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Vocabulary

900 Lists of Basic Indonesian Vocabulary – Types – Examples

Nowadays, learning languages is very important as we remember that all people communicate by using languages. Languages exists since we were babies. God created languages so we know how to speak and understand each other. One of languages that you should know and learn is ‘’bahasa Indonesia’ of Indonesian. You have to know that Indonesia is one of the largest countries in the world.

So if you visit and stay in Indonesia, you must learn Indonesian’s culture and ‘bahasa’ of course.  It is easy to learn ‘bahasa’ as long as we have an intention to learn it.  Just try it hard. Learning ‘’bahasa’ from lists of Indonesian Vocabulary is important due to some foreign people often visit Indonesia for vacation, study, even stay for a long time in this country.

Actually, learning ‘bahasa’ is interesting because there is no grammar and any kind of rules that should be considered. In according to most of foreign people,if there is no grammar and rules in ‘bahasa’, it will be difficult to learn and understand the language in common ways because a language must consist grammar and rules. However, language is about practicing,isn’t it? The more we practice ‘bahasa’ to every Indonesian we meet, the more we are going to understand and learn mistakes we have made.

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Before studying Indonesian vocabulary, we must know about Part of Speech. As in English, Part of Speech is a basic part of English sentences. In ‘bahasa’ we also need Part of Speech. There are 8 part of speech: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection. So, Let’s learn Indonesian Vocabulary here!

1. Nouns (Kata Benda)

First of all, we are going to learn Nouns for first learners. Here is some examples of Indonesian vocabulary based on ‘Nouns’

  • Common Nouns 

Noun is used to name person, things, places, and abstract concept. In Bahasa, all nouns cannot be divided into kind of nouns, because if we use noun in sentences, whether it is singular or plural, abstract or concrete It is just the same on structure.

Noun (Kata Benda) Definitions
Anak Child
Api Fire
Batu Rock
Buku Book
Bola Ball
Dokter Doctor
Kematian Death
Komputer Computer
Mobil Car
Orang- orang People
Tahun Year

Example of Indonesian Noun in Sentences

  1. Ini anakku
    This is my child
  2. Api itu sangat panas
    That fire is very hot
  3. Batu ini kecil sekali
    This rock is very small
  4. Terdapat satu buku di atas meja
    There is one book on the table
  5. Bola itu bulat
    That ball is round
  6. Dokter itu sangat tampan
    The doctor is very handsome
  7. Kematiannya palsu
    His death is fake
  8. Saya memiliki satu komputer di rumah
    I have one computer at home
  9. Temanku memiliki sebuah mobil mewah
    My friend has a luxury car
  10. Aku kenal dengan orang- orang itu
    I know those people
  11. Aku sangat senang di tahun ini
    I am very happy in this year

Well, that’s the first step on how to learn Indonesian Vocabulary, which is you must know and understand Indonesian noun vocabulary.

2. Pronoun (Kata ganti)

Pronoun is used to replace noun. This part of speech is useful to avoid the repetition of noun.

  • Personal Pronoun

Personal Pronoun is pronoun used for person, animal, or specific things

  • Demonstrative Pronoun

Demonstrative Pronoun is pronoun using number of parameter and distance

  • Interrogative Pronoun

Interrogative Pronoun used to ask questions

  • Relative Pronoun

Relative pronoun is pronoun to form relative clause which explains noun on main clause on complex sentences.

  • Indefinite Pronoun

Indefinite Pronoun is pronoun used for person, things, and not in specific things.

  • Reflexive Pronoun

Reflexive pronoun is pronoun used to say that subject accept action from verb in sentences.

  • Intensive Pronoun

Intensive Pronoun is pronoun used to give stress on antecedent

  • Reciprocal Pronoun

Reciprocal Pronoun is pronoun used when two or more subject doing the same action each other

Indeed, here are the example of Indonesian Pronoun Vocabulary, complete with sentence examples. 

Pronoun Indonesian Pronouns  English Pronouns 
Personal Pronoun Saya, kamu, dia I, you, he
Demonstrative Pronoun  ini, itu This, that, These, those
Interrogative Pronoun Siapa, apa, yang mana Who, which, what
Relative pronoun yang Who which, whom
Indefinite Pronoun Apapun, tidak ada Anything, nothing
Reflexive Pronoun and Intensive Pronoun Diriku, dirimu Myself, yourself
Reciprocal Pronoun Satu sama lain, masing masing Each other

Well, it’s the basic theories of learning Indonesian Vocabulary. Further, learning Indonesian pronouns is important so you can start to speak Indonesian well.

Here is some examples of pronoun in sentences:

  1. Dia seorang dokter
    He is a doctor
  2. Itu meruapakan rumah yang bagus
    That is great house
  3. Kau harus mencintai diriku
    You     have to love me
  4. Anak itu sedang berbicara dengan seorang teman yang membenci dirinya
    That child is speaking with his friend who hates him
  5. Aku mencintai gadis yang kutemui tadi malam
    I love a girl whom I met last night

Thus, Indonesian Vocabulary can be hard to learn, but if you know this basic Indonesian Pronouns, then you will know how to learn Indonesian fast.

3. Verbs (Kata Kerja)

Verb is used when someone does an action. Here is the basic examples

Example of Indonesian Verbs Vocabulary 

Verbs (Kata Kerja) Definitions (Arti)
Bicara Speak
Pesan Order
Panggil Call
Baca Read
Dengar Listen
Tulis Write
Tunggu Wait
Jual Sell

Thus, that’s the basic Indonesian Verbs that you need to know for the first learner.

Example of Indonesian Noun in Sentences

  1. Saya selalu bicara dengan adik saya
    I always speak to my sister
  2. Mary sering pesan pizza
    Mary often orders pizza
  3. Ibuku selalu panggil aku dengan nama ‘’fifa’
    My mom always calls me by using ‘fifa’
  4. John baca buku setiap hari
    John reads book everyday
  5. Ray mendengarkan music setiap sore
    Ray listens to music every afternoon
  6. Dia menulis puisi setiap sebulan sekali
    She writes poem once in a month
  7. Dia selalu menunggu bus di depan rumahnya
    He always waits for the bus in front of his house
  8. Mary menjual kue
    Mary sells cake

So, have you understood the task of Indonesian Verbs? We all need to practice it everyday.

4. Adverb (Kata Keterangan)

Adverb is used to explain verb, adjectives, or other explanation words.

There are some adverbs you need to know

  • Adverb of manner

Adverb of manner gives explanation about how or which way an activity done

Dengan sedih/ secara sedih Sadly
Dengan berani/ secara berani Bravely
Dengan senang/ secara senang Happily
Dengan penasaran/ secara penasaran Curiously
Secara cepat/ dengan cepat Fast
Secara giat/ keras Hard

Thus, that’s the basic Indonesian Adverbs of Manner that you need to know for the first learner.

Examples of Indonesian adverb manner in sentences

  1. Dia sedang menangis sedih
    She is crying sadly
  2. Dia memanjat tebing itu dengan berani
    He climbed the walls bravely
  3. Dia selalu tertawa bahagia
    She always laughs happily
  4. Dia bertanya padaku dengan rasa penasaran
    She asks me curiously
  5. Mobil itu berjalan dengan cepat
    That car runs fast
  6. Mary selalu belajar dengan giat
    Mary always studies hard

Meanwhile, learn the sentences would make you fluent in Indonesian.

  • Adverb of Time

Adverb of time is a word to show when or where the activities happen.

Examples of Indonesian Adverb of Time:

Secepatnya Immediately
Sekarang Now
Setiap hari Daily
besok tomorrow
kemudian later
Pagi Hari In the morning

Indonesian adverb of time is basically have the same function as in English Adverb. Further to learn Indonesian vocabulary, let’s check the examples of sentences here.

Examples of Adverb of Time on sentences

  1. Dia selalu datang terlambat ke sekolah
    He always comes late to school
  2. Ayo kita lakukan sekarang!
    Let’s do it now!
  3. Tukang buah itu selalu datang ke rumahku  setiap hari
    The fruits seller comes to my house daily
  4. Aku akan menyelesaikannya nanti
    I am going to finish it later
  5. Aku akan mengunjungi sepupuku besok
    I am going to visit my cousin tomorrow
  6. Aku akan menemuinya secepatnya
    I am going to meet him immediately

Meanwhile, that’s the simple sentences examples of Indonesian Adverbs.

  • Adverb of Place

Adverb of place explain about places.

Examples of Indonesian Adverb of Place:

Here Di sini
There Di sana
below Di bawah
Out Di luar
Everywhere Dimana-mana

Thus, that’s the basic Indonesian Adverbs of Time vocabulary that you need to know for the first learner.

Examples of adverb of place on sentences

  1. Just live here!
    Tinggallah di sini
  2. Lihat yang di sana!
    Look at there!
  3. Ibuku sedang keluar
    My Mom is out
  4. Put it down below the table
    Letakkan itu di bawah meja

However, let’s learn more about Indonesian Adverbs.

  • Adverb of Frequency

Adverb of frequency explains how often activities done

Examples of Indonesian Adverb of frequency:

Kadang- kadang Sometimes
Biasanya Usually
Dua kali Twice
Tidak pernah Never
sering often

Examples of adverb of frequency on sentences

  1. Kadang- kadang aku suka lupa waktu
    Sometimes I forget the time
  2. Biasanya, Ayah selalu bangun pagi
    Usually, father always gets up in the morning
  3. Kau sudah menyebut namaku dua kali
    You have called my name twice
  4. Aku tidak akan pernah melupakanmu
    I will never forget you
  5. Aku sering minum susu
    I often drink milk

Further, you can try to write your own sentences using Indonesian adverbs to practice your language skills.

  • Adverb of Certainty

Adverb of certainty explains confidence and certainty of one thing

Examples of Indonesian Adverb of Certainty

Mungkin Probably
pasti Certainly
jelas obviously
Benar- benar really
Tentu Saja Surely

Examples of adverb of certainty on sentences:

  1. Kemungkinan salju akan turun besok
    Probably, there will be snow tomorrow
  2. Aku pasti akan datang
    I surely will come
  3. Dia jelas sangat pintar
    He is obviously smart
  4. Aku benar- benar mencintaimu
    I really love you

Meanwhile, that’s the basic Indonesian vocabulary of adverbs that you need to learn.

  • Adverb of Degree

Adverb of Degree explains how much \/ how many, how far, or what level something happens.

Examples of Indonesian Adverb of Certainty

cukup enough
sangat very
hampir nearly
agak rather
 hampir  almost

Examples of Adverb of Degree on sentences:

  1. I have enough money
    Aku punya cukup uang
  2. Dia hampir tewas
    He nearly dies
  3. Dia sangat cantik
    She is very beautiful
  4. Dia datang agak terlambat
    He comes rather late

We still have one more Indonesian adverbs to explain below.

  • Interrogative Adverb

Interrogative adverb is used to ask questions

kapan when
kenapa why
dimana where
bagaimana how
apa what
 siapa who

Examples of Interrogative Adverb on sentences

  1. Where is she going tonight?
    Kemana dia pergi besok?
  2. Kenapa dia menangis?
    Why is she crying?
  3. Dimana Mary tinggal?
    Where Mary lives?
  4. Bagaimana kabarmu?
    How are you?

Indeed, it’s the basic questions using Interrogative Adverb.

  • Conjunction Adverb

Conjunction Adverb is used to combine 2 clauses.

Examples of Conjunction Adverb Vocabulary 

Bagaimanapun juga/ tapi However
Akibatnya Consequently
Meskipun demikian/ tapi Still
Selanjutnya Next

Examples of Conjunction Adverb in sentences:

  1. Dia sangat bodoh. Meskipun demikian, dia tetap belajar dengan giat
    He is very stupid. However, he studies hard
  2. Dia sering mengkonsumsi es. Akibatnya, dia sering sakit
    He often consumes ice. Consequently, he often gets sick
  3. Dia sudah sering gagal mengikuti lomba itu. Tapi, dia tidak pernah menyerah,
    He often fails on the competition. Still, he never gives up
  4. Membuat kue hanya membutuhkan kemampuan memasak. Selanjutnya, kita bisa belajar dari buku
    Making cakes only need cooking skill. Next, we can learn from books

Well, that’s all the Indonesian adverbs vocabularies that you can learn as the basic study.

5. Adjectives (Kata Sifat)

Here are the Indonesian adjective vocabulary:

Adjectives (Kata Sifat) Meaning
Aneh Odd
Bahagia Happy
Cantik Beautiful
Ganteng Handsome
Jauh Far
Lucu Funny
Pintar Clever
Bodoh Stupid
Tua Old

Example of Indonesian Adjectives in Sentences

  1. Kelakuan anak itu sangat aneh
    That child’s behavior is very odd
  2. Dia sangat bahagia
    She is very happy
  3. Gadis itu sangat cantik
    That girl is so beautiful
  4. John sangat ganteng
    John is very handsome
  5. Rumahnya jauh sekali
    His house is so far away
  6. Bayi itu lucu sekali
    That baby is so cute
  7. John adalah siswa yang pintar
    John is a clever student
  8. Gary adalah siswa yang bodoh
    Gary is a stupid student
  9. Wanita itu sangat tua
    That woman is very old. 

6. Preposition (Kata Depan)

Preposition is words with its object which explains verb, noun, or adjectives

Preposition (Kata Depan) Meanings of Prepositions
Di At/ in/ on
Di belakang Behind
Di antara Between
Dari From
Sesudah Time (after)
sepanjang Places (along)
sejauh As far as
ter Used to say passive action
Because of/ dikarenakan oleh Used to sat the cause

Examples of Prepositions in Sentences

  1. Rumahnya di belakang rumah saya
    His house is behind of my house
  2. Saya tinggal di antara 2 pulau
    I live between 2 islands
  3. Mary datang dari London
    Mary is coming from London
  4. Saya minum susu sesudah belajar
    I drink milk after studying
  5. Banyak batu di sepanjang jalan
    So many rocks along the streets
  6. Sejauh yang saya ketahui
    As far as I know
  7. Saya terganggu dengan suara itu
    I get disturbed by that voice
  8. Saya tinggal di London
    I stay in London
  9. Because of that, she lost her phone
    Dikarenakan hal itu, dia kehilangan handphonenya.

7. Conjunction (Kata sambung)

Conjunction is used for combining two words, phrase, clause, or paragraph. Here is some examples of conjunction. This conjunction is divided into 4 parts:

  • Coordinate Conjunction

Coordinate conjunction is used to combine 2 grammatical construction: words, phrase, clauses.

  • Correlative Conjunction
  • Subordinate Conjunction
  • Adverbial conjunction

Here is some examples of conjunction for first learners. Those are common conjunction that we often use every day.

Conjunction (Kata sambung) Definition (Arti)
Dan, tapi And, but
Atau, jika Or, if
Meskipun, ketika Although, when
Bagaimanapun juga, lalu However, then
   

Examples of Conjunction in sentences

  1. Aku dan dia adalah sahabat
    He and I are friends
  2. Aku cinta dia, tapi aku benci dia
    I love him, but I hate him
  3. John mencintai Mary, meskipun John merasa bosan
    John loves Mary, although John feels bored
  4. Nenekku meninggal ketika umjurnya 80 tahun
    My grandmother died when she was 80
  5. London sangat jauh. Bagaiamanpun juga, aku tetap harus kesana
    London is so far away. However, I have to go there
  6. She died, then she will be flying into heaven
    Dia meninggal, lalu dia akan terbang ke surge
  7. Aku lahir saat Ayahku membaca Al Qur’an.
    I was born when my father reading Al Qur’an.

 8. Interjection (Kata seru)

Interjection is short speech used to show our feeling.  Here is some examples of interjection

Interjection (Kata seru) Purposes (Tujuan)
Aduh! Usually Used when someone feels hurt  in accident
Wow! Usually used for Admiring something/ surprised
Woy! Usually used to call someone
Aaaaa! Surprised/ shocked/ scream
Ah! Usually used when someone disagree about something
Hey! Usually used to call someone
Huft! Usually used when someone feels tired or fed up
Aha! Usually used when someone has an idea to tell
Hmm! Usually used when someone feels doubt, or thinks of something
Eh! Usually used when someone doing something to other people by accident

Here is some examples of interjection in sentences

  1. Aduh! Tanganku terluka
    Ouch. My hand gets hurt
  2. Wow! Langitnya indah sekali
    Wow! The sky is so beautiful
  3. Woy! Bangun woy!
    Woy! Wake up!
  4. Huft! I don’t like her
    Huft! Aku tidak suka sama dia
  5. Hmmm! Sepertinya dia memang baik
    Hmmm! It seems like he is nice to me
  6. Aha! Aku punya ide untuk liburan kali ini
    Aha! I have an idea for this vacation
  7. Eh! Maaf sudah mendorongmu
    Eh! Sorry for pushing you!
  8. Aduh! Kakiku sakit!
    Ouch! My leg gets hurt
  9. Wow! Banyak sekali orang orang disini
    Wow!  So many people here

From the explanation above, we can make a conclusion that learning ‘bahasa’ is just the same as learning English. First of all, we have to know and understand the part of speech so we know what to say in sentences. As mentioned before, ‘bahasa’ has no specific rules or Indonesian grammar. We can make passive, active, or interrogative sentences without rules. However, remember one rule that should be considered in learning ‘bahasa’. If we say ‘’red carpet’ in English, then we should say’’ karpet merah in ‘bahasa’.

The word of red carpet in English can be classified as adjective and noun. However, the word of ‘karpet merah’ in ‘bahasa’ can be classified as noun and adjective. This is the only simple rule and grammar in ‘bahasa’ while we don’t mention about plural or singular in learning ‘bahasa’. Whether it is singular or plural, it doesn’t matter when we put in on sentences. There is no rule for plural or singular noun in sentences. We just need to understand the sentences and memorize the sentences into vocabularies

Tips on Learn Indonesian

Here some things to consider:

  1. You don’t need to take some courses to learn ‘bahasa’. You can learn Bahasa by yourself from movies and Internet even books. Learning in a course may spend lots of money. Many people take the course and spend their money but some of them even still can’t speak fluently about language they have learned at course.
  2. Learn right vocabulary in right way, then try to put in on sentences
  3. You must need some variation in practicing ‘bahasa’. You may need different situation and different people to accompany you
  4. Try to remember the same words or the same meaning of Indonesian vocabulary as your own language. For instance: character is the same as ‘’karakter’ in Bahasa, and preposition in English is the same as ‘preposisi’ in Bahasa
  5. Take care of your quality in learning. It means you have to commit on what you learn because language is about practicing. You must often practice that to everyone you meet and never stop that practice. Once you stop practicing in a month, you may forget some words or sentences and even forget the pronunciation.
  6. Don’t ever be afraid to speak ‘bahasa’ to everyone. Don’t be afraid to make some mistakes because you will learn much

To make you easy in learning ‘bahasa’, try to watch Indonesian movie with Bahasa subtitle and write or memorize the sentences in your mind, then open the vocabulary to translate the sentences. Don’t think too much about mistakes you have made. The more you know the mistakes, the more you learn. Upon writing and translating in a right way, try to memorize the sentences in ‘bahasa’ and the translation into your own language.

Then practice that to every Indonesia you meet. Talk to them that you are not a native Indonesian because Indonesians will understand that you could make some mistakes in speaking ‘bahasa. They may laugh when you make a mistake, but you have to trust that Indonesians are friendly. They are going to teach you as often as you need.  Pronunciation in ‘bahasa’ is also different from English. It sounds natural and not that hard to say.