Learn how to recognize an implied subject in Indonesian
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Intro |
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| Michael: Is it common to omit the subject in Indonesian sentences? |
| Michael: At IndonesianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Mutiara Mulyadi is a high school student and she is in a bookstore with her friend, Sasha Lee. Mutiara is browsing the books and sees one that catches her eye. She asks Sasha, |
| "[Do you] see that book?" |
| Mutiara Mulyadi: Lihat buku itu? |
| Dialogue |
| Mutiara Mulyadi: Lihat buku itu? |
| Sasha Lee: Menarik nggak? |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Mutiara Mulyadi: Lihat buku itu? |
| Michael: "[Do you] see that book?" |
| Sasha Lee: Menarik nggak? |
| Michael: "[Is it] interesting?" |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In the conversation, Mutiara Mulyadi says, |
| Blanca: Lihat buku itu? |
| Michael: which means, "[Do you] see that book?"—to which Sasha Lee responds, |
| Blanca: Menarik nggak? |
| Michael: "[Is it] interesting?" |
| Michael: We can see in the example, "[Do you] see that book?" |
| Blanca: Lihat buku itu? |
| Michael: and in "[Is it] interesting?" |
| Blanca: Menarik nggak? |
| Michael: that the subjects, "you" and "it" are omitted. In Indonesian, it's not uncommon for a subject to be omitted from the sentence. In this lesson, we'll discuss just how often subjects are omitted when writing or speaking in Indonesian. |
| Michael: To begin, let's first touch on sentence structure. Generally speaking, the sentence structure of Indonesian mirrors that used in English: Subject, Verb, Object, or S-V-O. |
| Michael: When a subject is present in a sentence in Indonesian, there are a few ways to identify it. First, it's usually a noun or noun phrase. Second, it answers the question "who" or "what" completed the action of the sentence. Third, it is most commonly placed before a subject or predicate. And, finally, it usually ends with the determiner |
| Blanca: ‘ini', |
| Michael: which means "this" or |
| Blanca: ‘itu,' |
| Michael: which means "that," But what happens when there is no subject at all? In Indonesian, subjects can sometimes be omitted from the sentence if the subject is understood based on context. In the case of our dialogue, when Mutiara Mulyadi says |
| Blanca: Lihat buku itu? |
| Michael: "[Do you] see that book?"; Mutiara asks if Sasha has seen the book because there is no other person involved in the conversation. Sasha would know that the question is directed to her since there is no one else Mutiara would direct the question to at this time. And when Sasha Lee says, |
| Blanca: Menarik nggak? |
| Michael: "Is [it] interesting?." it's clear that the "it" she's referring to is the "book" |
| Blanca: buku |
| Michael: that Mutiara mentions initially. |
| Michael: Omitting subjects in conversation, especially, can be common, but, no need to worry, the subject is often easily understood based on context! |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review the sample conversation. I'll say each sentence in English, and I want you to try and reply out loud in Indonesian. The native speaker will then model the correct answer. Listen and repeat focusing on pronunciation. |
| The first sentence is "[Do you] see that book?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Blanca: Lihat buku itu? |
| Michael: Did you get it right? Listen to the native speaker again and pay careful attention to her pronunciation before repeating after her. |
| Blanca: Lihat buku itu? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Blanca: Lihat buku itu? |
| Michael: The second sentence is, "[Is it] interesting?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Blanca: Menarik nggak? |
| Michael: How did you do this time? Listen again and repeat. |
| Blanca: Menarik nggak? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Blanca: Menarik nggak? |
| Expansion |
| Michael: There is another reason why Indonesians like to drop the subject. Whenever possible, Indonesians will avoid calling the other person using the second-person pronoun. |
| Blanca: Anda, |
| Michael: the polite version of "you" can sometimes sound too formal in conversations and |
| Blanca: kamu |
| Michael: can sometimes sound too direct when the conversation involves people who are older. So Indonesians like to skip the pronoun altogether or mention the name of the person they are talking to. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Blanca: Dadah. |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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