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100 Indonesian Phrases and Common Sentences

Selamat datang! Welcome to Mastering Bahasa. The best website that gives you a lot of materials that help you to gain your knowledge about Indonesian. This time we will learn about Indonesian phrases and common sentences. What is phrases based on Indonesian dictionary? Phrases is group of words or combinations of two or more words that form a unity and have a grammatical meaning. There are many Indonesian phrases and common sentences that used in Indonesian. Keep in mind, it is required a subject, a predicate and an object to form a simple sentence.

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If you want to understand about Indonesian phrases, their characteristics, type and examples of common sentences then please consider the following articles below which is designed for you to make it easy to understand about Indonesian phrases and common sentence as well.

The Indonesian Phrases

The Indonesian phrases are combinations of two or more words and make a grammatical function in a sentence and they have different meanings in accordance with their context. More easily, the Indonesian phrases are a combination of two words but it cannot be formed as a full sentence which doesn’t have a subject. Well, now let’s learn about Indonesian phrases and common sentences.

The Characteristics of Indonesian Phrases

There are four characteristics of phrases which are used to determine that they are a phrase.

  1. It consists of two or more words in its complication
  2. It has a grammatical function in a sentence
  3. It has a grammatical meaning
  4. It is non-predicative or it doesn’t have a predicate.

These characteristics are key to help you to find Indonesian phrase. It would be better if you could understand them before we begin to discuss about the categories of Indonesian phrases and common sentences.

The Examples of Indonesian Phrases

In the explanation given above, we can summarize that the phrase is a consisted of two words or more and it cannot make a perfect sentence. There are the examples of phrase for your references.

Indonesian English
Tidur siap Afternoon nap
Makan siang Lunch
Olahraga pagi Morning exercise
Mandi susu Milk Bath
Sedang belajar Learning
Kepada para guru To teachers
Dengan sedok teh with tea spoon
Keras kepala Stubborn
Murah hati Generous
Tas Merah Red bag

As you aware, in English you can find some words become two words in Indonesian as phrases. It is possible you will find other words that will become two or three words in Indonesian as phrases. It will be easy for you to remember if you always practice to communicate in Indonesian. Practice more prefect, right?

The Types of Phrases

In Indonesian phrases, there are 4 types of Indonesian phrases that can be learned and how to use them correctly in accordance with their classes, functions and meanings.

1. The phrases based on their class

The phrases based on their class are divided by four groups. They are:

  • Verbal Phrases

The verbal phrases are phrases that can be substituted a verb in a sentence and they have active words or  verbs in their formation.

For examples of Indonesian Phrases:

Indonesian English Verbs
Tidak minum Not drinking Minum/Drinking
Akan berangkat Will depart Berangkat/Depart
Sedang belajar Learning Belajar/Learning
Akan datang Will come Datang/Come
Belum bekerja Not yet working Bekerja/Working

Thus, that’s the example of Indonesian phrases and common sentences.

2. Noun Phrases

The noun phrases are phrases that be substituted nouns in a sentence and they have objects in their formation.

For examples of Indonesian Phrases:

Indonesian English Nouns
Buku tulis Notebook Buku/Book
Meja belajar Desk Meja/Table
Sepatu Olahraga Sport shoes Sepatu/Shoes
Lemari pakaian Wardrobe Lemari/Cabinet
Jam Tangan Wrist watch Jam/Wacth

However, let’s learn more example of Indonesian phrases and common sentences.

3. Adjective Phrases

The adjective phrases are phrases that can be substituted adjectives in a sentence and they have adjectives in their formation.

For examples of Indonesian Phrases:

Indonesian English Adjectives
Murah sekali Very cheap Murah/Cheap
Sangat pintar Very smart Pintar/Smart
Cukup baik Pretty good Baik/Good
Jauh sekali Very far Jauh/Far
Sangat dekat Very close Dekat/Close

Indeed, there are more example of Indonesian phrases and common sentences.

4. Prepositional Phrases

The prepositional phrases are phrases that use preposition words in their formation.

For examples of Indonesian Phrases:

Indonesian English Prepositions
Ke pasar to the market Ke/to
Di sekolah at the school Di/at
Kepada orang tua to parents Kepada/to
Oleh kami by us Oleh/by
Di Jakarta in Jakarta Di/in

Always remember, if you want to write a place such as “di sekolah” and “di Jakarta” please make sure that you add one space between “di” and “name of place” because it is not a prefix at all. Please read our previous article for your other references.

The information above is examples of phrases based on their classes for your materials if you find  them in a sentence. Just keep in mind whether it is a verb, a noun, an adjective or a preposition word that used in types of phrases.

The Indonesian phrases based on the function of their constituent element

 There is only one type of the phrase based on the function of their constituent element, it is:

1. Endocentric Phrases

The endocentric phrases are phrases which the element function are “Diterangkan” (Head) and “Menerangkan” (Modifier) or “Menerangkan” (Modifier) and “Diterangkan” (Head). Besides, we will find out some words are only “Diterangkan” (Head) as their form of phrases.

The table below is the examples of endocentric phrases in Indonesian for your ease references.

Indonesian English Diterangkan (Head) Menerangkan (Modifier)
Sapi Putih White cow Sapi/Cow Putih/White
Buku Gambar Drawing book Buku/Book Gambar/Drawing
Sudah bangun Already get up Bangun/Get up Sudah/Already
Lima orang Five people Orang/People Lima/five
Dua buku Two books Buku/Book Dua/Two
Dua anak kecil Two kids Anak Kecil/Kid Dua/Two
Seekor beruang a bear Beruang/Bear Seekor/A
Tua Muda Young Old Tua Muda/Young Old
Bapak Ibu Ladies and gentlemen Bapak Ibu/Ladies and gentlement
Dari Jakarta from Jakarta Jakarta Dari/From

The key to learn this structure is when you find other words beside the examples above, you can try to find the head of its word and examine which word is given additional information for it.

For your easier references, there are four types of Endocentric Phrases in their formation. They are:

1. Attribute Phrases

The attribute phrases are phrases whose element of their formation uses a head (Diterangkan) and a modifier (Menerangkan) or otherwise.

For examples:

Indonesian English Diterangkan (Head) Menerangkan (Modifier)
Ibu Kandung Biological mother Ibu/Mother Kandung/Biological
Pacar baru New girlfriend Pacar/Girlfriend Baru/New
Kursi Kayu Wooden Chairs Kursi/Chair Kayu/Wooden
Seekor kucing a cat Kucing/Cat Seekor/a
Lima buah Five fruits Buah/Fruits Lima/five
2 Sepeda Two bicycles Sepeda/Bicycle Dua/Two

That’s one of the theories of Indonesian phrases and common sentences.

2. Appositive Phrases

The appositive Phrases are phrases in which one of their modifier elements can replace the position of head elements.

For examples:

Sentences (Indonesian/English) Diterangkan (Head) Menerangkan (Modifier)
Michelle, si anak guru sangat cantik Michelle si anak guru                     the teacher’s daughter
Michelle, the teacher’s daughter is very pretty
Yoseph, teman sekolahku sangat pintar Yoseph teman sekolah                             my schoolmate
Yoseph, my schoomate is very smart

Let’s discuss about the examples above. If you notice between those examples, there are two heads (Diterangkan), they are “Michele” and “Si anak“, and “Yoseph” and “Teman“. Because of there are additional subject in a sentence (“Michelle” and Yoseph“), the existence of a head (Diterangkan) will become a full modifier (Menerangkan) although there are already a head (Diterangkan) of phrase in a sentence.

3. Coordinative Phrases

The coordinative phrases are phrases which their constituent elements occupying the same core or head function or equivalent, so they don’t have any modifier words at all.

For examples:

Indonesian English
Bapak Ibu Ladies and Gentlemen
Kakek Nenek Grandfather and grandmother
Ayah Anak Father and Son
Laki-laki dan Perempuan Boys and Girls
Tua Muda Young and Old

Meanwhile, the Indonesian phrases and common sentences can be easier to learn if you continuously read and speak Indonesian words.

4. Exocentric Phrases

The exocentric phrases are phrases that one of its elements is a task word.

For examples:

Indonesian English
Kepada Ibu guru to teacher
Ke Jakarta to Jakarta
Di ruangan at room
Dari sekolah from school
Pada waktunya in time

We hope these examples of each type will help you to understand the difference among them and expect that you can gain more knowledge about them.

The phrases based on the unit of meaning conceived and possessed by their constituent elements

There are two types of the phases based on the unit of meaning conceived and possessed by their constituent element. They are:

1. Common Phrases

The common phrases are phrases that have real meaning. These examples below will give you more details about them.

Phrases Indonesian English
Daging Ayam Ibu memasak daging ayam Mother is cooking chicken meat
Buku cerita Ayah membaca buku cerita Father is reading storybook
Lantai dasar Saya sedang di lantai dasar I am at ground floor
Buah Segar Dia membeli buah segar She is buying fresh fruits
Papan tulis Dia menulis di papan tulis He is writing on the board

We can conclude that common phrases are phrases that express the true meaning of two words or more and they are often expressed in fact.

2. Idiomatic phrases

The Idiomatic phrases are phrases that the result of its formation raises a new meaning or in other words a meaning that is not actually or it is called connotation.

The connotation sentence is a sentence that contain a phrase that is not actually as it is. Below are examples for your ease references about the Idiomatic phrases.

Phrases Indonesian English
Buah Bibir Dia menjadi buah bibir She is being discussed
Kambing Hitam Dia menjadi kambing hitam He becomes a person who is blamed

Let’s discuss about the examples above. When you write “Buah Bibir” in a sentence, that means someone is being discussed by other people as well as “Kambing Hitam” in a sentence means a person who is blamed by someone for what they did.

We encourage you to examine the meaning and understand before write the phrases especially for Idiomatic phrases. Please read our next articles about the Idiomatic phrases that help you to increase your vocabularies.