There’s a sort of balance between the different languages of the world.

Some have extremely complex systems of verb changes and noun changes, requiring you to think about every last little detail of who does what in the sentence so that you can get all the endings right.

Others say to themselves, “You know, all those extra grammatical endings aren’t for me.” So they simply put their words in a line and never change them.

The tradeoff is that these “simpler” languages have very inflexible word order. So what does this look like in Indonesian word order? 

Well, if you switch the position of a few words in a sentence in, say, Russian, the grammatical endings will keep you informed about what you need to know. If you do the same in Indonesian, it starts getting hard to understand very quickly.

So Indonesian grammar is simple in some ways, but rigid in others. Fortunately for you, it never really gets that difficult!

With the examples in this guide, you’ll soon feel perfectly confident when you create your own Indonesian sentences. 

Let’s get started with our lesson on Indonesian word order, and more essential grammatical points!

Table of Contents

1. Overview of Indonesian Word Order
2. Adjectives and Adverbs in Indonesian
3. Prepositions and Their Phrases
4. Verbs That Absorb Other Words
5. Word Order in Indonesian Questions
6. Conclusion

1. Overview of Indonesian Word Order

Indonesian belongs to the Austronesian language family, sharing roots with languages as diverse as Tagalog (in the Philippines), Malagasy (in Madagascar), Amis (in Taiwan), and Hawaiian. 

Austronesian languages in general have very complex grammar and tenses, with lots of different particles attaching to the front, middle, and end of verbs to express very specific ideas.

Lucky for you, Indonesian is radically different from most other Austronesian languages, and in fact, it’s quite similar to European languages (at least on the surface)!

It belongs to the SVO group of languages, meaning that the order of the subject, the verb, and the object in the sentence is exactly that. First the subject, then the verb, and finally the object.

Let’s try a very simple sentence with all three elements.

• Cici menulis buku.

“Cici writes a book.”

It’s clear from the word order that the book is absolutely not writing Cici. In Indonesian as well as English, there are plenty of sentences that don’t require objects.

• Cici berlari.

“Cici runs.”

• Gloria berdiri.

“Gloria stands up.”

Verbs that start with me– usually, but not always, have an object; verbs that start with ber- never have an object.

Indonesian was actually designed to be quite regular in this regard, but over the decades (Standard Indonesian dates back to Indonesian independence in 1945), many people have gotten used to dropping the me- prefix. Crucially, the word order remains constant!

Like other Asian languages, Indonesian uses classifiers for its nouns. It’s just like saying “a pair of scissors” in English. You can’t just say “scissors” without the classifier “pair,” and in Indonesian, saying any noun without its classifier sounds equally weird.

Classifiers always appear before the noun, like they do in English (but opposite of how it’s done in some other Southeast Asian languages like Lao). There’s one general classifier that you can use for most things: buah. Whenever you say “one of something,” you add se- to the beginning of the classifier.

• Saya punya sebuah ponsel.

“I have a phone.”

2. Adjectives and Adverbs in Indonesian

In Indonesian, there’s not really a distinction between adjectives and adverbs. For one, both usually go after what they modify.

• Aku punya buku baru.

“I have a new book.”

• Aku membaca buku bahasa Inggris.

“I read English books.”

Suppose you have two adjectives you want to line up in a sentence? It’s imperative then to use the word dan, meaning “and,” to connect them. You’ll see at the end of the article what it means if we just say one adjective after the other.

• Buku ini murah dan berat.

“This book is cheap and heavy.”

Since Indonesian verbs can’t conjugate, we can’t use verb endings to show tense. Instead, that happens through time-marking adverbs, which, it just so happens, come before the verb.

• Aku akan membaca buku bahasa Jerman.

“I’m going to read German books.”

• Dia sedang membaca buku baru.

“She’s reading a new book.”

• Saya sudah membaca buku bahasa Inggris.

“I already read the English book.”

As you can see, the word “the” is implied from the context. These are artificial sentences, but when you’re actually speaking Indonesian with others, you’ll generally know if you should interpret buku as “the book” or “books.”

Another very common type of Indonesian adverb is dengan, meaning “with,” plus an adjective. It’s a little bit like saying that someone does something “with style” in English.

• Kamu menulis dengan indah.

“You write with beauty.” (“You write beautifully.”)

3. Prepositions and Their Phrases

The prepositional phrases in Indonesian are made with the locative particle di. This is combined with location words to create proper prepositional phrases.

In Indonesian language word order, all the prepositional phrases are placed after the main verb in the sentence.

• Aku memasak di dapur.

“I cook in the kitchen.”

Here, di gets translated to “in” because that’s the best way to describe the concept in English. It’s only implied in Indonesian, since without a location word, di doesn’t specify whether it’s “in,” “at,” or another preposition.

• Gloria berdiri di depan pintu.

“Gloria is standing in front of the door.”

• Pohon itu terletak di belakang rumah.

“The tree is located behind the house.”

This is a good time to introduce the word yang. You’re lucky that you can understand English, because yang is a perfect equivalent of the English words “that,” “which,” and “who.” Some languages don’t have a word for this concept, and their Indonesian textbooks have got to be a lot thicker!

• Pohon yang terletak di belakang rumah adalah pohon pinus.

“The tree that is located behind the house is a pine tree.”

Look carefully at the words in this last example and the one that came right before. You can see that the insertion of yang functioned syntactically just like “that” in English, giving us the opportunity to describe the tree in greater detail.

4. Verbs That Absorb Other Words

One very interesting thing about the Indonesian language is that verbs can absorb pronouns. If you know any Arabic, you’ll be nodding your head in agreement. And if you don’t (learning Arabic is not a prerequisite for learning Indonesian!), stay with us. It’s not that bad.

The pronouns in Indonesian are numerous and rather complex to explain here. In any case, just three of them can attach to verbs: aku, kamu, and dia. These are the informal versions of “I” and “you” respectively, and the neutral version of “he/she/they/it.”

• Dia memukul aku.

“He hit me.”

Here, the word order is just as we’ve been seeing in previous examples, with the subject first, then the verb, then the object. But let’s collapse that verb and object together:

• Dia memukulku.

“He hit me.”

It still has the exact same meaning! It can feel a little artificial sometimes to spell out or say the full pronoun, so most people tend to just use these pronouns as endings. Here are some more examples.

• Aku tidak melihatmu.

“I don’t see you.”

• Aku sedang memakannya.

“I’m eating it.”

5. Word Order in Indonesian Questions

If everything else has seemed pretty approachable, you’re now on the home stretch of easy street.

Simple yes-no questions in Indonesian are formed just like they are in English!

In English, we use “do” or “does” as a “dummy subject” for questions. The word apakah fills the same function in Indonesian, down to a T.

• Saya suka teh. Apakah kamu suka teh?

“I like tea. Do you like tea?”

It’s a word-for-word translation of the English, and it’s natural in both languages.

On top of that, there’s an alternate way to ask questions in Indonesian, this time using a suffix. See that  -kah at the end of apakah? You can actually add that to a whole mess of verbs and adverbs.

• Sudahkah proyek selesai?

“Has the project finished already?”

Sudah is the adverb of time showing that something has “already” happened, and so you can add -kah to ask about the completeness of a particular action.

Again, these question words move to the front.

Indonesian also has the standard question words that you’ll remember from English, such as “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” and “why.”

• Mengapa kamu suka sepeda besar?

“Why do you like big bicycles?”

• Karena sepeda besar nyaman.

“Because big bicycles are comfortable.”

Look at that last sentence. Literally, you’re saying “because bike big comfortable.”

This is what we were talking about earlier. You’re not saying “because bikes are big and comfortable” because there’s no dan, or “and,” connector. Because of this word order, it absolutely has to be “because big bicycles are comfortable.”

6. Conclusion

Lots of people find that Indonesian word order is something that ends up just coming naturally to them. How about you? 

By first reading and listening to a lot of natural Indonesian and following along with the English translation, you can see how Indonesian sentences really get formed.

Be patient with yourself, and don’t try to speak before you’re ready.

It just so happens that the easiest place to do this is right here on IndonesianPod101.com. There’s nothing standing in your way, stopping you from picking up real, natural Indonesian without even thinking about it.Listen, read, and speak when you’re ready. That’s the core principle, and that’s how you end up a master of Indonesian!

*ring ring*

That’s your alarm clock. It’s time to learn Indonesian!

Hey, do you know how to say that phrase—or, really, any phrases about time in Indonesian? You should!

If you’re learning Indonesian for travel, you’re definitely going to want to know how to ask about time. Good luck getting on buses or trains at the right time if you don’t know how to ask when they leave!

And if you’re planning on a longer stay there, well, that’s even more of a reason to learn how to tell time in Indonesian. Imagine making a restaurant reservation or calling to ask when a store closes if you don’t know how to talk about time.

Pretty tricky, right? This article is definitely for you.

Table of Contents

1. Asking for the Time
2. Talking about Hours
3. Talking about Minutes and Seconds
4. How Long Does it Take?
5. When Did it Happen?
6. Time Zones in Indonesia
7. Adverbs and Phrases about Time
8. Conclusion

1. Asking for the Time

There’s just one phrase for telling the time in Indonesian that you need to know.

• Jam berapa?

“What time is it?”

Interestingly, this sentence doesn’t really correspond to its translation word-for-word. Literally, what you’re saying is “Hour how many?” Yes, that’s the same berapa that we covered before when we talked about buying and selling things in Indonesian.

If you wish, you can add the word sekarang to make this sentence:

• Jam berapa sekarang?

“What time is it now?”

The exact same phrase works for asking when a certain thing will happen. Just take a look at the syntax.

• Acara ini mulai jam berapa?

“What time does this event begin?”

We can also use the word akan to explicitly mark future tense.

• Jam berapa kamu akan sarapan besok?

“What time are you going to eat breakfast tomorrow?”

However, since the event hasn’t happened yet, it’s always going to be the future! So that means akan isn’t necessary.

As I mentioned, jam berapa is used for asking specifically about the time. It’s also good to mention here, though, that there is a general word for “when” in Indonesian: kapan.

• A: Kapan dia mulai membersihkan kamar? 

A: “When did she start cleaning the room?”

B: Jam dua.

B: “Two o’clock.”

In just a little bit, we’ll talk about some alternatives to kapan. For now, though, let’s focus more on clock time.

2. Talking about Hours

As you’ve just learned, the word for “hour” in Indonesian is jam. And since there’s no plural marking for hours, we can say dua jam or “two hours,” empat jam or “four hours,” and so on.

But when we’re specifically talking about the time displayed on a clock, we have to switch the word order.

• Sekarang jam dua.

“It’s two o’clock.”

Indonesians always use the twenty-four-hour clock when posting signs or writing timetables. In speech, though, it’s a little cumbersome to say something like jam dua puluh satu, meaning “21:00 (9 PM).”

So we simply divide the day up into pagi meaning “morning” or before twelve, and sore meaning “afternoon” or after twelve.

• Mari bertemu jam enam sore.

“Let’s meet at six o’clock in the evening.”

While to express the hour in English, you use the preposition “at,” in Indonesian, just mentioning the time is adequate.

• Saya akan berangkat jam lima sore.

“I’m going to arrive at five PM.”

3. Talking about Minutes and Seconds

So we’re prepared to talk about time in Indonesia, but only for things that happen on the hour. Fortunately, learning the rest is a breeze. Indonesian is very much like English in this case!

• Sekarang jam enam tiga puluh empat menit.

“It’s six thirty-four.”

Did you see the difference? Although the word order is the same, you have to specify jam, or “hour,” and menit, or “minute.” And jam goes before the number, while menit goes after! Let’s practice a little more.

• Kereta api tiba di stasiun jam tiga sebelas menit.

“The train arrives at the station at three eleven (3:11).”

• Dia terlihat masuk toko buku jam empat lewat tiga puluh satu menit.

“He was seen entering the book shop at four thirty-one (4:31).”

There’s an optional word here: lewat. It doesn’t change the meaning at all—it’s simply like saying “one twenty” compared to “twenty minutes past one.” It’s considered a little more proper and correct to say lewat.

It’s possible that you may hear something like these phrases for fractions of an hour:

• Aku beli alpukat  jam sembilan kurang seperempat.

“I bought avocados at fifteen minutes to nine (eight forty-five).”

• Sekarang jam setengah lima.

“Now it’s half five (half past four).”

Kurang literally means “missing” or “short of,” so you can think of “eight forty-five” as meaning “nine short of fifteen minutes.” And note too that setengah is sometimes pronounced without the first e, so it comes out more like stengah.

4. How Long Does it Take?

The most common way to say that something “takes time” is to literally say that it “eats” time: memakan waktu. A little more formal and less idiomatic is membutuhkan waktu, which simply translates to “need time.”

Let’s look at some examples. Note that in questions, the passive form (dibutuhkan) is more often used, while in statements, the active form (membutuhkan) is more common.

• Berapa lama waktu yang dibutuhkan untuk fasih bahasa Korea?

“How much time is necessary to be fluent in Korean?”

This phrase, berapa lama waktu yang dibutuhkan untuk… is a little bit hard to roll off the tongue, but you see it a lot in written materials. Using it is a surefire way to communicate your message accurately.

• Berapa lama saya harus belajar agar saya bisa menyetir bus?

“How long do I have to study until I can drive a bus?”

Much more simple is berapa lama… agar…?, which translates to “how long… until…?”

• Sinar matahari membutuhkan delapan menit sepuluh detik untuk masuk ke bumi.

“The sun’s rays need eight minutes and ten seconds to travel to the earth.”

Here we can see the active verb form membutuhkan in action. We could replace this with memakan, or “to eat,” and it would have the same meaning.

5. When Did it Happen?

At the beginning of the article, we saw that kapan is the question word “when.” How about expressing other ideas, like “when” as an adverb of time? We need new words for that.

First, let’s use an old word in a new way: waktu, or “time,” can act as an adverb.

• Waktu saya melihat ke dia, dia berhenti berbicara.

“When I looked at him, he stopped talking.”

We can use a new word, ketika, in almost exactly the same way. In this next example, both ketika and waktu are fine.

• Ketika saya di Indonesia, saya banyak makan mi goreng.

“When I was in Indonesia, I ate a lot of fried noodles.”

The difference comes when talking about the future. When we talk about something that’s definitely going to happen, we use waktu; when we’re speaking hypothetically or generally, we say ketika.

• Waktu saya menyelesaikan tugas ini, saya akan menonton televisi.

“When I finish this assignment, I’m going to watch TV.”

• Ketika kamu sakit, jangan mandi dengan air dingin.

“When you’re sick, don’t bathe with cold water.” 

6. Time Zones in Indonesia

Although most people might have a hazy view in their mind’s eye of Indonesia as a handful of sandy beaches, as a language-learner, you should know that it’s actually quite a large country, spanning three “time zones” or zona waktu.

So just as the U.S. has words like “Mountain Time,” “Pacific Time,” and so on, Indonesia has words for its time zones that you’ll see on news reports or other nationwide announcements.

• Waktu Indonesia Timur or “Eastern Indonesian Time” is used mostly on the island of Papua, and also in the relatively sparse Maluku province. It’s abbreviated as WIT.
• Waktu Indonesia Tengah or “Central Indonesian Time” covers Sulawesi, much of Kalimantan, and Bali. Since WIT was taken, they call it WITA.
• Finally, Waktu Indonesia Barat or “Western Indonesian Time” covers all of Sumatra, Java, and the western part of Kalimantan. 

This is the one you’ll probably see the most, as it covers the largest proportion of Indonesia’s population. Most news reports out of Jakarta come with WIB on the date line, and now you know what it stands for!

Besides, on Indonesian religious TV channels, some channels like to schedule their shows based on Mecca Time/Arabian Standard Time, which technically follows Saudi Arabia’s time zone.

7. Adverbs and Phrases about Time

All right, you can tell the time in Indonesian. But to really take your Indonesian to the next level, you’ll also need to have a good stock of phrases related to time.

In English, a lot of people have their own set phrases for “in a little while.” That’s the one I use, but many people might say “in a moment” or “in a few minutes.” It all means about the same thing, right?

In Indonesian, most people tend to say sebentar, occasionally shortened to bentar.

• Aku datang sebentar lagi.

“I’ll be there in a moment.”

• Maaf, tunggu sebentar.

“Sorry, please wait a minute.” 

Indonesia is a patient country, though you might not be. If you ask again about something which you’ve already been told sebentar, you may hear sebentar lagi, which means “a little longer.”

In English, we have a ton of different expressions with prepositions to talk about time. If you’re a native speaker, you probably never noticed; if you’re an English learner, you might be getting flashbacks to long worksheets right about now!

In time, on time, time’s up, time out…it’s a lot to wrap your head around. Fortunately, we’ve got a good list of example sentences right here that should cover a lot of the time expressions you’d want to use in Indonesian. 

Here are some idioms to talk about how time goes by. The first one literally means “Time walks fast.”

• Waktu berjalan cepat.

“Time flies.“

• Dia tidak mau membuang waktu dengannya.

“She didn’t want to waste time with him.”

• Aku harus menghabiskan banyak waktu dalam perpustakaan.

“I have to spend a lot of time in the library.”

Habis literally means “finished,” so you can think of menghabiskan waktu as kind of like “make your time finished.”

• Mereka tiba di waktu yang tepat.

“They arrived at the correct time.”

• Saya kehabisan waktu.

“I was out of time.“

• Seiring berjalannya waktu, Indonesia menjadi lebih berkembang.

“As time goes by, Indonesia becomes more developed.”

• Aku tidak dengar nama itu sejak waktu yang lama.

“I haven’t heard that name in a long time.”

8. Conclusion

Telling time in Indonesian is simply a skill you can’t live without. And as you can see, it’s both flexible and very similar to how it’s done in the English language!

You can take the example sentences you’ve seen in this article and switch out all kinds of things to make your own time expressions.

The great thing about a concept like time is that it’s woven so deeply into the language that you’ll get words and phrases reinforced naturally, just so long as you’re regularly reading and listening to Indonesian.

That’s why our main focus here at IndonesianPod101 is our fantastic podcasts and lessons that let you absorb the details of the language naturally. Before too long, you’ll be a master of time words in Indonesian! 

Now that you have a better idea of how to talk about time, you may find the following pages useful as well:

• Talking about Dates in Indonesian
• Talking about Your Plans
• Words and Phrases for Filling in Administrative Documents

How do you feel about telling time in Indonesian now? Feel free to let us know in the comments if you have any questions or concerns!

Did you get lost again?

In the sweltering heat of an Indonesian dry season, it’s no fun to not know where you’re going. (The rainy season is arguably worse!)

Going to Indonesia and learning some of the language to help you prepare is an excellent step you can take for a great trip. But did you remember to learn about directions in Indonesian too?

Suppose your motorcycle taxi driver has heard of your guesthouse, but never actually been. Or suppose your class is starting in ten minutes and you’re still wandering around the same university streets.

Table of Contents

1. Basic Cultural Notes and Phrases
2. Pull Out Your Map and Learn the Compass Points
3. City Vocabulary and Reference Points
4. Phrases for Directions in Indonesian, Part 1: Asking Others
5. Phrases for Directions, Part 2: Giving Directions
6. Travel Time
7. How to Use Directions as Language Practice
8. Conclusion

1. Basic Cultural Notes and Phrases

Indonesian people are extremely friendly when foreigners ask them for help. Many of them speak English quite well, especially if they live near a university. However, since Indonesian is a second language for most people in the country, they’re also aware that it’s not incredibly complicated to pick up.

Therefore, if you can speak Indonesian at a basic conversational level, many people will be happy to continue the conversation without switching to English. In fact, they may end up speaking too fast for you!

When you want to get someone’s attention, you can say:

• Permisi!

“Excuse me!”

Or maybe:

• Maaf, bisa bantu?

“Sorry, could you help me?”

These two phrases will help you lead into actually asking them for directions.

Indonesian cities change a lot, with new buildings going up and shops changing owners left and right. Furthermore, street signs aren’t often marked very well, particularly the small gangs or “alleyways” that make up the majority of the residential areas.

That means that you should really only expect locals in the immediate area to be familiar with the layout of the small streets. Even taxi drivers ask locals for directions sometimes, so you’ll probably hear these phrases a lot!

First, though, let’s have a look at the big picture.

2. Pull Out Your Map and Learn the Compass Points

The word for “compass rose” in Indonesian is actually not the (fairly common) word kompas. That word does mean “compass,” but it’s far more common that you’ll see it used in reference to the nationwide newspaper and media chain of the same name.

Instead, it’s a name that I think is quite beautiful: mata angin, or “eye of the wind.”And the “directions,” or arah, on that eye of the wind are as follows:

English	Indonesian
“north”	utara
“south”	selatan
“east”	timur
“west”	barat
“northwest”	barat laut
“northeast”	timur laut
“southwest”	barat daya
“southeast”	tenggara

Using the compass directions in Indonesian, you can divide a city into various parts like this:

• Saya tinggal di bagian barat kota.

“I live in the western part of the city.”

• Dia tinggal di bagian utara pulau.

“She lives in the northern part of the island.”

In addition to these absolute directions, you’ll also need to know four very useful relative directions for talking to drivers, and really just describing things in general.

English	Indonesian
“left”	kiri
“right”	kanan
“forward”	terus
“back”	balik

In Indonesia, there’s one cheesy dance song that everybody loves. The lyrics are simple, and the chorus is catchy. Why am I mentioning it in this article?

Because here’s how the lyrics go:

• Ke kiri! Ke kiri! Ke kiri! Ke kanan! Ke kanan! Ke kanan!

“To the left! To the left! To the left! To the right! To the right! To the right!”

You can find and listen to the song online, but be warned that you’ll never forget these directions afterward!

3. City Vocabulary and Reference Points

There are a lot of little words about cities, particularly parts of cities, that might slip through the cracks during your vocabulary review. When it’s time to give or get directions, it might be hard to express yourself clearly without these words.

pusat kota — “city center”

• Bus mana yang ke pusat kota?

“Which bus goes to the city center?”

kawasan bisnis — “business district”

• Tidak ada apartemen murah dekat kawasan bisnis.

“There are no cheap apartments near the business district.”

pinggir kota — “the edge of town”

• Sebelumnya, tidak ada stasiun kereta api di pinggir kota.

“A while ago, there was no train station on the edge of town.”

pusat belanja — “shopping center“

• Kita harus pergi ke pusat belanja yang baru atau yang lama?

“Should we go to the new shopping center or the old one?”

Once you have those nice and memorized, it’s good to make sure you can also make sentences using more fundamental words, such as landmarks and streets.

patung — “statue”

• Letakkan tas di depan patung.

“Put the bag in front of the statue.”

alun-alun — “square” (particularly one with grass and fountains)

• Apakah alun-alun bisa dilihat dari kantor?

“Can the square be seen from the office?”

jalan — “street”

• Maaf, jalan ini jalan apa?

“Sorry, what street is this?”

lampu merah — “traffic light” (literally a red light signaling stop)

• Belok kanan di lampu lalu lintas kedua.

“Turn right at the second traffic light.”

kantor pos — “post office“

• Mohon parkir mobil di samping kantor pos.

“Please park your car next to the post office.”

bank (pronounced bang) — “bank”

• Di mana bank terdekat?

“Where is the nearest bank?”

kost — “guesthouse” / “boarding house”

• Ada kost putra di pojok.

“There’s a men’s boarding house on the corner.”

4. Phrases for Directions in Indonesian, Part 1: Asking Others

All you need to know here is two simple words: di mana. This literally means “is located where,” and is the best way to ask people where things are.

Simply say the thing or place you want to go to, and add di mana after it to ask for directions.

• Universitas di mana?

“Where’s the university?”

• Gramedia di mana?

“Where is the Gramedia bookstore?”

Now, that’s very useful, but you should know that it does assume that you’re certain there is a university or Gramedia nearby. If you’re not even sure about that, you’d better ask like this:

• Apakah ada hotel dekat sini?

“Is there a hotel near here?”

• Apakah ada warung makan dekat sini?

“Is there a small restaurant near here?”

The last way that you can ask is by describing what you’d like to accomplish, and then seeing if anywhere nearby fits that bill.

• Di mana bisa cetak dokumen?

“Where can I print documents?”

As for me personally, whenever I read a phrasebook or guidebook, I always find that they use very formal language. And the very first time I tried one of these phrases out, a very nice security guard laughed at me!

If you’d like to try them out for yourself, though, here are some phrases that you can use to sound extremely polite. Use them correctly, and you may even impress others and make new friends!

• Permisi, Pak, bolehkah Anda membantu saya mencari…

“Excuse me, sir, could you please help me find…”

• Maaf, Bu, apakah Anda tahu di mana…

“Excuse me, ma’am, do you know where…”

5. Phrases for Directions, Part 2: Giving Directions

It’s a truly wonderful situation to be in a foreign country and use the local language to give directions to a local. The longer you spend there, the more your body language will show that you’re comfortable, and the more confident locals will feel that you know your way around.

Taking a “taxi,” or ojek, is another way you can show off. Let’s look at a couple of phrases you can use to guide somebody to their destination. 

Remember, be clear and concise with your language. Now is not the time to show off how good your Indonesian is, or to worry about getting each verb ending perfectly flawless.

You can set the stage by saying:

• Sudah dekat.

“It’s close by.”

Or:

• Masih jauh. / Cukup jauh.

“It’s still far away.” / “It’s pretty far away.”

This will at least give them a ballpark of what to expect. Here are some more phrases you can use:

• Bukan jalan ini.

“It’s not on this street.”

• Harus pergi ke Jalan Malioboro, lalu belok kanan.

“You have to go to Jalan Malioboro, and then turn right.”

• Belok kiri di sana.

“Turn left there.”

• Putar balik di lampu merah.

“Make a U-turn at the traffic light.”

Within hours of walking around streets in Indonesia, you’ll hear a traffic guard guide somebody backing up by saying Terus! Terus! This literally means “Keep going!” or “Forward!” even though the car in question is probably moving backward. (If you happen to be driving the car, by the way, give them a small tip. They work for free.)

You can use this word terus in two very useful ways. The first is to tell your driver to continue onward without turning, like so:

• Belum, Pak… terus aja…

“Not quite there, sir, just keep going…”

And the other is to say “and then.” In our example above, we translated this as lalu, and that’s correct, but it’s also very common to use terus to introduce the next step in a set of directions.

• Sampai di Jalan Affandi, terus belok kiri ke Gang Guru.

“Arrive at Jalan Affandi, and then turn left to Gang Guru.”

6. Travel Time 

Let’s briefly discuss travel time. These aren’t specifically directions, but many people include them in their directions and it would be a good thing to understand when they do! 

Indonesians also aren’t used to walking or bicycling, which is how many foreigners get around. If somebody says that it’ll be a long time, they may be thinking in terms of motorbike traffic—which means it could be a really long time for you!

• Berapa jauh kira-kira?

“How far is it, about?”

• Rute ini akan memakan waktu dua jam.

“This route is going to take two hours.”

• Naik motor akan memakan waktu satu jam setengah.

“Going by motorbike is going to take one and a half hours.”

7. How to Use Directions as Language Practice

Did you know that talking about directions can actually start a whole conversation?

Or failing that, some language practice opportunities that you might not have thought about.

When living in a foreign country, a lot of people find it hard to get out of the bubble of their native language. Even if you don’t have expat or English-speaking friends, it can seem like it’s hard to actually go out and speak Indonesian sometimes!

Asking for directions to a place you already know is a great low-pressure way to practice your Indonesian. It’s such a simple question that nobody will switch to English in their response, and by listening to several people give the same answer, you can practice your listening skills.

I also like talking to taxi or ojek drivers about how the city used to be in the past. You can practice the same words about streets and buildings by asking questions like this:

• Apakah jalan ini selalu sama?

“Has this area always been the same?”

• Kapan gedung-gedung ini dibangun?

“When were these buildings built?”

• Di sini ada apa sebelum mal ini?

“What was here before this mall?”

Chances are, in some parts of Indonesia, things haven’t changed much. And in others, the city is practically unrecognizable after a few years!

8. Conclusion

Clearly, there are a lot of ways you can make asking for directions work for you.

I’ll tell you a secret—this stuff takes a long time to learn naturally, and if you’re studying or working in Indonesia, it could be months before you can tell north from south!

What’s not a secret, though, is that reading an article once isn’t going to help you much beyond reminding you how much work you have to do. Fortunately, it’s not that hard.

All you have to do is check out the other lesson materials on IndonesianPod101.com, and the very fact that you’ve read through this article will help you retain that information a whole lot better.

Then, when you’re wandering the streets of Indonesia, you’ll know exactly how to get wherever you need to go, and will be confident that you can ask others for help if need be.

You might even get to guide the locals! 

Are there any positions and directions in Indonesian you’re struggling to remember? Any we left out? Let us know in the comments!

When it comes to parts of speech that you ought to know, you never see nouns ranked super high. If you don’t know a verb, the conversation might grind to a halt as you figure out how to talk around that.

If you don’t know a noun, though, it’s not the end of the world. You can probably say something similar, or maybe even the English word.

Right?

That philosophy might work for some things. But try describing an electrical outlet, or your knee, without resorting to pointing. Tough work!

This is a no-fluff list of common Indonesian nouns, and lots of them. Fill up those lexical gaps and hit the ground running!



Table of Contents

1. What Makes Indonesian Nouns Tick?
2. Time
3. The Body
4. The Family
5. Working Life
6. School Days
7. At the Restaurant
8. Food and Drink
9. Mealtimes
10. Transportation
11. Technology
12. Around the Home
13. Conclusion

1. What Makes Indonesian Nouns Tick?

A very quick note before we begin: Indonesian nouns are easy for English-speakers. They never change form, and they don’t even have to mark their plurals.

You can explicitly mark plurals by reduplication. That is, writing or saying the word twice in a row (it’s written with a hyphen). So if anak is “child,” then it can also possibly refer to “children.” To make that pluralization clear, though, you can say anak-anak and leave no room for error.

Now that we’ve cleared that out of the way, here are the most common nouns in Indonesia by category.

2. Time

One of my biggest mistakes when learning languages for travel has been ignoring time. If you hear that there’s “one bus a day” but you don’t know the word for “day,” you’ve got a big task ahead of you figuring that out from context.

Today (hari ini)

Hari apa hari ini?
“What day is today?”

Tomorrow (besok)

Besok saya sibuk.
“I’m busy tomorrow.”

Yesterday (kemarin)

Saya di bioskop kemarin.
“I was at the movies yesterday.”

Day (hari)

Hari mana lebih baik untuk Anda?
“What day is best for you?”

Week (minggu)

Saya sakit sepanjang minggu.
“I’ve been sick all week.”

Month (bulan)

Bulan depan saya di Medan untuk bekerja.
“I’ll be in Medan next month for work.”

Year (tahun)

Rumah saya dibangun bertahun-tahun lalu.
“My house was built many years ago.”

Time (waktu)

Apakah kamu punya waktu untuk berbicara sekarang?
“Do you have time to talk now?”

3. The Body

At the doctor or at the clothing store, you’ll want to be able to talk about your body. Here are the most useful Indonesian nouns to do so with.

Foot (kaki)

Kaki Anda sudah baik-baik saja belum?
“Is your foot all better now?”

Leg (kaki)

Saya terganggu dengan kaki saya.
“My leg has been bothering me.”

Head (kepala)

Ada laba-laba di kepalamu.
“You have a spider on your head.”

Arm (tangan)

Apa tangan yang satu lebih panjang dari tangan lainnya?
“Is one arm longer than the other?”

Hand (tangan)

Seorang laki-laki dengan tangan yang besar butuh sarung tangan yang besar.
“A man with big hands needs big gloves.”

Stomach (perut)

Hari ini perut saya terasa tidak enak.
“My stomach feels terrible today.”

Back (punggung)

Saya memiliki tato di punggung saya.
“I have a tattoo on my back.”

Chest (dada)

Apakah dada Anda sakit?
“Does your chest hurt?”

Waist (pinggang)

Letakkan tanganmu di pinggang.
“Put your hands on your waist.”

Size (ukuran)

Ukuran berapa sepatu ini?
“What size are these shoes?”

4. The Family

How big is your family? That might be a strange question where you come from, but in Indonesia, people love asking and answering questions about their families. If you have kids, get ready for even more questions!

Family (keluarga)

Ada berapa orang di keluarga Anda?
“How big is your family?”

Mother (ibu)

Ibu saya tinggal di Solo.
“My mother lives in Solo.”

Father (bapak)

Bapak saya orang yang baik hati.
“My father is a kind man.”

Parent (orang tua)

Orang tua saya bekerja di rumah sakit.
“My parents work at a hospital.”

Child (anak)

Apakah kamu punya anak?
“Do you have any children?”

Daughter (anak perempuan)

Anak perempuan saya bekerja sebagai supir truk.
“My daughter is a truck driver.”

Son (anak laki-laki)

Anak laki-lakinya mendapatkan penghargaan.
“Her son got an award.”

Aunt (bibi; tante)

Pernahkah dia bertemu dengan bibi saya?
“Has he met my aunt?”

Uncle (paman)

Pamanku dulu bekerja di Tiongkok.
“My uncle used to work in China.”

Husband (suami)

Pria itu bukan suami saya.
“That man is not my husband.”

Wife (istri)

Istri saya punya lebih banyak uang daripada saya.
“My wife makes more money than I do.”

5. Working Life

We briefly touched on jobs in the last section, but let’s look now and see some names for job titles in Indonesian.

Salesman (penjual)

Penjual datang ke rumah saya setiap hari.
“A salesman comes to my house every day.”

Teacher (guru)

This term is used for school and kindergarten teachers, as well as music and language teachers. In contrast, dosen refers to college or higher-education teachers.

Dengarkan pidato guru.
“Listen to the teacher’s speech.”

Teacher (pengajar)

This is a more general term for a teacher.

Apa Anda mau menjadi pengajar?
“Do you want to be a teacher?”

Manager (manajer)

Mereka punya terlalu banyak manajer.
“They have too many managers.”

Doctor (dokter)

Dokter saya tidak mengerti masalahnya.
“My doctor doesn’t understand the problem.”

Cook (koki)

Kokinya dari mana?
“Where is the cook from?”

Employee (karyawan)

Siapa karyawan terbaik?
“Who is the best employee?”

Writer (penulis)

Apakah kamu punya penulis kesukaan?
“Do you have a favorite writer?”

Driver (sopir/supir)

Loh, di mana sopirnya?
“Hey, where’s the driver?”

Cleaner (tukang bersih-bersih)

Tukang bersih-bersih akan datang ke kantor besok.
“The cleaner will arrive at the office tomorrow.”

Painter (pelukis)

Siapa pelukis lukisan itu?
“Who was the painter of that picture?”

6.School Days

Lots of foreigners are able to find jobs teaching abroad in Indonesia, and quite a few others are able to get scholarships to study abroad there, too. Whichever the case may be, words for school are important!

Book (buku)

Buku apa itu?
“What book is that?”

Pen (pulpen)

Saya punya satu pulpen merah.
“I have a red pen.”

Pencil (pensil)

Kenapa pensilmu?
“What happened to your pencil?”

University (universitas)

Saya lulus dari Universitas Indonesia di Jakarta.
“I graduated from the University of Indonesia in Jakarta.”

Notebook (buku catatan)

Apakah saya harus membawa buku catatan besok?
“Should I bring my notebook tomorrow?”

School (sekolah)

Apakah ada sekolah bagus dekat rumahmu?
“Are there good schools near your house?”

Student (mahasiswa)

Saya punya mahasiswa yang luar biasa.
“I have excellent students.”

Homework (PR [pekerjaan rumah])

Tidak ada PR hari ini.
“No homework today.”

Exam (ujian)

Kemarin ada ujian, di mana kamu?
“There was an exam yesterday, where were you?”

Scissors (gunting)

Saya kehilangan gunting lagi.
“I lost my scissors again.”

7. At the Restaurant

Indonesian restaurants abroad usually only have a sampling of the great cuisine of Indonesia. And as far as I’ve found, nobody does mi goreng properly outside the country.

Plate (piring)

Piring ini kotor.
“This plate is dirty.”

Bowl (mangkuk)

Minta satu mangkuk lagi.
“Could we have another bowl, please?”

Knife (pisau)

Pisau ini berat.
“This knife is heavy.”

Fork (garpu)

Aku menjatuhkan garpuku.
“I dropped my fork.”

Spoon (sendok)

Sendokmu untuk hidangan pencuci mulut.
“Your spoon is for dessert.”

Cup (cangkir)

Saya mau cangkir baru.
“I want a new cup.”

Teapot (teko)

Tekonya kosong.
“The teapot is empty.”

Waiter (pelayan)

Pelayan kami luar biasa.
“We have an excellent waiter.”

Order (pesanan)

Pesanannya salah.
“The order was wrong.”

Bill; check (bil)

Maaf, minta bil.
“Excuse me, the check please.”

8. Food and Drink

The plates are one thing, and the food on them is something else. Here’s what you’ll find yourself eating at restaurants in Indonesia.

Water (air)

Minta satu botol air putih.
“I want a bottle of water.”

Coffee (kopi)

Saya lebih suka es kopi.
“I prefer iced coffee.”

Tea (teh)

Teh di Indonesia biasanya manis.
“The tea in Indonesia is usually sweet.”

Beef (sapi [daging sapi])

Daging sapi lebih murah di Super Indo.
“Beef is cheaper at Super Indo market.”

Chicken (ayam)

Sudah pernah mencoba ayam geprek?
“Have you ever tried ayam geprek (a special kind of fried chicken with peppers)?”

Avocado (alpukat)

Ini pertama kali saya minum jus alpukat.
“This is my first time drinking avocado juice.”

Passionfruit (markisa)

Maaf, markisa sudah habis.
“Sorry, we’re all out of passionfruit.”

Pineapple (nanas)

Pizzanya ada ananas tidak?
“Does the pizza have pineapple?”

Fruit juice (jus buah)

Berapa harga jus buah?
“How much is fruit juice?”

Milk (susu)

Kamu ada susu segar?
“Do you have fresh milk?”

9. Mealtimes

Finishing up the food theme here, we have a couple of important names for eating meals at different times of the day.

Breakfast; to have breakfast (sarapan)

Saya biasanya tidak sarapan.
“I don’t usually eat breakfast.”

Lunch (makan siang)

Apa kamu makan untuk makan siang?
“What did you eat for lunch?”

Dinner (makan malam)

Sudah makan malam belum?
“Have you eaten dinner yet?”

Snack (kudapan)

Saya seharusnya tidak makan banyak kudapan.
“I shouldn’t eat so many snacks.”

Feast; party (pesta)

Ayo makan di pesta.
“Let’s have food at the party.”

10. Transportation

By far, the most common mode of transportation is the motorbike, followed closely by the car. You might be surprised to find how easy it is to ride a motorbike in Indonesia, but if you rent one, be sure to follow the rules of the road!

Street (jalan)

Aku tidak suka menyetir di jalan-jalan kecil.
“I don’t like driving on small streets.”

Car (mobil)

Dia tidak suka membersihkan mobilnya.
“He doesn’t like to clean his car.”

Bus (bus/bis)

Apakah kamu suka naik bis?
“Do you like riding the bus?”

Motorcycle for hire; motorbike taxi (ojek)

Apakah kamu punya nomor telepon ojek?
“Do you have the number of a motorbike taxi?”

Bus station (halte bus)

Apakah ada banyak terminal bus di kota ini?
“Are there a lot of bus stations in this city?”

Plane (pesawat)

Pesawat saya tidak sampai tepat waktu.
“My plane didn’t arrive on time.”

Bicycle (sepeda)

Di sini boleh menyewa sepeda?
“Can I rent a bicycle here?”

Motorcycle (sepeda motor)

Apakah sepeda motor mahal?
“Are motorcycles expensive?”

Taxi (taksi)

Boleh Anda membantuku memanggil taksi?
“Can you help me call a taxi?”

Train (kereta api)

Kereta api saya jam delapan.
“My train is at eight o’clock.”

Train station (stasiun kereta api)

Apakah ada stasiun kereta api di Bandung?
“Is there a train station in Bandung?”

11. Technology

Time for all the gadgets we see around us. For a lot of these words, Indonesian simply uses the same word as English, but pronounce it according to Indonesian rules. So if you don’t see “laptop” or “wi-fi,” well, congratulations, you already know them!

Television (televisi) [device]

Sekarang televisi lebih besar dan lebih murah.
“Televisions are now bigger and cheaper.”

Password (kata kunci)

Apa kata kunci WiFi-nya?
“What’s the wifi password?”

Phone (telepon / HP / ponsel)

Kamu merusakkan HPku!
“You broke my phone!”

Camera (kamera)

Kamera ini lebih murah di Jepang.
“This camera is cheaper in Japan.”

Keyboard (papan ketik)

Bagaimanacaranya mengganti papan ketik?
“How can I change the keyboard?”

Button (tombol)

Tekan tombol merah untuk keluar.
“Press the red button to quit.”

Screen (layar)

Warna-warna di layar aneh.
“The colors on the screen are strange.”

12. Around the Home

It’s good to know about different appliances in Indonesian, particularly if you’re visiting someone else’s home or considering renting a flat.

Refrigerator (kulkas)

Apakah itu makananmu yang di kulkas?
“Is this your food in the refrigerator?”

Washing machine (mesin cuci)

Mengapa Anda tidak punya mesin cuci?
“Why don’t you have a washing machine?”

Water heater (pemanas air)

Apakah pemanas air mahal?
“Is a water heater expensive?”

Fan (kipas)

Saya hanya punya sebuah kipas.
“I only have one fan.”

Air conditioner (AC)

Kapan kita bisa membeli AC yang lebih bagus?
“When can we buy a better air conditioner?”

Stove (kompor)

Ya ampun, kompornya kotor.
“Goodness, the stove is dirty.”

Table (vmeja)

Kapan kamu membersihkan meja ini?
“When did you clean this table?”

Chair (kursi)

Dia tidak punya kursi apapun di apartamennya.
“He has no chairs in his apartment.”

Shoe rack (rak sepatu)

Rak sepatu kosong.
“The shoe rack is empty.”

Door (pintu)

Apa warna pintu depannya?
“What color is the front door?”

Window (jendela)

Bagaimana kejadiannya jendela Anda pecah?
“How did your window break?”

13. Conclusion

Congratulations, you’ve just read 100 sentences (or about five book pages) of Indonesian! That’s quite an accomplishment, but you shouldn’t stop here. Instead, come back to this article as you keep practicing your Indonesian, and you’ll notice that you’ll start being able to come up with example sentences for these words with little or no effort.

This isn’t our only vocab-heavy lesson, either. Although it’s important to get input from a variety of sources when you learn any language, you can’t ignore vocabulary. At IndonesianPod101.com, you’ve come to the right place!

Are there any nouns in Indonesian you still want to know that we didn’t cover here? Let us know in the comments, and we’ll do our best to help you out.

Happy learning!

Indonesia is a beautiful place filled with wonderful people.

If you’ve ever been, you’ve probably felt the same way. But have you told them so?

Foreigners aren’t expected to make any effort to learn Indonesian, particularly not in international hotspots like Jakarta and Bali. However, learning just enough of the language to complete everyday interactions and compliment your hosts is a very doable goal that will make your time in Indonesia much more special.

Further than that, though, you also need to learn about the culture of Indonesian compliments. How do things work? What might be considered going too far, and what might be expected of you in various interactions?

Learning this information and using it well will not only grease the wheels of your social interactions—motorcycle rental prices will go down, extra fried bananas will appear on your plate, and so on—but it will also make you fit in more during longer stays, so much so that people will feel comfortable with you and treat you as a social equal, not an “other.”

If that sounds like a good goal to you, follow along!

Table of Contents

1. Complimenting Looks
2. Complimenting in the Office
3. Complimenting Achievements
4. Complimenting Skills
5. Sincere Compliments and Responses
6. Conclusion

1. Complimenting Looks

The first thing you probably think of complimenting is a person’s looks. In the United States, people compliment each other’s looks all the time.

One huge cultural difference is that men complimenting women, or vice-versa, can actually be seen in Indonesia as far more forward than it is in the United States.

Men and women who want to avoid flirting accidentally should keep their Indonesian compliments simple and away from appearance.

• Mantap bro!
  “Keep it up, man!”

The word bro has fully entered the Indonesian language. People know it’s slangy and English, but where it may bring to mind frat boys on college campuses for English speakers, it simply means “man” in Indonesian.

But let’s say you do want to be forward. Something as crude as catcalling is strongly frowned upon in Indonesia, but outright flirting, of course, still happens among younger people.

• Kamu kelihatan bugar!
  “Looking fit!”

In Indonesia, men and women don’t normally wear tight-fitting clothes or show off their bodies. If you say this to someone, it means that you’re paying attention to what’s normally kept hidden.

• Cantik sekali!
  “Beautiful!” (to a woman)
• Kamu lucu! (or just Lucu!)
  “You’re cute!”

Note that this one is rather ambiguous and it’s quite possible for it to simply mean “funny.” “Cute” in English has a bit of a flirty connotation, but around most of Asia, that connotation isn’t always attached.

• Aku merasa aman ketika bersamamu.
  “I feel safe when I’m with you.” (to a man)

Men in Indonesia are expected to be providers for and protectors of women, and so when a woman says that she feels safe, it means he’s doing the right thing.

2. Complimenting in the Office

Not too many Indonesian companies hire foreign staff, but it might very well transpire that your company from overseas opens up an office or a partnership with an office in Indonesia.

Lots of Indonesians in international companies speak English relatively well, at least in Jakarta. But whether you have another shared language or not, complimenting the work of your Indonesian coworkers in Indonesian will be a very welcome surprise.

When it comes to the workplace, you could start by simply saying that you’re pleased with the results of the work.

• Semuanya berhasil dengan sempurna.
  “Everything worked out perfectly.”
• Proyek ini sudah baik sekali.
  “This project is already very good.”

However, another aspect of Indonesian culture is the desire, at least professionally, to never rest on one’s laurels. Therefore, it’s a good idea to show that you’re satisfied with the work by encouraging new work of the same standard in the future.

• Tetaplah membuat kemajuan!
  “Keep making progress!”
• Kerja bagus, maju terus dengan kliennya!
  “Good job, keep making progress with the client!”
• Luar biasa, semangat terus!
  “Outstanding, keep the pace strong!”

Some of these Indonesian compliments are easier than others to break down! The root maju means “progress.” In the first phrase, it came with the affixes ke…an to specifically mean the noun form. In the second one, the root was left bare.

That’s a very typical colloquial shortening, and you can seem more down-to-earth with colleagues in the same organizational level if you leave off some affixes like that.

The word terus is also very useful, as it means “straight ahead” or “continue.” As you can imagine, it’s also quite useful when giving directions in Indonesian.

3. Complimenting Achievements

Much like the last section, the overall sentiment for achievements is “Keep it up!”

You can also use the word semoga (“hope for” ) to outline a specific outcome, fitting for the situation. Suppose someone had a good job interview?

• Luar biasa! Semoga kamu mendapatkan pekerjaannya.
  “Outstanding! I hope you get the job.”

Congratulations may also be in order if we’re talking about a major life event.

• Selamat atas pernikahanmu.
  “Congratulations on your wedding.”

Here’s another chance to bust out specific vocabulary so that you can say what, in particular, you liked about something.

• Bunga-bunganya indah sekali!
  “The flowers were gorgeous!”

And finally, in order to compliment someone who’s working very hard at school, you can return to the word semangat.

• Kamu pintar banget! Semangat!
  “You’re super smart! Keep it up!”

Semangat is hard to translate in a Western context, but it makes perfect sense to people from Eastern cultures. It’s an all-purpose “Let’s go!” “Keep it up!” “Yeah!” kind of encouraging word, meant to give energy and spirit to whoever’s on the receiving end.

4. Complimenting Skills

If you ever walk around a university town or near a university campus in Indonesia in the evening, you might notice that lots of people are singing or playing music out in public with their friends. This seems to happen more in Indonesia than it does in the West.

Your high-quality Indonesian skills will almost certainly land you in a music circle at some point, though of course, there will be no pressure to play. Here’s the perfect place for a well-timed compliment about the music.

• Saya mau bermain gitar dengan sebaik kamu.
  “I want to play the guitar as well as you.”

Is someone a good conversationalist over dinner? Compliment their knowledge.

• Kamu tahu banyak tentang ….
  “You know a lot about…”

Let’s now say that you’ve stopped into a warung and gotten a plate of nasi goreng telur (“fried rice with egg” ) that was so good you want to write home about it. Compliments to the chef are unexpected yet very warmly appreciated in Indonesia. Here’s a phrase you can use to offer the chef a compliment in Indonesian.

• Wah, ini enak banget!
  “Wow, this is super-tasty!”

Here, we’re using wah as a way to say “wow,” but the waduh in the title of this article works just as well. These little nuances are very important for coming across as authentic!

The word banget here is another intensifier just like sangat or sekali. It’s rather informal, though, so using this phrase in a fancy restaurant to impress the waiter might make them stifle a chuckle. Save it for the warung.

5. Sincere Compliments and Responses

One thing that we can’t stress enough here is to be genuine when you give compliments to others. This is true for every culture, but particularly so for Indonesian.

Indonesian communication relies a great deal on what’s unsaid. Failing to give expected compliments is one thing, but when the situation doesn’t match what you’re saying, a compliment can fall flat.

Imagine you’re back in that host family’s house and you’re trying to choke down something bony and gristly. Obviously, they’ll be able to tell you don’t like it, and you’re not expected to immediately love every bit of Indonesian cuisine.

If you say something like…

• Makanan ini terbaik di Indonesia, Bu.
  “This meal is the best in all of Indonesia.”

…then it’s painfully obvious that you’re lying.

All you need to do is be honest and say “I’m not quite used to it yet.”

• Saya belum terbiasa dengan makanan Indonesia.
  “I’m not yet used to Indonesian food.”

Direct and clear, shifting the responsibility on yourself and making yourself humble in front of your guests. Perfect!

6. Conclusion

How great would it feel to get complimented in Indonesian by native speakers?

To be honest, you’ll probably hear one last compliment all the time:

• Bahasa Indonesiamu sudah lancar!
  “Your Indonesian is already fluent!”

Some people can start hearing beautiful words like that after just a couple of months. Others give up and never get there.

You’re probably already aware of how easy it can be to learn Indonesian through lots of examples. Did you know that with IndonesianPod101.com, you can get lessons in Indonesian with transcripts in both Indonesian and English?

By listening to the lesson, studying the transcript, and listening again a few more times, you’ll build that base of vocabulary and grammar that you need to be a comfortable, confident speaker of Indonesian.

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Getting angry in Indonesian is a difficult subject to talk about.

Indonesians are, by and large, well-known for not getting very angry. The country often seems to tourists like a literal land of smiles.

A very important word in Indonesian is santai, meaning “relaxed” or “at ease.” If you’re stressed or frustrated, and very clearly not santai, then you’re probably going to alienate others.

How about on TV, though?

Have you ever seen Indonesian sinetron soap operas? They’re filled with angry outbursts and furious rants at the world.

So even though you might not see or hear it much in real life, Indonesian angry words and phrases definitely exist. If you want to take your Indonesian to the next level, you’d better learn them.

Table of Contents

1. Discussing Your Angry Feelings
2. Telling Others to Scram
3. Sending Warning Signals
4. Ordering Others Around
5. Play the Blame Game
6. Everybody Calm Down
7. Put Up Your Dukes
8. Say You’re Sorry
9. Conclusion

1. Discussing Your Angry Feelings

When you want to talk about your feelings in Indonesian, you can use the word merasa, meaning “to feel.” The root rasa by itself means “feeling” or “flavor,” so when you add the verbal prefix to it, it describes experiencing such a feeling.

If you haven’t yet, take a look at our vocabulary resource for talking about feelings in Indonesian.

As a cultural note, Indonesians are alright with talking about angry feelings, but actually going beyond that to blaming others or even rebuking them is rarely seen.

This is the most basic way to say you’re angry in Indonesian:

• Aku merasa marah.
  “I feel angry.”

To tell the truth, you don’t even need merasa. This works too:

• Aku marah.
  “I’m angry.”

That’s definitely a less formal way of putting things, but it’s not rude either. It’s simply a shortened version of the first phrase, just in the same way that the Indonesian verb adalah doesn’t always need to be explicitly said.

The Indonesian language allows us to be a little more creative with that root word marah. We can turn it into verbs, like so:

• Aku memarahi dia.
  “I was angry with him.”

The word memarahi (“to anger” ) is a little bit formal, so in colloquial speech and writing, you’ll hear the following sentence structure which is rather similar to the English version.

• Itu membuat aku marah.
  “That makes me angry.”

You can also come up with questions and explanations for this feeling, depending on how much detail you want to go into. It all comes from that single word!

• Mengapa kamu begitu marah?
  “Why are you so angry?”
• Aku marah karena kamu memukulku.
  “I’m angry because you hit me.”

Interestingly, there are only a couple of synonyms for “angry” in Indonesian. Marah covers pretty much everything. There are some words that come from Malay, such as bergelora or geram, but those are totally unused in everyday language.

2. Telling Others to Scram

This is one of the few times it’s reasonably acceptable to raise your voice and publicly get angry at someone in Indonesia. Just like in every country, there are some people who will harass others and refuse to take no for an answer.

If there’s somebody being pushy, you can use this first phrase. The actual feeling conveyed is going to be totally different with a different inflection. Speak seriously and firmly just like you would in English.

• Aku tidak mau.
  “I don’t want (it).”
• Pergilah dari sini!
  “Get out of here!”
• Aku tak mau lagi mendengar keluh kesahmu!
  “I don’t want to hear you complain!”

3. Sending Warning Signals

• Awas kau!
  “Watch out, you!”

The word awas usually appears on warning signs. Kau is another way to say kamu, and it’s a very familiar variant. If you don’t know a person well, calling them kau is pretty weird and perhaps even insulting.

• Sini, aku layani!
  “I’m ready to fight!”

Melayani is simply the verb “to fight” in Indonesian, and so this is a way to say “I’m ready for action.”

• Sudah selesai?
  “Are you done talking?”
• Sudah kubilang berkali-kali.
  “I’ve already said it several times.”

This is an interesting feature of Indonesian called “reduplication.” The word kali by itself means “time,” as in “one time, two times.” If we add the ber- prefix and reduplicate it, it gives the word a sense of “countless times,” including the implication of exasperation.

• Cukup! or Sudahlah!
  “That’s enough!”

The word sudah fills several grammatical functions in Indonesian. It literally means “already,” and so it functions often as a past tense marker. Here, adding the -lah suffix shows that we’ve really had it, and that there’s absolutely nothing else we want to hear!

• Aku tidak akan memaafkanmu.
  “I’m not going to forgive you.”

In Indonesian culture, “forgive and forget” is the way things get done. If you come out and directly say that you’re not going to forgive what someone else has done, that might scare them straight.

As luck would have it, Indonesian has an idiom about getting angry that’s awfully close to what’s said in English.

• Awas, dia akan naik darah.
  “Watch out, he’s going to blow up.”

Naik means “to raise” and darah means “blood.” “Raising your blood” seems quite similar to “raising your temper,” or perhaps something about high blood pressure. In either case, it should be easy to remember.

4. Ordering Others Around

We’ve already seen how, in Indonesian, you can make a verb into a polite or neutral request by adding -lah to the end.

• Berdirilah.
  “Stand up, please.”

Now is not the time for polite requests. Now is the time for demands.

By simply saying the verb in a forceful tone of voice, you’re communicating exactly the same thing you would with a request, just much ruder.

Here are a couple more great Indonesian angry phrases—normally if you’re shouting at someone like this, there are only a couple of things that you’re likely to say.

• Tutup mulutmu!
  “Shut your mouth!”
• Jangan bicara! Dengar!
  “Don’t talk! Listen!”
• Dengar kataku!
  “Listen to what I’m saying!”

5. Play the Blame Game

Anger usually has a reason behind it. With these phrases, you’ll let people know exactly what they did to cause your frustration.

If you say these strongly enough, then they might feel so bad that they back down and apologize by themselves.

• Kamu tidak pernah menghargaiku.
  “You never appreciate me.”
• Semuanya adalah kesalahanmu.
  “Everything is your fault.”

Now here are some good rhetorical questions. If you hear these, there’s not really any explanation you can give—just try and ride out the storm.

• Mengapa kau begitu?
  “Why are you like this?”
• Apa maksud semua ini?
  “What’s the meaning of this?”

6. Everybody Calm Down

There’s one last chance for things not to get crazy. When tempers are flaring, you can use a couple of well-timed phrases to remind everyone to take deep breaths and maybe set aside the issue.

The word for “calm” is tenang. When you’re trying to calm somebody down who’s upset, especially if you don’t know them, you should absolutely use polite pronouns when you address them.

• Tenang dulu, Pak!
  “Take it easy, mister!”

In Indonesian culture, offering a refreshment is one of the most basic fundamentals of hospitality. If there’s a water cooler nearby or even an unopened bottle, you can offer that to the affronted party.

• Ini diminum dulu, ya.
  “Here, drink this.”

There are a few more tricks going on with language here. The word dulu literally means “first,” and so by saying “drink first” or “calm down first,” you’re acknowledging that their complaint is valid and that you want to hear about it—once they’re in a better state of mind.

• Oke, saya dengar.
  “Alright, I’m listening.”
• Saya mengerti ada kesalahan.
  “I understand there’s a mistake here.”

Again, these phrases make it easy for the other person to feel respected and valid, and that takes a lot of the force out of somebody’s anger.

7. Put Up Your Dukes

Now it’s time for the real meat of this topic: the insults. You couldn’t calm down the situation, so instead you’ve got to bring it down to their level.

It might be surprising, but Indonesian doesn’t have an incredibly rich variety of swear words. There are some that we won’t print here because they’re too vulgar in English. But the list as a whole isn’t actually too long.

The most common insult in Indonesian might surprise you.

• Anjing!
  “Dog!”

That’s…not really an insult in English. Maybe in a movie about pirates? But not these days. It’s vaguely rude, sure, but it’s just not used!

Not so in Indonesian. As a majority-Islam country, Indonesian people believe dogs are unclean. You won’t see many pet dogs or stray dogs in Indonesia for that reason. And that’s why calling somebody a dog is taken so seriously. In some situations, you might even see it self-censored, like anj*ng.

• Anak haram!
  “Illegitimate child!”

In Indonesian culture, specifically in Islam, having a child out of wedlock is a strong taboo. Therefore, calling somebody an anak haram is extremely serious as it insults their entire family.

• Bajingan!
  “Lowlife!”

Literally, bajingan is a street criminal, a petty thief, or a pickpocket. Crimes like that don’t happen often in Indonesia, and people are likely to take offense if you call them this word.

The rest of these are pretty standard and interchangeable—insults that work in English and Indonesian. As you can see, these normally wouldn’t be used in complete sentences.

• Gila kau!
  “You’re crazy!”
• Sialan!
  “You’re trash!”
• Bodoh sekali!
  “So stupid!”
• Kurang ajar!
  “You’re losing it!”

One thing to note here, on a social level: Learning insults in other languages is a lot of fun.

But that’s only because you lack the social upbringing to really know what it feels like to be called sialan or kurang ajar. You might know intellectually that they’re serious words, but you don’t really hold that feeling in your heart.

So the advice here is to rarely, if ever, joke around with insults or angry words in another language. Even if you’ve been immersed for years, all it takes is just one mistake for people to think you’re too touchy and rude to be friends with.

By the way, if you’re wondering “Is that it?” then, no, it’s not. There are other things that go beyond the severity of what we’ve discussed here, but they’re too obscene to print (in this article, at least).

Keep your eyes peeled for a special members-only offering of the juiciest Indonesian curse words, here at IndonesianPod101!

8. Say You’re Sorry

So did you end up going too far? It’s probably going to be alright. Indonesians are tolerant and forgiving of people’s mistakes, and you should definitely learn to be the same if you want to fit in.

In fact, we have a whole lesson on how to say sorry in Indonesian, so we won’t repeat everything here. But imagine yourself all heated up after having traded insults back and forth.

• Aku minta maaf.
  “I’m very sorry.”
• Aku salah.
  “I was wrong.”
• Aku tidak akan melakukan ini lagi.
  “I won’t do this again.”
• Aku minta maaf karena membuat kamu marah.
  “I’m sorry for making you mad.”
• Aku harap kamu bisa memaafkanku.
  “I hope you can forgive me.”

If you didn’t screw things up too badly, and your apology was genuine, then you may be lucky enough to hear these phrases.

• Ayo kita lupakan saja.
  “Let’s just forget about it.”
• Tidak apa-apa.
  “It’s alright.”

9. Conclusion

Hopefully by this point, you’ve gotten a satisfying glimpse into the dark side of Indonesian anger. Keep in mind that so much of how these words are used and received has to do with the tone of voice.

If you turn on a TV show (or more likely, a web series, thanks to broadcast regulations), you’ll probably hear words like this thrown around very frequently between friends.

You have to read the room and know your audience well if you want to speak like them—and that goes far beyond just insults.

At IndonesianPod101, we give you that extra insight into Indonesian culture to give you a sense of understanding. With our lessons, articles, and flagship podcast, you’ll naturally learn what’s right and wrong to say, every time.

Before you go, drop us a comment and let us know which of these Indonesian angry phrases is your favorite. What are common angry phrases in your language? We look forward to hearing from you!

There’s a lot to be said for being able to make good small talk in another language. Conversations can start up and keep going indefinitely with the right people.

But what can you talk about? Perhaps you’ve tried talking about the weather and didn’t end up getting terribly far.

Or perhaps you’ve already met someone in Indonesia and gotten along with them, but you don’t know what to talk about whenever you hang out.

When something big happens in their life, you’ve got the perfect opening. For example, wishing them a happy birthday in Indonesian is a good way to open up new conversation topics (like what they want to do during this next year of their life, if they have special plans, etc.).

Well-wishes, or ucapan in Indonesian, are an important part of any culture. Knowing the right thing to say, whether it’s good news or bad, is the cornerstone of any interesting conversation.

In this article, you’ll learn about phrases of congratulations in Indonesian, as well as how to offer Indonesian condolences when they’re needed. Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

1. Birthdays
2. Holidays
3. Christmas
4. Babies
5. Graduation
6. Weddings and Anniversaries
7. Bad News in General
8. Good News in General
9. Conclusion

1. Birthdays

Indonesians definitely celebrate birthdays, meaning that wishing someone a happy birthday in Indonesian is much appreciated. The word for “birthday” is hari kelahiran (literally “day of birth” when translated), but instead of using that construction, there’s a set phrase you should use.

• Selamat ulang tahun!
  “Happy Birthday!”

In very formal contexts, like when an important person is celebrating their birthday as a large public event, the word dirgahayu is used. Generally, dirgahayu is used for Indonesian Independence Day—so it has the same connotation as the birth of a country!

If you’re writing a card, you should also include some of these excellent phrases for wishing long life, happiness, and success.

• Semoga permohonanmu terkabul.
  “May your wishes be granted.”
• Semoga selalu sejahtera.
  “Keep staying prosperous.”
• Semoga panjang umur.
  “May your life be long.”

In English, we have one typical birthday song that everybody knows (perhaps two, if you count He’s a Jolly Good Fellow). In Indonesian, though, people don’t really sing the song. Only in the case of celebrating a foreigner’s birthday would a song be sung, and then it would just probably be the same tune as the English Happy Birthday to You.

2. Holidays

Wishing someone a happy holiday in Indonesian can be a bit uncertain if you’re new to the country.

For example, when you’re living in Indonesia and everything starts closing up early during the holy month of Ramadan, if you’re not a Muslim you may not be clear on how to wish other people a “Happy Ramadan.” To be honest, it’s not really done with the kind of fervor that, say, Americans tend to use when they wish every stranger in sight “Merry Christmas.”

That said, a holiday greeting in Indonesian is normally appreciated. Here are a couple of examples:

• Selamat menunaikan ibadah puasa.
  “Wishing you a blessed Ramadan.”
• Selamat Idul Fitri. Minal aidin wal faidzin.
  “Happy Eid Mubarak. Please forgive any wrongdoing.”

These two phrases can function as a sort of conversation, in that if somebody greets you with one, you can reply with the other.

From dawn to dusk, Indonesian Muslims fast during Ramadan. As the word for “fast” is puasa, you can say Selamat puasa! to others to wish them a happy fasting period.

After the month of Ramadan is over, the fasting period is broken with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr, or as it’s known in Indonesian, Hari Raya Idul Fitri. During this time, there are public holidays known as Lebaran, where everybody takes time off to be with family.

3. Christmas

When it gets past November, the Christmas spirit is alive and well in big shopping centers and near churches. (You’ll get past the incongruity of seeing Christmas trees next to palm trees.) But because most people you meet aren’t likely to celebrate Christmas, it’s a good idea to refrain from sending out season’s greetings to ordinary people on the street.

With people you know better, you can certainly tell them Merry Christmas in Indonesian:

• Selamat Hari Natal!
  “Merry Christmas!”

In a casual context, the ubiquitous word selamat can be shortened to simply met.

Lastly, for a holiday greeting in Indonesian that says both Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in Indonesian, you can do exactly what we do in English:

• Selamat Hari Natal dan Tahun Baru!
  “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!”

The New Year isn’t the largest holiday of the year, by far, but you’ll definitely hear fireworks. People celebrate all through the country. If you can, try to get up to the top of a building in a residential area and watch the fireworks go off all around you. A great way to ring in the new year!

4. Babies

The arrival of a new baby is a joyous time for anyone. In Indonesia, the equivalent of a “baby shower” can take many forms. In some places, it’s held in the seventh month of a woman’s pregnancy, and is a time for a woman’s closest friends and relatives to give their blessings.

In other places, there’s no ceremony until after the baby is born, at which time they’re welcomed into the world with an enormous feast and party.

No matter what the ceremony looks like, you can’t go wrong by wishing the mother or the father congratulations with this phrase:

• Selamat atas kelahiran bayi!
  “Congratulations on the birth of a new baby!”

Naturally, you can be more specific with your Indonesian congratulations by being more descriptive with your words.

• Selamat atas kelahiran sosok yang begitu menakjubkan.
  “Congratulations on finding something so magical.”
• Nikmatilah petualangan sebagai orang tua!
  “Enjoy your journey into parenthood!”
• Aku sangat bahagia dengan kelahiran si kecil dalam keluarga kalian.
  “I’m overjoyed at the arrival of the little one in your family.”

A quick note on Indonesian usage: That little word si is actually kind of like a title. Here it’s being used in a very cute way to say “the little one,” but it could just as easily fit before any adjective: si gemuk, meaning “the plump one,” or si manis, meaning “the sweet one,” for example.

5. Graduation

More and more students are graduating from Indonesia’s top schools every year. But that doesn’t mean graduating isn’t a big deal. If you know someone who’s graduating (or if you yourself are), then you should definitely study up with these phrases.

• Selamat wisuda!
  “Happy graduation!”

In a card, you can send these more formal wishes for the future:

• Aku bangga denganmu.
  “I’m proud of you.”
• Saya berharap kamu selalu sukses.
  “I hope you achieve success.”

The word berharap here implies both a hope and an expectation—so no pressure!

• Kamu sudah bekerja keras untuk lulus.
  “You’ve worked hard for this graduation.”

One interesting thing is that, since a lot of young people are studying English or speak it very well, plenty of Indonesians will just use English to congratulate each other on graduating. It’s almost seen as more formal than Indonesian.

6. Weddings and Anniversaries

If you’re lucky enough to be invited to an Indonesian wedding, you should make your best effort to be present. Unlike in the West, where you can send a gift or card if you’re unable to make it, people in Indonesia generally give out invitations to their close friends with the expectation that they’ll be able to come.

There are two very common wedding congratulations or set phrases in Indonesian.

• Selamat ulang tahun pernikahan!
  “Happy Wedding Day!”
• Semoga bahagia sampai tua.
  “Wish You Happiness Until Old Age”

Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue in English, but it will be very well appreciated, particularly if you know the bride or groom well.

In addition to these set phrases, you can use some of these example sentences to create your own more personalized Indonesian wedding congratulations.

• Selamat, dan harapan yang indah untuk kalian berdua di hari pernikahan ini.
  “Congratulations, and warm wishes to both of you on this wedding day.”
• Selamat untuk kawanku! Semoga selalu bahagia dan keluargamu sehat.
  “Congratulations my friend! I wish you happiness and good health for your family.”

As many weddings are held within religious traditions, it’s very common to send spiritual blessings or doa, which are “prayers,” during a wedding as well.

• Aku berdoa agar Tuhan memberkati kalian berdua dengan pernikahan yang indah.
  “I wish to God to bless the two of you with a beautiful wedding day.”
• Semoga Allah memberi berkah kepadamu dan atasmu serta mengumpulkan kamu berdua dalam kebaikan.
  “May Allah bring blessings upon you and gather the two of you together in kindness.”

Those are just two examples of the highly formal style of language you can expect for doa (and in Islamic weddings, these prayers are often delivered in Arabic outright). Many people actually consult religious scholars to provide them with prayers that fit the situation, and the bride and groom, exactly.

7. Bad News in General

Not every life event is all sunshine and roses. If somebody’s going through a tough time or has received bad news, you should extend some heartfelt words of sympathy.

Many Indonesians use the word “sorry” in English (some spell it sori). To foreign ears, this can sound rather dismissive, but it’s not rude. Even for relatively serious things, you might hear someone say sori ya but mean it with respect and gravity.

However, this is somewhere where you can’t totally rely on simple set phrases. If somebody thinks that you’re not sincere in your words—just reciting something memorized—then it’ll hurt more than if you hadn’t said anything. And as a foreigner learning Indonesian, using just your own language might seem like a bit of a cop-out.

So keep that in mind as you look at these following phrases, and if you ever have to use them, do your best to speak more specifically about the actual situation.

1- Death or Funerals

Funerals are a bit complicated here, as they’re highly personal events that are still celebrated in literally hundreds of different ways throughout Indonesia. Remember, the Indonesian language, as a national language, is only about two or three generations old, and cultural roots go way deeper than that.

First, the basic phrase for expressing sorrow is turut berduka.

• Turut berduka atas ayahmu.
  “I’m very sorry about your father.”

When giving condolences in Indonesian, it’s common to refer to someone’s death in a sensitive way, just as in English we might say that someone “passed away.”

• Saya sangat kaget mendengar bahwa dia telah tiada.
  “I am very sorry to hear that she has passed away (literally: that she is not here).”

The most common condolence messages for funerals in Indonesia take the form of reminders about the person’s afterlife. Although not all Indonesians are devoutly religious, the vast majority believe strongly in a creator and an afterlife, and these thoughts are very comforting for someone who has lost a loved one.

• Semoga Tuhan memberinya tempat yang terbaik.
  “May God give them the finest place.”
• Dia akan mendapatkan tempat terbaik di surga.
  “He will receive the finest place in heaven.”
• Ingatlah kebahagiannya untuk bertemu dengan Sang Pencipta.
  “Think of her happiness in meeting the Creator.”

Aside from that, condolences often come with gifts of flowers. You should deliver them personally if possible, along with words like these:

• Tetap kuat dan ingat bahwa kamu memiliki banyak orang yang peduli denganmu.
  “Remain strong and remember that you have a lot of people who care about you.”
• Kami selalu mendoakanmu.
  “We’re always praying for you.”

2- Poor Health

If you were suffering from an illness, wouldn’t it feel great to know that your friends and family were thinking of you? It’s always a great gesture of kindness to send nice thoughts to someone who’s feeling under the weather, whether it’s serious or just an ordinary bug.

First, the all-purpose phrase:

• Semoga cepat sembuh!
  “Get well soon!”

But when you’re really feeling awful (think day three or four of tropical fever), the concept of “getting well” might seem awfully far away. In that case, you’ll want to hear encouraging messages of support, both from the perspective of friendship and of spirituality.

• Jangan merasa sendiri. Aku akan selalu bersamamu.
  “Don’t feel alone. I’m always with you.”
• Jangan pernah menyerah!
  “Never give up!”
• Doaku selalu untukmu.
  “My prayers are always with you.”

10. Good News in General

And in order to end on a happy note, let’s look at just a few more quick phrases you can use for any kind of catch-all good stuff. Someone’s cat had kittens? Promotion’s coming up? These are perfect responses.

• Keren!
  “Awesome!”
• Bagus sekali!
  “Fantastic!”

What about when somebody’s about to take on a challenge, or they’re not sure whether the outcome will be good or bad? In that case, you can quite literally “wish them success” with this phrase:

• Semoga sukses!
  “Best of luck!”

11. Conclusion

Now that you’re armed with all of these great phrases, you should be able to connect with other people on a totally different level than before.

Seriously, there’s a big difference between letting some foreigner know about your upcoming graduation and getting into an interesting conversation with them about it. If you can make yourself into a foreigner who’s capable of having that kind of conversation, your life in Indonesia will be all the richer for it.

I hope you enjoyed learning about Indonesian life event messages, and that you took away something valuable from this article. Before you go, let us know how you feel about holding conversations in Indonesian using these phrases! Are there any life event messages you still want to know about? We look forward to hearing from you. 🙂

Right now, in just five minutes, you can give your Indonesian vocabulary a super-size boost.

In just one regular-sized article, we’ve prepared for you a fantastic overview of popular Indonesian adjectives, plus the top 100 Indonesian adjectives you need for any situation. Looking for an example of Indonesian adjectives at work? We have plenty of those, too.

With the isolating grammar of the Indonesian language, simply reading a lot of example sentences with these popular Indonesian adjectives is a great way to naturally assimilate syntax and vocabulary.

Table of Contents

1. A Quick Overview of Indonesian Adjectives
2. List of the Top 100 Indonesian Adjectives
3. Modifying Adjectives
4. Conclusion

1. A Quick Overview of Indonesian Adjectives

If you haven’t already realized it by now, the way adjectives work in Indonesian grammar couldn’t be easier. The words simply don’t change at all. The adjectives simply come directly after the noun phrase, the opposite of where they go in English.

There’s also no word to directly connect an adjective to a noun like “is” can be used in English. You either directly say the adjective or use a ber-verb.

• Gedung ini besar.
  “This building is big.”
• Kopi saya berwarna hitam.
  “My coffee is colored black.” (My coffee has-the-color-of black.)

However, one potential downside of this is that, because there’s no such thing as “adjective endings” or declension in Indonesian, it may be hard at first to figure out which words in the sentence are adjectives to begin with.

Take a sentence like this for example:

• Saya bekerja di kapal besar.
  “I work on a big boat.”

The adjective there is besar, meaning “big,” but that just has to be memorized.

Fortunately, the more example sentences you read and internalize, the better your sense will be for how adjectives work syntactically in Indonesian, and the more you’ll start to remember as well.

Ready to learn Indonesian describing words? Let’s get started with our list of the top Indonesian adjectives.

2. List of the Top 100 Indonesian Adjectives

1- Describing Colors

The most basic adjectives you can learn in any language are the words for different colors. For some reason, a lot of textbooks leave out “gray” and “brown”—two of the most common colors anywhere! Here’s our list of the Indonesian top adjectives for colors.

1. putih – white

• Tas ini putih atau abu-abu?
  “Is this bag white or gray?”

2. hitam – black

• Matanya warna hitam.
  “Her eyes are black.”

3. merah – red

• Langitnya merah, dan aku takut.
  “The sky is red, and I’m scared.”

4. biru – blue

• Anda harus membawa pulpen biru atau hitam.
  “You have to bring a blue or black pen.”

5. hijau – green

• Di sana semua pohon hijau.
  “All the trees are green there.”

6. kuning – yellow

• Apakah kamu suka ayam kuning?
  “Do you like yellow chicken (a Javanese dish)?”

7. coklat – brown

• Rambutku berwarna coklat.
  “My hair is brown.”

8. merah muda – pink

• Aku tidak suka pakai pakaian merah muda.
  “I don’t like wearing pink clothes.”

9. abu-abu – gray; ash-colored

• Waktu hujan, langit berwarna abu-abu.
  “When it rains, the sky is gray.”

10. oranye – orange

• Jeruk sunkist biasanya berwarna oranye.
  “Orange juice is usually orange.”

2- Describing Taste

Indonesians love flavorful food. Go into any restaurant, from the smallest warungs to the biggest restos, and you’ll find people who are experts at making food taste great, making it essential to know words for taste when you learn Indonesian adjectives.

11. asin – salty

• Orang Tiongkok suka telur asin.
  “Chinese people like salted eggs.”

12. manis – sweet

• Kamu suka es teh manis?
  “Do you like sweet iced tea?”

13. hambar – bland

• Nasi putih hambar.
  “White rice is bland.”

14. segar – fresh

• Di mana susu segarnya?
  “Where is the fresh milk?”

15. busuk – rotten

• Duren di koper Anda busuk!
  “The durian in your suitcase is rotten!”

16. pahit – bitter

• Pare rasanya pahit.
  “Bitter gourd tastes bitter.”

17. enak – delicious

• Mie goreng di warung ini enak!
  “The fried noodles at this restaurant are delicious!”

18. lezat – delicious (used in advertising)

• Super lezaaat!
  “Super tastyyyyy!”

19. sedap – delicious (used in advertising)

• Ada Mie Sedap di sini?
  “Do you have Mie Sedap (an instant noodle brand) here?”

20. pedas – spicy

• Saya tidak suka makanan pedas.
  “I don’t like spicy food.”

Note that for pedas, you may hear it pronounced and written as pedes, an alternate usage that comes from Javanese influence.

3- Describing Personality

Now let’s look at some ways to describe different people, outside of what they may look like. When you learn Indonesian adjectives, knowing how to talk about personality is of great importance, as in any language.

21. baik hati – warmhearted

Pak Rektor adalah orang baik hati.
“The university president is a warmhearted person.”

22. rendah hati – humble

• Lebih baik rendah hati hari ini.
  “It’s better to be humble today.”

23. sombong – arrogant

• Mengapa dia sangat sombong?
  “Why is he so arrogant?”

24. pintar – clever

• Orang muda masa kini sangat pintar.
  “Young people today are very clever.”

25. jelek – rotten; no-good

• Kain baju ini kualitasnya jelek. Baru dua hari sudah robek.
  “The cloth quality of this shirt is bad. It’s only been two days, and it’s ripped already.”

26. nakal – naughty; badly behaved

• Anak-anak di sekolah tidak nakal.
  “Children at school are not naughty.”

27. egois – selfish; egotistical

• Dia tidak suka menyumbang uang karena dia egois.
  “She doesn’t like donating money because she’s selfish.”

28. malas – lazy

• Jangan malas! Ayo pergi!
  “Don’t be lazy! Let’s go!”

29. mager – lazy (slang word meaning “too lazy to move.” )

• A: Kok tidak ke KTV?
  B: Mager sih.
• A: “How come you’re not going to karaoke?”
  B: “Too lazy to move, y’know?”

30. sopan – polite

• Kamu harus sopan waktu kamu berbicara.
  “You have to be polite when you speak.”

4- Describing Feelings

When anybody asks “How are you?” you can either give a neutral response such as baik, meaning “good,” or be a little more exact. Be honest about your feelings in Indonesian!

31. capek – exhausted; tired (note the possible alternate spelling cape)

• Saya bekerja, terus capek.
  “I work, and then I get tired.”

32. sedih – sad

• Ini novel sedih.
  “This is a sad book.”

33. senang – happy

• Saya senang sekali bisa bertemu denganmu.
  “I’m very happy to meet with you.”

34. bersemangat – excited; energetic

• Apakah kamu bersemangat hari ini?
  “Are you excited today?”

35. cemas – nervous

• Jangan cemas, hanya interview saja.
  “Don’t be nervous, it’s just an interview.”

36. santai – relaxed; calm

• Sulit santai kalau dikejar tenggat.
  “It is hard to be relaxed/calm when you’re being chased by a deadline.”

37. tenang – patient; calm

• Mengapa dia masih tenang?
  “How come he’s still calm?”

38. marah – angry; furious

• Saya akan menjadi marah.
  “I’m going to get angry.”

39. mabuk – queasy

• Apakah kamu merasa mabuk?
  “Do you feel queasy?”

40. sakit – sick; in pain

• Mata saya sakit.
  “My eyes hurt.”

41. nyaman – comfortable

• Helm saya terlalu kecil, jadi tidak nyaman.
  “My helmet is too small, so it’s not comfortable.”

5- Describing Appearance (People)

Let’s not be rude here, but you’ve always got to be able to talk about what people are like in addition to how they act.

42. kaya – rich

• Tidak ada banyak orang kaya di kota tua.
  “There aren’t a lot of rich people in the old city.”

43. tinggi – tall

• Adik saya semakin tinggi setiap hari.
  “My little brother is taller every day.”

44. pendek – short

• Orang pendek biasanya tidak suka main bola basket.
  “Short people usually don’t like basketball.”

45. rajin – studious; focused

• Saya tidak pernah melihat mahasiswa rajin seperti kamu.
  “I’ve never seen a student so focused like you are.”

46. miskin – poor

• Ada banyak orang miskin di negara ini.
  “There are a lot of poor people in this country.”

47. muda – young

• Semangat waktu muda habis waktu tua.
  “Energy when one is young is gone when one is old.”

48. tua – old

• Wanita berumur suka minum teh manis.
  “Old women like to drink sweet tea.”

49. gemuk – fat

• Kok, kamu sudah gemuk!
  “Whoa, you’re already fat!”

50. langsing – slim

• Di mana semua cowok-cowok langsing?
  “Where are all the slim guys?”

51. cantik – beautiful; pretty

• Tetapi kamu masih cantik.
  “But you’re still beautiful.”

Note that this word can also describe Indonesia!

52. berotot – muscular

• Bapakmu berotot atau langsing?
  “Is your dad muscular or slim?”

53. lemah – weak

• Jantung saya lemah, jadi saya tidak bisa pergi ke gym.
  “My heart is weak, so I can’t go to the gym.”

6- Describing Time

Indonesian doesn’t distinguish between adjectives and adverbs, so some of these fall into the “adverb” category in English. That means when it comes to describing time, these will do double duty.

54. cepat – fast

• Hari ini cepat selesai.
  “Today was over fast.”

55. lambat – slow

• Dia bicara terlalu lambat.
  “He speaks too slowly.”

56. awal – early

• Kami mulai awal minggu depan.
  “We’re starting early next week.”

57. tepat waktu – on time

• Mengapa hari ini Anda tidak tepat waktu?
  “Why weren’t you on time this morning?”

58. terlambat – late

• Jangan terlambat besok.
  “Don’t be late tomorrow.”

59. ketinggalan jaman – outdated; outmoded

• Mobil orang tuaku ketinggalan jaman.
  “The car my parents have is outdated.”

60. modern – modern (note that there’s a hidden e in between the r and the n in Indonesian: it’s pronounced moderen)

• Apakah kamu suka lukisan modern?
  “Do you like modern paintings?”

61. kuno – ancient

• Lihatlah jalan-jalan kuno di kota.
  “Look at the ancient streets in the town.”

62. kontemporer – contemporary

• Mereka sangat suka bermain musik kontemporer.
  “They really like playing contemporary music.”

7- Describing Appearance (Things)

Naturally, there are different words in Indonesian used to describe objects as opposed to people.

63. mahal – expensive

• Yang ini terlalu mahal.
  “This one is too expensive.”

64. tebal – thick

• Dia pakai jilbab tebal.
  “She wore a thick jilbab.”

65. indah – beautiful

• Laut dan pantai di Indonesia indah sekali.
  “The sea and beaches in Indonesia are very beautiful.”

66. tipis – thin

• Cuci yang tipis dulu.
  “Wash the thin ones first.”

67. besar – big

• Ada piring lebih besar?
  “Are there bigger plates?”

68. kecil – small

• Sepatuku terlalu kecil.
  “My shoes are too small.”

69. panjang – long

• Saya mau tempat tidur lebih panjang.
  “I want a longer bed.”

70. lebar – wide

• Rumah mereka tidak mahal, tapi lebar.
  “Their house isn’t expensive, but it’s wide.”

71. luas – wide; broad (used for landscapes & open spaces)

• Dari atas bisa melihat lingkungan luas.
  “From the top, you can see the wide surroundings.”

72. berat – heavy

• Kotak-kotak ini berat.
  “These boxes are heavy.”

73. baru – new

• Dia punya motor baru.
  “He has a new motorcycle.”

74. lama – old

• Jangan pakai pakaian lama.
  “Don’t wear old clothes.”

8- Describing Weather

Weather in Indonesia is usually one thing, and it’s not “cold.” If these words aren’t enough for you, we actually have a whole separate resource just for weather words and phrases!

75. panas – hot

• Cuaca panas hari ini.
  “The weather’s hot today.”

76. dingin – cold

• Di atas gunung cuaca lebih dingin.
  “The weather is colder on top of a mountain.”

77. berawan – cloudy

• Selalu berawan di musim hujan.
  “It’s always cloudy during the rainy season.”

78. berkabut – foggy

• Dekat pantai cuaca berkabut.
  “The weather is foggy near the beach.”

79. cerah – sunny

• Waduh, hari ini cerah dan indah!
  “Wow, today is sunny and beautiful!”

80. berangin – windy

• Kota Jakarta bukan kota berangin.
  “Jakarta is not a windy city.”

81. hangat – warm

• Masih hangat di sore hari.
  “It’s still warm in the evening.”

This has just been a taster. If you’re looking for more ways to talk about the weather in Indonesia, head on over to our dedicated blog post.

9- Describing Texture and Touch

This section is slightly different than describing what objects look like. Sure, they overlap, but texture is separate from appearance. And yet both are important categories to understand.

82. basah – wet

• Pakaiannya masih basah.
  “The clothes are still wet.”

83. kering – dry

• Semennya sudah kering belum?
  “Is the cement dry or not?”

84. keras – hard

• Kelapanya terlalu keras; tidak bisa dibuka.
  “The coconut is too hard; it can’t be opened.”

85. halus – smooth

• Bahasa Jawa di Yogyakarta lebih halus.
  “The Javanese spoken in Yogyakarta is smoother.”

86. kenyal – bouncy; springy

• Ranjang di Asia tidak kenyal.
  “Beds in Asia are not bouncy.”

87. berbulu – furry; hairy; feathered

• Burung kecil halus dan berbulu.
  “The little bird is soft and feathery.”

88. rapuh – brittle; fragile; flimsy

• Jangan meletakkan barang rapuh dekat tangga.
  “Don’t put fragile things near the stairs.”

89. licin – slippery

• Awas, lantai licin.
  “Be careful, the floor is slippery.”

90. pecah – broken; cracked

• HPku pecah!
  “My phone is cracked!”

91. lengket – sticky

• Ada sesuatu lengket di rambutku!
  “There’s something sticky in my hair!”

10- Describing Concepts

This section is a goldmine for when you’ve got to talk about a tough problem or question you’re dealing with, or when you need to explain something to somebody else. Obviously, our list of top Indonesian adjectives wouldn’t be complete without words to describe concepts.

92. sederhana – simple

• Itu adalah cinta sederhana.
  “It was a simple love.”

93. mudah – easy

• Belajar bahasa Indonesia lebih fasih daripada belajar bahasa Jawa
  “Studying Indonesian is easier than Javanese.”

94. sulit – difficult

• Ujian akhir semester sulit.
  “The end-of-semester test is difficult.”

95. susah – complicated; difficult

• Tata bahasa bahasa Inggris susah.
  “English grammar is complicated.”

96. penting – important

• Surat di atas meja penting.
  “The letter on the table is important.”

97. salah – wrong; incorrect

• Semua yang kamu katakan salah.
  “Everything you say is wrong.”

98. benar – true

• Tidak semua di televisi benar.
  “Not everything on TV is true.”

99. palsu – false

• Itu segala-galanya palsu.
  “That’s completely false.”

100. resmi – formal; official

• Anda harus mengisi formulir pengaduan resmi.
  “You have to fill in a formal complaint form.”

3. Modifying Adjectives

So already up to this point, we’ve learned how to say the top 100 Indonesian adjectives. Let’s go ahead and expand that number—with only a couple more words.

To intensify adjectives in Indonesian, you can add banget or sekali after that adjective. Both mean “very” or “really,” though banget should only be used in informal situations.

• Aiii, mie goreng ini pedas banget!
  “Ahh! These fried noodles are super spicy!”

In much the same way, we can add sangat in front of the adjective. This is a little bit weaker than sekali, and it can be used in formal or informal situations.

One more set of useful modifiers is kurang, meaning “too little; lacking,” and terlalu, meaning “too much.” These also go in front of the adjective in question.

• Saya tidak mau yang ini, terlalu mahal.
  “I don’t want this one, it’s too expensive.”

4. Conclusion

Did you learn something new? Are there any words we missed on our Indonesian adjectives list you still want to know? Let us know in the comments.

I bet if you read this same article tomorrow, and maybe even the next day, these words will stick in your memory for a surprisingly long time. That’s what the science says, at least. In other words, to learn Indonesian adjectives and really learn them, don’t stop after the first read or the first lesson. Keep going!

By the way, to take your learning to the next level, check out the Indonesian content here on IndonesianPod101.com, with tons of additional wordlists and vocabulary resources waiting for you!

Many Indonesian learners who study Indonesian on their own forget—or rather, never learn—a certain conjunction despite its importance. Conjunctions in Indonesian (or any language, really) aren’t usually a topic of interest to many learners.

Usually, they become accustomed to using alternate phrasings without having to take advantage of a conjunction. In fact, I’ve personally noticed that I tend to use one particular structure in all the foreign languages I study.

But when writing a formal letter or trying to contact a local university in Indonesia, you’ll always have to go as fluff-free in your writing as possible—which is something you can’t fully accomplish without the use of conjunctions.

It just goes to show that if you skip out on learning Indonesian conjunctions, you’re setting yourself up for a surprise moment of panic in the future!

Table of Contents

1. What is a Conjunction?
2. Similar Thoughts (And; Or)
3. Cause and Effect (Because)
4. Contrasts (But)
5. Conditions (If)
6. Consequence (So; Therefore)
7. Purpose (In order to; That)
8. Correlation (Not only, but also)
9. One More Correlation (Both)
10. How IndonesianPod101 Can Help You Master Indonesian Grammar

1. What is a Conjunction?

A conjunction, as you may already know, connects two things in discourse. That’s kind of abstract, but we use them constantly in any language. They’re some of the most common words.

If we take two ideas like “he jumped” and “he fell,” we can use the conjunction “and” in English to say “He jumped and fell.” Or we can contrast two states with “but,” such as in “I want it, but I don’t have it.”

Interestingly enough, you can’t say that one particular concept is a conjunction in every single language. Different words are used for different parts of speech across languages.

And there are a number of Indonesian conjunction words that are only used in formal speech. But once you start breaking down some of them, the rest follow similar and logical patterns. In this article, you’ll learn all the basics you need to know about the conjunction in Indonesian and how it works. So let’s get started!

2. Similar Thoughts (And; Or)

Let’s begin with the most basic of all, the concept of “and.” This word is dan in Indonesian. It works for verbs:

• Setiap hari saya menyapu dan mengepel lantai.
  “Every day, I sweep and mop the floor.”

And it works for nouns.

• Ia punya sebuah gitar dan sebuah ukulele.
  “He has a guitar and a ukulele.”

The word atau, meaning “or,” works very similarly as it does in English as well.

• Saya mau minum es jeruk atau es lemon teh.
  “I want to drink orange juice or iced lemon tea.”

Unlike in English, it’s not considered acceptable in formal Indonesian writing to begin a sentence with Dan.

3. Cause and Effect (Because)

Another useful construction to have in your arsenal is to be able to say why something is a certain way. That explanation requires the word karena, meaning “because.”

The best part is, it works precisely like its English equivalent. If you can make a sentence with “because,” you can do it in Indonesian too with karena.

• Aku tidak suka bubur karena hambar.
  “I don’t like congee because it’s bland.”
• Karena dia orang istimewa, dia punya satpam pribadi.
  “Because she’s an important person, she has private security.”

In that first example, we did see a slight difference with Indonesian: that you don’t need any linking word between “because” and an adjective. A slacker’s favorite excuse: karena malas or “because [I was] lazy!”

4. Contrasts (But)

The word for “but” has three forms, but they all work almost exactly the same way. Check this out:

• Dia mau tidur, tapi tidak bisa.
  “She wants to sleep, but (she) can’t.”

We can lengthen tapi into tetapi, and in fact, we should if we’re going to use the language in a formal way. We can even turn it into two words:

• Saya mau pergi, akan tetapi motor saya rusak.
  “I want to go, but my motorcycle is broken.”

This akan tetapi usage simply adds the meaning of “unfortunately” to your sentence. So it wouldn’t work to use it in a phrase like “I thought I won twenty dollars, but I actually won a hundred dollars!” Use the other two choices for that, and congratulations!

5. Conditions (If)

Now let’s give you the advantage I didn’t have.

Indonesian has two ways to express “if,” and those are jika and kalau.

• Jika dia tidak sampai, kita tidak bisa mulai.
  “If she doesn’t arrive, we can’t begin.”

We could swap out kalau here and it would have the same meaning. So what’s the difference? Well, you can also use kalau as a way to say “As for X…” You can’t do this with jika and keep the same meaning.

• Kalau Adi, kami tidak mau berbicara dengannya.
  “As for Adi, we don’t want to talk with him.”

Again, there’s a slight difference in formality here, where jika is the more formal/more often written of the two.

Jika can also be paired with the word maka to make an if/then statement. Kalau can’t.

• Jika ada kesempatan maka saya akan bicara dengannya.
  “If there’s an opportunity, I’ll talk with them.”

6. Consequence (So; Therefore)

Let’s mention if and then a little bit more here. As we’ve seen, we can have “if” (kalau) without any “then” (maka). What about the other way around?

For that, we’ll need the word jadi which means “so.”

• Saya sampai lebih awal, jadi saya tidak stres.
  “I arrived early, so I wasn’t stressed.”

We can use another word, sehingga, with this same meaning and a little bit of formality. But here’s where things start to get a little bit further away from English.

The word sehingga can also mean “as a result” or “to the extent that…”

• Mohon untuk menyapu lantai sehingga bersih.
  “Please sweep the floor until it’s clean (so that it becomes clean).”
• Dia makan ayam goreng setiap hari sehingga gemuk.
  “He eats fried chicken every day until he’s fat (to the extent that he becomes fat).”

7. Purpose (In order to; That)

And that meaning sort of overlaps with our next category of “in order to.” The most common word here in Indonesian is untuk, which we’ve actually seen already in this article in the set phrase mohon untuk, or “please.”

• Saya sedang belajar bahasa Spanyol untuk mencari kerja di Meksiko.
  “I’m studying Spanish in order to look for work in Mexico.”

However, the word untuk can also simply mean “for” in the sense of designating a recipient of an action, such as when giving a gift.

• Bunga-bunga ini untuk Anda.
  “These flowers are for you.”

Have a look at a new couple of words here, kepada and bahwa.

Kepada can change freely with untuk in its second sense, designating the recipient of some action.

• Aku sudah minta maaf kepada bos.
  “I already apologized to the boss.”

Bahwa is slightly more removed from English. It’s similar to the word “that” when you’re adding extra information to something. If you learn it in this particular context, it’s easy to keep in your mind:

• Dia memberitahu saya bahwa dia tidak akan lulus.
  “He told me that he wouldn’t be able to graduate.”

Non-native speakers of English should find this a welcome relief. In English, you have to change the verbs to past tense to report what someone said, but this one little conjunction is all you need in Indonesian!

8. Correlation (Not only, but also)

Fortunately, the “not only, but also” conjunction set works great when we translate it directly into Indonesian. Have a look:

• Bukan hanya Denny tapi juga Rere tiba terlambat.
  “Not only Denny, but also Rere, arrived late.”

The word juga means “also” in a broad sense, and can be used with nouns and verbs.

• Saya juga mau bicara dengan manajernya.
  “I also want to talk to the manager.”

Where English limits you from using “also” at the end of a sentence, there’s no problem with doing so in Indonesian.

• Saya mau makan dan tidur juga.
  “I want to eat and sleep as well.”

9. One More Correlation (Both)

For our last section, let’s look at the rather intricate ways that Indonesian can express the concept of “both.”

First, the way closest to English uses the word kedua-duanya, literally “the two of them.”

• Mereka kedua-duanya suka coklat.
  “They both (the two of them) like chocolate.”

But that’s not really a conjunction because we’re not connecting two sentences or clauses. For that, we’ll up the ante and use the two-parter baik…maupun.

It works the same as the English phrase “both…and”:

• Baik Ina maupun Palak suka menonton film horor.
  “Both Ina and Palak like to watch horror movies.”

This construction is stricter than in English, in that you’re limited to naming the subjects of different clauses. So that means you can’t take a sentence like “He likes both basketball and football,” and translate it with baik…maupun. You’ll need to use tidak hanya… tapi juga in that case.

• Dia tidak hanya suka bola basket, tapi juga suka sepak bola.
  “He doesn’t just like basketball; he likes football too.”

10. How IndonesianPod101 Can Help You Master Indonesian Grammar

Effectively using conjunctions in Indonesian can feel like a superpower, albeit a small one. Indonesian is said to be an easy language, but all that means is that you can rapidly learn how to build sentences.

With each of the conjunctions you’ve learned today, you can build dozens of sentences with each one.

Competency in a language isn’t always expressed by how precise your vocabulary is—it’s more about how you’re able to express your ideas with the words you have. If, for some reason, you’ve forgotten how to say “if,” that expression isn’t easy!

The more you listen to and read Indonesian in your daily life, the more naturally these conjunctions and their sentence patterns will come to you. It’s all about getting used to a language. And when you do, there will be no limit to what you’re capable of.

Let us know which of these conjunctions you feel ready to start using, and which ones you’re still struggling with. We’d love to hear from you!

Author: Yassir Sahnoun is a HubSpot certified content strategist, copywriter and polyglot who works with language learning companies. He helps companies attract sales using content strategy, copywriting, blogging, email marketing & more.

As many guidebooks will tell you, Indonesia is a happy country. The locals look on visitors with warmth and welcoming.

But what happens when you get on their wrong side?

To be honest, not much. It takes something really severe to bring Indonesians to confrontation. The worst thing that happens is that you get passed up for opportunities and friendships because people think you’re not that pleasant to be around. But that’s still awful!

So to avoid a scenario like that, it’s important that you become familiar with etiquette in Indonesia. To help you out, we’ve put this article together for you, outlining everything you need to know about table manners in Indonesia and more. You may be surprised to know how far knowing just a little etiquette in Indonesian culture can get you!

Table of Contents

1. How to Make Polite Suggestions
2. Saying “Let’s Not”
3. Proper Table Etiquette in Indonesia: Etiquette While Dining
4. Etiquette While Sightseeing
5. Etiquette for Greetings
6. Etiquette for Visiting Others
7. Getting Around with Transportation
8. Business Etiquette in Indonesia
9. Conclusion: How IndonesianPod101 Can Help You Master Indonesian

1. How to Make Polite Suggestions

Let’s start with one of the biggest cultural hurdles to overcome in Indonesia: Making suggestions to other people, or telling them that they’re wrong.

Put simply, the western approach will not treat you well. Telling someone directly that their idea is bad, or even that you’re offended by their behavior, will go over very poorly and may cause a very painful, awkward silence.

If you want to do this more in line with the etiquette and customs in Indonesia, we can add the particle ya at the end of a sentence to soften the blow of asking someone to do something.

• Ingat menulis pekerjaan rumahmu, ya.
  “Remember to do your homework, won’t you?”

And when the listener is to be included in whatever you’re suggesting, you can try using mari:

• Mari kita pergi sekarang.
  “Let’s leave now.”

This is more polite than the same structure with Ayo:

• Ayo, kita pergi sekarang.
  “C’mon, let’s go now.”

How about not doing things?

2. Saying “Let’s Not”

As you walk around Indonesia, you’ll see one word pretty heavily represented on signs around town. That word is jangan, and since it’s often seen with a big red X over a stick figure, it’s not hard to figure out that it means “don’t.”

And though it may sound a bit strange that it’s the same word, the polite way to make a negative suggestion is to simply say the equivalent of “Let’s don’t do this.”

• Jangan kita pergi sendirian.
  “Let’s not go alone.”

3. Proper Table Etiquette in Indonesia: Etiquette While Dining

Table manners and eating etiquette in Indonesia are an essential aspect of general good etiquette of Indonesia. For the most part, in Indonesia you’ll be provided with a fork and a spoon for your meal. Some nicer restaurants will give you a knife as well, but even in Chinese-style places, you’ll generally have to ask for chopsticks.

• Permisi, bisa minta sumpit?
  “Excuse me, can I have some chopsticks please?”

As for dining etiquette in Indonesia, know that Indonesians generally eat quietly without any chomping or munching sounds. Do your best to finish all your food, as it’s bad manners to waste it.

Once you finish eating, you’ve got a choice to make. Here’s where there’s a bit of a confluence between table etiquette in Indonesia and in Western cultures.

In smaller places, you simply get up from the table and go over to the register to pay when it’s time to leave. Larger places will have waiters ready to hand you the bill if you desire to pay from your seat.

It’s polite to address waiters as mas and waitresses as mbak, particularly on the island of Java (these are Javanese words, after all).

• Permisi Mas, minta bill.
  “Excuse me, waiter, I’d like the bill.”
• It sounds rude in English to address a waiter as “waiter,” so you can think of it more like “sir.”

• Permisi Mbak, mau bayar.
  “Excuse me, miss, I’d like to pay.”

But they’ll also be totally ready and willing to receive you at the register. Once they hand you the receipt, they’ll invariably ask you to look it over first.

• Mohon dicek dulu…
  “Please check it over first.”

All these instances of mohon or “requests” being thrown around is a signal that this is all very polite language. Feel free to use these sentence structures in other situations, too!

Though you may see a modest tip jar at the register, most people don’t tip for meals. Gratuities and city taxes are often automatically added anyway for big parties.

4. Etiquette While Sightseeing

Whether you hop on a tour bus or take your motorbike to a remote mountain, you should have a general idea of what kind of behavior is expected from tourists around Indonesia. Or, in other words, basic social etiquette in Indonesia.

Although Indonesia receives countless tourists from all over the world, it still maintains a reputation for being very warm and welcoming to each and every one. That doesn’t mean you should test it, though. Every local of a well-touristed city has anecdotes of some group of boorish visitors that drank too much and left the beach a mess.

So even though you might not get publicly reprimanded (for Indonesians are loath to call someone out in public), any reckless behavior you do indulge in has an effect. Better avoid it.

The number-one polite phrase for travelers is this one:

• Boleh saya ambil foto?
  “Can I take photos?”

You also can’t go wrong with the flattering phrase:

• Semuanya di sini cantik sekali!
  “Everything is so beautiful here!”

5. Etiquette for Greetings

Now, let’s go over the basic customs in Indonesia for greeting and introducing yourself.

The most polite way to introduce yourself is to literally say “introduction” or perkenalkan before you tell people your name. It might sound a bit odd if you’re not used to it, but after a little practice, it rolls right off the tongue.

• Perkenalkan, nama saya Veni…
  “Let me introduce myself, my name is Veni…”

There are two particular body gestures that immediately reveal that someone is Indonesian. The first is touching your hand to your heart after shaking hands.

A visitor should be aware that many conservative Muslims prefer not to have physical contact with members of the opposite sex. Although this belief isn’t held as strongly for many young Indonesians, be aware of this possibility and don’t be offended if someone simply places their hand to their heart directly instead of accepting a handshake.

• Senang bertemu dengan Anda.
  “Nice to meet you.”

With these phrases, you can’t go wrong, and you’ll be able to follow the cultural etiquette in Indonesia for greetings like it’s nothing.

6. Etiquette for Visiting Others

If you get the chance to be received as a guest in an Indonesian home, you’d better get ready to eat. First, your host will bring out food, usually sweet tea and small finger foods such as fried tofu.

It’s considered rude to refuse this offering, and you really don’t have to eat much to be polite. However, if you have a medical condition or allergy, you could say:

• Maaf, saya tidak bisa makan (jamur).
  “Sorry, I can’t eat (mushrooms).”

Once you do eat something, though, you’d better follow up with thanks or a compliment.

• Enak sekali!
  “Very tasty!”

7. Getting Around with Transportation

By far, the most common way for locals to get around is with one of the two ubiquitous ride-sharing apps, Grab and Go-Jek. These apps are almost entirely interchangeable, but everybody has both of them so they can compare prices and availability.

The typical transaction goes like this: You open the app and select the destination you want, then when the driver arrives, they send you a text or give you a call. Here are some useful polite phrases for that call:

• Maaf, tunggu sebentar.
  “Sorry, please wait a moment.”
• Saya sudah sampai.
  “I’m already here.”
• Mohon tunggu dua menit lagi.
  “Please wait another two minutes.”

Then you get in the car or on the motorbike and zip off. When you arrive, it’s considered polite to give a small tip. This is easy when paying in cash, as you simply say:

• Tidak usah kembalian.
  “I don’t need the change.”

Or more explicitly:

• Ini tips untuk Anda
  “This is a tip for you.”

Yes, the word for “tip” in Indonesian is just tips!

By the way, the best Indonesian conversations you can have are those with taxi drivers. You’re paying for their time, and they’re happy to chat with a visitor!

8. Business Etiquette in Indonesia

Here’s an interesting thing about formal address in Indonesian. It’s important to use the proper pronouns when necessary, but you’ll also find that people tend to address others by a title plus their first name.

• Mr. Andy sudah makan?
  “Have you eaten yet, Mr. Andy?”

This business meeting etiquette in Indonesia makes plenty of sense in a society where a significant proportion of people only have one name to begin with.

Furthermore, one of the more subtle differences between Indonesian and Western culture is that, in Indonesia, you don’t always tell someone when you don’t understand. This can lead to some problems in the boardroom, as you can probably imagine.

• Apakah Anda punya pertanyaan apapun?
  “Do you have any questions?”

This is a good way to avoid the potential embarrassment of having someone admit they don’t understand.

You can also be a little bit more direct. Review what you’ve gone over and say:

• Apakah Anda mengerti apa yang saya sedang bilang?
  “Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”

Lastly, you should always keep in mind the concept of jam karet, literally “rubber time.” Things simply may not happen when you want them to, or even when you agreed on them being done.

There’s nothing in Indonesian culture to drive them to stick to deadlines when there’s life to live. One of the most dreaded signs for an expat to see at a government office is ISTIRAHAT, otherwise known as “break time!”

9. Conclusion: How IndonesianPod101 Can Help You Master Indonesian

By now, you should be equipped to use the Indonesian language not only correctly, but politely as well.

If, for some reason, you make mistakes, don’t sweat it. Many Indonesians shrug off some pretty rude behavior from foreigners, simply reasoning that they’re ignorant (and not malicious).

Now you have the chance to be neither!

Using etiquette correctly is something that has very subtle benefits. It’s like raising your charisma score in a video game. People treat you better and things go easier for you—and it’s all because you had the presence of mind to consider the culture of wherever you went.

Are any of the etiquette and customs in Indonesia we went over similar to those in your own country? Or very different? Let us know in the comments!

Author: Yassir Sahnoun is a HubSpot certified content strategist, copywriter and polyglot who works with language learning companies. He helps companies attract sales using content strategy, copywriting, blogging, email marketing & more.