The Indonesian language

Learning Indonesian is easy. Beside it has a consistent phonetic,in general this language is simple. The verb has only one form regardlessthe tenses, for instance.

I give some examples almost in every section below. Notice thatthe red color texts are the Indonesian word.

Pronunciation
Unlike English, the spelling of Indonesian is consistently phonetic.

Consonants
Below are a few consonants you have to give special attention, whilethe rest are pronounced roughly as in English.

c is pronounced "ch", like in "choice".(cinta =love)
g is pronounced hard, as in "glory". (gambar= picture)
kh is pronounce a hard "k", likein "kid". (khotbah= sermon)
ng is always soft, as in "singer". (bangun = to wake up)
ngg is always hard, as in "jungle". (bangga= to be proud).

Vowels
As in English, there are five vowels (a, i ,u, e, o) and two diphtongs (ai, au).
a is consistently pronouncedas in "father". (Kamu= you)
i is like "ea" in "bean".
u is like the "u" in "humor"
e is prounced differently in some words. In empat,whichmeans "four", eis pronounced as in "earn". In bebas,which means "free", it is pronounced like "a".
o is pronounced as in English.
ai is pronounced like the word"eye"
au is like the "ow" in "how"

Pronouns
In a formal meeting or in conversation with someone you are meetingfor the first time, it is more polite to refer them as bapak(male) or ibu (female; like madamein English) rather than using the pronoun of "you".

Indonesians prefer to use first name, as a more polite form ofaddress, rather than the personal pronouns described below.

If you want to learn a foreign language seriously, it is right whenpeople said that you must learn the culture as well.

	singular	plural
1st person	I = saya, aku	we = kita, kami
2nd person	you = anda, saudara, kamu, engkau, kau	you all = kalian, anda sekalian, kamu sekalian
3rd person	he, she, it = dia	they = mereka

Aku also means "I", but it is usedin informal situations, use saya ina more formal circumtances.

Anda, saudara, kamu, bapak, ibu= you
Anda and saudarausually are used in more formal situations, however use bapak(male) or ibu (female) for a more politeaddressing. Kamu or kaumay be used for persons you know very well, you may also use the 1st namein this situation.

Dia = he, she
Notice that Indonesian does not distinguish gender. That is one ofthose simplicities I've told you earlier.

BasicVocabulary
The following vocabularies are provided as anearly introduction, assuming that you are really a novice.

ya, iya = yes	tidak = no
makan = to eat	makanan = food
beli = to buy	jual = to sell
harga = price (noun)	murah = cheap (adj.)
bayar = to pay	uang = money
lapar = hungry	haus = thirsty
hotel = hotel	tidur = to sleep
hari = day	tanggal = date
tanggalan = calendar	jam = time, watch, hour
pagi = morning	siang = afternoon
malam = night	mobil = car
pergi = to go, to leave	ke = to, toward
datang = to come, to arrive	dari = from
bagus = good	jelek = bad
besar = big	kecil = small
sudah = already	belum = not yet
ingin = to want, to wish	akan = will

Numbers
Ordinal Numbers

nol, kosong	= zero	dua puluh	= twenty
satu	= one	dua puluh satu	= twenty one
dua	= two	dua puluh dua	= twenty two
tiga	= three	dua puluh delapan	= twenty eight
empat	= four	dua puluh sembilan	= twenty nine
lima	= five	tiga puluh	= thirty
enam	= six	tiga puluh satu	= thirty one
tujuh	= seven	tiga puluh sembilan	= thirty nine
delapan	= eight	empat puluh	= forty
sembilan	= nine	lima puluh	= fifty
sebelas	= eleven	enam puluh	= sixty
sepuluh	= ten	tujuh puluh	= seventy
dua belas	= twelve	delapan puluh	= eighty
tiga belas	= thirteen	sembilan puluh	= ninety
empat belas	= fourteen	seratus	= one hundred
lima belas	= fifteen	dua ratus	= two hundred
enam belas	= sixteen	seribu	= one thousand
tujuh belas	= seventeen	dua ribu	= two thousands
delapan belas	= eighteen	dua ribu lima ratus	= 2500
sembilan belas	=nineteen	lima ratus ribu	= 500,000

se- = prefix for "one"
puluh = ten, multiples of ten
belas = teen (ex. sebelas= eleven)
ratus = hundred
ribu = thousand
juta = million
milyar = billion

Cardinal numbers
Cardinal numbers are formed by adding the prefix ke- to any ordinal number.

(yang) pertama	= (the) first
kedua	= second
ketiga	= third
(yang) kelima	= (the) fifth
(yang) terakhir	= (the) last

Day, Week, Month, Year

hari	= day	Senin	= Monday
minggu	= week	Selasa	= Tuesday
bulan	= month	Rabu	= Wednesday
tahun	= year	Kamis	= Thursday
abad	= century	Jumat	= Friday
Minggu	= Sunday	Sabtu	= Saturday
Besok	= tomorrow	Kemarin	= Yesterday

Here are some simple phrases :
Tanggal berapa hari ini? = Whatis the date today?
Jam berapa? = What time is it?
Saya ingin makan= I want to eat
Hotelnya bagus dan murah= The hotel is good and cheap

Greetings
Shaking hands is the most common way of greetingor when saying good bye. Never use the left hand to shake hand, it couldbe interpreted as impolite.

The most Indonesians greeting are preceded bythe word selamat.You can say Selamat!that means "Congratulations!". And you can use it followed by the timeof day or other words to form most common greetings.

The word selamatitself means "safe". Le's see the most common greetings the Indonesianhas :

Selamat pagi = Good morning (until 10-11 am)

Selamat siang = Goodday (from 11 am to 3 pm)

Selamat sore = Good afternoon (3 pm to nightfall)

Selamat malam = Good evening (after dark)

Selamat tidur = Good night

Selamat datang = Welcome

As English has "how are you?" to greet someone, Indonesian has Apakhabar? which literally means "What's the news" (apa=what,khabar=news;the actual meaning is "howare you?"). You can answer Khabar baikor just Baik which means "I'm fine"(baik = well, fine).

By the influence of Western culture, it is also common to say Halo!, meaning exactly the same as "hello", to people you know well.