Bahasa Indonesia is considered as a language with no complex grammatical rules. There is no verbs changing, words gender differences, and the like. It should be pretty easy to learn Indonesian grammar. Learning Indonesian grammar is important to construct Indonesian sentence. Also learn more about Indonesian sentence structure.
Indonesian Sentence Construction
Indonesian sentence construction can be classified into three types which are active, passive, negative, and question sentence. In general, Indonesian sentences consist of subject, verbs (predikat), and object. It is quite similar to English sentence formation, right?
1. Active sentence
In English, active sentence is quite similar to direct speech. Active sentence means the subject doing actions (verb). In general, active sentence is classified into two which are transitive and intransitive.
- Kalimat aktif transitif (transitive active sentence)
To make transitive active sentence, there should be object included. Take a look at below examples.
| Transitive Active Sentence | English translate |
| Asep menangkap bola | Asep catches the ball |
| Ferdi memperbaiki sepeda | Ferdi fixes the bike |
| Dian memasak nasi | Dian cooks rice |
-
- You may also read about
Indonesian Active and Passive Sentence
- with Examples
- Kalimat aktif intransitif (intransitive active sentence)
Intransitive active sentence is the type of sentence which does not require object. The sentence stands on its own even without objects. One thing differentiate between transitive and intransitive sentence is transitive active sentence cannot be changed into passive sentence.
| Intransitive active sentence | English translate |
| Agus berlari | Agus runs |
| Desi menangis | Desi cries |
| Ayah sedang tidur | Daddy is sleeping |
You may also read about Indonesian Sentence Construction
2. Passive sentence
As the name suggest, passive sentence is the opposite of active sentence. A sentence considered as passive when the subject is burdened with activity. In general, passive sentence is classified into two types which are transitive and intransitive. The explanation between transitive and intransitive in passive sentence is more or less similar to the active sentence above. The characteristic of passive voice is it uses prefix di- in the verbs.
- Kalimat pasif transitif (transitive passive sentence)
A sentence is called transitive passive sentence when it has object.
| Transitive passive sentence | English translate |
| Tas itu dibawa Rini | The bag is carried by Rini |
| Ruang aula sedang dibersihkan oleh siswa | The hall is being cleaned by students |
| Sepeda milik Doni Diperbaiki Ayahnya | Doni’s bicycle is fixed by his father |
| Kue itu dimakan ibu | The cake is eaten by mother |
You may also read about  Indonesian Phrases and Common Sentences
- Kalimat pasif intransitif (intransitive passive voice)
This type of sentence does not employ object as part of the sentence. Also learn Indonesian descriptive words.
| Intransitive passive sentence | English translate |
| Rumah itu sedang diperbaiki | The house is being fixed |
| Andi tersesat di hutan | Andi is lost in the forest |
| Sampah itu segera dibuang | The trash is soon thrown out |
Let’s learn more about Indonesian grammar exercise with us here.
3. Question sentence
There are some ways to construct question sentence. The basic way is to use question words such as apa (what), kapan (when), siapa (who), dimana (where), bagaimana (how), and mengapa (why). In informal way, you can simply add question mark without changing the structure of the sentence. See below example.
| Question sentence | English translate |
| Apa kamu mau makan? (formal)
Kamu mau makan?(informal) Kamu mau makan, tidak? (informal) |
Do you want to eat?
You want to eat? You want to eat, don’t you? |
| Siapa nama kamu? (formal)
Nama kamu siapa? (informal) |
What is your name?
You name is? |
| Apa yang kamu bawa? (formal)
Kamu bawa apa? |
What do you bring?
What do you bring |
| Kamu sudah mandi? (informal)
Apakah kamu sudah mandi? (formal) |
Have you taken a bath?
Have you taken a bath? |
| Dimana kantor kamu? (formal) | Where is your office? |
You may also read about Indonesian Reading Practice
Negative sentence
Negative sentence is used to refuse something. There are two words which are used to construct negative sentence. The first is ‘tidak’ for formal use and ‘enggak’ for informal use. Some people may also use ‘tak’ as a short type of ‘tidak’ and ‘gak’ as short type of ‘enggak’.
| Indonesian negative sentence | English translation |
| Dia tidak mau makan
Dia tak mau makan Dia enggak mau makan |
He does not want to eat
He does not want to eat He does not want to eat |
| Ibu enggak pakai MSG saat memasak | Mom does not use MSG when cooking |
| Tak mungkin dia akan datang ke pesta | There is no way he would come to the party |
| Ani gak mau pakai sepatu merah | Ani does not want to wear the red shoes |
That’s all  about Indonesian grammar exercise.
Indonesian Words Formation
Indonesian words are quite different from English in terms of structure. This is because there is no verb change, but it uses prefix, suffix, and infixes. Prefix is used in front of root words, while suffix is used in the end of root words, and infixes are used in the middle of root words. The addition of prefix, suffix, and infixes changes the meaning of root words and constructs a completely different word. For example:
| Root words | Prefix/infix/suffix | Words | Meaning |
| Tari (to dance) | Prefix me- | Menari | Dancing |
| Getar (vibrate) | Infix –em- | Gemetar | Tremble |
| Makan (eat) | Suffix –an | Makanan | Food |
In some cases, a root words can employ the combination of prefix, infixes, and suffix. Every addition of Indonesian prefix, infix, suffix, or combination of it results in different meaning of the root words. Learn more about Indonesian infixes and Indonesian affix.