Indonesian Essential Grammar

This guide covers essential Indonesian grammar patterns beyond the affix system, including negation, passive voice, comparatives, and useful expressions.

Basic Sentence Structure

Indonesian follows Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order, similar to English.

Key difference: Question words in Indonesian often stay in their natural position rather than moving to the front.

Lagi apa? = Doing what? (literally: doing what?)
Kamu mau apa? = What do you want? (literally: you want what?)

Negation

Tidak/Enggak - General Negation

Used for verbs and adjectives:

Saya tidak mau (I don’t want)
Dia tidak capai sama sekali (He’s not tired at all)

Bukan - Noun Negation

Used for nouns or contradicting:

Dia pacarmu, bukan? (He’s your boyfriend, isn’t he?)
Bukan enggak mau, badanku kurang enak (It’s not that I don’t want to, I’m not feeling well)

Belum - “Not yet”

Implies future completion:

Saya belum makan pagi (I haven’t eaten breakfast yet - but will)
Saya belum bisa memakai sumpit (I can’t use chopsticks yet - but will learn)

Kurang - “Insufficiently”

Below standard or expectation:

Saya kurang tahu (I don’t really know)
Saya kurang tidur semalam (I didn’t sleep enough last night)

Sama sekali - “At all”

Used for emphasis:

Saya tidak capai sama sekali (I’m not tired at all)

Passive Voice

Indonesian has a rich passive system with multiple patterns.

Pattern 1: di- Prefix (3rd person agent)

Active: Dia tidak akan membeli mobil. Passive: Mobil tidak akan dibeli (oleh) dia.

Pattern 2: Agent before verb root (any person)

Mobil tidak akan dia beli. (3rd person)
Mobil tidak akan saya beli. (1st person - only this pattern)

ter- Passive

Four meanings depending on context:

1. Completion (sudah di-)

Mobil ini tidak terbeli karena harganya mahal (This car wasn’t bought because it was expensive)

2. Possibility (bisa di-)

Dia terlihat pintar (He looks smart)
File ini tidak terbaca oleh laptop (This file can’t be read)

3. Unintentional (tidak sengaja di-)

tertidur (fell asleep accidentally)
terbangun (woke up suddenly)
Buku saya terambil oleh dia (He accidentally took my book)

4. Suddenness (mendadak di-) Something happening abruptly

Comparisons

Equal (sama…dengan / se-)

Saya sama tinggi dengan dia.
(I am as tall as him)

Leza segemuk ayah.
(Leza is as fat as father)

Comparative (lebih…daripada)

Saya lebih tinggi daripada dia.
(I am taller than him)

Superlative (paling / ter-)

Saya paling tinggi.
(I am the tallest)

Dia tergemuk di keluarga dia.
(He is the fattest in his family)

Frequency Adverbs

Indonesian	Meaning	Frequency
selalu	always	100%
sering	often	70-90%
kadang-kadang	sometimes	30-50%
jarang	rarely	10-20%

Numbers and Counting

Ordinal Numbers (ke-)

kedua = second
ketiga = third
keempat = fourth

Frequency

dua kali = twice
tiga kali = three times

Counters

Time Expressions

Clock Time

jam setengah tiga = 2:30 (half to three)
jam tujuh seperempat = 7:15 (seven and a quarter)

Time Periods

2 tahun yang lalu = 2 years ago
pada zaman dulu = in the past
pada zaman ini = nowadays

Commands and Requests

Commands (-kan/-lah)

Bersihkan! (Clean it!)
Bersihkanlah! (Please clean it! - more polite)

Requests (Tolong/Minta)

Tolong buka pintu. (Please open the door)
Tolong, dong! (Help me, please!)
Minta cuci ini. (Please wash this)

Invitation (Silakan)

Silakan masuk. (Please come in)

Conjunctions and Connectors

Indonesian	Meaning	Example
dan lain-lain	etc.	buah-buahan dan lain-lain
yaitu	that is	4 musim, yaitu musim…
selain itu	besides that	Itu mahal, selain itu, saya tidak suka
setahu saya	as far as I know	Setahu saya, dia sudah pulang
menurut saya	in my opinion	Menurut saya, itu bagus

Pronunciation Guide

The Letter ‘e’

Indonesian has three ‘e’ sounds:

1. é (like “ay”)

Written as é in dictionaries
Words starting with me-, be-
Example: méja (table)

2. ə (like “uh”)

In prefixes: ber-, me-, pe-, per-, ke-
Example: berjalan (to walk)

3. ë (like “uh” in the middle)

Other positions
Example: keras (hard)

Loanword Patterns

Indonesian borrowed many English words with modified spelling:

English	Indonesian	Pattern
-tion/-sion	-si	transmission → transmisi
-zation	-sasi	socialization → sosialisasi
-tional	-sional	traditional → tradisional
-ment	-men	apartment → apartmen
-ct	-k	product → produk
-or	-ur	director → direktur
-ge	-j	management → manajemen
-ble	-bil	stable → stabil

Slang and Abbreviations

Common informal abbreviations:

Slang	Full Form	Meaning
yg	yang	which/that
lg	lagi	again/more
sy	saya	I
jg	juga	also
kalo	kalau	if
ga/nggak	tidak	no/not
gpp	nggak apa-apa	it’s okay
bs	bisa	can
jd	jadi	so/become
bgt	banget	very
ultah	ulang tahun	birthday
smg	semoga	hopefully

-nya Suffix

Possessive (his/her/its)

Saya mencintainya (I love him/her)
dengannya (with him/her)

Definite Article (“the”)

Kemarin saya membeli mobil mahal. Mobilnya bagus sekali. (The car is very nice)

Double Subject

Saya rambutnya panjang. (As for me, my hair is long)

Adverb Formation

Active vs Passive Verb Choice

sayang vs menyayangi

Both mean “to love” but usage differs:

aku sayang kamu = I love you (direct, intimate)
dia menyayangi anda = he/she loves you (talking about third person)

When speaking directly to someone, use the simpler form. When discussing others, use the me- form.

Useful Expressions

Travel Vocabulary

menginap = to stay (overnight)
berwisata / berjalan-jalan = to travel
perjalanan = journey
berlibur = to go on vacation
cuti = leave/vacation
tempat hiburan = recreation place

Transportation

Naik apa? = What do you take? (transportation)
Naik pesawat = By plane
Memakan waktu kira-kira 2 jam = Takes about 2 hours

~itu Construction (Nominalization)

“~itu” = “the fact that ~” / “doing ~”

Mengapa berteman dengan orang asing itu menarik? (Why is making friends with foreigners interesting?)

Whether or not

apakah…atau belum
Aku tidak tahu apakah dia sudah makan atau belum. (I don’t know whether he has eaten or not yet)

This guide covers the fundamental grammar needed for Indonesian communication. Practice these patterns regularly to build fluency.