Prefix

me- (part 1)

Prefix me- is used to form active verbs.

Prefixing any words with me- would require a minor spelling change (inflection) in order to facilitate a smooth transition in pronunciation. The inflection is based solely on the first letter of the original word.

First Letter: vowel, G & H

First Letter Inflection Root Word Example Meaning
Vowel
g
h		 me + ng alir
gali
hapus		 mengalir
menggali
menghapus		 to flow
to dig
to erase

First Letter: K

First Letter Inflection Root Word Example Meaning
k me + ng + drop the 'k' kenang mengenang to remember

First Letter: C, D, J

First Letter Inflection Root Word Example Meaning
c
d
j		 me + n cuci
didik
jual		 mencuci
mendidik
menjual		 to wash
to educate
to sell

First Letter: T

First Letter Inflection Root Word Example Meaning
t me + n + drop the 't' tulis menulis to write

First Letter: S

First Letter Inflection Root Word Example Meaning
s me + ny + drop the 's' sapu menyapu to sweep

First Letter: B, F, V

First Letter Inflection Root Word Example Meaning
b
f
v		 me + m buat
fokus
vonis		 membuat
memfokus
memvonis		 to make
to focus
to sentence

First Letter: P

First Letter Inflection Root Word Example Meaning
p me + m + drop the 'p' pilih memilih to choose

First Letter: L, M, Ny, R, W

First Letter Inflection Root Word Example Meaning
l
m
ny
r
w		 me + root lihat
masak
nyanyi
rusak
wabah		 melihat
masak
menyanyi
merusak
mewabah		 to see
to cook
to sing
to destroy
to become epidemic

Monosyllabic

First Letter Inflection Root Word Example Meaning
  me + nge cat mengecat to paint

me- (part 2)

Prefix me- can be combined with any nouns, any adjective, numbers, and even verbs themselves to form another verb as follows:

me+ transitive Verb*

Root Word Examples Meaning Remarks
masak Dia memasak(or 'masak') nasi She cooks rice 'masak' can be used in their infinitive forms
makan Dia makan nasi She eats rice 'makan' is used in their infinitive forms
minum Dia minum susu She drinks milk 'minum' is used in their infinitive forms

me+ intransitive Verb**

Root Word Examples Meaning Remarks
nangis Dia menangis She cries most intransitive verbs can be used in their infinitive forms
  Dia nangis(casual) She cries most intransitive verbs can be used in their infinitive forms

me+ Noun

Root Word Examples Meaning Remarks
rokok Dia merokok He's smoking  
kopi Ngopi yuk! Let's have coffee 'ngopi' derives from 'mengopi' but 'mengopi' is slang word

me+ Adjective

Root Word Examples Meaning Remarks
besar Badannya membesar His body is getting bigger it indicates the subject changes

me+ Number

Root Word Examples Meaning Remarks
satu Menyatu dengan alam Blend(become one) with the nature

me+ Place

Root Word Examples Meaning Remarks
darat Pesawat itu mendarat hari ini That planes lands today

me+ Expletive

Root Word Examples Meaning Remarks
erang Dia mengerang She groans  

* Transitive verbs: verbs that can have objects
** Intransitive verbs: verbs that cannot have objects, [almost] equivalent to reflexive verbs

ter-

The prefix ter- forms a word that emphasizes the accidentally of the action by which the state came into being. It is also commonly used in a lawsuit.

Examples

Root Meaning ter - Root Meaning Remarks
bangun arise, get up terbangun become aware, awaken  
bawa bring, bring along terbawa taken along accidentally  
biasa usual, common terbiasa have become accustomed  
dapat can, able, get, obtain terdapat exist  
jatuh fall terjatuh tumble, tripped over  
lupa forget terlupa forgotten  
masuk enter termasuk included, comprised  
sangka guess, suspicion tersangka accused It is also commonly used in a lawsuit.
sedia ready tersedia is made available for use  
tawa laugh tertawa is laughing  

 

The prfix ter- is also used to explain the greatest degree of a quality or quantity among two or more persons or things as a superlative form to replace the word 'paling'.

Examples

baik good terbaik paling baik the best
buruk bad terburuk paling buruk the worst
akhir end terakhir paling akhir the last one
banyak a lot terbanyak paling banyak the greatest number, majority, most
panjang long terpanjang paling panjang the longest

 

No double 'r' in prefix formation.

Examples

rampas seize, rob, plunder, capture terampas seized, robbed, plundered, captured
rencana plan terencana planned

di-

The prefix "di-" is used to make the passive form of an active "me-" verb.

But 'di', can also function as a preposition that indicates location, often meaning 'at'. 'Di rumah' means at home, and 'di kantor' means 'at the office'.

To differentiate the above, in written form 'di' as a prefix is wirtten in one word with the root verb. As a preposition 'di' is written as a word separately from the noun(place).

So the word 'dikantor' is wrong because 'mekantor' is not a verb. As a proposition the correct form is 'di kantor'.

Examples

Nina menyanyikan lagu jazz
Lagu jazz dinyanyikan oleh Nina		 Nina sings a jazz song
A jazz song is sung by Nina		 active form
passive form
Dia mencuci piring
Piring dicuci olehnya		 She washes the dishes
The dishes are washed by her		 active form
passive form

ber-

The prefix ber- added to a noun often means "to have" the thing represented by the noun. For example: ber + rumah = to have a house; ber+mobil = to have a car.

Prefix ber- can be combined with a noun or a verb. When the prefix ber- attached to a verb then the resulting verb is a reflexsive verb*.

The irregular prefix ber- are:

  1. 'ber' + 'kerja' = 'bekerja' means 'work'
  2. 'ber' + 'ajar' = 'belajar' means 'study/learn'

In a case where the first letter of the word is 'r' we drop one 'r' such as 'ber' + 'rumah' = berumah' means 'own a house'.

A reflexive verb is one in which the subject of the verb does something to itself

Examples

  Root In Sentence Meaning
ber+ Noun nama
kuda
uban
bahasa
kulit		 Ayah saya bernama Didi
Setiap hari Minggu dia berkuda
Rambut ibu saya sudah beruban
Dia bisa berbahasa Inggris
Dia berkulit putih		 My father's name is Didi
Every Sunday he rides a horse
My mother's hair has grays
He can(speak) English
She has fair skin
ber+ Verb dansa
dandan
doa
henti
tanya		 Kakak saya suka berdansa
Dia perlu waktu lama untuk berdandan
Dia berdoa setiap malam
Taxi kami berhenti di depan rumah
Saya ingin bertanya ...		 My sister loves to dance
She needs a lot of time to dress up
She prays every night
Our taxi stops in front of the house
I want to ask about history
ber+ Adjective sedih
gembira
duka		 Kakak saya sering bersedih
Dia sedang bergembira
Saya ikut berduka		 My sister often feels sad
She is in a happy state
My condolences

No double 'r' in prefix formation:

Examples

  Root In Sentence Meaning
ber+ noun/verb
with 'r' as
the first letter		 rambut
racun
ragam
rencana		 Kakak saya berambut panjang
Tanaman itu beracun
Jenis barang yang dijual beragam
Dia suka berencana		 My sister has long hair
That plant is toxical
The stuff that she sells are diversed
He likes having a plan

 

pe- (part 1)

The prefix pe- is used to show the doer/person who does the action; someone who is fond of doing; it can be used to explain the character of the person; It can also form a noun that explain what that noun does.

Examples

Root Word Meaning Prefix pe- Meaning Remarks
nyanyi sing penyanyi singer the doer/person who does the action
tulis write penulis writer the doer/person who does the actio
jahat bad, wicked, evil penjahat criminal  
marah angry, mad pemarah ill tempered to explain the character of the person
balap race pembalap racer someone who is fond of doing
main play pemain
pemain bola		 player
footballer		  
diri self, stand, exist pendiri founder  
hapus erase penghapus eraser instrument/tool used in the action

 

pe- (part 2)

Prefixing any words with pe- would require a minor spelling change (inflection) in order to facilitate a smooth transition in pronunciation. The inflection is based solely on the first letter of the original word.

First Letter: M, Ny, R, W

1st Letter Inflection Root Word Prefix Pe- Meaning
m pe + root mula pemula beginner
ny   nyanyi penyanyi singer
r   rokok perokok smoker
    rawat perawat nurse
w   wawancara pewawancara interviewer

 

First Letter: B, F

1st Letter Inflection Root Word Prefix Pe- Meaning
b pe + m + root bantu pembantu detractor, backstabber
f   fitnah pemfitnah (tukang fitnah) mudslinger

 

First Letter: P

1st Letter Inflection Root Word Prefix Pe- Meaning
p pe + m + drop 'p' + root pahat pemahat sculpture, carver

 

First Letter: Vowel, G, and H

1st Letter Inflection Root Word Prefix Pe- Meaning
a pe + ng + root ajar pengajar educator, teacher
i   iklan pengiklan advertiser
u   ungkit pengungkit lever
e   edar pengedar distributor
o   olah pengolah processor
h   halang penghalang barricade
g   gerak penggerak activator

 

First Letter: K

1st Letter Inflection Root Word Prefix Pe- Meaning
k pe + ng + drop the 'k' karang pengarang author, writer, composer

 

First Letter: C, D, J

1st Letter Inflection Root Word Prefix Pe- Meaning
c pe + n + root curi pencuri thief
d   dukung pendukung supporter
j   judi penjudi gambler

 

First Letter: T

1st Letter Inflection Root Word Prefix Pe- Meaning
t pe + n + drop the 't' tulis penulis writer

 

First Letter: S

1st Letter Inflection Root Word Prefix Pe- Meaning
s pe + ny + drop the 's' sapu penyapu sweeper

ke-

Prefix ke- that is added to a few root words can form nouns.

Examples

kasih love kekasih lover
hendak want kehendak desire/intention
rangka skeleton, frame kerangka skeleton
tua old ketua leader, chairman

se- (part 1)

Prefix se- combined with noun would mean "one of that noun". In the example below, gelas means glass. Therefore, segelas means one glass. In English, se + noun usually translates into a / an.

Examples

Root Word Se + Root Word In A Sentence Meaning
gelas segelas Dia memberi saya segelas air He gives me one glass of water
mobil semobil Saya pergi ke sekolah semobil dengan teman saya I go to school with my friend in one car
orang seorang Yang lulus ujian cuma seorang Only one person passed the exam
kota sekota Di Indonesia kami dulu tinggal sekota In Indonesia we used to live in the same city

se- (part 2)

If it occurs with group numbers prefix se- is to form cardinal numbers and fractions.

Examples


sejuta one million sepuluh ten
seribu one thousand sebelas eleven
setengah half sepertiga one third
seperdelapan one eight seperempat a quarter

se- (part 3)

It also replaces the number "satu" or one before classifiers. When a measure word is being used in conjunction with only one object, the numeral prefix se- is used in front of the measure word, not satu.

Example

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

se- (part 4)

If you combine prefix se- with adjective it would mean "as good as that adjective". In the example below, cantik means beautiful. Therefore, secantik means as beautiful as.


Examples

cantik secantik Dia secantik ibunya She is as pretty as her mother
gini segini   this much
gitu segitu   that much
kuat sekuat Dia tidak sekuat dulu He is not as strong as he used to be
kecil sekecil Dia tidak pernah tinggal di rumah sekecil ini He never lives in a house as small as this

se- (part 5)

If prefix se- is combined with repeated adjective and suffix -nya, it will give you a totally different meaning. In the example below, banyak means many. Therefore sebanyak-banyaknya means as many as possible.

 

Examples

ada seada-adanya whatever there is, as one finds it
baik sebaik-baiknya as good as possible
banyak sebanyak-banyaknya as many as possible
besar sebesar-besarnya as big as possible, deeply great
buruk seburuk-buruknya at worst
cepat secepat-cepatnya as fast as possible
dikit sedikit-dikitnya at the very least
enak seenak-enaknya as one wishes, as one likes
erat seerat-eratnya as tight as possible
habis sehabis-habisnya to the bitter end
jadi sejadi-jadinya with all one's might
kuat sekuat-kuatnya as strong as possible
kurang sekurang-kurangnya at least
lama selama-lamanya as long as possible, forever
mau semau-maunya as one likes
pandai sepandai-pandainya no matter how good one is
tidak setidak-tidaknya in any case

Angkringan


Angkringan of Yogyakarta, are food stands that appear at night with cheap snacks like "cat rice" (a little rice, vegetables, and fish or chicken in banana leaf and newspaper) and peanuts, where people sit down for a minute, get out of their daily routine, and have a refreshing conversation.(Photography by Bagas D. Bawono)

e-Learning

The University of Hawaii at Manoa offers three dedicated distance education e-learning courses for advanced Indonesian under the supervision of Dr. Uli Kozok, coordinator of the Indonesian language program at the University of Hawaii. The three courses offered are available not only to UH students but to anyone anywhere. You can enrol through UH Outreach College.

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