Nobody really sets out to memorize a bunch of adverbs.
It might even be the least exciting part of speech – but there must be a reason we learn them! The reason is, if you ever want to describe something with any kind of detail, you’re going to need adverbs. Indonesian adverbs are easy, and for every one you memorize, you’ll open up a world of language possibilities.
Table of Contents
- How Do You Do It?
- Numbers and Amounts
- Why Did You Do It?
- How Often And When?
- Showing Tense
- A Lot Or A Little?
- Like This or Like That?
- Where Did You Put it?
- How Likely Is It?
- Conclusion
1. How Do You Do It?
This is the classic adverb format – you modify a verb to explain how you’re doing that verb. Indonesian has two ways to do this, most of the time. You can either use an Indonesian adverb, or the word dengan “with” with the modifying word. You can also get away with using the adjective as an adverb, chances are your Indonesian audience will understand you anyway.
1- hati-hati – carefully
Jawablah hati-hati.
Answer carefully.
2- pelan-pelan – slowly
Jangan menulis pelan-pelan. (or dengan perlahan)
Don’t write slowly.
3- cepat-cepat – quickly
Dia cepat-cepat menghabiskan makanannya.
She quickly finished her food.
4- dengan baik – well
Cinta bekerja dengan baik di sini.
Cinta works well here.
5- dengan sempurna – perfectly
Saya tidak bisa menyetir dengan sempurna.
I can’t drive perfectly.
6- dengan indah – beautifully
Bapak bisa menulis dengan indah.
You, sir, can write beautifully.
7- dengan serius – seriously
Mahasiswa belajar dengan serius.
Students study seriously.
8- dengan mudah — easily
Kami memang dengan mudah.
We won easily.
9- dengan susah payah – with difficulty
Aku menyelesaikan pekerjaaanku dengan susah payah.
I finished my work with difficulty.
10- dengan sembarangan – carelessly
Dia meletakkan barang-barangnya di lantai dengan sembarangan.
He put his stuff on the floor carelessly.
11- tanpa sadar – unknowingly
Dia ditipu tanpa sadar.
She was tricked unknowingly.
12- dengan tergesa-gesa – hastily
Jangan memasak tergesa-gesa.
Do not cook hastily.
13- dengan rata (adj) – equally
Kami dibayar dengan rata.
We are paid equally.
14- dengan samar-samar – vaguely
Hal itu dideskripsikan kepadaku dengan samar-samar.
It was described to me vaguely.
15- dengan jujur – truthfully
Mengapa kamu tidak mengakui dengan jujur?
Why won’t you admit it truthfully?
16- dengan lancar – smoothly
Semuanya akan berjalan dengan lancar.
Everything’s going to go smoothly.
17- dengan senang – happily
Saya membersihkan dengan senang.
I happily clean up.
18- dengan fasih – fluently
Aku bisa berbicara bahasa Jepang dengan fasih.
I can speak Japanese fluently.
19- dengan kasar – rudely
Dia mengambil kertas dari tanganku dengan kasar.
She took the paper from my hand rudely.
20- dengan sabar — patiently
Ibu menunggu jawaban dariku dengan sabar.
Mother patiently waits for my answer.
21- dengan gelisah — anxiously
Pengacara itu mengetukkan penanya dengan gelisah.
The lawyer is tapping his pen anxiously.
2. Numbers and Amounts
If the first category was “classic adverbs,” then this part should help you describe amounts and degrees to which things happen. That’s just as important!
1- sedikit – a bit
Kata-katanya membuat ayahnya sedikit tersinggung.
His words made the father feel a bit irritated.
2- banyak – a lot
Ini terlalu banyak.
This is a lot.
3- beberapa – some
Beberapa toko di mal ini sudah tutup.
Some shops in this shopping mall are closed.
4- lebih banyak – more
Kamu harus lebih banyak berolahraga.
You have to exercise more.
5- kurang – not enough, less
Saya kurang tidur semalam.
I did not have enough sleep last night.
6- terlalu – too much
Saya terlalu banyak makan semalam.
I ate too much last night.
7- kurang lebih – more or less
Saya kurang lebih mengerti maksudmu.
I more or less understand what you mean.
8- Sekurangnya – at least
Sekurangnya telepon ibumu sebulan sekali.
At least call your mom once a month.
9- hampir – almost
Adi berumur hampir tiga belas.
Adi is almost thirteen.
10- bersama – together
Kami main sepak bola bersama.
We play football together.
11- sendiri – alone
Aku suka menonton film sendiri.
I like to watch movies alone.
12- cukup – well enough
Dia cukup pintar.
She’s pretty smart.
13- Selain – apart from
Selain membunuh, mencuri juga bisa dihukum.
Apart from murder, theft can also be punished.
14- terlepas dari – besides
Terlepas dari siapa dia, saya tidak percaya dia.
It doesn’t matter who he is, I don’t believe him.
15- hanya – only
Tiketnya hanya tersisa dua.
There are only two tickets left.
16- makin – get to become
Ibu makin khawatir.
Mother is becoming more worried.
3. Why Did You Do It?
In Indonesian, what we know of as “conjunctions” can also fit the grammatical category of adverbs. Several of these are adverbial phrases instead of just one word.
1- jadi – therefore
Dia mau masak, jadi saya beli wortel.
She wants to cook, so I bought carrots.
2- bagaimanapun – however
Bagaimanapun, saya tidak akan lupa.
In any case, I won’t forget.
3- akan tetapi – however
Anda sudah masuk ke rumah, akan tetapi, dia mau Anda pergi.
You’ve already entered the house, however, he wants you to leave.
4- kalau-kalau – in case of
Pakai jas hujan dalam kasus hujan.
Wear a poncho in case of rain.
5- karena – because
Aku mencintaimu karena kamu cantik.
I love you because you’re beautiful.
6- sehingga – to the point that
Mohon untuk membersihkan sehingga bersih.
Please clean this until it’s sparkling.
7- untuk – in order to
Saya menggunakan pisau untuk memotong.
I use a knife in order to cut.
8- umumnya – generally
Anak-anak umumnya tidak punya pekerjaan.
Children generally don’t have jobs.
4. How Often And When?
Adverbs of time are some of the most important and by far the most commonly used. Just think of when you’re talking to a delivery driver and you want to say “Are you coming now?” They’ll probably answer “Sorry, I’ll be there soon!”
1- sekarang – now
Saya mau pergi sekarang.
I want to leave now.
2- nanti – later
Jangan melakukannya nanti.
Don’t do it later.
3- dulu – before
Aku duduk dulu.
I’ll sit down first.
4- belum – not yet
Kita belum berkenalan.
We don’t know each other yet.
5- baru – recently
Saya baru datang di Amerika.
I just recently arrived in America.
6- jarang – rarely
Dia jarang makan yang pedas.
He rarely eats spicy things.
7- sering – often
Kamu sering lupa namaku.
You often forget my name.
8- sebentar – a moment
Aku tidur sebentar.
I’ll sleep for a moment.
9- biasanya – usually
Joko biasanya datang jam 11.
Joko usually comes at 11.
10- tidak pernah – never before
Kamu tidak pernah ke Solo?
You’ve never before been to Solo?
11- satu kali – once
Hanya ke sana satu kali.
Only been there one time.
12- dua kali – twice
Aku sudah bilang dua kali.
I’ve already said it twice.
13- lagi – again
Aku tidak akan bilang lagi.
I’m not going to say it again.
14- sekali seminggu – once a week
Saya main tenis sekali seminggu.
I play tennis once a week.
15- constantly – terus-menerus
Istrinya terus-menerus belajar bahasa Spanyol.
My wife constantly studies Spanish.
16- kadangkala – sometimes
Monyet kadangkala masuk ke rumahku.
Monkeys sometimes come into my house.
17- kadang-kadang – occasionally
Aku kadang-kadang lupa kata-katanya dalam bahasa Inggris.
I occasionally forget the English words.
18- angin-anginan – inconsistently
Mengapa kamu membuat peraturan angin-anginan?
Why are you inconsistently making rules?
19- silam – ago
Itu sudah beberapa tahun silam.
That was several years ago.
20- tadi pagi – this morning
Tadi pagi ada kecelakaan di dekat stasiun kereta.
This morning there was an accident near the railway station.
21- tadi siang – this afternoon
Webinar itu sudah selesai tadi siang.
The webinar was over this afternoon.
22- kemarin – yesterday
Dia dibawa ke rumah sakit kemarin.
He was hospitalized yesterday.
23- besok – tomorrow
Kita besok akan memerlukan mobil.
We will be needing a car tomorrow.
24- hari ini – today
Hari ini kita jalan kaki saja.
Let’s just walk today.
25- … depan – next …
Tahun depan saya tidak akan tinggal di sini lagi.
Next year I will not be living here anymore.
5. Showing Tense
Indonesian doesn’t mark its verbs for tense. Instead, it uses adverbs placed in front of the verb to give a sense of time.
1- sudah – already
Kamu sudah tinggal di Jakarta?
You already live in Jakarta?
2- tadi – before now, some time in near past
Saya tadi lupa mau memberikan ini.
(I forgot) I was going to give you this.
3- akan – will, going to
Aku akan menikmati kue itu.
I’m going to enjoy this cake.
4- telah – already
Pertunjukkan itu telah berlangsung 5 menit yang lalu.
The show started 5 minutes ago.
5- sedang – in progress
Mereka sedang membaca buku.
They’re reading books.
6- masih – still
Dia masih mencintainya.
She still loves him.
7- baru saja – just now
Dia baru saja pergi.
He left just now.
6. A Lot Or A Little?
These are known as “intensifiers,” and they’re good companions to the ones in the “numbers and amounts” section from earlier.
1- sangat – very
Kelasnya sangat membosankan.
The class is very boring.
2- amat – very
Kelasnya membosankan amat.
The class is very boring.
3- banget – very
Makanan Korea enak banget!
Korean food is so tasty!
4- benar-benar – truly, really
Saya benar-benar tidak mau mendorongmu.
I really don’t want to push you.
5- agak – rather
Soal matematika itu agak sulit.
That math problem is rather difficult.
6- lumayan – relatively
Mebel di sini lumayan murah.
Furniture here is relatively cheap.
7- kira-kira – roughly
Kira-kira dua ratus orang datang.
Roughly two hundred people arrived.
8- sekitar – approximately
Sekitar 34% orang Indonesia merokok.
Approximately 34% of Indonesians smoke.
7. Like This or Like That?
Here’s a secret: these five words make up a huge proportion of informal Indonesian. If you get the chance to watch Indonesians chat, try to count off all the times they say these phrases. The cultural component is huge, though, so you can’t just go in saying these words at random.
1- begini – like this
Kalau begini, harus hati-hati.
If the situation is like this, you have to be careful.
2- seperti ini – in this way
Potong rambut seperti ini.
Cut hair in this way.
3- begitu – like that
Jadi, begitu sih.
Well, it’s about like that.
4- seperti itu – in that way
Jangan lari seperti itu.
Don’t run in that way.
5- memang – indeed
Ini memang yang paling penting.
This is indeed what is most important.
8. Where Did You Put it?
Locational adverbs are often overlooked but are of course extremely helpful whenever describing directions or distances. These adverbs are usually used with prepositions di, ke, and dari.
1- di sini – here
Ada apa di sini?
What’s here?
2- di sana – there
Letakkan di sana.
Put it there.
3- ke luar negeri – abroad
Dia akan pergi ke luar negeri tahun depan.
She’s going to go abroad next year.
4- di luar negeri – abroad
Dia sedang belajar di luar negeri.
She is studying abroad.
5- di dekat sini – nearby
Apakah ada hotel bintang tiga di dekat sini?
Are there three star hotels nearby?
6- di mana-mana – everywhere
Di mana-mana ada orang yang mau dapat uang.
There are people everywhere who want to get money.
9. How Likely Is It?
Indonesians are hesitant to give direct answers when they’re even a little bit unsure. Get some practice with these!
1- Sebenarnya – actually
Sebenarnya, aku sudah lulus.
Actually, I already graduated.
2- mungkin – maybe
Mungkin kamu bisa belajar di UNY.
Maybe you can study at UNY.
3- barangkali – possibly
Barangkali ada sesuatu di dalam.
There might be something inside.
4- mungkin – probably
Ini mungkin narkoba.
These are probably drugs.
5- semoga – hopefully
Semoga kami bisa menjadi teman.
Hopefully we can become friends.
6- jangan-jangan – could it be
Jangan-jangan dia terjebak di kemacetan.
Could it be that she is stuck in a traffic jam?
7- mesti – definitely
Ini mesti milik Ibu.
This must belong to you.
8- mudah-mudahan – hopefully
Mudah-mudahan dia bisa datang.
Hopefully she can make it.
9- boleh – may
Kalau sudah mandi, kamu boleh menonton TV.
If you have already taken a shower, you can watch the TV.
10- bukan – not (followed by nouns and other adverbs)
Kamu bukan anak-anak lagi.
You’re not a child anymore.
11- tidak – not (followed by verbs and adjectives)
Di luar tidak hujan.
It is not raining outside.
12- jangan – don’t (expressing disapproval)
Jangan duduk di lantai.
Don’t sit on the floor.
10. Conclusion
Nice job! These words will no doubt serve you well.
The absolute best way for you to review these adverbs is to wait a day or so and read through the list and example sentences again, out loud if you can. That’ll really lock the words in your memory.
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