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Basic Of Bahasa Indonesia

Indonesian is easy! With only a few words you can already have a small chat with people on the streets. Flirting is communicating. The more Indonesian you know the more success you will have. In this lesson you will learn how easy it is to create sentences.

New Word

ada           to be present, to be available
anda           you, your, yours (informal)
betul           right, correct
apa           what?
bis           bus, coach
hotel           hotel
ini           this
itu           that
kamu           you, your, yours (very informal, use only with friends)
mau           to want to, (also a future indicator)
salah           wrong
saya           I, me
taksi           taxi
terima kasih           thank you
tidak           no
ya           yes

 

How to Build a Sentence

Not much can go wrong with Indonesian sentences. A sentence does not need a subject or even a predicate to be valid. For a basic conversation you'll often find that you can somehow line up the words of what you want to say and out comes a proper sentence. Here are some examples of how easy sentences can be.

Saya di taksi - I in taxi - I am in a Taxi
A question can be formed by raising the voice at the end of and indicative  sentence
Kamu di taksi? - You in taxi? - Are you in a Taxi?

 

Basic Questions

Use ada to ask if things are  available

Ada bis? - available bus? - Are there any buses?
Ada hotel? - available hotel? -  Is there a hotel here?
Kamu ada? - you available? - Are you there? or Will you be there?

The answer will either be:

Ada - yes there is (yes I am), or
Tidak ada - no there isn't (no I am  not)
(Note that you can give a positive answer by repeating the sentence's predicate)

In the chapter Questions and Answers you will find question for every possible situation

Apa and apa-apa

Ini apa? - this what? - what is this?
You could also say
Apa ini? - what this? - what is this?

Ini bis - this bus - this is a bus
Anda mau apa? -  you want what? -  What do you want?
Saya tidak mau apa-apa - I not want what what - I don't want anything
Tidak apa-apa - not what what - I doesn't matter, never mind

Note
There are several ways of saying "you" in Indonesian,
depending on the occasion. Refer to chapter
Personal and too Personal Questions.

Put apa behind the object that you are asking to be specified

Anda orang apa? - You person what? - What nationality are you? or What kind of person are you?
Itu hotel apa? - this hotel what? - What kind of hotel is this?

 

Use mau if you want something

Saya mau taksi - I want taxi - I want a taxi

Indonesian sentences do not always need a subject (like Spanish). If it is clear that it is you who wants something you do not have to say it explicitly:

Mau taksi - want taxi - I want a taxi

 

Pointing out things you want

Mau itu - want that - I want that
Mau ini - want this - I want this

This is not the most elegant Indonesian, but you will get what you want.

Once you have got what you say:
Terima kasih - receive love - thank you

Note
Finger-pointing at people, even if they don't see it,  is considered very vulgar.
Use always your whole hand or the thumb to point to a person.

Use itu and ini to specify what you want

Mau bis ini - want bus this - I want this bus
Mau taksi ini - want taxi that - I want that taxi

Real-life catastrophe
The absolute worst insult to a person is when you point to him or her using your foot.
You must never ever do this. In some areas like Sumatra you must not even point to things with your foot.
An Italian radio engineer working in Sumatra used to point with his foot at boxes that had to be moved.
Over time he annoyed his Indonesian co-workers that much that a fight started and consequently he had
to leave his assignment.

Simple negation

Negating indicative sentences in Indonesia is a lot easier than in English. In many cases you simply precede the sentence's predicate with tidak

Saya tidak mau ini - I not want this - I don't this
Tidak mau hotel ini,mau hotel itu - Not want hotel this, want hotel that - I do not want this hotel, I want that one
Tidak mau taksi, mau bis - Not want taxi, want bus - I do not want a taxi, I want a bus

 

Test

Which word is correct?

1. If you want to have something:         Saya mau     a) apa   
                                                                                            b) ada  
                                                                                            c) ini

2. How do you say "I don't want to"?                            a) kamu mau itu
                                                                                            b) saya mau itu
                                                                                            c) saya tidak mau
                                                                                            d) kamu tidak mau

 3. How do you say "thank you"?                                  a) terima kasih
                                                                                            b) ini apa
                                                                                            c) tidak ada
                                                                                            d) mau apa

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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