatic, in other contexts it can also ameliorate a command, making it sound
pleading, or more polite, or less brusque.
Lah is especially commonly attached to intransitive verbs when they are used in commands.
Tertipulah kamu. You were tricked.

Percayalah padaku. Just trust me.
Hasilnya tidaklah terlalu baik. The result is not too good.
Hubungan kami sangatlah dekat. Our relationship is very close.
Tinggalah dia seorang diri. He is the only one left.
pun
Particle ‘pun’ can act as a focusing adjunct. It identifies the most important thing involved in what
being said. In this case ‘pun’ means ‘juga, pula'(too, also, as well). It an also act like a linking
adjunct in some of its functions. ‘Pun’ always follows the subject of the clause and acts to emphasize
it. It is written as a separate word.
Conjunctions and indefinite pronouns that have ‘pun’ as their final component – which is clearly
related in meaning to the particle ‘pun’ – are written as one word: adapun, andaipun, ataupun,
bagaimanapun, biarpun, kalaupun, kendatipun, maupun, meskipun, sekalipun, sungguhpun,
walaupun, tidak seorangpun(indefinite pronoun).
Written Seperately
Apa pun yang dimakannya, ia tetap kurus.
Whatever he eats, he’s still skinny.
Hendak pulang pun sudah tak ada mobil.
Even if I want to go home, there’s no car.
Jangankan dua kali, satu kali pun engkau belum pernah datang ke rumahku.
Let alone twice, you haven’t even come to my house for once.
Jika ayah pergi, adik pun ingin pergi.
If father goes, my little brother wants to go too.
Setelah rapat berakhir, Nina pun pulang ke rumah.
After the meeting ended, Nina then went home.
Teriakannya sangat keras, tetangga pun berdatangan.
Her scream was so loud, the neighbors then began arriving.
Written as One Word
Adapun sebab-sebabnya belum diketahui.
It so happens that the causes are not known yet.
Bagaimanapun juga akan dicobanya menyelesaikan tugas itu.
No matter what, he will try to finish his job.
Baik mahasiswa maupun mahasiswi ikut berdemonstrasi.
Although it’s not satisfactory yet, his work can be used as a manual.
Sekalipun belum memuaskan, hasil pekerjaannya dapat dijadikan pegangan.
Both the male students and the female students participate in the protest
Walaupun miskin, ia selalu gembira.
Even though he’s poor. he’s always happy.
Tidak seorangpun yang tahu apa yang terjadi.
No one knows what happened.
-kah
Partikel ‘kah’ is written as one word with the word that is followed. A sentence can be overtly
marked as a question by use of ‘-kah’. It is always optional and is largely confined to writing and
formal speech.
Apakah dia sakit? Is he sick?

Sakitkah dia? Is he sick?
Maukah kamu ikut? Do you want to come along?
Siapakah dia? Who is she?
Bukankah dia kaya? Isn’t he rich?
per
Meaning: resume, each, every,
Synonym:mulai, tiap, demi
Application: It’s written separately with the word it follows.
Pegawai negeri mendapat kenaikan gaji per(mulai) 1 April.

The officials get salary increase as of 1 April.
Mereka masuk ke dalam ruangan satu per(demi)satu.
They go into the room one by one.
Harga kain itu Rp 2.000,00 per(tiap) helai.
The price of that cloth is 2000 rupiahs per sheet.

A Basic Grammar For Bahasa Indonesia

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What are the 6 basic sentence patterns in Indonesian?

What are the 6 basic sentence patterns in Indonesian?

What are the 4 types of sentences based on their functions or meanings in Indonesian?

What are the 4 types of sentences based on their functions or meanings in Indonesian?

Word Order

The Active and The Passive

Subject – Predicate – Adverb

Subject Predicate Adverb

Ibu saya ada di rumah.

Latihan menari sudah selesai kemarin.

The dance rehearsal has concluded yesterday.

Uangnya tersimpan dengan baik.

His money was kept safely.

Subject – Predicate – Object – Adverb

Subject Predicate Object Adverb

Dia mengalami kesulitan sebagai

Polisi Bekuk pencuri pelajar.

Subject – Predicate – Complement – Adverb

Ujian tinggal dua hari lagi.

The exam is two days away.

Dia berdagang batik di pasar

He traded batik in the market.

Ayahnya menjadi guru

His father becomes a teacher.

Subject Predicate Complement

Bajunya Berwarna kuning.

His shirt is yellow.

Dia merasa beruntung

Subject Predicate Complement

Mangga itu manis rasanya.

That mango is sweet in taste.

Pohon ini banyak buahnya.

Orang itu lambat jalannya.

That person are slow in walking.

Subject – Predicate – Object – Complement

Dia merasa badannya lemah.

Masalah itu membuat dia marah

He felt his body weak.

That problem made him angry.

Subject Predicate Object Complement

Dia mengira saya orang Jawa.

mereka menanai bayi itu Amir

He thought me a Javanese/He thought I was a Javanese.

They named the baby Amir.

Subject Predicate Object Complement

Dia meyuruh saya keluar.

They taught us dancing.

Subject – Predicate – Object – Object

Dia menawari saya pekerjaan

I am getting my sister a job.

Agentive Passive Sentences

Subject Predicate Object Adverb

Anwar sudah mendengar berita itu kemarin.

Dia bisa meminjam uang dari Bank.

Subject Predicate Agent Adverb

Berita itu sudah didengar oleh Anwar kemarin.

Uang bisa dipinjam olehnya dari Bank

Money can be borrowed by him from the bank.

Reference:  Indonesian Reference Grammar by James Neil Sneddon, 1996.

Reference:   Indonesian Reference Grammar by James Neil Sneddon, 1996.