User:LearnIndonesian


 * Phonology and Alphabet
 * Affixation

Subject pronouns

 * saya - I
 * anda - you
 * kamu - you (informal)
 * dia - he/she
 * kami - we (and not you)
 * kita - we (and you)
 * meréka - they


 * 1) There are two forms of "we": exclusive kami (we, but not you) and inclusive kita (we, including you).
 * 2) There is no gender for 3rd person; "he" and "she are the same word dia.
 * 3) There are many more words for you. Common ones are engkau, kau and saudara, but the person's name can also be used or if they are older you should used a title like Ibu or Bapak. Kamu is informal but very common in speech.
 * 4) The subject comes before the verb. Because there are no copula verbs (in English, words like, is, are, am) basic predicates are formed thusly:
 * 5) *saya Mel - I am Mel
 * 6) *anda pengusaha - you are a businessman
 * 7) *dia guru - she is a teacher

Object pronouns

 * 1) Object pronouns are exactly the same as the subject pronouns.
 * 2) *saya cinta kamu - I love you
 * 3) *kamu cinta saya - you love me
 * 4) If dia is both subject and object, the object turns into a suffix -nya on the verb.
 * 5) *dia mengenal dia -> dia mengenanalnya - he knows her

Possessive pronouns

 * 1) Possessive pronouns are again the same as subject and object pronouns.
 * 2) They follow the noun that they possess.
 * 3) *mobil saya - my car
 * 4) *kopor-kopor anda - your luggage
 * 5) *kucing kamu - your cat
 * 6) Kamu (your) can alternatively be expressed with the suffix -mu on the noun being possessed.
 * 7) *kucing kamu -> kuncingmu - your cat
 * 8) *teman kamu -> temanmu - your friend
 * 9) The suffix -nya can be used to to mean his, her or their, however it must already be established from context which person you are talking about.
 * 10) * permainannya - their toy

Demonstratives

 * ini - this/these
 * itu - that/those


 * 1) As already seen with pronouns the basic predicate sentence is formed in this order:
 * 2) *ini buku - this is a book
 * 3) *itu kopi - that is coffee
 * 4) Reversing the order creates a noun phrase:
 * 5) *buku ini - this book
 * 6) *kopi itu - that coffee

Adjectives

 * 1) Adjectives fit the same pattern as demonstratives; they follow the noun they modify. Notice in the first example baru (new) is an adjective modifying the noun mobil (car). However in the second example a noun (town) modifies the noun, and in the third example a verb (parking) modifies the noun.
 * 2) *mobil baru - a new car
 * 3) *pusat kota - town center
 * 4) *tempat parkir - parking space
 * 5) Multiple adjectives are simply added onto the end. In this example the noun is sekolah (school) and the adjectives modifying it are bahasa (language) and Indonesia (Indonesian).
 * 6) *sekolah bahasa Indonesia - Indonesian language school

Adverbs

 * 1) Adjectives are turned into adverbs by adding dangan before them.
 * 2) *cepat - quick
 * 3) *dangan cepat - quickly
 * 4) *baik - good
 * 5) *dangan baik - well
 * 6) The adverb then follows the verb:
 * 7) *dia berbicara dangan cepat - she speaks quickly

Pluralizing nouns

 * 1) Nouns can be pluralized by doubling the word.
 * 2) *orang - person
 * 3) *orang-orang - people
 * 4) If the noun is modified by another noun, the modifier is not doubled.
 * 5) *rak buku - book shelf
 * 6) *rak-rak buku - book shelves
 * 7) Doubling does not need to be used when it obvious from context that it is plural:
 * 8) *empat orang - four people
 * 9) *banyak anak - a lot of children
 * 10) *berapa orang? - how many people?

Present tense

 * 1) The present tense is the default tense when using any verb.
 * 2) *saya mangajar biologi - I teach biology
 * 3) The present-progressive can be formed by adding the tense marker sedang, which translates to now.
 * 4) *saya sedang mengajar biologi - I am teaching biology (right now)

Past tense

 * 1) The past tense can be formed by adding the tense marker sudah, which translates to already.
 * 2) *dia datang - he arrives
 * 3) *dia sudah datang - he arrived
 * 4) Telah is equivalent to sudah but is only used in writing and formal speech.
 * 5) The habitual past tense (something that that used to happen) can be created by adding the tense marker dulu, which translates to formerly. Notice that this tense marker comes before the subject, not after.
 * 6) *dulu dia miskin - she used to be poor
 * 7) Baru saja translates to has just:
 * 8) *dia baru saja bangun - she has just woken up
 * 9) Pernah means once.
 * 10) *saya pernah ke Java - I once went to Java

Future tense

 * 1) The future tense is simply formed with the tense marker akan.
 * 2) *Joe akan menjemput Tom - Joe will puck up Tom

Modals

 * 1) Modals refer to such concepts as possibility, ability and necessity. The most common are:
 * 2) * dapat, bisa - can, be able
 * 3) * boleh - may, be allowed
 * 4) * harus - must, have to
 * 5) Modals come after temporal markers.

Questions

 * 1) Question can be formed by asking a statement with a rising intonation, the same as English.
 * 2) *ini buku - this is a book
 * 3) *ini buku? - this is a book?
 * 4) Apakah is a question marker. It is often shortened to apa, less formal but more common.
 * 5) *apakah/apa ini buku? - is this a book?

Who?

 * 1) Siapa means who or whose.
 * 2) *siapa itu? - who is that?
 * 3) *jas siapa ini? - whose jacket is this?
 * 4) It is used when asking the name or someone: siapa nama anda? - what's your name?. However when talking about the name of something apa is used: apa nama kota itu? - what's this town called?
 * 5) To say who not as a question use yang, which translates to "the one who" or "the thing which".
 * 6) *teman saya yang tinggal di Australia - my friend who lives in Australia

When?

 * kapan rapat? - when is the meeting?

Where?

 * 1) There are three constructions of where.
 * 2) *di mana kamu tinggal? - where do you live?
 * 3) *ke mana kamu pergi? - to where are you going?
 * 4) *dari mana kamu berasal? - from where do you come?

Why?

 * 1) Kenapa means why.
 * 2) *kenapa mobil itu berhenti? - why did that car stop?
 * 3) Mengapa also means why and is preferred in writing.

How?

 * bagaimana film itu? - how was that film?
 * bagaimana kabarnya? - how are things?

How many?

 * 1) Berapa means how many.
 * 2) *berapa mobil? - how many cars?
 * 3) There are many other constructions with berapa. Here are some:
 * 4) *berapa lama? - how long? (in time)
 * 5) *berapa panjang? - how long? (in length)
 * 6) *berapa kali? - how many times?

Negating adjectives and verbs

 * 1) Adjectives and verbs are negated with the word tidak
 * 2) *dia séhat - he is healthy
 * 3) *dia tidak séhat - he isn't healthy
 * 4) *saya tahu - I know
 * 5) *saya tidak tahu - I don't know

Negating nouns

 * 1) Nouns are negated with the word bukan.
 * 2) *saya bukan orang Indonesia - I am not Indonesian
 * 3) *ini bukan kucing - this is not a cat
 * 4) *bukan dia - it's not him

Answering 'no'

 * 1) Either tidak or bukan is used to reply no based on whether you are answering a question about an adjective/verb or a noun.
 * 2) *apa dia mabuk? tidak. - is she drunk? no.
 * 3) *apa dia bekerja di Bali? tidak. - does she work in Bali? no.
 * 4) *apa kakakmu penari? bukan. - is your sister a dancer? no.
 * 5) Belum means not yet. It negates sentences that use sudah. Belum is almost always used to negate a question which implies that something may happen, even though it may never happen. So in answer to the question 'Have you seen the movie Star Wars?' the normal answer is Belum 'Not yet', even if you may never see it.

Comparatives

 * 1) To say something has more of a quality than something else use lebih (more) before the adjective and dari (than) before the thing being compared to.
 * 2) *dia lebih cantik dari saya - she is more beautiful than me
 * 3) Daripada can also be used instead of dari.
 * 4) To say something has less of a quality than something else use kurang.
 * 5) *Mobil saya kurang mahal daripada mobil Jane - my car is less expensive than Jane's car

Equatives

 * 1) To say something is the same quality as something else attach se- to the adjective.
 * 2) *gedung ini setinggi gedung itu - this building is as tall as that building
 * 3) Another way is to use the phrase sama adjective-nya dengan
 * 4) *gedung ini sama tingginya dengang gedung itu - this building is as tall as that building
 * 5) When using a negative construction only se- can be used.
 * 6) *John tidak setinggi saya - John isn't as tall as me
 * 7) If the two things being compared are both the subject only the sama ...nya construction can be used.
 * 8) *John dan Mary sama pandainya - John and Mary are as clever as each other

Superlatives
(For more see page 74, Understanding Indonesian grammar)
 * 1) To say something has the most quality out of of every use paling.
 * 2) *yang paling tua - the oldest
 * 3) It is often preceded by yang.
 * 4) The prefix ter- can also form superlatives.
 * 5) *baik - good
 * 6) *terbaik - best

meN-, peN-

 * N -> m before (p), b, f
 * N -> n before (t), d, c, j, z
 * N -> ny before (s)
 * N -> ng before (k), g, h, x and all vowels
 * N -> ∅ before all remaining consonants: m, n, ny, ng, l, r, w, y
 * Consonants in parenthesis are lost after the nasal (p, t, k, s)


 * Initial p is retained in affix per- after affix meN-: meN + per + kecil -> memperkecil.
 * Prefix peN- is the same meN- except initial p in per- is lost after affix peN-: peN + per + satu -> pemersatu

ber-, per-, ter-, memper-

 * Drop the [r] when words begins with [r]
 * With ber- and ter- drop [r] in some words with first syllable ending in [r].

-an

 * 1) verbs > noun object or product of verb
 * 2) *makan "eat" > makanan "food"

ke-

 * 1) nouns > related nouns
 * 2) *hendak "want" > kehendak "desire"

ke- -an

 * 1) adjectives, verbs, nouns > related abstract noun

peN- -an

 * 1) verb > "the act of doing what the verb refers to"

per- -an

 * 1) Very similar to ke- -an but less abstract.

peN-

 * 1) verb > person or thing that does the verb

ber-

 * 1) nouns > verbs
 * 2) *belanja expenses > berbelanja to go shopping
 * 3) *umur age > berumur to reach the age of
 * 4) verbs > other verbs or reflexive verbs

-kan

 * 1) Verb > verb (cause to be)

-i

 * 1) Intransitive > transitive

ter-

 * 1) verb > inadvertent verb

peN-
-an
 * 1)

-anda
 * 1)

-wan
 * 1)