The Indonesian Language

In Indonesian, the modifier always follows the noun.The modifier may be an adjective, a possesive, another noun and so on.

Indonesian does not generally distinguish between singular and plural which should be determined through context.Teman saya mahasiswa. My friend is a student/My friends are studentsGurunya baikThe teacher is good/The teachers are goodSaya senang universitas di AustraliaI like the university/ universities in Australia

Indonesian does not have a verb 'to be' (i.e. is, am, are, was, were, be etc)The meaning of these verbs is understood in Indonesian.

Indonesian does not have any verb tenses that indicate when an action takes place. Context is used to determine when the action takes place.Dia guru - She is/was a teacher'Mau' (want to, going to, can precede a verb to suggest the subject (person or thing completing the action) either wants to, or is going to do the action in the future.Mary mau belajar Bahasa Indonesia - Mary is going to study Indonesian

Yes = Ya (very much as in English)There are two forms of 'no'Bukan is used to negate a noun. Generally the form used is '[noun] bukan (is not) [another noun]In all others situations 'tidak' is used for the negative.

Apa is used to introduce a question where the response will be 'yes' or 'no'.Apakah is an alternative form of apa and is interchangeableApa dia mau datang? (Does she want to come)'Ya, dia mau' atau 'Tidak, dia tidak mau (datang)'

Indonesian has a number of question words.Here 'apa?' has a seperate use meaning 'what?'

'..nya' is a suffix with several meanings. One meaning is as a possesive meaning, 'his', 'hers', or 'your'Ini kantornya - This is his/her/your officeMary gurunya - Mary is his/her/your teacherKantornya baik - His/her/your office is fine'..nya' can be used to identify some item that was previously mentioned (listen to examples)

'-nya- can be used to replace to replace the object of a verb when that object has been previously mentioned or is known.'Laut dekat dari sini. Bisa melihatnya dari bukit itu'

Subject and predicate are the basic elements of every sentence. When one of them is not expressed in Indonesian, context will make clear what it is. The most common subjects are nouns or pronouns. Predicte is that part of the sentence that tells us something about the subject. Predicates can be verbs or verb phrases. In these examples the subject is in bold while the predicate is in italics Kami pergi ke pasar.John teman sayaTeman saya baik-baik saja

Modals are words that express some aspect of the predicate.

Modals indicating futuritySudah means 'already'. Belum means 'not yet'.Akan means 'will'Sudah is often used in questions and statements.Questions using sudah are often answere using sudah (affirmative) and belum (negative).Sudah is often used as an affirmative answer in place of 'ya'

These words are modals, words that express a different aspect of the action in the predicate. harus - 'have to, must'bisa - 'can, be able to'mau - 'want, going to'sedang - 'in the process of'

These words generally occur at the beginning of the predicate and appear in a fixed order that must be learnt.Negatives precede modals and occur at the beginning of the predicate,Dia bisa datang - He can come.Dia harus bisa datang - He has to be able to come.Dia tidak harus bisa datang - He does't have to be able to come.Kami akan makan - We will eat.Kami akan bisa makan - We will be able to eat.Kami akan harus bisa makan - We will have to be able to eatKami tidak akan harus bisa makan - We will not have to be able to eat

Modals are commonly used as short answers to questions that contain them.Apa anda mau ikut?Ya mau.Apa anda harus ke kelas?Ya, harus.

'Ada' means 'there is, are, was etc.'Ada susu di atas meja. (There is milk on the table)Ada orang di rumah. (There is someone home)'Tidak ada' means 'there is, are, was etc. no'TIdak ada orang di kelas (There was no one in class)Tidak ada bank di sini (There is no bank here)'Belum ada' means there is not yet.'Ada' can also mean to 'be present', 'have' or 'own'. In this context meaning the same as 'punya'

When ovious, the subject of an Indonesian sentence may be omitted. This frequently occurs when asking questions of a person as the assumption is that the question is addressed to the person being spoken to.Apa sudah mau pulang? - Are (you) already going home?Apa sudah ke bank? - Have (you) already been to the bank?Apa sudah kenal teman saya? - Have (you) already met my friend?Mau ke mana? - Where do (you) want to go?

Depending on context, there are three ways of saying please, these are, silahkan, tolong and coba.

Silahkan is used when inviting someone to do something.Silahkan masuk - Please come inSilahkan duduk - Please sit downSilahkan makan - Please eat

Tolong is used when requestint assistance.Tolong bawa tas itu - Please bring the bagTolong panggil polisi - Please call the police

Coba is used when strongly suggesting that someone do something. Usually used when addressing someone of lower status. 'Coba' is the root of the verb - 'try'Coba menulis dalam buku anda - Please write in your book.

Indonesian has no verb tenses and words that relate to time are used.Nanti means 'later' in relation to now. (Not in relation to past events)Saya mau datang nanti - I will come laterDia belajar bahasa Indonesia nanti - He will study Indonesian laterWhere 'later' is used in relation to an event that happened in the past we use 'lalu' or 'kemudian'Saya ke bank, lalu (kemudian) pulang - I went to the bank and then went home

One way of expressing relative time is to use 'dulu'. In this context 'dulu' means 'to do something first before something else'Silakan duduk dulu - Please sit down firstSaya mau mandi dulu - I want to wash (before doing other things)

Choice of pronouns is highly context specific and will reflect relationships (age, status, situation, etc.)Refer to attached chart

Indonesian has a number of terms that refer to relative location.These terms can be used with 'di' (on/at), 'ke' (to) and 'dari' (from) to indicate relative location.Key locational terms include 'sini' (here), 'sana' / 'situ' (there), dekat (near) and jauh (far)

In informal speech there are many situations where a question may be answered with a short answer rather than repeating the whole sentence. Listen to these examples.

Seluruh means 'whole; entire' and refers to one single itemSemua means 'all' and refers to multiple items.seluruh sekolah - the whole schoolsemua sekolah - all schoolsseluruh kamar - the whole roomsemua kamar - all rooms

When baru is followed by a verb a phrase that means 'just did the action of the verb'.Dia baru datang - She just arrivedSaya baru masak makan pagi - I just cooked breakfastKami baru pulang - We just got home

Mari means 'come on; let's'. It is a polite way of suggesting someone do something with the speaker.Mari kita berenang - Let's go swimming.Mari pergi pulang - Let's go homeMari is also used as an informal way of saying goodbye.Saya mau pergi pulang. Mari. - I want to go home. ByeMari - Goodbye

Yang is a nominaliser. Any term or phrase that follows yang becomes a noun.Yang = the one who / which thatYang kecil itu rambutan - That small one is a rambutanAtha yang belajar di perpustakaan - Atha is the one who is studying in the libraryDia mau membeli yang murah - He wants to buy the cheap oneYang besar yang murah - The big one is the cheap one

Lebih = more Paling = mostThese terms precede adjectives to form comparative and superlative forms of those adjectives.Lebih creates comparatives that in English would end in -er, bigger, faster, stronger.Paling creates superlatives that in English would end in -est, biggest fastest, strongestSaya mau makan yang lebih segar - I want to eat the one that is the freshestSekolah anda yang paling bagus - Your school is the best.Ini lebih baik - This is betterBuah di pasar yang paling mahal - Fruit at the market is the most expensive

When comparing items dari, meaning 'than', can be used.Yang ini lebih baik dari yang lain. - This one is better than the restBuku saya lebih berat dari buku anda - My book is heavier than your book.

Duplicated question words written, with a hyphen, have specific meanings that must be learnt.apa-apa = anythingsiapa-siapa = anyonemana-mana = everywherekapan-kapan = anytime, sometimetidak apa-apa = it doesn't matter

Duplicating a noun indicates a group of that noun. Duplication is not used for plurals.Anak-anak masih tidur - The children (a large group) are still asleep.Sepuluh anak akan datang ke Australia - Ten students will come to Australia (Note: no duplication)Pisang-pisang dijual di pasar - Bananas are sold at the marketNyoman harus beli pisang untuk sarapan - Nyoman must but bananas for breakfast

The nouns the adjective refers to all share the same characteristicMobil itu cepat-cepat - Those cars are fastBuah ini segar-segar - This fruit is fresh

Duplication of an adjective can also describe how and action is done.Harus berlari cepat-cepat - You must run fastDia sedang menawar pintar-pintar - He is bargaining cleverly.

Noun counters, or classifiers, are used in English and Indonesian to represent units of a given noun. When we count milk we may count 'bottles' of milk, for cattle we would count 'head' of cattle.Common Indonesian counters include:Orang - peopleBuah - literally 'fruit': used for 'fruit' but also used generally for items other thatn people and animalsEkor - literally 'tail': used for animals (as 'head' is used in English)Batang: - literally 'stick': used for long thin itemsHelai - literally 'sheet': used for paper and other things in sheet formBiji: literally 'seed': used for small, individual items

'Umur' is the word for 'age'. Umur is a noun and is used as in 'the age of.....'Umur Atah delapan belas tahun - The age of Atah is 18 years ( Atah is 18 years of age)Dia umurnya tidak dikenal - His age is not known

'Berumur' is an intransitive form meaning 'be an age' and is usually followed by a number that indicates the subjects age.Mary berumur tiga puluh tahun - Mary is 30 years old

Used to ask how old.Berapa umurnya? - How old are you?Berapa umur anank itu? - How old is that child?

A man or woman in a formal situation is referred to using 'Ibu' (or 'Bu') and Bapak (or 'Pak') before their name.Kepala sekolah kami Ibu Ratna - Our school principal is Ibu RatnaWhen addressing the person directly Bu (Pak) followed by the persons name is used.Apa kabar Bu Ratna - How are you, Bu Ratna?To address this person as 'you', Ibu alone should be usedApa Ibu akan pulang sekarang? - Are you going home know.

The prefix 'ber' can occur with any number and will mean 'to be in a group of that number'Anda bersaudara berapa? How many brothers and sisters do you have? (Lit: You are brothered/sistered by how many?)(Typically this response would include the responder)Kami berempat There are four of us (Lit: we are in a group of four)orSaudaranya berapa? How many brothers and sisters do you have? (Lit: Your brothers and sisters are how many?)(Typically this response, as in English, would not include the responder)Saya punya tiga saudara

Tahun = nextTahun depan - next yearBulan depan - next month

Tadi covers the period roughly 24 hours before the current time.Saya sudah mandi tadi - I showered earlier today.Di mana tas saya tadi? - Where is my bag (that I had before)Dulu is anytime before but can carry the connotation of a long time before.Dulu Bahasa Ingriss dipelajari tetapi sekarang Bahasa Indonesia. - Before English was studied but now it is Indonesian.

Days of the week are often preceeded by the work hari (day) in sentences. Sekolah mulai hari apa? Sekolah mulai Hari Senin.Besok = tommorowLusa = the day after tomorrowKemarin = yesterdayKemarin dulu = the day before yesterday

THe name of the month is often preceeded by the word bulan (month) in sentences. Anda berangkat bulan apa nanti?Kberangkatan bulan Januari depan What month do you depart?Departure is next Januari.

Waktu is used to mean 'when' in the past.Waktu saya tinggal di sini jalan ini belum membuat.When I lived here this road had not yet been made.Kalau is used for 'when' in the future or 'if'Kala saya ke pepustukaan saya bisa membaca buku.When I go to the library I can read a book.Anda boleh makan kalau lapar.You can eat when hungryKapan is only used when asking questionsKapan mau berangkat?When do you want to leave?