One of the features of Indonesian which is unfamiliar to English speakers is the use of classifiers. These classifiers are categories of noun, with the category placed first and the particular type/kind/specimen within that general category placed after it. This structure is even more common in Thai than Indonesian, but it takes some getting used…
In both English and Indonesian, noun phrases are one of the main building blocks of sentences. The way they are constructed in these two languages varies rather considerably however, so it is worth pointing out some of the most important differences. 1. Demonstrative Pronouns with Nouns While English has four demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these,…
The aim of this installment is to introduce some vocabulary that relates to the weather. Rather than just looking at the relevant nouns, I aim to look at some verbs that are used to describe weather events and also to cover likely collocations with the main weather nouns. 1. Angin The word for ‘wind’ in…
In this week’s installment, we look at an important word for any Westerner in Indonesia. This is a word which has attained a rather dubious prominence in recent discussions about expat life in Indonesia. It is also very prominent in discussions about social trends in broader Indonesian society. That word is the verb melarang, which…
For English speakers, asking simple questions in Indonesian can be more difficult than you would think. One of the problems here is the common but mistaken assumption that the Indonesian word ‘apa‘ is directly equivalent to the English ‘what’. However, if you go about translating English sentences into Indonesian by substituting ‘apa‘ for ‘what’ willy-nilly,…
Sedang vs. Lagi One of the most useful, but also most confusing, words in the Indonesian language is lagi. This is largely because it has multiple meanings and uses, some of which are extremely common in colloquial Indonesian but rarely covered in formal ”learn Indonesian books”. This post aims to clear up the difference between…
Seperti and Sepertinya Two words that you will often encounter in Indonesia are seperti and sepertinya. Although they have a related meaning, they are not the same. The first means ‘like’ in the the sense of ‘resembling’. Here are a couple of examples I found online: 1) Rumah artis Bollywood itu seperti istana India. The…
With the authorities in Indonesia planning to introduce a Bahasa Indonesia test in 2015 (an issue this blog has been following closely), I have been reminded of my own early days in Indonesia and my struggle to understand and speak Indonesian. As a result, I have decided to devote one blog post a week to…
