besarVERBS
Indonesian is very rich in action words or verbs. There are single words to describe an action using a number of English words, e.g.
| mengamuk | having a tantrum |
| mengupil | picking your nose |
Simple, common words include:
| makan | eat |
| minum | drink |
| datang | come |
| pergi | go |
| naik | ride on, go up |
| tidur | sleep |
More sophisticated meaning can be found in verbs beginning with meN- (where N- represents a variety of possible nasal-sounding endings). Such verbs may end in the suffix -kan (which may denote an object or doing something for someone) or -i (which may suggest repetition or an object which is human).
| mendatangkan | to import (i.e. to bring something to) |
| menaiki | to ride on (a vehicle) |
The meN- prefix changes according to the base word following it. You will learn these through experience rather than trying to memorize the rule.
| me- before l, m, n, r, w, y | melihat, memakan, |
| menaiki, merusakkan, | |
| mewarnai, meyakini | |
| mem- before b, f, v | membuka, memfokus, memvonis |
| men- before c, d, j | mencuci, mendaki, menjemur |
| meng- before all vowels (a e i o u), g, h | mengaku, menggigit, menghias |
| before k, meN- becomes | kawin → mengawinkan |
| meng (the k disappears) | |
| before p, meN- becomes | panas → memanaskan |
| mem (the p disappears) | |
| before s, meN- becomes | suka → menyukai |
| meny (the s disappears) | |
| before t, meN- becomes | tidur → menidurkan |
| men (the t disappears) |
There are a number of tense markers that behave like auxiliary verbs, which are very useful. They often show when something has happened or will happen.
| sudah, telah (more formal) | already |
| belum | not yet |
| tidak | not |
| bukan | not (of an object) |
| sedang, lagi (informal) | in the process of |
| akan | will |
| mau | want to, will |
| bisa | can |
| boléh | allowed, permitted |
| tidak boléh | not allowed |
Sudah makan?
Belum
Sedang makan.
Mau.
Boléh makan?
ADVERBS
To describe how someone is doing something, add dengan (with) or secara (in the way of) before the word you are describing. This is like adding -ly to English adjectives to make them adverbs, e.g.
| Dia | makan | dengan | lapar. |
| She | eats | with | hunger. |
| (= she eats hungrily) |
| Sari | menyetrika | secara | hati-hati. |
| Sari | irons | in the way of | careful |
| (= Sari irons carefully.) |
You can often leave out dengan or secara.
| Sari | hati-hati | menyetrika. |
| Sari | careful | to iron. (= Sari irons carefully.) |
PREPOSITIONS
The most common preposition is di (in, at).
| Di mana? | Di Jakarta |
| Where? | In Jakarta |
This is a separate word, and not attached like the prefix di-, which makes a verb passive.
| Dilarang | merokok | di | kamar kecil. |
| Forbidden | smoking | in | toilet. |
| (= No smoking in the toilet) |
For time, pada (in, on) is very useful.
| pada jam 10 | at 10 o’clock |
| pada hari Senin | on Monday |
| pada bulan Juni | in June |
| pada tahun 2014 | in 2014 |
You may also hear di for time, but this is slangy and less grammatical.
| to | ke | from | dari |
Almost all other prepositions can take di before them.
| on | di (atas) | in front of | (di) depan |
| over | di atas | next to | di samping |
| under | di bawah | within | di dalam |
| between | (di) antara | around | di sekitar |
| beside | di sebelah | near | di dekat |
| behind | di belakang |
NUMBERS
These are regular and logical. This should be one of the first vocabulary sets you learn!
| 1 | satu |
| 2 | dua |
| 3 | tiga |
| 4 | empat |
| 5 | lima |
| 6 | enam |
| 7 | tujuh |
| 8 | delapan |
| 9 | sembilan |
| 10 | sepuluh (lit. satu puluh or one ten) |
For the numbers 11 to 19 add belas (= teen):
| 11 | sebelas (satu belas) |
| 12 | dua belas |
| 13 | tiga belas, etc. |
For numbers ending in -0 add puluh (= ten):
| 20 | dua puluh |
| 30 | tiga puluh |
| 40 | empat puluh |
| 50 | lima puluh |
Bigger numbers:
| 100 | seratus (= satu ratus) |
| 200 | dua ratus |
| 500 | lima ratus |
| 1.000 | seribu (= satu ribu) |
| 2.000 | dua ribu |
| 10.000 | sepuluh ribu |
| 50.000 | lima puluh ribu |
| 100.000 | seratus ribu |
| 1.000.000 | sejuta (= satu juta) |
| 2.000.000 | dua juta |
You will notice that traditionally full stops are used to divide up thousand values. Increasingly you will see commas, as in English, but particularly with money, full stops are still the official format.
Ordinal numbers are very regular (except for one “the first”) – just add ke- to the number, however large:
| 1st | pertama |
| 2nd | kedua |
| 3rd | ketiga |
| 4th | keempat |
| 5th | kelima |
| 20th | keduapuluh |
