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Personal and too Personal Questions

New words

bapak           father, sir
berapa?           how much?
cewek           girl (informal)
dan           and
ibu           mother, madam
kawin           to be married, to marry, to have sex
pacar           boyfriend or girlfriend
nikah           to be married, to marry
punya           to own
siapa?           who?
sudah           already, yet
tahun           year
tetapi           but
tinggal           to stay
umur           age

As a foreigner in Indonesia you better get used to all the attention you will get (especially from the opposite sex). Without much ado you will be asked all kinds of questions about yourself. Don't be irritated, ask back!

If you address somebody you should differentiate between formal and informal. If you want to say "you", use kamu among friends or with young people. Anda is more formal and should be used with anyone you don't know. There is also saudara, which is very formal and not used very often in everyday talk.

Another and very polite way of addressing people is by using bapak (father) for men and ibu (mother) for women.

Note that anda is also used for the 2nd person plural.

 

Ask for a Person's Name

Informal: Nama anda siapa? - Name you (informal) who? - What is your name?
Formal to men: Nama bapak siapa? - Name father/ sir who? - May I ask your name sir?
Formal to women: Nama ibu siapa? - Name madam who? - May I ask your name madam?
Very informal: Nama kamu siapa? - Name you (informal) who? - What is your name?

The answer: Nama saya Tani - Name my Tani - My name is Tani

or: Nama saya Tani dan nama kamu siapa? - Name my Tani and name you? - My name is Tani and yours?

Note
If your name is Mark, you will experience that most people
cannot pronounce it. It becomes inevitably "Marx" or " Max".
Why that is I never found out.

Another note
If your name is Marc, you are even worse off. As the c is in Indonesian always
pronounces like "ch" your esteemed name will become March.

Personal Questions

Ibu asal dari mana? - madam origin from where? - Where are you from?
If you want to be polite when asking questions put ma'af in front of your question:
Ma'af, ibu asal dari mana? - excuse madam origin from where? - Excuse we, where are you from?

Among young people use the informal:
Kamu dari mana? - you from where? - Where are you from?

It sounds a bit nicer if you avoid using kamu and use the person's name instead:
Tani dari mana? - Tani from where? - Where are you from, Tani?
Saya dari Bali - I from Bali - I am from Bali

Note
There are no privacy of information laws in Indonesia. I was once at the police station
to get my driver's license when I noticed on the screen of the card printer the     
photograph of a very attractive girl, whose picture had been taken before. I jokingly
asked the policeman: Cewek ini tinggal dimana? - Girl this stays where? - Where does
this girl live?
He turned the screen towards me and pressed a button on the computer to let me
have a look at the page with her personal details

Do not be surprised to be asked questions that we would consider a little personal. Perfectly normal is in Indonesia:

Berapa umur kamu? - How much age you? - How old are you?
Answer: Umur saya 23 - Age my 23 - My age is 23
or: Saya 23 tahun - I 23 years - I am 23 years old

The chapter dealing with numbers is here.

Note
In Indonesia it is OK  to ask  a  woman  for her age.

Another frequent question is:

Sudah mandi? - Already bath/shower? - Have you had a shower yet?

This question is as normal in Indonesia as a "nice day today"-type filler phrase in the anglophone world.
As Indonesians shower very frequently and consider anyone of less than 2 showers daily dirty, answer always:
Sudah - already - Yes already

Note
Many single foreigners living in Indonesia found it after a while easier to declare
themselves married than to have to reject friendly-meant offers in the direction all the
time.

Also not unusual to be asked is: Sudah kawin? - already married? - Are you already married?
the same meaning has: Sudah nikah?
Answer: sudah already - Yes, already
or: belum not yet - No, not yet

Indonesians never answer simply 'no' to this question. It is always belum - not yet. There is no doubt that one will get married one day.

Also, don't be to shy to ask straight forward if your new acquaintance has already a boyfriend or girlfriend.

Sudah punya pacar? - already own girlfriend/boyfriend - Do you already have a boyfriend/girlfriend?

A Twist
Kawin does not only mean to be married but also to have sex. So among young people
among young people you may try this answer to the question
sudah kawin: Kawin sudah, tetapi nikah belum -
married/having sex already but not yet
married - Yes I have already done it but I am not yet married.

Test

Fill in the right word

1. How do you say I am not married yet?     Saya        a) tidak          kawin
                                                                                               b) sudah
                                                                                               c) belum
                                                                                               d) nikah

2. Which word also means having sex?                        a) kawin 
                                                                                                b) nikah
                                                                                                c) tinggal

3. How do you ask for somebody's age                           a) orang apa         kamu
                                                                                                b) berapa umur
                                                                                                c) dari mana

 

 

 
 
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