However, the prefixes and suffixes play an important role to form new words. You will see later that the use of those prefixes and suffixes can drastically change (or alter) the meaning of certain words. In  some cases it alters to the noun form. 

Let's get prepared by memorizing the following verbs in order to be easier to follow the discussions in this lesson. 

ada	= to be, exist	mau	= will, to want
bicara	= to speak, to talk	lihat	= to see
makan	= to eat	minum	= to drink
belajar	= to study, to learn	baca	= to read

Common verbs of motion (intransitive) 

datang	= to come, arrive	duduk	= to sit
ikut	= to follow, go along	jalan	= to walk
keluar	= to go out, exit	masuk	= to go in, enter
berhenti	= to stop	pergi	= to go
pulang	= to go home	kembali	= to go back, return
mulai	= to begin	lari	= to run, flee

Common verb of action (transitive)  

ambil	= to take, get	bawa	= to carry
beli	= to buy	cari	= to look for, seek
dengar	= to listen	beri	= to give
lihat	= to see	naik	= to ride, go up, climb up
pakai	= to use, wear	sewa	= to rent
taruh	= to put	terima	= to receive

 

However, "to be" is rarely translated in Indonesian, two nouns can be joined without the presence of the verb "to be". Let's see examples below to make it clearer : 

I am an American = Saya adalah orang America --> with adalah. 
the above sentence can be translated as Saya orang America without the use of adalah and without changing the meaning at all.  

In the following example the presence of adalah is important to emphasize the explained object :  
The winner is Hollyfield =  Pemenangnya adalah Hollyfield 

Subject + to be + adjective 
A "to be"-like verb is not required to join a noun with an adjective. In Indonesian you can just simply combine them directly. 

This car is expensive = Mobil ini mahal  (mahal = expensive). 
They are hungry = Mereka lapar.  

Also, the Indonesian language doesn't need the verb "to be" to create passive sentence. We will discuss the passive form later. 

Word order 
The standard of word order to form a sentence is the same as in English : subject + verb + object. 
 
I need some money = Saya perlu uang 
We are looking for a hotel = Kita sedang cari hotel. 

The letter is read by his mother = Surat itu dibaca oleh ibunya. 

Baca = to read. The passive form of  baca is dibaca.  Nya in the above sentence is the Indonesian word for "his" or "her". Remember that in  Indonesian, pronouns are not distinguished by gender. Bukunya could mean his book or her book  (buku = book). 
Ibunya could be his mother or her mother. 

beli = to buy	dibeli = to be bought
terima = to receive	diterima = to be received
pakai = to use	dipakai = to be used

 

I'm not going = Saya tidak pergi 
That hotel is not good = Hotel itu tidak bagus 

Belum = not yet 
Have you been to Bali? Not Yet! = Anda pernah ke Bali? Belum! 
I haven't had my breakfast yet = Saya belum makan pagi 

Bukan is another varian of tidak which is usually used to negate nouns. 
Not this one, that one. = Bukan ini , itu 
This is not paper but plastic = Ini bukan kertas tetapi plastik 

Jangan! = Don't! 
Don't go! = Jangan pergi! 

Tenses 
Indonesian uses the same form of the verb to speak of the past, the present and the future. In other word, verbs do not change the form in different tenses. Words indicating specific time reference can be added if you want to be more precise. 
Saya makan =  I'm eating. 
Saya sudah makan = I have already eaten 
Saya makan nanti = I will eat later 

The same word makan is used in different tenses. 

Present Tense 
If no specific time reference is used, it is generally assumed that it is a present tense. 
Sekarang which means "now" is used to indicate the present. 
Kita pergi sekarang = We are leaving now. 

Sedang is another auxiliary word to indicate that one is in the middle of doing something. 
Saya sedang makan = I'm eating. Literally means "I'm in the middle of eating". 

Past Tense 
Indonesian has a few words used as time reference to form the past tense. Sudah (means "already"), kemarin ("yesterday"), tadi ("just now") are a few of them. 

 They have gone already = Mereka sudah pergi. 
 I have been studying Indonesian for one month = Saya sudah    belajar bahasa Indonesia selama satu tahun . 
 She visited her mother yesterday = Dia mengunjungi ibunya   kemarin. 

Past tense can be simply formed by adding a specific time reference to  present tense sentence. Below are a few more words can be used as the past tense time reference. 

Yang lalu =  ago, last  
  two weeks ago = dua minggu yang lalu 
  a year ago = satu tahun yang lalu 
  last year = tahun (yang) lalu 

Pernah = ever 
  I have seen a dinosaur = Saya pernah lihat dinosaur. 

Sejak = since 
  He has been doing his business since 1980 = Dia sudah berwirausaha  sejak 1980. 

Waktu = when (literally means "time") 
  When he arrived, we had already gone = Waktu dia datang, kita sudah pergi. 
  At that time, I had just come = Waktu itu saya baru datang. 

Future Tense 
Auxiliary words used to express the future : 
akan = will, shall 
nanti = later 

Future time reference commonly used in the future sentence : 
(week, month, year) + depan = next (+ week, month year, etc) 
yang akan datang also means "next"  can be used as a subtitute for depan. 

next year = tahun depan or tahun yang akan datang 
next week = minggu depan 
besok = tomorrow (see the basic vocabulary on fundamentals lesson to see more words you can use with depan as time reference). 

  I will buy a new computer next month = Saya akan beli komputer baru bulan depan. 

It is also common to form a  future sentence just by adding a time reference to a present tense without the auxiliary word. 
  I will leave tomorrow = Saya berangkat besok.

The suffix -nya often to be used just like article "the" in English. Pronouns ini (this) and itu (that) can also be used to translate article "the". 

The hotel is cheap = Hotelnya murah  
The mountain is very high = Gunung itu sangat tinggi. 

Plural forms 
The same form of noun is used to create plural form. The singular or plural are indicated by the context or by the use of words like semua (means "all"), banyak (means "many"), etc. 

 There are many books in his bag = Ada banyak buku dalam tasnya. Buku can be interpreted as book or books. 

Plural can also be formed by repeating the noun and put a dash between them. Buku-buku means books. Anak means child, while anak-anak means children.