-kan(causative)
The presence of suffix -kan is used primarily to derive causatives, that is to express causation or to cause something to happen. Many are based on an adjective. Most mean: to cause something to be [what the adjective says]. Examples:
| Lia membersihkan kamarnya. Polisi membebaskan Hadi. Dia menyelamatkan anaknya. |
Lia cleaned her room. The police freed Hadi. She saved her child. |
(i.e. she caused it to be bersih: clean) (i.e. they caused him to be bebas: free) (i.e. she caused it to be selamat: safe) |
One special group is based on an adjective that describes a feeling. Examples:
| Kabar itu mengherankan. Film ini membosankan. Sikapnya mengecewakan. |
That news was surprising. This film is boring. His attitude is disappointing. |
[i.e. it causes one to be heran: surprised] [i.e. it causes one to be bosan: bored] [i.e. it causes one to be kecewa: disappointed] |
Note that we did not say (although we could have):
| Kabar itu mengherankan kami. Film ini membosankanpara penonton. Sikapnya mengecewakan saya. |
That news surprised us. This film bores the audience. His attitude disappoints me. |
We just said “Kabar itu mengherankan,” etc. These -kan verbs are used like adjectives. Often they can be translated by English adjectives ( “surprising”, “boring,” “disappointing”).
Many causative -kan verbs are based on an intransitive verb. Most mean: to cause something to do [the action of that verb]. Examples:
| Dia mengembalikan buku. Dia membangunkan anaknya. Saya menghentikan mobil. |
He returned the books. She woke up her child. I stopped the car. |
[i.e. he caused them to kembali: to return] [i.e. she caused it to bangun: to wake up] [i.e. I caused it to berhenti: to stop] |
Some are based on a noun. A number mean: to cause something to be [what the noun says]. Examples:
| Dia mengorbankan kariernya demi keluarga. Kami mencalonkan Pak Gafur sebagai ketua. Mereka merahasiakan pembunuhan itu. |
She sacrificed her career for her family. We nominated Pak Gafur as chairman They kept those killings a secret. |
[i.e. she caused it to be a korban: a sacrifice] [i.e. we caused him to be a calon: a candidate] [i.e. they caused them to be a rahasia: a secret] |
When the base noun is a place, the most common meaning is: to cause someone to go to that place. Examples:
| Mereka ingin sekali menyekolahkan anaknya. Tahun lalu banyak mahasiswa yang dipenjarakan. Karena resesi ekonomi banyak buruh yang harus dirumahkan. |
They really want to send their child to school. Last year many university students were imprisoned. Because of the economy recession a lot of workers needs to be made redundant |
[i.e. to cause it to go to a sekolah: school] [i.e. were caused to go to a penjara: a prison] [i.e. were caused to stay at home/made redundant] |
Reference: Dr. Timothy Hassall, Indonesian Grammar, ANU – Canberra.