Noun Classifier in Bahasa Indonesia – Structures and Examples

When a person tries to learn a new language, they will learn about noun. In every language, noun has classification, including noun in Bahasa Indonesia. But, what is noun? According to dictionary, noun is a class of word that has function as the main or elements of subject or verb.

Noun is not only physical but it is also abstract thing. In Bahasa Indonesia, there is also concrete and abstract noun. However, this topic explains about noun classifier in Bahasa Indonesia. There are more to learn, such as: Indonesian Grammar Rules

In Bahasa Indonesia, basically a word can be categorized as a noun if:

1. In a sentence structure, a noun has a function as object and subject.

Subject	Object	Sentence	Meaning
Ibu	Tanaman	Ibu sedang menyiram tanaman.	My mom is watering the plant.
Ayah	Koran	Ayah sedang membaca koran.	My father is reading a newspaper

2. A noun that is followed by negative form (Bukan).

Anak kecil yang kuberi uang tadi bukan adikmu. ( The little kid that I gave some money was not your brother.)  There are more to learn, such as: Indonesian Plural Nouns

3. A noun that is followed by adjective.

Noun	Adjective	Noun + Adjective	Sentence	Meaning
Kucing	Hitam	Kucing hitam	Kucing hitam itu sangat lucu.	The black cat is cute.
Anjing	liar	Anjing liar	Anjing liar itu menggigitku.	The wild dog bit me.
Ular	Berbisa	Ular berbisa	Ular berbisa itu sangat berbahaya.	The poisonous snake is really dangerous.

Note      : Adjective noun in Bahasa Indonesia is different from adjective noun in English. In English, the structure to make adjective noun is adjective + noun. While in Bahasa Indonesia the structure goes with noun + adjective.  There are more to learn, such as: Indonesian Noun Phrase

Noun classifiers in Bahasa Indonesia is divided into two, they are base noun and affix noun.

1. Base noun is a noun that denotes form of a noun, either in concrete or in abstract. Base noun can not be described in other form.

• Ada sebuah lemari di ruangan. ( There is a cupboard in the room.)
• Ayah sedang menonton televisi. ( My father is watching television.)
• Piring itu pecah. ( The plate is broken.)
• Kamu memiliki ide yang bagus. ( you have a good idea.)
• Bajumu kotor. ( your clothes is dirty.)  There are more to learn, such as: Indonesian Nouns

2. Affix noun is noun that is formed by process of affixation. So, this kind of noun is added with prefix, suffix, prefix – suffix, or in the middle of the word. There is some structures to form affix noun.

verb + -an

verb	Suffix -an	Sentence	Meaning
Minum	Minuman	Kakak suka minuman bersoda	My older sister likes soft drink.
Makan	Makanan	Makanlah makanan sehat!	Eat healty food.
Cuci	Cucian	Banyak sekali cucian ibu.	There are a lot of my mom’s dirty clothes.
Jawab	Jawaban	Jawaban ulangan matematikamu betul semua.	All of your answers of math exam are correct.
Gigit	Gigitan	Gigitan ular itu menyebabkanku sakit kepala.	The bite of the snake makes me headache.

There are more to learn, such as: Informal Indonesian Phrases

pe- + verb

Verb	Prefix pe-	Sentence	Meaning
Beli	Pembeli	Pembeli itu marah-marah.	The buyer is angry.
Dagang	Pedagang	Para pedagang itu menjual pakaian.	The sellers sell the clothes.
Lukis	Pelukis	Para pelukis memamerkan karya mereka.	The painter exhibit their works.
Cipta	Pencipta	Pencipta lagu Indonesia Raya adalah Wage Rudolf Soepratnman.	The composer of Indonesia Raya adalah Wage Rudolf Soepratman.
Tulis	Penulis.	N.H. Dini adalah salah satu penulis terkenal di Indonesia.	N.H. Dini is one of the famous writers in Indonesia.

pe- + adjective

Adjective	Prefix pe-	Sentence	Meaning
Bohong	Pembohong	Dia adalah seorang pembohong.	He is a liar.
Malu	Pemalu	Toni adalah seorang yang pemalu.	Tonis is such a shy person.
Panas	Pemanas	Pemanas ruangan itu mati.	The room heater is not working.
Bersih	Pembersih	Aku mencari pembersih ruangan.	I am looking for room cleaner.
Dingin	Pendingin	Paman mencari remat pendingin ruangan.	My uncle is looking for the remote of air conditioner.

pe- + noun + -an

Noun	Prefix pe-	Suffix -an	Sentence	Meaning
Rumah		Perumahan	Saya tinggal di perumahan yang mewah.	I live in the extravagant housing.
Gunung		Pegunungan	Pegunungan itu indah sekali.	The mountains is very beautiful.
Desa		Pedesaan	Pedesaanku tidak tercemar oleh polusi udara.	My village is free of air polution.
Kantor		Perkantoran	Perkantoran itu terkena badai.	The offices is stroke by storm.

Note : rumah, gunung, desa, and kantor can not be added prefix pe- without adding suffix -an. It will not have a meaning.

The example above is the example of noun classifiers in Bahasa Indonesia.

Don’t forget!! In Bahasa Indonesia, when we want to make a sentence with a plural noun, we do not add ‘s’ after noun. But we repeat the noun itself.

Noun	Plural	Singular	Meaning
Bebek	Bebek	Bebek-bebek	Ducks
Bunga	Bunga	Bunga-bunga	Flowers