Let’s face it, you have mastered Indonesian alphabets pronunciation and some vocabularies, but the fundamental element when learning a language is getting a solid grip in the grammar. Bahasa Indonesia is known as one of the easy languages to learn because the grammar is not as complex as in English. Even though the grammar is simpler, but it does not mean that it can be omitted.
Indonesian grammar consists of tenses, word order, and so on. Learning Indonesian word order is crucial before you speak the language. While the advanced level of word order can be quite confusing but the basic word order is quite easy to understand. Take a look at below explanations of Indonesian word order. Also learn more about Indonesian Sentence Construction.
Verbs in Bahasa Indonesia is known as ‘kata kerja’ or working words. In English, we know this verb as action words. This verb serves as the centre of the sentence and it is an important part of Indonesian language. The location of the verb is also in the centre, literary. In general, the sentence formula is quite similar to English with subject + verb + object pattern.
Subject + verb + object
This pattern is the most basic word order in Bahasa Indonesia. It is quite similar to English, so, you should have no difficulties in learning this.
- Saya (S) makan (V) nasi (O) ( I eat rice)
- Dia (s) memakai (V) Sepatu (O) (He wears shoes)
Subject + verb + verb+ object +adverb
- Saya (S) ingin (V) membeli (V) sepatu (O) baru (Adv) (I want to buy new shoes)
- Dia (S) akan (V) belajar (V) matematika (O) dengan giat (Adv) (He is going to learn math diligently)
You see the difference in the syntax? Yes, the visible difference from English syntax is the descriptive words (words that describe such as adverbs and adjectives) are in general added after the main words or the words its complement. Also learn Indonesian Descriptive Words.
To be or not to be
The verb ‘to be’ in Bahasa Indonesia does not exist in general. Perhaps, the absent of verb ‘to be’ makes people think that the language is easy. The verb ‘to be’ is not needed because the context of the sentence is simply understood that way. Take a look at below examples.
- Dia tampan. (He [is] handsome)
- Saya bahagia. (I [am] happy)
- Ibu pergi ke pasar. (Mom [is] going to [the] market)
There is a word in Bahasa Indonesia which has similar meaning as verb ‘to be’. The word is ‘adalah’ and it is mostly used to describe or emphasize something and the use of the word is completely optional.
- Edo adalah pria yang tampan. (Edo is a good looking man)
- Dia adalah seorang mahasiswa (He is a college student)
Noun word order is usually used to create genitive or possessive sentence. In Bahasa Indonesia, the pronoun does not change to indicate possession. Also learn about Indonesian Plural Nouns.
Noun + possessive pronoun
| Indonesian | English | Remarks |
| Buku saya | My book | Bukuku |
| Buku dia | Her/his book | Bukunya |
| Buku kamu | Your book | Bukumu |
| Buku kami | Our book | |
| Buku kalian | Your (plural) book | |
| Buku mereka | Their book |
You can see that the pronouns stay the same for any type of sentence and the noun is placed in the before the pronoun. Also learn more about Indonesian Sentence Structure.
Noun + possessive noun
| Indonesian | English | Remarks |
| Makanan kucing | Cat’s food | |
| Makanan kucingku | My cat’s food | |
| Gelas ayah | Dad’s mug | |
| Gelas ayahku | My dad’s mug |
Compound Noun
The compound noun or ‘kata gabungan’ has the opposite placement as in English. In English the explaining noun is placed before the main noun. But in Bahasa Indonesia, the explaining noun is placed after the main noun. Take a look at below examples.
Main noun + explaining noun
| Indonesian | English | Literal translation |
| Buku tulis | Notebook | Buku: note
Tulis: write |
| Air minum | Drinking water | Air: water
Minum: drink |
| Jalan kembar | Boulevard | Jalan: street
Kembar: twin |
| Minyak goring | Frying oil | Minyak: oil
Goring: fry |
Sometimes, compound nouns are also used to merge two nouns together. This kind of compound noun usually has very different meaning from the root word. Also learn about Indonesian Question Word Order.
| Indonesian | English | Literal translation |
| Rumah tangga | Household | Rumah: house
Tangga: stairs |
| Muka badak | Refers to shameless person, thick-skinned person | Muka: face
Badak: rhinoceros |
| Makan hati | To get disappointment | Makan: eat
Hati: heart |
Those are the examples and formula of Indonesian word order . The general rules are quite the same as in English but there are some points to highlights. Do not forget to check our other articles to help you enhance understanding in Bahasa Indonesia.