Grammar

Word order

Adjectives, demonstrative pronouns and possessive pronouns follow the noun they modify.

The basic word order of Indonesian is Subject Verb Object (SVO). However many Indonesians will speak in a passive/objective voice, making use of the Object Verb Subject word order. This OVS word order in Indonesian will often permit the omission of the subject and/or object (i.e. ellipses of noun/pronoun) and can benefit the speaker/writer in two ways:

1) Adding a sense of politeness and respect to a statement or question

For example, a polite shop assistant in a store may avoid the use of pronouns altogether and ask:

Ellipses of pronoun (Subject & Object)	Literal English	Idiomatic English
Bisa dibantu?	Can + to be helped?	Can (I) help (you)?

2) Convenience when the subject is unknown, not important or implied by context

For example, a friend may enquire as to when you bought your property, to which you may respond:

Ellipses of pronoun (Implied Subject)	Literal English	Idiomatic English
Rumah ini dibeli lima tahun yang lalu	House this + to be purchased five year(s) ago	The house was purchased five years ago

Ultimately, the choice between active and passive voice (and therefore word order) is a choice between actor and patient and depends quite heavily on the language style and context.

Word Formation

Indonesian is an agglutinative language and new words are generally formed via three methods. New words can be created through affixation (the attaching of affixes onto root words), formation of a compound word (a composition of two or more separate words), or reduplication (repetition of words or portions of words).

Adjectives

Unlike in English, adjectives in the Indonesian language follow nouns:

Indonesian	Literal English word order	Normal English translation
Mobil merah	Car red	Red car
Dia orang yang terkenal sekali	He/she person which well-known very	He/she is a very famous/well-known person
(Sebuah) cerita panjang	(A) story long	A long story

Affixation

The Indonesian language utilises a complex system of affixes (i.e. prefix, infix, suffix and confix (circumfix)). Affixes are applied with certain rules which depend on the initial letter of a base word (BW = base word, eg. a habitual verb, adjective, etc in its simplest form), and/or the sound combination of the second syllable. For example:

• The affix Ber + ajar (teach) = BeLajar (Note the deletion of 'R' and the addition of 'L')

= to study

• The affixes Me + ajar + -kan = meNGajarkan (Note the addition of 'NG')

= to teach (transitive)

By comparison

• The affix Ber + judi (gamble) = Berjudi (Note that Ber- remains unchanged)

= to gamble

• The affixes Me + judi + -kan = meNjudikan (Note the addition of 'N')

= to gamble away (money, one's life, etc)

Also, depending on the affix used, a word can have different grammatical meanings (e.g. me + makan (memakan) means to eat something (in the sense of digesting it), while di + makan (dimakan) means to be eaten (passive voice), ter + makan (termakan) means to be accidentally eaten. Often two different affixes are used to change the meaning of a word. For example, duduk means to sit down, whereas men + duduk + kan (mendudukkan) means to sit someone/ something down. Men + duduk + i (menduduki) means to sit on something, di + duduk + kan (didudukkan) means to be sat down, diduduki (diduduki) means to be sat on, etc).

As with any language, Indonesian grammar can often present an array of inconsistencies and exceptions. Some base words when combined with two affixes (eg. me + BW + kan) can produce an adjective rather than a verb, or even both. For example, bosan when combined with the affixes me- and -kan produces the word membosankan, meaning boring (adjective) or to bore (someone) (active verb). However, not all base words can be combined with affixes, nor are they always consistent in their subsequent usage and meaning. A prime example is the word tinggal which, when combined with affixes, can change quite dramatically in both meaning and grammatical use:

• Tinggal (base word (BW) form) = to reside, live (in a place)
• Meninggal (MeN+BW) = to die, pass away (short form of 'Meningal dunia' below)
• Meninggal dunia (MeN+BW + world) = to pass away, to die (lit. pass on from the world)
• Meninggalkan (MeN+BW+kan) = to leave (a place); to leave behind/abandon (someone/ something)
• Ketinggalan (Ke+BW+an) = to miss (a bus, train, etc); to be left behind
• Tertinggal (Ter+BW) = to be (accidentally) left behind
• Ditinggalkan (Di+BW+kan) = to be left behind; to be abandoned
• Selamat tinggal (word + BW) = goodbye (said to the person staying)

Noun affixes are affixes that form nouns upon addition to base words. The following are examples of noun affixes:

Type of noun affixes	Affix	Example of root word	Example of derived word
Prefix	pe(N)-	duduk (sit)	penduduk (resident)
	ke-	hendak (want)	kehendak (desire)
	juru-	acara (event)	juru-acara (event host)
Infix	-el-	tunjuk (point)	telunjuk (index finger, command)
	-em-	kelut (dishevelled)	kemelut (chaos, crisis)
	-er-	gigi (teeth)	gerigi (toothed blade, serration)
Suffix	-an	bangun (wake up, raise)	bangunan (building)
Confix	ke-...-an	raja (king)	kerajaan (kingdom)
	pe-...-an	kerja (work)	pekerjaan (occupation)

(N) and (R) indicate that if a word begins with certain letters (most often vowels or consonants k, p, s, t), the letter will either be omitted or other letters will replace it, most commonly with the letters in the bracket or m, ng, ny and l.

Similarly, verb affixes are attached to root words to form verbs. In Indonesian, there are:

Type of verb affixes	Affix	Example of root word	Example of derived word
Prefix	be(L)-	ajar (teach)	belajar (to study) - Intransitive
	me(N)-	tolong (help)	menolong (to help) - Active transitive
	me(NG)-	gambar (picture)	menggambar (to draw) - Active transitive
	di-	ambil (take)	diambil (is being taken) - Passive transitive
	memper-	dalam (depth)	memperdalam (to deepen)
	dipe(R)-	dalam (deep)	diperdalam (is being further deepen)
	te(R)-	makan (eat)	termakan (to have accidentally eaten)
Suffix	-kan	letak (place, keep)	letakkan (keep) - Imperative transitive
	-i	jauh (far)	jauhi (avoid) - Imperative transitive
Confix	be(R)-...-an	pasang (pair)	berpasangan (to be paired)
	be(R)-...-kan	dasar (base)	berdasarkan (based upon)
	me(M)-...-kan	pasti (certain)	memastikan (to ensure)
	me(N)-...-i	teman (companion)	menemani (to accompany)
	mempe(R)-...-kan	guna (use)	mempergunakan (to misuse, to utilise)
	mempe(L)-...-i	ajar (teach)	mempelajari (to study)
	ke-...-an	hilang (disappear)	kehilangan (to lose)
	di-...-i	sakit (pain)	disakiti (is being hurt)
	di-...-kan	benar (right)	dibenarkan (is allowed to)
	dipe(R)-...-kan	kenal (know, recognise)	diperkenalkan (is being introduced)

Adjective affixes are attached to base words to form adjectives:

Type of adjective affixes	Affix	Example of root word	Example of derived word
Prefix	te(R)-	kenal (know)	terkenal (famous)
	se-	rupa (appearance)	serupa (similar (to))
Infix	-em-	cerlang (radiant bright)	cemerlang (bright, excellent)
	-er-	sabut (husk)	serabut (dishevelled)
Confix	ke-...-an	barat (west)	kebaratan (westernized)

In addition to these affixes, Indonesia language also has a lot of borrowed affixes from other languages such as Sanskrit, Arabic and English. For example maha-, pasca-, eka-, bi-, anti-, pro-, pra-, etc.

Compound words

In Indonesian, new words can be formed by conjoining two or more base words. Compound words, when they exist freely in a sentence, are often written separately. Compound words are only attached to each other when they are bound by a confix or when they are already considered as stable words.

For example, the word rumah which means house and makan which means eat, are compounded to form a new word rumah makan (restaurant). Similarly, ambil alih (take over) is formed using the root words ambil (take) and alih (shift), but will link together when a circumfix is attached to it, i.e. pengambilalihan (takeover). Certain stable words, such as kakitangan (personnel), and kerjasama (co-oporation; corporation), are spelled as one word even though the words they consist of can also exist freely in sentences.

Initial Consonant Morphing

Indonesian makes use of initial consonant morphing when using the prefixes me- and pe-. This means that according to the initial sound of the base word, the sounds used in the prefix will differ; this is based on the place of articulation.

The sound following the me- or pe- suffix is usually a nasal(m, n, ny, ng) or liquid(l, r) sound. Which sound is used depends on the point of articulation. E.g. the initial sound of beli, /b/, is a bi-labial sound (pronounced using both the lips), so the nasal bi-labial sound, /m/ is placed before the base word, creating membeli.

The initial consonant is dropped if it is unvoiced(/p/, /t/, /s/, /k/), e.g. menulis/tulis, memilih/pilih.

Grammatical gender

Generally Indonesian does not make use of grammatical gender, and there are only select words that use natural gender. For instance, the same word is used for he and she (dia/ia) or for his and her (dia/ia/-nya). No real distinction is made between "girlfriend" and "boyfriend" (except in the more colloquial terms cewek (girl, girlfriend) and cowok (guy, boyfriend). A majority of Indonesian words that refer to people generally have a form that does not distinguish between the sexes. However, unlike English, distinction is made between older or younger (a characteristic quite common to many Asian languages). For example, adik refers to a younger sibling of either gender and kakak refers to an older sibling, again, either male or female. In order to specify the natural gender of a noun, an adjective must be added. Thus, adik laki-laki corresponds to "younger brother" but really means "younger male sibling".

There are some words that are gendered, for instance putri means "daughter", and putra means "son" and also pramugara means "air steward" (male flight attendant) and pramugari meaning "air stewardess" (female flight attendant). Another example would be olahragawan, which equates to "sportsman", and olahragawati, meaning sportswoman. Often, words like these (or certain suffixes such as "-a" and "-i" or "-wan" and "wati") are absorbed from other languages (in these cases, from Sanskrit through the Old Javanese language). In some regions of Indonesia such as Sumatera and Jakarta, abang (a gender-specific term meaning "older brother") is commonly used as a form of address for older siblings/ males, whilst kakak (a non-gender specific term (meaning "older sibling") is often used to mean "older sister". Similarly, more direct influences from dialects such as Javanese and Chinese languages have also seen further use of other gendered words in Indonesian. For example: Mas (Jav. = older brother), M'bak (Jav. = older sister), Koko (older brother) and Cici (older sister).

Measure words

Another distinguishing feature of Indonesian language is its use of measure words. In this way, it is similar to many other languages of Asia, including Thai, Lao, Chinese, Vietnamese, Burmese, and Bengali.

Examples of these measure words are: ekor (used for animals), buah (generally used for non-living things), orang (used for people), lembar (used for paper), helai (used for long, thin and generally flat things), biji (used for tiny, round things), batang (used for long, stick-like objects), etc. However, these measure words may not always be used in informal conversation.

Indonesian	Literal English translation	Normal English translation
Tiga ekor sapi	Three tails (of) cow	Three cows
Sepuluh orang tentara	Ten people soldiers	Ten soldiers
Lima lembar/ helai/ carik kertas	Five sheets/pieces of paper	Five sheets/pieces of paper
Sebelas buah apel	Eleven fruits (of) apple	Eleven apples

• Importantly, 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. Therefore a banana would be translated as (se + MW + object) = sebuah pisang.

Negation

There are three major forms of negation used in the Indonesian language, namely tidak, bukan and belum.

• Tidak (sometimes shortened to tak) is used for the negation of a verb and adjective.

For example: "saya tidak tahu" = I do not know OR "Ibu saya tidak senang" = My mother is not happy

• Bukan is used in the negation of a noun.

For example: "Itu bukan anjing saya" = That is not my dog

• Belum is primarily used to negate a sentence or phrase with the sense that something has not yet been accomplished or experienced. In this sense, belum can also be used as a negative response to a question.

For example: "Anda sudah pernah ke Indonesia (belum)? "Belum, saya masih belum pernah pergi ke Indonesia" = Have you ever been to Indonesia before, (or not)? No, I have not yet been to Indonesia OR "Orang itu belum terbiasa tinggal di Indonesia" = That person is not (yet) used to living in Indonesia.

NB: Another kind of negation involves the word jangan, which equates to the English equivalent of "don't" or "do not". Jangan is used for negating imperatives or advising against certain actions. For example, "Jangan tinggalkan saya di sini!" = 'Don't leave me here!'

Pluralisation

Plurals are expressed by means of reduplication, but only when the plural is not implied in the context. Thus "person" is orang, and "people" is orang-orang, but "a thousand people" is seribu orang, as the use of a numeral (i.e. seribu) renders it unnecessary to mark the plural form.

For foreigners learning Indonesian, the concept of grammatical reduplication is not as easy to grasp as it may seem. Besides expressing plurals, reduplication can also be used to create new words that differ in meaning. For instance, hati means "heart" or "liver" (depending on context) whereas hati-hati means "to be careful" and is often used as a verb. As stated above, orang means "person" while orang-orang means "people", but orang-orangan means "scarecrow". Also, not all reduplicated words indicate plural forms of a word with many words naturally expressed in reduplicated form. Examples of these include, biri-biri (sheep), kupu-kupu (butterfly) which can imply both a singular or plural meaning, depending on the context or numeral used.

By contrast, there are also some types of plural words that are expressed by reduplication of a similar sounding (but essentially different) word. In these cases the general sound of a word/phrase is repeated, but the initial letter of the repeated word is changed. A common example of this is sayur-mayur (not sayur-sayur) meaning "vegetables" (plural). Another type of reduplication can be formed through the use of certain affixes (e.g. pe- + -an). For instance, pepohonan ([various kinds of] trees, from the word pohon [tree]), perumahan (houses/ housing, from the word rumah [house]) or pegunungan (mountains, mountain range, from the word gunung [mountain]), and so on.

Another useful word to remember when pluralizing in Indonesian is beberapa, which means "some." For example one may use beberapa pegunungan to describe a series of mountain ranges, and beberapa kupu-kupu to describe (plural) butterflies.

Pronouns

There are two forms of "we", kami or kita, depending on whether the speaker includes the person being talked to. Kami (exclusive) is used when the person or people being spoken to are not included, while kita (inclusive) includes the opposite party. Their usage is increasingly confused in colloquial Indonesian. There are two major forms of "I", which are saya and aku. Despite having the same meaning, saya is definitely the more formal form, whereas Aku is used often used with family, friends and between lovers. There are three common forms of "you", which are kamu, Anda and kalian. Anda is the more polite form of "you" and is used in conversations with someone you barely know, advertising, business situations or with someone whom you wish to respect. Kalian is the common plural form of "you" and is often said to be slightly informal.

NB: Because of the overall structure of Indonesian society and influences from regional dialects, many more different pronouns exist in Indonesian. Some of these 'additional pronouns' may show utmost politeness and respect (eg. saudara/saudari = you (male/female) or Anda sekalian = you (polite, plural form)), may be used only in the most informal of situations (eg. gua/ lu = me/ you - see Indonesian slang), or may even possess somewhat romantic or poetic nuances(eg. daku/dikau = me/you).

Common Indonesian Pronouns

Type	Indonesian	English
First Person	Saya (standard, polite), Aku (informal, familiar), Gua (informal, slang)	I, me
	Kami (excl.), Kita (incl.)	We, us
Second Person	Anda (polite, formal), Saudara/Saudari (polite, formal)	You
	Kamu (familiar, informal), (Eng)kau (familiar, informal), Lu (informal, slang)	You
	Kalian (plural, informal), Anda sekalian (plural, formal), Saudara(i)-saudara(i) (polite)	You
Third Person	Ia, Dia	He, she, it
	Beliau (high respect)	He, She
	Mereka	They

Possessive pronouns

Type of possessive pronouns		Possessive pronouns	Example of root word	Example of derived word(s)
First person	Saya, Aku (I)	-ku	meja (table)	mejaku (my table)
	Kami (we, referring to 1st and 3rd person), kita (we, referring to 1st and 2nd person)	... (milik) kami/kita	kursi (chair)	kursi (milik) kami, kursi (milik) kita (our chair)
Second person	Kamu (you)	-mu	meja (table)	mejamu (your table)
	Anda, Saudara (you(polite))	... (milik) Anda/Saudara	kursi (chair)	kursi (milik) Anda/Saudara (your chair)
	Kalian (you(plural))	... (milik) kalian	kursi (chair)	kursi (milik) kalian (your chair)
Third person	Dia, Ia (he, she, it)	-nya	meja (table)	mejanya (his, her, its table)
	Beliau (he, she, it (polite))	... (milik) Beliau	meja (table)	meja (milik) Beliau (his, her, its table)
	Mereka (they)	... (milik) mereka	kursi (chair)	kursi (milik) mereka (their chair)

Demonstrative pronouns

There are two kinds of demonstrative pronouns in the Indonesian language. Ini (this, these) is used for a noun which is generally near to the speaker. Itu (that, those) is used for a noun which is generally far from the speaker. There is no difference between singular form and the plural form. However, plural can be indicated through duplication of a noun followed by a demonstrative pronoun. Also, the word yang is often placed before demonstrative pronouns to give emphasis and a sense of certainty, particularly when making references or enquiries about something/ someone.

Various Uses

Demonst. Pronoun	Simple Use	English Meaning
Ini	Buku ini	This book
Itu	Kucing itu	That cat

Demonst. Pronoun	Plural Form (via Noun duplication)	English Meaning
Ini	Buku-buku ini	These books
Itu	Kucing-kucing itu	Those cats

Demonst. Pronoun + yang	Example Sentence	English Meaning
Yang ini	Q: Anda mau membeli buku yang mana? A: Saya mau beli yang ini	Q: Which book do you wish to purchase? A: I would like this one (this book)
Yang itu	Q: Kucing mana yang makan tikusmu? A: Yang itu!	Q: Which cat ate your mouse? A: That one (that cat)!

Verbs

Verbs are not inflected for person or number, and they are not marked for tense; tense is instead denoted by time adverbs (such as "yesterday") or by other tense indicators (sometimes referred to as aspect particles), such as belum (not yet) or sudah (already). On the other hand, there is a complex system of verb affixes to render nuances of meaning and denote active-passive voices. Such affixes include prefixes, infixes, suffixes, and their combinations; all of which are often ignored in informal conversations.

Emphasis

Although the basic word order of Indonesian is Subject Verb Object (SVO), as mentioned above, it is possible to make frequent use of passive voice or to scramble word order, thus adding emphasis on a certain sentence particle. The particle being emphasised is usually placed at the beginning of the sentence. In spoken Indonesian, the aspect of the sentence being emphasised is usually followed by a short pause before continuing on with the remainder of the sentence.

Some examples include:

• Saya pergi ke pasar kemarin "I went to the market yesterday" — neutral, or with emphasis on the subject.
• Kemarin saya pergi ke pasar "Yesterday I went to the market" — emphasis on yesterday.
• Ke pasar saya pergi, kemarin "To the market I went yesterday" — emphasis on where I went yesterday.
• Pergi ke pasar, saya, kemarin "To the market went I yesterday" — emphasis on the process of going to the market.

NB: Some of the above examples (namely the latter two) are more likely to be encountered in spoken Indonesian rather than written forms of the language.