Nouns have no articles or inflection. Subject and object pronouns are the same, with one exception. Adjectives come after the noun. If demonstratives are functioning as an adjective they come after the noun and adjective.
Pronouns
Subject pronouns (9)
saya - I anda - you saudara - you kamu - you (informal) dia - he/she kami - we (not you) kita - we (and you) meréka - they
saya Mel - I am Mel anda pengusaha - you are a businessman dia guru - she is a teacher
Object pronouns (2)
All the same. Except when dia is both subject and object.
dia mengenal + nya = dia mengenanalnya - he knows her
Possessive pronouns (3)
Same as regular pronouns. Follows the noun.
mobil saya - my car kopor-kopor anda - your luggage kucing kamu - your cat
Also: -mu - your
kuncingmu - your cat temanmu - your friend
-nya = her/her, thier (must already be established from context) permainan + nya = permainannya - his/her/their toy rumah besar + nya = rumah besarnya - his/her/thier house
Demonstratives (2)
ini - this iti - that
ini buku - this is a book iti kopi - that is coffee
Adjectives (1)
mobil baru - anew car pusat kota - town center tempat parkir - parking space film itu - that film
sekolah bahasaIndonesia - Indonesianlanguage school
Pluralization (2)
orang - person orang-orang - people
rak buku - book shelf rak-rak buku - book shelves
Pluralization does not need to be used when it obvious from context:
empat orang - four people banyak anak - a lot of children berapa orang? - how many people?
Indonesian verbs have no grammatical person or tense, which means no conjugation. Person is coded by pronouns; tense is always clearly understood contextually or aided by tense markers.
Tense markers
Present (2)
sedang - now
saya mangajar biologi - I teach biology saya sedang mengajar biologi - Iam teaching biology
Past (4)
sudah - already
dia datang - he arrives dia sudah datang - he arrived
telah - equivalent to sudah, used in writing and formal speech
dulu - formerly dulu dia miskin - she used to be poor
baru saja - has just dia baru saja bangun - she has just woken up
Future (1)
akan
Mel akan menjemput Tom - Mel will puck up Tom
Adverbs (1)
dangan + adjective = adverb
cepat - quick dangan cepat - quickly baik - good dangan baik - well
dia berbicara dangan cepat - she speaks quickly
Forming questions
ini buku - this is a book ini buku? - this is a book? apakah ini buku? - is this a book? apakah anda pengusaha? - are you a businessman?
Also: apa = apakah (less formal, more common)
apa iti menarik? - is it interesting?
Who, whose?
siapa itu? - who is that? jas siapa ini? - whose jacket is this?
siapa nama anda? - what's your name? However: apa nama kota itu? - what's this town called?
When?
kapan rapat? - when is the meeting?
Where?
di mana kamu tinggal? - where do you live? ke mana kamu pergi? - to where are you going? dari mana kamu berasal? - from where do you come?
Why?
kenapa dia marah? - why is he angry? kenapa mobil itu berhenti? - why did that car stop?
mengapa - preferred in writing karena - because
How?
bagaimana film itu? - how was that film? bagaimana kabarnya? - how are things?
How many?
berapa mobil? - how many cars? berapa lama? - how long? (time) berapa panjang? - how long? (length) berapa kali? - how many times?
Negation
Negating adjectives and verbs
dia tidak minum - hedoesn't drink saya tidak tahu - Idon't know
dia tidak séhat - heisn't healthy meréka tidak mabuk - they aren't drunk
Negating nouns
saya bukan orang Indonesia - I am not Indonesian ini bukan kucing - this is not a cat bukan dia - it's not him
Replying "no"
apa dia mabuk? tidak. - is she drunk? no. apa dia bekerja di Bali? tidak - does she work in Bali? no.
apa kakakmu penari? bukan. - Is your sister a dancer? no.
