Pronouns
Indonesian uses the same following pronouns for the possessive adjective.
| saya | I - me - my |
| dia | he - his - him she - hers - her |
| kami | we - us - our excludes listener |
| kita | we - us - our includes listener |
| mereka | they; them; their |
| kamu | You - singular |
| kalian | You - plural |
‘Kamu’ as a second personal pronoun means ‘you’. But ‘kamu’ can not be applied in every situation as well as to address any person we talk to. The word used for ‘you’ depends on the age, gender, and social position of the person you are addressing and the situation. When in doubt, it is better to be more formal than too casual.
It is a big NO-NO to use ‘Kamu’ to people who are older and/or higher in rank because you will be perceived as rude, impolite, and disrespectful. On the other hand it is always OK to use ‘kamu’ to people who are younger and/or lower in rank than us.
The following is the conversation examples between a teacher and a student:
Examples
| Meaning | ||
| Guru(teacher) | Pekerjaan rumah harus kamu serahkan pada saya besok pagi | You have to submit the homework to me tomorrow morning |
| Murid(student) | Di mana saya menemui Bapak? | Where do I find you? |
If we are unable to guess the age of the person we talk to - such a stranger in the shop - the safest way is to use ‘mas’ for male and ‘mbak’ for female to replace ‘kamu’.
Examples
| Meaning | ||
| Wanita(female) | Mas tahu nggak toko ini bukanya jam berapa? | Do you know when does this shop opens? |
| Pria(male) | Masih lama 1 jam lagi. Mbak ke toko lain aja dulu. | In another hour. You’d better go to another shop first. |
The followings are varieties that are used to replace ‘kamu’ for a simple question such as “Have you eaten?” :
Examples
| Remarks | |
| Anda sudah makan? | neutral, formal, polite and it is used to speak to people who are at the same level, same age or older |
| Kamu sudah makan? | to address children, pupils, juniors or persons we know very well and who are of the same age or younger. |
| Kalian sudah makan? | neutral, informal, plural and it is used to speak to people who are younger |
| Mas sudah makan? | If we are unable to guess the age of the person we talk to, or older for male |
| Mbak sudah makan? | for female |
| Abang sudah makan? | neutral, informal, singular, to older male |
| Saudara sudah makan? | neutral, formal, singular and it is used to speak to male of equal level in position or age |
| Saudara-saudara sudah makan? | plural form |
| Saudari sudah makan? | female form |
| Saudari-saudari sudah makan? | plural female form |
| Bapak sudah makan? | polite and is widely used, when addressing a man or a superior |
| Ibu sudah makan? | polite and is widely used, when addressing respected woman or a lady of high social status. |
| Lo/lu sudah makan? | singular, used among close friends and very informal, for both male and female |