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As you learn more Indonesian, you will find out that most words in Indonesian sentences don’t exist just as their root words, instead they have a set of letters attached in the beginning (prefix) or ending (suffix) of those words to make them sound more ‘complete’ and usable in sentences. Learn more about Indonesian sentence structures here.
Previously, you might have read about Indonesian prefix “Ber-“. For today, we will focus on one of the prefixes, “se-“. You can find more prefixes in the Indonesian prefix table.
Prefix “Se-“ in Indonesian
“Se-“ prefix is used as substitution for the word “satu” (one). To use this prefix, it’s also very simple, you just add “se-“ to the beginning of the root word.
Example of Prefix “Se-“ in Indonesian
- Seribu = se + ribu = satu ribu (one thousand)
- Sekelas = se + kelas = satu kelas (one class)
- Seragam = se + ragam = satu ragam (one variety/uniform)
Check out more examples of words built from the Prefix “Se-“ in Indonesian!
| Root Word | Se + Root Word | Meaning | Example |
| gelas | segelas | A glass of | Ia membuat segelas kopi setiap pagi (He makes a glass of coffee every morning) |
| mobil | semobil | One car | Kami pergi semobil ke pesta itu (We go to the party in one car) |
| orang | seorang | One person | Ia adalah seorang dokter (He is a doctor) |
| kota | sekota | One city | Saya dan teman sekamar saya sekota (My roommate and I come from one city) |
Prefix “Se-“ in Indonesian
The prefix “se-“ can also be used with number words to form cardinal numbers and fractions.
| Se + Root Word | Meaning | Se + Root Word | Meaning |
| sejuta | one million | sepuluh | ten |
| seribu | one thousand | sebelas | eleven |
| setengah | half | sepertiga | one third |
| seperdelapan | one eight | seperempat | a quarter |
Another use is as a measure word.
There are many different measure words in Indonesian, just like in English, so you just need to adjust the usage to the proper objects, like the example below:
| Root Word | Se + Root Word | Meaning |
| batang | sebatang lilin | a candle stick |
| buah | sebuah apel | an apple |
| cangkir | secangkir teh | a cup of tea |
| ekor | seekor kambing | a goat |
| gelas | segelas air | a glass of water |
| helai | sehelai rambut | one piece of hair |
| ikat | seikat bunga | a bunch of flowers |
| kejap | sekejap mata | in a blink of an eye |
| lembar | selembar kertas | one piece of paper |
| mangkuk | semangkuk sup | a bowl of soup |
| orang | seorang wanita | a woman |
| pasang | sepasang sepatu | a pair of shoes |
| piring | sepiring makanan | a plate of food |
| potong | sepotong kue | a slice of cake |
| sendok | sesendok makan | one table spoon |
| siung | sesiung bawang putih | a clove of garlic |
| suap | sesuap nasi | a mouthful of rice |
| tangkai | setangkai bunga | a flower |
| titik | setitik darah | a drop of blood |
You can also read about:
- Indonesian infixes with tables and examples
- Indonesian grammar structures for beginners
Good luck! Selamat Belajar Bahasa Indonesia!