Hi! Let’s improve our reading skills today, shall we? Have you learned about Indonesian written language? Written language is just as important as learning basic Indonesian conversation or vocabulary. It helps a lot in reading and writing sentences.
To learn reading, it’s very important that you get the basics of Indonesian sentence formula and structure. Grammar-wise, Indonesian and English have a similarity, their sentences are usually in the simple formula of subject + verb + object. However, unlike the English language, Indonesian doesn’t apply tenses. That’s one less thing to worry about for you, that’s why Indonesian is actually an easy language to learn!
Now, read these simple Indonesian sentences and learn their meanings. Don’t forget to check out Indonesian language pronunciation guide so you can read them properly. Pay attention to the sentence structure as well.
Indonesian Reading Practice
| Subject | Verb | Object | |
| 1. | Ini | – | anak saya |
| This | is | my child. | |
| 2. | Itu | – | anak-anak saya |
| Those | are | my children. | |
| 3. | Mereka | – | orang Indonesia. |
| They | are | Indonesians. | |
| 4. | Orang Amerika itu | – | tinggi dan besar. |
| That American | is | tall and big. | |
| 5. | Mobil dia | – | mahal |
| His/her car | is | expensive. | |
| 6. | Kakak laki-laki saya | tinggal | di New York. |
| My (older)brother | lives | in New York | |
| 7. | Anak saya | sekolah | di sekolah dasar |
| My child | goes to school | at elementary school. | |
| 8. | Adik perempuan saya | kuliah | di Universitas Princeton. |
| My (younger) sister | goes to college | at Princeton University. | |
| 9. | Suami saya | bekerja | di kedutaan |
| My husband | works | at the embassy. | |
| 10. | Istri saya | belanja | di pasar. |
| My wife | shops | in the market. | |
| 11 | Guru kami | baca | koran |
| Our teacher | reads | the newspaper. | |
| 12. | Keluarga mereka | datang | dari Eropa. |
| Their family | comes | from Europe | |
| 13. | Orang tua saya | punya | 2 mobil. |
| My parents | have | 2 cars. | |
| 14. | Kita | makan | Pizza. |
| We | eat | pizza | |
| 15. | Dia | minum | kopi. |
| He/she | drinks | coffee | |
| 16. | Mereka | mau datang | ke rumah saya. |
| They | want to come | to my house. | |
| 17. | Saya | sedang belajar | Bahasa Indonesia. (sekarang) |
| I | am studying | Indonesian. (now) | |
| 18. | Kami | akan pergi | ke Indonesia besok |
| We | will go | to Jakarta tomorrow |
Then, how can you tell time through Indonesian sentences if not using tenses? Indonesian language usually use helping words to give more detail about time.
Indonesian Sentence Formula: subject + verb + object
Indonesian Reading Practice, Here are some of the helping words usually used:
- Sekarang (now)
Examples:
Saya ingin pergi sekarang (I want to go now)
Langit sudah gelap sekarang (The sky is already dark now)
- Besok (tomorrow)
Saya harus kembali kerja besok (I have to go back to work tomorrow)
Saya akan membeli sepasang sepatu baru besok (I will buy a pair of new shoes tomorrow)
- Nanti (later)
Ia ingin pergi berbelanja nanti (S/he wants to go shopping later)
Kita akan ketinggalan kereta nanti jika tidak bergegas (We will miss the train later if we don’t hurry)
- Tadi (before)
Kami sudah menjenguk keluarga Anna tadi (We have visited Anna’s family before)
Ia tidak ada di rumah ketika saya datang tadi (He is not home when I came before)
- Akan (will)
Kakak saya akan menjemput saya sore ini (My older brother will pick me up this evening)
Ikan itu akan busuk jika tidak disimpan di kulkas (The fish will be spoiled if it is not kept in the refrigerator)
As you can see from reading the examples above, using these helping words make the time information in the sentences clearer without changing the form of the verb in the sentence. This is unlike the English language where we need to change the verb forms depending on the time information (Indonesian tense) of the sentence.