Learn Bahasa Indonesia for Beginners
Poised to be the 4th largest economy in the world by 2030, Indonesia’s economy holds enormous promise in the eyes of the global market. Researches show that the GDP of Indonesia will eclipse that of established powerhouses such as Japan, Germany and UK – a strong indication of positive growth trajectory for medium to long term.
As the country bounced back from the Covid-19 pandemic, it remains to be one of the most dynamic and prospective archipelagos of the world. Demands for skilled workers continue to grow, including the needs for migrant or foreign workers to drive the country onward and upward.
With all eyes on Indonesia, it’s highly recommended that professionals start taking up lessons on Indonesian language. Local citizens take kindly to all visitors, particularly foreigners proficient in their mother tongue. The good news is, the Indonesian language is easy to pick up once you have understood a few of the basic rules and we’re ready to offer you the solution.
This ebook fully covers the main materials for anyone keen to learn bahasa Indonesia, including Indonesian grammar, daily phrases and more. Save this e-book and let’s learn bahasa Indonesia today!
Bagian 1 | Bahasa Indonesia Introduction
Get to Know Bahasa Indonesia
Historically, Indonesia was colonized by Portuguese, British, French, and Japanese briefly. However, the major colonial force was the Ducth who ruled it for three and a half centuries. As such the anti-colonial sentiments were high yet given the diverse cultures and native language across the islands, it was difficult to find common linguistic identity.
With the influence of the neighboring country which was the gateway to the Sumatran empire of Sriwijaya at the time, Malay language first became the regional native tongue. It then spread and adapted regularly, also developed and standardized as the way of communication between the government and the people.
In 1928, the Congress of the Young People drafted the famous Sumpah Pemuda or Youth’s Vow declaring the official Indonesian language as the national language. Indonesian language then was cemented as the identity and language of the people in the Declaration of Independence (1945). In the curriculum, all citizens learn Indonesian language at school at all levels throughout the country.
Spoken along with their native tongue and influenced by their personal experiences, it’s typical to find all Indonesians well-versed in dual or multiple languages. As the 4th largest world population, Indonesian language is now the 9th most used language globally and even made it as the 2nd official language in Vietnam since 2007.
Bagian 2 | Basic Bahasa Indonesia Basic Indonesian Vocabulary
Like all learning approach, let’s learn bahasa Indonesia through daily communications below:
Greetings in Bahasa Indonesia
- Self introduction
Like in many daily conversations, it’s considered polite to know the proper self introduction in Indonesian language. Here are a few ways you can try:
Short self introduction |
In Bahasa |
Hi/Hello, how are you? I’m ( name) and I’m a/an ( occupation). I come from ( country) and currently staying here by myself/ with my family. I love traveling to many beautiful places in Indonesia. I hope to learn Bahasa Indonesia more and speak fluently. |
Hai/Halo, apa kabar? Saya (name) dan saya seorang ( occupation). Saya dari ( country) dan sekarang tinggal sendiri/bersama keluarga. Saya suka bepergian ke banyak tempat indah di Indonesia. Saya ingin belajar bahasa Indonesia dan berbicara lebih lancar. |
- Greetings
Other than the casual “Hi” or “Hello”, there are other basic Indonesian greetings that could lead to more fun interactions. Here are a few greeting phrases to use, including how to say goodbye in Indonesian language:
Greetings |
In Bahasa |
Good morning Good afternoon Good evening Good night Good bye So long/ See you |
Selamat pagi Selamat siang ( 12 pm – 3 pm)/ Selamat sore ( 3pm- 6pm) Selamat malam ( After sunset) Selamat beristirahat Selamat tinggal/ Bye Sampai jumpa/ Selamat jalan |
When someone says hello to you or greets you in Indonesian language, you can reply back with the same greetings such as “Selamat Pagi” or “ Selamat Malam”. Or when it’s the typical question greeting of “ Apa Kabar?”, simply reply “ Baik” which means “ Fine” in Indonesian language.
Numbers
The number system in Indonesian language is quite simple and regular. Once you master the basic number vocabulary, you should be able to tell any number in Bahasa. Let’s start with the basics right away:
Number (0-10) |
In Bahasa |
Zero – 0 One – 1 Two – 2 Three – 3 Four – 4 Five – 5 Six – 6 Seven – 7 Eight – 8 Nine – 9 Ten – 10 |
Nol Satu Dua Tiga Empat Lima Enam Tujuh Delapan Sembilan Sepuluh |
When the number system reaches evelen and so on, you will be using the word “belas” to represent the suffix “-teen” in English.
Number ( 11-20) |
In Bahasa |
Evelen Twelve Thirteen Fourteen Fifteen Sixteen Seventeen Eighteen Nineteen |
Sebelas Dua belas Tiga belas Empat belas Lima belas Enam belas Tujuh belas Delapan belas Sembilan belas |
Next, the tens concept uses the word “puluh” aka “one ten” to represent the suffix “-ty” in English.
Number ( 20-30) |
In Bahasa |
Twenty Twenty one Twenty two Twenty three Twenty four Twenty five Twenty six Twenty seven Twenty eight Twenty nine Thirty |
Dua puluh Dua puluh satu Dua puluh dua Dua puluh tiga Dua puluh empat Dua puluh lima Dua puluh enam Dua puluh tujuh Dua puluh delapan Dua puluh sembilan Tiga puluh |
Basically, you will continue to repeat the same pattern with the following formula:
Basic number + “puluh”/ “tens” + Basic number
More examples:
Forty five = empat puluh lima
Sixty one = enam puluh satu
Seventy eight = tujuh puluh delapan
This pattern for the number system in Indonesian language continues all the way to bigger numbers. Simply substitute the vocabulary for “hundreds”, “thousands”, “ ten thousands” and so on to form your complete number in Indonesian language.
Number |
In Bahasa |
Hundred Thousand Ten thousand Hundred thousand Million |
ratus ribu Puluh ribu Ratus ribu juta |
Essentially, you can break down the numbers using the basic vocabulary and the key words above, for example:
Two hundred = dua ratus
Five hundred thirty four = lima ratus tiga puluh empat
Five thousand = lima ribu
Five thousand eight hundred seventy four = lima ribu delapan ratus tujuh puluh empat
And so on
Additional Notes for Number in Indonesian Language
As in any normal daily conversation, chances are you’d want to get someone’s phone number. Phone numbers in Indonesia vary in length, but it’s simply recited individually according to the basic vocabulary words. For example:
- My phone number is 081977454
Nomor telepon saya nol delapan satu sembilan tujuh tujuh empat lima empat
In the number system, you can also use the word “puluhan” ( tens)”, “ ratusan” ( hundreds) or “jutaan” ( millions) as shorthand that represents a large estimate. The suffix -an indicates the plural form such as:
- Ratusan orang menghadiri konser akhir tahun itu.
Hundreds of people attended the year end concert
- Harga vas itu jutaan
The vase costs millions.
Lastly, the ordinal number system in the Indonesian language is made by simply adding “ke-” as prefix to any basic vocabulary number to indicate the order. Below is the full list:
English |
In Bahasa |
First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenths |
Pertama Kedua Ketiga Keempat Kelima Keenam Ketujuh Kedelapan Kesembilan Kesepuluh and so on… |
Date
Note that dates in Indonesian language are written in day-month-year, so 07-08-2001 is the 7th August of 2001. For the date and year pronunciations, you will be using a lot of the basic number vocabulary and the concept as explained before in the previous section.
Check out the examples to better understand it:
Year |
In Bahasa ( Tahun) |
1970 2002 2025 |
Seribu sembilan ratus tujuh puluh Dua ribu dua Dua ribu dua lima |
To simplify the pronunciation before the year 2000, years can also be contracted or combining the first two digits together and the last two together, for example :
- 1925, instead of saying “seribu sembilan ratus dua puluh lima”, you may also simplify it to “ sembilan belas dua puluh lima”
- 1999, instead of saying “ seribu sembilan ratus sembilan puluh sembilan”, you can read it as “ sembilan belas sembilan puluh sembilan”
This is a more common way to converse in a daily setting which is a more casual form.
While for the months, here is a list of the names of the month in Indonesian language
Name of the month |
In Bahasa ( Bulan) |
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
Januari Februari Maret April Mei Juni Juli Agustus September Oktober November Desember |
Once you put everything together in Indonesian language, you shall have no problems in telling the complete date in Bahasa. More examples below:
- The date was 2 October 2015
Tanggal dua Oktober dua ribu lima belas
- I was born in 6 May 1981
Saya lahir di tanggal enam Mei sembilan belas delapan puluh satu
Time
Previously, we’ve discussed bahasa Indonesia in the greeting forms where we focus on saying hello based on the time of the day. Here they are:
- Morning : Pagi
- Noon : Siang
- Afternoon : Sore
- Night : Malam
To tell time related to clock, here are a few vocabulary that will come in handy in Indonesian language:
In English |
In Bahasa |
Second Minute Hour Past Before |
Detik Menit Jam Lewat Kurang |
To say time in Indonesian language, mostly you can tell the time by using the basic number vocabulary as taught before and read it as is. However, you can also include the newly added vocabulary above to sound even more natural. To understand it better, simply refer to the examples below:
- 2 o’clock = jam dua
- 12.30 = jam dua belas tiga puluh OR jam dua lewat tiga puluh menit
- 03.40 = jam tiga empat puluh OR jam tiga lewat empat puluh menit
- 09.45 = jam sembilan empat puluh lima OR jam 10 kurang lima belas menit
Bagian 3 | Verb/Tenses Bahasa Indonesia
Verb/Tenses
The Understanding of Tenses
The concept of tense in English refers to a verb-based method used to indicate time. Through several forms of verbs, tense explains whether an event took place in the past, or that it occurs in the present, or that it will occur in the future.
Specifically, each of the three tenses in English can be further divided into a more definitive timeline ie: Simple, Progressive, Perfect, and Past Perfect. As such, English language consists of 12 sets of major types of tense:
- Four Past Tenses
- Simple Past Tense > She laughed
- Past Progressive Tense > She was laughing
- Past Perfect Tense > She had laughed
- Past Perfect Progressive Tense > She had been laughing
- Four Present Tenses
- Simple Present Tense > She laughs
- Present Progressive Tense > She is laughing
- Present Perfect Tense > She has laughed
- Present Perfect Progressive Tense > She has been laughing
- Four Future Tenses
- Simple Future Tense > She will laugh
- Future Progressive Tense > She will be laughing
- Future Perfect Tense > She will have laughed
- Future Perfect Progressive Tense > She will have been laughing
Many languages use tense to talk about time, while others have no concept of tense at all – although generally an expression of time is needed to illustrate or give better ideas to the sentence.
- No Tenses Problem
When it comes to tenses or Indonesian grammar, you’re in luck. Essentially, Indonesian grammar requires no real tenses leaving you with nothing to worry about. All in all, forming Indonesian grammar or tense is simple since you don’t need to worry about :
- Tense conjugation
- Regular or irregular verbs
- Adding or changing the verb in any way
Do note that you will still use certain key words to describe the timeline of an event so that your sentences are factual. Let’s find out what those words are in Indonesian grammar:
Past tense in Bahasa
Meaning |
In Bahasa ( Bulan) |
Yesterday Eg. I overslept yesterday |
Kemarin “ Saya ketiduran kemarin” |
Last ( week/year/etc) Eg. They went camping last week |
Lalu “ Mereka pergi berkemah minggu lalu” |
This ( morning/afternoon/etc) Eg. We were late this morning |
Tadi “ Kita telat datang tadi pagi” |
( Minutes/ hours/etc) Ago Eg. She was here a minute ago |
Yang lalu “ Dia disini satu menit yang lalu” |
To express something that already happened/ have happened ( Perfect tense) Eg. I drank water/ I have drank water |
Telah/ Sudah “ Saya sudah minum” |
Present tense in Bahasa
Meaning |
In Bahasa ( Bulan) |
Always Eg. You’re always late |
Selalu “ Kamu selalu telat” |
Every Eg. We study every night |
Setiap “ Kita belajar setiap malam” |
Often/ frequently Eg. She comes here often |
Sering “ Dia sering datang kemari” |
Sometimes Eg. My father sometimes visit us |
Kadang-kadang “ Ayahku kadang-kadang berkunjung” |
Never Eg. Sarah never says no |
Tidak pernah “ Sarah tidak pernah menolak” |
V+ ing Eg. The students are playing |
Sedang “ Murid-murid sedang bermain” |
Future Tense in Bahasa
Meaning |
In Bahasa ( Bulan) |
Will/Shall Eg. She will pay the tickets |
Akan “ Dia akan bayar tiket itu” |
Tomorrow Eg. We’ll go tomorrow |
Besok “ Besok kita pergi” or “ Kita pergi besok” |
The day after tomorrow Eg. We’ll go the day after tomorrow |
Lusa “ Lusa kita pergi “ or “ Kita pergi lusa” |
Later Eg. We’ll go later |
Nanti “ Nanti kita pergi” or “ Kita pergi nanti” |
(Minutes/hours/days/etc) Later Eg. We’ll go a few days later |
( Menit/jam/hari//dll) Ke depan “Kita pergi beberapa hari ke depan” |
Next ( week/month/etc) Eg. We’ll go next week |
(Minggu/bulan/dll) Depan “ Kita pergi minggu depan” |
After Eg. We’ll go after the class |
Setelah “Kita pergi setelah kelas” |
From now Eg. We’ll go a few days from now |
Lagi/ dari “ Kita pergi beberapa hari lagi” |
As you learn bahasa Indonesia and make more progress, you will perhaps encounter more keywords to indicate the timeline of certain events. But overall, Indonesian grammar is not complicated with no verb alteration or specific tense formula.
Adjective
Adjective refers to a word or phrase to name an attribute or characteristic of a noun. In the Indonesian language, it is important to learn the adjectives since they are used frequently in daily conversation. The more adjective words you can build when you learn bahasa Indonesia, the more upper hand you will have in conversing like a fluent Indonesian language speaker.
In the English language, an adjective often comes BEFORE a noun. Example :
- A red car
- A scary place
- An interesting story
As a contrast in Indonesian grammar, an adjective typically comes AFTER a noun. Example:
- A red car > Mobil merah
- A scary place > Tempat seram
- An interesting story > Cerita seru
Sometimes though, an English adjective can come AFTER a verb. Example :
- My car is red
- It’s a scary place
- She told an interesting story
In Indonesian grammar, the sentence can be rephrased as per the translation. Example :
- My car is red > Mobil saya merah
- It’s a scary place > Tempat itu seram
- She told an interesting story > Dia bercerita kisah yang seru
Notice the keyword “yang” which can be loosely translated as “which” and is often used to bridge a noun and adjective in Indonesian grammar. The keyword “yang” helps explain the noun or act as a supporting word that stresses the subject or noun in the sentence.
For example:
- She’s a fun kid > Dia anak yang asyik
- Your mother is a beautiful lady > Ibumu perempuan yang cantik
- He owns a big house > Dia punya rumah yang besar
All in all, adjectives in Indonesian language are not strongly tied to a certain grammatical formula, but rather require a rich vocabulary to really convey what you want to say to the other speakers. When you learn bahasa Indonesia, try to build as much vocabulary as you can.
Here are 30 adjectives in Indonesian language to help enrich your conversation:
English Adjectives |
In Bahasa ( Bulan) |
Quantities Some/ A Few Little/Few Many/ Much Part Whole Qualities Affordable Bad Clean Dark Difficult Delicious Easy Expensive Fast Heavy Hard Good/nice Wrong Young Taste Bitter Fresh Salty Sour Sweet Spicy Tasteless Shapes Circular Square Straight Triangular Irregular Sizes Big Small Long Short Deep Narrow Wide Tall Thick Thin Colors Black White Red Green Yellow Blue Purple Brown Green Orange Gray |
Jumlah Beberapa Sedikit Banyak Sebagian Semua Sifat Terjangkau/murah Jelek Bersih Gelap Sulit Lezat/enak Gampang Mahal Cepat Berat Sulit/keras Bagus/baik Salah Muda Rasa Pahit Segar Asin Asam Manis Pedas Hambar Bentuk Bulat Petak Lurus Segitiga Tak berbentuk Ukuran Besar Kecil Panjang Pendek Dalam Sempit Luas Tinggi Tebal Tipis Warna Hitam Putih Merah Hijau Kuning Biru Ungu Coklat Hijau Jingga/ oren Abu-abu |
Nouns
Like the use of nouns in English, the nouns in Indonesian language refers to a person, animal, thing, place, thing or abstract ideas. When you learn the Indonesian language, you will notice that nouns are important and make a big part of daily conversation. It is essential that you continue to practise building and speaking in Indonesian language to adopt these nouns quickly into your daily vocabulary.
Most of the rules in nouns in Indonesian language apply to the English language, for example common nouns, proper nouns, concrete nouns or abstract nouns. A few grammatical notes you want to bear in mind are:
- Collective nouns
Like in the English language, Indonesian grammar also has a certain collective noun to refer to a group of something. However, the Indonesian language is much simpler in terms of grouping the objects. You can refer to the examples below
- A gaggle of geese > Sekelompok angsa
- An army of ant > Sekerumunan semut
- A bunch of flowers > Sekuntum bunga
- A team of staff > Sekelompok staff
Notice the prefix “Se-” which basically means “ ONE” and you can safely refer to most objects as a group or “kelompok” or “grup”. Or, as your vocabulary grows you will be able to differentiate a more specific collective word for certain objects. But in general, you may use the above explanation to start conversations.
- Singular/ Plural Nouns
In the English language, by adding the suffix “s/es” you basically are creating the plural form of a noun. This rule does not apply to Indonesian grammar where the plural of a noun is basically repeating the same word twice to indicate that it’s more than one. For example:
- House/Houses > Rumah/ Rumah-rumah
- Chair/Chairs > Kursi/ kursi-kursi
- Child/Children > Anak/ Anak-anak
However, pay attention to certain Indonesian words that is a repetition of the basic word, but is actually not a plural form, for example:
-
- Kupu-kupu > butterfly
- Kura-kura > turtle
- Atap-atap> ceilings
-
- Laki-laki > man (gender and person)
- Laba-laba > spider
In the case of making sure that you are not mistaking a repeated word as the plural forms, it’s a matter of getting accustomed or familiarizing yourself with Indonesian vocabulary. Or in other words, as your vocabulary grows, you will soon ease into the concept fairly quickly and effortlessly.
When repeating the plural forms, sometimes the structure or phoneme may also change. For example:
- Trees> Pepohonan instead of pohon-pohon
- Vegetables > Sayur-sayuran instead of sayur-sayur
- Doodles > Corat-coret instead of coret-coret
- Movements > Gerak-gerik instead of gerak-gerak
- And more
Again, the understanding of how the plural form of nouns in Indonesian language works is more about the regular usage and vocabulary building, rather than a matter of grammatical functions. For that reason, keep focusing on practice and vocabulary enrichment when you learn the Indonesian language.
- Possessive Noun
In English, a possessive noun or ownership is represented with the apostrophe ‘s’ at the end of a noun. For example:
- The cat’s toy
- Sarah’s books
- Computer’s cables
In Indonesian grammar, no specific word is needed but rather a direct translation of the words by placing the noun first followed by the subject to indicate ownership. For example:
- The cat’s toy : Mainan kucing
- Sarah’s books : Buku-buku Sarah
- Computer’s cable : Kabel komputer
Preposition & Conjunction
- Preposition
Indonesian prepositions connect nouns, pronouns and phrases to show its relationship with other words, for example to explain the direction, time, place or location. These prepositions are used daily so it’s best to include them in your daily conversation as a part of your practice:
English Prepositions |
In Bahasa |
Examples |
Location/Position |
||
In, at, on, upon |
di |
I live at the church> Saya tinggal di gereja |
In, within |
dalam |
My book is in my bag > Buku saya di dalam tas |
Movement |
||
To/toward |
Ke |
Go towards the car> Maju ke mobil |
From |
dari |
Walk back from the table> Mundur dari meja |
Addressing something/someone |
||
To/For |
Untuk/ Kepada |
This flower is for your mother. Give it to her please> Bunga ini untuk ibumu. Tolong berikan kepada dia. |
Duration |
||
During/ for |
Selama |
During the show, I slept> Selama acara, saya tidur. |
Up to/ until |
Sampai/hingga |
He works until 5> Dia bekerja sampai jam 5 |
Since |
Sejak |
I’ve been here since July > Saya sudah disini sejak bulan Juli |
Time |
||
At, on |
Pada |
The show starts at 11 > Acara dimulai pada jam 11 |
Using instruments |
||
By |
Oleh |
This letter is written by him> Surat ini ditulis oleh dia |
With |
Dengan |
We eat with our hands> Kita makan dengan tangan |
- Conjunction
Conjunction acts as a connector or bridge that connects two or more ideas. In both English and Indonesian languages, there is a similarity in concept so there won’t be much of a problem in understanding how conjunctions work when you learn Indonesian language.
To fully cover conjunctions in Indonesian language, let’s refer to the main types of English conjunctions. As such, you will be able to understand Indonesian grammar better and be encouraged to practice more when you learn bahasa Indonesia.
English Conjunctions |
In Bahasa |
Coordinating Conjunctions Connecting equal parts of a sentence, including words, phrases or independent clauseCommon conjunctions : |
|
“Or” Eg. Do you want to stay or go? |
Atau > Kamu mau disini atau pulang? |
“And” Eg. I like eggs and ham. |
Dan > Saya suka telur dan ham |
“But” Eg. I don’t drink coffee but I enjoy tea |
Tapi > Saya tidak minum kopi tapi suka teh |
Subordinating Conjunctions Connecting a dependent clause to an independent clause to show the relationship. Common conjunctions |
|
“Because” Eg. I was late because it’s raining |
Karena> Saya telat karena hujan |
“After” Eg. The house was neat after cleaning up |
Setelah> Rumah itu jadi rapi setelah dibersihkan |
“Before” Eg. She had a breakfast before leaving |
Sebelum> Dia sarapan sebelum berangkat |
“Since” Eg. He stops visiting since the accident |
Sejak > Dia tidak berkunjung lagi sejak kecelakaan itu |
“ If”..”then” Eg. If you have more money, you can buy the item |
“Kalau”…”Maka” > Kalau kamu punya uang lebih, maka kamu boleh membeli barang itu |
“…so” Eg. He climbed the tree so he can see what’s happening |
“..supaya” > Dia memanjat pohon supaya bisa melihat apa yang terjadi |
Correlative Conjunction Connecting words or phrases that have equal importance in a sentence. Common conjunctions: |
|
“Both”…”and” Eg. Both Mira and I loved the show |
“ Baik”…”dan” > Baik Mira dan saya suka acara itu. |
“Not only”..”but also” Eg. Not only are you late, but also missed the class entirely |
“ Tidak hanya”..”tapi juga”> Tidak hanya kamu telat, tapi juga ketinggalan kelas sama sekali. |
“Not”…”but”. Eg It’s not your dad’s book but mine. |
“Bukan..”tapi”> Itu bukan buku ayahmu, tapi milikmu |
“Whether” Eg. I’m not sure whether to go (or not). |
Entah> Saya tidak tahu entah mau pergi (atau tidak). |
“ Either/or” & “Neither/nor” Eg. I don’t drink either coffee or tea She does neither yoga nor jogging |
Ataupun> Saya tidak minum kopi atau teh Dia tidak yoga ataupun jogging |
So there you have it! The basics of Indonesian language to guide you for daily conversations. Once you get to it and learn bahasa Indonesia, you will come to the realization that Indonesian language is simple, enjoyable and easy to learn.
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