like suka
to know tahu
to look for cari (pronounced “chari”)
4 Plurals
It is not necessary to indicate a plural noun in Indonesian. All nouns can be either singular or plural, and quantity is implied by the context. “One person” is satu orang, and “two people” is dua orang (literally, “two person”); “many people” is banyak orang (literally, “many person”). Sometimes nouns are doubled but this is mainly done to indicate variety rather than quantity, for example, ada hotel-hotel (“there are [many kinds of] hotels”).
5 Comparisons
To form comparisons (the equivalent in English -er, -est), the words lebih (“more”), kurang (“less”) and paling (“most”) are added before an adjective. The word daripada equates to “than”.
For example:
| beautiful indah | less beautiful kurang indah |
| more beautiful lebih indah | most beautiful paling indah |
That hotel is more expensive than this hotel.
Hotel itu lebih mahal daripada hotel ini.
6 Questions
The commonest way to form a question in Indonesian is through the use of intonation, adding a rising questioning tone at the end of the sentence. The word order does not change as it does in English.
| Is there a hotel there? | There is a hotel there. |
| Ada hotel disana? | Ada hotel disana. |
If you want extra clarity you can add the question word Apakah (“Is it so?”) in front of the sentence: Apakah ada hotel disana?
Other question words:
| Why? Kenapa? | Who? Siapa? |
| How? Bagaimana? | Which? Yang mana? |
| How many/How much? Berapa? | Where? Dimana/Mana? |
| When? Kapan? |
7 Yes and No
yes ya
no tidak
not bukan
Tidak applies to verbs and adjectives; bukan applies to nouns. Negations always go before the word they are describing.
| There is no hotel here. | That’s not a hotel. |
| Tidak ada hotel disini. | Itu bukan hotel |
| I can. | I cannot. |
| Saya bisa. | Saya tidak bisa. |
The response to questions featuring a verb, whether positive or negative, is usually to repeat the verb, rather than to say “yes” or “no”. For example, to the question Ada hotel disini? (“is there a hotel here?”) the response would either be Ada. (literally, “There is.”), or Tidak ada. (literally, “There is not.”) rather than simply ya or tidak.
In everyday speech the word tidak “not” is often shortened to nggak or gak, or tak. to
8 Terms of Address
Much value is placed on politeness in Indonesia, and it always is best to stick to the formal versions of “I” and “you” (saya and anda) when addressing someone until you hear the person you’re speaking to start to use the more informal versions (aku and kamu).
Several different terms of address are used in Indonesian, but use the most standard ones. The commonest ones are bapak for men (shortened to pak; literally, “father” but equivalent to “sir” or “Mr.” in English) and ibu for women (shortened to bu; literally, “mother” but equivalent to “madam” or “Mrs.”). You can use these in place of personal pronouns, for example, Bapak mau yang ini? (“Would you like this one, sir?”) Bapak and ibu are followed by the person’s first name, for example: Pak Bill (“Mr. Bill”), or Ibu Janet (“Mrs. Janet”) which seems strange in English but is normal in Indonesian. Most Indonesians rarely use surnames and address everyone by their first name only, preceded by Pak or Ibu.
9 Tenses
The same phrase can refer to an event or action occurring in the past, the present and the future. In situations where you need to clarify when something happened, you can add specific time words. Thus, “I buy bananas” or Saya beli pisang in the future tense becomes “I will buy bananas tomorrow” or Saya akan beli pisang besok. And to say you’ve already bought bananas would be Saya sudah beli pisang.
| will akan | already sudah |
| to have ever pernah | not yet belum |
| in the middle of sedang |
1. Greetings and Requests
Indonesians are very friendly and courteous. A handshake is the commonest form of greeting amongst both men and women, though occasionally some conservative women may avoid shaking hands with a man. A smile is a sign of goodwill, and calmness and good manners are greatly admired. Displays of aggression are frowned upon, and gestures such as standing with your hands on your hips or crossing your arms over your chest should be avoided.
The left hand is considered unclean so do not give or receive things with it. Only use your right hand. Pointing with the fingers or feet is considered rude. Use your thumb to point and don’t cross your legs when sitting with someone. It is also advisable not to touch anyone (including children) on the head as that is seen as sacred. If you visit an Indonesian home, a mosque or a temple, remove your shoes before entering.
Indonesians love small talk (obrolan), so expect to be asked all sorts of personal questions about your age, religion and marital status by virtual strangers. Dress, particularly for women, should always be modest. Above-the-knee shorts and revealing tops are inappropriate.
1.1 Greetings
