Hello everyone ! Hope you have a good day.
Before we are going to discuss the topic of this article i would like you to read and understand these example i’ve been written down, please pay attention to the words written with bold line:
- I am his daughter. (Aku adalah anak perempuannya.)
- This is my bag. (Ini adalah tasku.)
- We are the students of 4th grade Kanisius Elementary School. (Kami adalah siswa murid kelas 4 SD Kanisius.)
From the example above we conclude some words such as am, is, are in English then was translated into adalah in Bahasa Indonesia.
For the first time i would like to explain what is is, am, are on English grammar. According to Cambridge dictionary is, am ,are were words that functioned as a to be.
When do we use to be on a sentence or conversation? To be were used as a conjunction between subject and predicate when there’s no verb on the sentences or conversation.
For the example:
- This is rose. (Ini adalah mawar.)
- This is our car. (Ini adalah mobil kami.)
- It is Dinda’s bicycle. (Ini adalah sepeda Dinda.)
To be also used as a subject plus predicate on a certain tenses such as continous tenses.
For the example:
- I am going to the beach (Aku sedang dalam perjalanan ke pantai.)
- My father is teaching math. (Ayahku sedang mengajar matematika.)
- My dog is eating his food. (Anjingku sedang makan makanannya.)
On the above has been written down that in English, to be were used as a conjunction. What is the definition of conjunction? According to Oxford Dictionaries, there are two definitions of conjunction.
First, conjunction is a word used to connect clauses or sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause. Second, conjunction is the action or an instance of two or more events or things occurring at the same point in time or space.
In KBBI the definition of conjunction is a word that connecting between phrases, words, sentences, or even clauses.
Conjunction usually lies in the middle of sentences, after the subject and conjunction between sentences usually lies in the beginning of the sentences.
Those to be (is, am, are) when translated into Bahasa Indonesia its became ‘adalah’ According to the KBBI (Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia), the word “adalah” has 3 functions which are:
- Identical with something
- Has the same meaning
- Include into a certain group
For the examples:
- Bali adalah pulau yang sangat cantik. (Bali is a beautiful island.)
- februari adalah bulan setelah Januari. (February is a month after January.)
- Randi adalah adik bungsuku. (Randi is my youngest brother.)
To spell “adalah” you could try by pronounce this: /a/-/da/-/lah/. Open your mouth and produce the sound /ha/ to spell /a/, not like you spell the alphabet of /a/ like you usually do in English.
Sometimes people got confused between using “adalah” and “ialah”. Actually they are include in the same group as a conjunction but they have different function. The word “ialah” were used to connect between sentences that the characteristic of “ialah” is to confirmed or as an explanation of the first sentence.
For the example:
- Yang harus kita lakukan sekarang ialah membawa Dika ke rumah sakit. (What we should do right now is taking Dika to the hospital.)
- Perempuan yang berbaju merah itu ialah Bu Marta, ibuku. (The woman in red shirt is Mrs. Marta, she’s my mother.)
From the example above we could learn, eventhough in Bahasa Indonesia “adalah” and “ialah” has different definition, function, the used on a sentence but when they were translated into English they still has the same translation “is”.
When you were involved in a conversation, whether it is formal or informal or who’s your opponent, are they younger, older, or has the same age with you there is no differentiate on using the word “adalah”. The word “adalah” only has one form, using in all situation and ages.
That’s all we could learn from how to use the word “adalah” on Bahasa Indonesia. Hope it will help you on learning Bahasa Indonesia.
After learning about 5 Indonesian Grammar Structures , you should check out these following articles to enhance your Bahasa Indonesia skills. Good luck and keep practice!