A-Z Useful Words to Get You Anywhere in Indonesia

Hi! Welcome back!

Indonesia is the fourth biggest country in the world and also fourth most populated one. It also consists more than 17,000 islands and diverse ethnicity with their own culture. But, we have one national language that unite us, which is Bahasa Indonesia.

Therefore, after learn about useful words to get you anywhere in Indonesia. Indonesian Words in 5 Minutes, now let’s learn the Words to Get You Anywhere in Indonesia. Those are several Handy Indonesian Words that could at least make you survive in anywhere in Indonesia.

Before we start, you could check these articles.

Indonesian Greetings

This is very important. Greetings could give good first impression and you will considered friendly (Check Common Greetings In Indonesian). Here are the list.

Apa kabar? = How are you?
Selamat pagi = Good morning
Selamat siang = Good afternoon
Selamat sore = Good evening
Selamat malam = Good evening/Goodnight
Selamat tinggal/jalan = Goodbye
Selamat datang = Welcome
Sampai jumpa/ketemu = See you
Salam = (literal meaning as ‘greet’, but similar to ‘hi’ or ‘bye’, depends on when it used)
Dada = Bye
Halo = Hi
Terima kasih/Makasih = Thank you
Sama-sama = Your welcome
Permisi = Excuse me
Maaf = Sorry, or apologize because the interruption
Silakan = Let someone (usually to sit, get in or pass through you)
Tolong = please

Indonesian Verbs

Sometimes, in Bahasa Indonesia you do not need a full sentence to express your mind. Mostly you just need to tell them the Most Common Indonesian Verbs or Adjective Words in Indonesian

tidak (verb)/bukan (noun) = not
makan = eat
minum = drink
tidur = sleep
mandi = take a bath
kenyang = full (because eating)
main = play, visit
datang = come
pergi = go
duduk = sit
berdiri = stand up
berjalan/jalan-jalan = walk
belajar = study
bicara/ngomong = talk
mendengar = hear
mendengarkan = listen
suka/senang = like
cinta = love
beli = buy
jual = sell
bertanya/meminta = ask
jawab = answer
lupa = forget
masuk = (get) in
keluar = (get) out

Indonesian Adjectives

Here are some very common adjective that very useful anywhere in Indonesia.

lapar = hungry
haus = thirsty
ngantuk = sleepy
bagus = good
baik = kind, good
jelek = ugly, bad
kiri = left
kanan = right
benar = true, right
salah = wrong, false
mahal = expensive
murah = cheap
dekat = near, close
jauh = far
dingin = cold
panas = hot
tua = old
muda = young
besar = big
kecil = small
manis = sweet
asam = sour
asin = salty
pahit = bitter
pedas = spicy
enak = delicious
luar = outside/outer
dalam = inside/inner

Indonesian Pronouns

One of the very essential part of Bahasa Indonesia is Pronouns. This is quite important to be mastered because the cultural aspects of Indonesian people.

aku/saya = I, me, myself, mine
kamu = you, your, yours
dia = he, she, him, his, her, hers
kami = we, us, our (excluding the interlocutor)
kita = we, us, our (including the interlocutor)
mereka = they, their, theirs, them

Check also: Indonesian Pronouns and Formal Pronouns

Indonesian Slang words

Beside the formal words, let’s move forward to the more recent generation vocabulary. It is nice to learn Indonesian Slang Words because you could feel the young vibe and become cool Indonesian speaker!

kepo = Knowing Every Particular Object
kuy (yuk’ backwards) = c’mon, let’s (asking someone to join)
sikat/takis/gas = go forward without hesitant
baper (bawa perasaan) = too sensitive
PD (percaya diri) = confident
gaje (gak jelas) = uncertain, weird, quirky, unfunny
ulala = similar like oh la la
unch ucnh = extremely cute
up = see above
sabi (‘bisa’ backwards) = ok, can/could, agree on something
kece = cool
tidur kayak kebo = sleep like an ox (heavy sleep)
otewe = on the way
gabut (gaji buta) = do not have anything to do like an unemployed
wkwk/wqwq = similar to haha (laugh sound)
ngegas = talking with ‘angry emotion’ (high pitch and/or loud voice and/or high speed)
gapapa = never mind
kids zaman now = young generation (particularly kids and teenager)
kids zaman old = refer to before 2000s generation (90s, 80s and so on)
kekinian = shopisticated
hakiki = genuine (e.g kegantengan yang hakiki = the genuine handsomeness)

Other Words to Get You Anywhere in Indonesia

apa = what
siapa = who
di mana = where
ke mana = where to
dari mana = where … from
kapan = when
mengapa/kenapa = why
bagaimana/gmn = how
berapa = how much/how to
merah = red
jingga/oranye = orange
kuning = yellow
hijau = green
biru = blue
nila = indigo
ungu = purple
hitam = black
putih = white
akan/hendak = will
sedang = (auxiliary for present continuous)
belum = have/has not
sudah = have/has (present/past perfect)
tanpa = without
makanan = food
toilet/WC = bathroom
sayuran = vegetables
buah = fruits
daging = meat
nasi = rice
di = in
ke = to
dari = from
atas = above
bawah = under
belakang = behind
samping = next
seberang = opposite
Senin = Monday
Selasa = Tuesday
Rabu = Wednesday
Kamis = Thursday
Jumat = Friday
Sabtu = Saturday
Minggu = Sunday
hari = day
minggu = week
bulan = month
tahun = year
nama = name
perempuan = female, woman
laki-laki = male, man
anak-anak = kids/children
rumah = home/house
meja = table
kursi = chair
pintu = door
jendela = window
atap = roof
bus = bus
mobil = car
kereta = train
pesawat = plane
tiket/karcis = ticket
motor = motorcycle
sepeda = bicycle
ojek = motorcycle taxi
ojek online = online motorcycle taxi
angkot = city/public transportation
daring = online
luring = offline
warganet = netizen

So, there are the list of Words to Get You Anywhere in Indonesia. I believe you still want to know more about Indonesian Vocabulary. I guarantee there are still more interesting words to learn. I hope you are still curious to learn more about Bahasa Indonesia. Therefore, you could add up your lexical resources with these following articles. Take a look.

Good luck!

Categories: Vocabulary

Tags: bahasaIndonesialanguagevocabularywords

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6 years ago

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