In English we have a verb “to be” and a verb “to become”. A quick glance at an English dictionary will show that these are regarded as fairly distinct notions. The first indicates something that is more or less static, that is, it describes, or refers to, a “state” or something that is not evolving. The second refers to something that is dynamic, that is, in the process of evolving or becoming something different.
The distinction doesn’t exist in Indonesian, at least not with the same clarity. We have already seen that Indonesian doesn’t have a verb “to be”.
But sometimes the verb ‘menjadi‘ seems to function like the English “to be”. Look at these examples:
- Ia menjadi marah sekarang.
- He’s angry now.
- Dulu saya menjadi guru, tetapi sekarang saya menjadi pengusaha.
- I used to be a teacher, but now I’m a businessman.
Menjadi can also be used like the English “to become”.
- Tahun berapa Anda menjadi dosen?
- In what year did you become a lecturer?
- Tanti ingin sekali menjadi insinyur yang rajin dan efisien.
- Tanti is really keen to become a hard working and efficient engineer.