Last updated on April 3, 2022
One version of the Indonesian passive sentence often taught to students at school and university, at least in Australia, is this:
- The ‘di-‘ passive is used with 3rd person only (e.g. “Buku ini dibeli oleh murid”,
- The ‘non-di-‘ passive is used with 1st and 2nd person only (e.g. “Buku ini saya beli”, “Buku itu kamu beli.”)
This rule excludes sentences like:
1. Buku itu dia beli.
2. Buku ini mereka beli.
For Indonesian learner, understanding the Indonesian passive sentence can be confusing. But, teaching the passive (“object-focus”) can be frustrating too. Some students fail to grasp the basic concept of when to use it, and practically no students learn to use it as often as Indonesians do. I do not claim to have any special success in teaching it, and do not intend to talk about how to do it. What I would like to discuss is: what should we teach our students? Which passive forms should we present to them?
Various Types of Indonesian Passive Sentence
To answer this, I will look at various types of passive sentences and consider how acceptable each one is.
- What test of acceptability you use depends on your outlook.
- You might apply the test: to what extent do ‘authorities’ accept it as correct?
- Or alternatively, the test: to what extent do educated Indonesians use it? ‘
‘Prescriptivists’ will attach importance to the first question; ‘descriptivists’ to the second. I will try to be impartial by treating both questions as equally important.
Each year I receive students straight from school into my university class who tell me that they have been taught that sentences like (1) and (2) above are wrong. Many continue to resist using sentences of this type, even in exercises designed to help them practice it, and a few have even objected to being taught it on the grounds that it confuses them. Colleagues at university have also told me that they regard it as incorrect. So it seems worth taking the time to examine whether it is in fact acceptable grammar.
Standard Grammar for Indonesian Passive Sentence
Grammarians regard this structure as correct, almost without exception. The text which is arguably the highest authority, the grammar reference text of the Pusat Bahasa (PPPB), says that it is standard grammar (TBBI 1993: 280).
Nearly all other grammarians agree that it is correct (e.g. Dardjowidjojo 1978: 199; Verhaar 1984: 55;Wolff 1986: 157-8, 1992: 207; Kaswanti Purwo 1984: 60-1; Sneddon 1996: 250). In fact the only grammarian I know of who rejects it is Johns in her well-known textbook, “Bahasa Indonesia: Langkah Baru Book One (Johns 1977: 131). (And Badudu seems undecided, arguing in one work that it is a standard structure (Badudu 1986: 5), but implying elsewhere that it is non-standard (Badudu1996: 37).
As for whether educated Indonesians use it, yes they do, in a wide range of contexts. It is particularly common in speech, but by no means only informal speech. In fact to use the ‘di- passive in speech (e.g. “dibelinya” or “dibeli mereka”) tends to sounds “bookish” (Marcus Susanto, personal communication, 1991).
As for writing, while few would dispute that it is commonplace in print media, perhaps more interesting is that it has long been used in quality literature as well. I have noted many instances in short stories first published in magazines like Horison during the1950s to 1980s.
Examples
Here are a few earlier examples (dates refer to first publication; volume references refer to volumes I – IV of Cerita Pendek Indonesia, edited by Satyagraha Hoerip; Vols 1, 2 and 3 published by PPPB Depdikbud, 1979; Volume 4 by Gramedia, 1986):
1954: Perhubungan kekeluargaan tidak ia pentingkan betul. Ia tak pernah mengacuhkan anak-anaknya…(short story ‘Biograpi abangku’, by A. A’xandre Leo, Volume 3 p 10)
1955: Dan semula ibuku mengira lelakinya itu akan terus pula menatapnya dengan mata yang tajam. Dan sehari-hari panjang akan dia isi dengan rasa penuh cinta dalam hatinya. (short story ‘Antara kepercayaan’, by Ramadhan K.H., Vol 1, p 240)
1959: Aku mulai gugup. Tapi bukan aku yang mereka kerumuni itu. Jenazah si kurus mereka angkat, juga temannya.(short story ‘Di Medan Perang’, by Trisnojuwono, Vol 1, p 207)
On the whole, it seems that by any reasonable test we should teach our students to use the ‘non-di-‘ passive with ‘dia’ and ‘mereka’. But should we extend our rule about this passive even further? Are ‘dia’ and ‘mereka’ the only third person Agents we should allow with it? Let us look at these sentences:
Examples
3a). Buku ini (Bu) Rina Beli. (said to Ali) [= (title+) proper name as Agent]
3b). Ini buku yang (Bu) Rina beli. (said to Ali)
4. Buku ini orang itu beli. [= noun phrase as Agent]
I think very few teachers would regard any of these sentences as correct. Interestingly, some support from grammarians can be found for all three types. Thomas (1978: 7-9) and Gorys Keraf (1970: 113) accept proper names with the ‘non-di’ passive, as in “Buku ini Rina beli.’ The Pusat Bahasa’s own grammar reference text accepts short proper names as long as they occur in a ‘yang’ clause, as in ‘Ini buku yang Rina beli‘ (TBBI 1993: 330). And Mintz (1994: 172) accepts nouns as in ‘Buku ini orang itu beli’. However, I know of no other grammarians that allow any of sentences 3a), 3b) or 4 above.
Descriptive Part of The Test
Now the descriptive part of the test: do educated Indonesians use sentences like this? Yes, sometimes they do. I have noted quite a few of these passives myself. They mainly seem to occur in ‘yang’ clauses.
Examples
1966: Di bawah meja ada botol lain, berisi cairan yang kehitam-hitaman. Nampaknya mirip dengan yang tadi Asran minum. Setelah pada suatu hari potret yang Asran lukis selesai, tuan rumah memanggil tamunya. [short story “Asran” byTrisno Sumardjo, Vol 1, p 51].
1984: Tak banyak yang orang ketahui tentang kehidupannya, selain seorang lelaki tua … [short story “Petaka Teluk Mendung “by Laila Fakhriani,Vol 4, p 169]
1994: Apa yang adik lakukan kemarin? [comprehension question about a character called’adik’ in Intermediate Indonesian: Workbook 1 by the T.I.F.L. Project, Commonwealth of Australia, 1994, p 153]
1999: Apa yang jaksa agung lakukan selama ini,nah itu harus disebarluaskan kepada masyarakat. [member of anti-corruption organisation “Indonesia Watch”, interviewed on Siaran Berita, TVRI, June 1999]
1999: Apa yang para polisi itu cari sebenarnya?[article “Ketika pagar meracuni tanaman”in Tempo 12 Dec 1999, p 40).
This type of ‘non-di’ passive also occurs in regular clauses. A few examples:
1973: Dulu seingatku aku tidur bersama Kak Sumi. Tapi lama-kelamaan, setelah aku besar, aku ibu suruh tidur bersama Kak Hardo dan Dik Tato, adikku [short story “Ibu” by Sumartono, Vol 2, p 4]
1995: Hal itu Surjadi katakan dalam acara jumpa pers menyambut hari ulang tahun kota ini, kemarin. [article about Governer of DKI Jakarta Surjadi Soedirdjain Republika , 23 June 1995]
1999: Hubungan gelap dengan gadis itu suami lakukan ketika ia ditempatkan oleh kantornya di luar kota. [reader’s letter to advice column in Femina No 43/XXVII 4-10 Nov 1999, titled “Suami diam-diam menikah lagi”]
Sometimes this type of structure seems to be used to avoid the very rare and strange-sounding ‘di-‘ verb dipunyai (which is often regarded as ungrammatical, e.g. by Cartier 1979/1989: 90).
Examples
1996: Unsur yang Bimbo punya bukan sekadar balada, alam, cinta dan kritik sosial. (item about the singer Bimbo on SBS radio, Australia,3rd Dec 1996)
1998: … konglomerat menggaji karyawannya agak gedean, biar senang, atau dibuatkan RSS untuk rakyat kecil yang bekerja di perusahaan-perusahaan yang konglomerat punyai itu. [reader’s letter “Buat SofyanWanandi”, in D&R No 24, 31 Jan 1998, p 8]
1998: Ia kini menjadi pengacara di kantor ayahnya sendiri. Ia juga sudah mendapat izin advokat yang tak semua lawyer punya.” [from novel Saman, by Ayu Utami,1998, KPG, Jakarta, p24]
Nevertheless, even though passives like this are claimed to be common in both speech and writing (Verhaar 1984: 55; Badudu (1996: 37) and clearly occur in a range of contexts, I find them to be relatively uncommon – much less frequent than ones with ‘dia’ or ‘mereka’ as the Agent.
And so I do not think this is a key structure that must be taught on the grounds of frequency alone, considering its scarce recognition by grammarians so far. But it is already very much a part of the language and, as Badudu (1996: 37) notes, it may soon come to be accepted as a standard passive form.
‘di-‘ Form
Let us look at the ‘di-‘ form in the same way. How far can we stretch the rule for ‘di-‘? Consider the sentences below:
5. Buku itu dibeli oleh saya. [= 1st person as Agent]
6. Buku itu harus dibeli oleh kamu. [= 2nd person as agent]
I think that very few teachers would teach sentences like this. So it is interesting to note that they are accepted by some grammarians. At least two writers argue that it is outdated to reject them (Chung 1976/1989; Gorys Keraf 1970: 113), while others accept them on the condition that the Agent ‘you’ or ‘I’ is being given special emphasis (Darjowidjojo 1978: 153; Verhaar1984: 57-8).
Several others also regard them as correct grammar (McDonald & Dardjowidjojo 1967: 235; Cartier 1979/1989: 124, and apparently Mintz 1994: 171-2). However, most grammarians still exclude this type of sentence from correct passive forms.
Indonesians do use this type of passive, in writing as well as speech. A few instances of it I have noted.
Examples
1986: Tentunya mereka tidak mau lagi diobati olehmu, bukan? [novel Kishi, by Marga T.,1986, Gramedia, Jakarta, 1986, p 21).
1992: Dia akan berkata begini kepada Mas [her husband]: “Mas, saya tidak pantas hanya menjadi juru masak di depotmu. Banyak hal yang bisa dilakukan olehku, kau tidak boleh menyepelekan potensi diri dan kecantikanku.” [short story “Perempuan itu cantik”, by Ratna Ibrahim. In Kado Istimewa: Cerpen Pilihan Kompas 1992.Harian Kompas, Jakarta, p55]
1996: Menurut pramuniaga di sana seluruh Hero Pasar Swalayan sedang kehabisan stok untuk “item” no. 3 dan no. 4 […]Saya yakin bahwa kekecewaan ini bukan hanya dialami oleh saya saja, mengingat bahwa item no. 3, dan terutama no. 4, memang yang paling banyak diminati orang. [reader’s letter in Suara Pembaruan, titled “Hero Kehabisan Stok Linea Europa” Feb 16 1996, p 2]
1999: Mereka [Tapol/Napol] yang ingin diberi amnesti dan abolisi lebih dahulu, memang Bapak Presiden menyampaikan daftar nama untuk dikaji oleh kita di DPR ini,diberi pertimbangan oleh kita di DPR ini.” [a member of Komisi II DPR RI, interviewed on Siaran BeritaTVRI, Nov 1999]
Writers disagree on how often this structure is used. Opinions range from “never used, unless, highly exceptionally, for clearly identifiable reasons” (Verhaar 1978: 11), to “widely used by speakers of Indonesian” (McDonald & Dardjowidjojo 1967: 235). In any case it is definitely a structure to watch as it is becoming more common.
One reason for this is a strong influence from Sundanese, which does permit this type of passive sentence (Badudu 1996: 37). As a result, this structure is already common in Indonesian in West Java (see Kartomihardjo 1996: 233). So it is likely to keep spreading and hence eventually become a standard form.
Conclusion
At its most obvious level, this discussion suggests two things which are not very surprising in themselves. Firstly, whatever test of acceptability we use, we should teach sentences like ‘Buku itu dia beli‘ to our students. Secondly, unless you take a strongly descriptivist stance, at the moment you probably would not wish to teach the structures ‘Buku ini Rina beli‘ (said about Rina), ‘Buku ini orang itu beli‘, or ‘Buku ini dibeli oleh saya.’
However, I hope it also demonstrates that the notion of a correct passive in Indonesian is less cut-and-dried as we might have imagined. And I hope it shows the importance of staying alert to developments in Indonesian grammar, which is changing quickly (see Kaswanti Purwo 1996).
The structure ‘Buku itu dia beli’ did not even exist in Bahasa Melayu (Badudu 1986: 4-5), but it has rapidly won a place in Indonesian. Now that other ‘strange’ passive forms are being used, we should watch their fate closely. That way we will recognise the time (if it comes) when it is part of our task to teach them too. ??
See also Passive Sentences chapter.
References
Badudu, Yus. 1986. Inilah Bahasa Indonesia yang Benar: II. Jakarta, Gramedia .
Badudu, Yus. 1996. Dari bahasa Melayu ke bahasa Indonesia. Bahasa Nasional Kita, ed. Soenjono Dardjowidjojo. Bandung, ITB, 28-38.
Cartier, Alice. 1979. Devoiced transitive verb sentences in formal Indonesian. Reprinted in Serpih-serpih Telaah Pasif Bahasa Indonesia,ed. Bambang Kaswanti Purwo, 1989, Yogyakarta, Canisius, pp 84-145.
Chung, Sandra. 1976. On the subject of two passives in Indonesia. Reprinted in Serpih-serpih Telaah Pasif Bahasa Indonesia,ed. Bambang Kaswanti Purwo, 1989, Yogyakarta,Canisius, pp 3-83.
Darjowidjodjo, Soenjono. 1978. Sentence Patterns of Indonesian. Honolulu,University Press of Hawa’ai.
Gorys Koraf. 1970. Tatabahasa Indonesia untuk Sekolah Lanjutan Atas. Ende-Flores, Nusa Indah.
Johns, Yohannni (1977) Bahasa Indonesia Book 1: Langkah Baru. Canberra, Australian National University Press.
Kartomihardjo, Soeseno. 1996. Perkembangan bahasa Indonesia informal sejak Indonesia merdeka hingga sekarang. Bahasa Nasional Kita, ed. Soenjono Dardjowidjojo. Bandung, ITB, pp 225-237.
Kaswanti Purwo, Bambang. 1984. The categorial system in contemporary Indonesian: pronouns. Towards A Description of Contemporary Indonesian: Preliminary Studies Part II, NUSA Vol 19: 55-74.
Kaswanti Purwo, Bambang. 1996. Perkembangan Sintaksis Bahasa Indonesia. Bahasa Nasional Kita, ed. Soenjono Dardjowidjojo. Bandung, ITB, pp 192-209.
McDonald, R. Ross and Dardjowidjojo, Soenjono. 1967. Indonesian Reference Grammar. Washington D.C., Georgetown University Press.
Mintz, Malcolm. 1994. A Student’s Grammar of Malay and Indonesian. Singapore, EPB.
Sneddon, James. 1996. Indonesian Reference Grammar. Sydney, Allen & Unwin.
TBBI. 1993. Tatabahasa Baku Bahasa Indonesia. Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Jakarta, Balai Pustaka.
Thomas, Michael. 1978. Indonesian’s unmarked verbs. Miscellaneous Studies in Indonesian and languages in Indonesia Part V, NUSA Vol 6: 7-10.
Verhaar, John. 1978. Some notes on the verbal passive in Indonesian. Miscellaneous Studies in Indonesian and languages in Indonesia Part V, NUSA Vol 6: 11-19.
Verhaar, John. 1984. The categorial system in Indonesian: Verbs. Towards a description of contemporary Indonesian: Preliminary Studies Part 1, NUSA Vol 18: 27-63.
Wolff, John. 1986. Formal Indonesian. New York, Cornell University.
Wolff, John. 1992. Beginning Indonesian through self-instruction: Book 2. New York, Cornell University.
About the author: Tim Hassall is head of the Indonesian language program at the Australian National University (ANU). He has taught Indonesian for more than twenty years, and before that he taught English as a Second Language full-time to adults for some years. He has an MA in Applied Linguistics (TESOL) and a PhD in Applied Linguistics. Tim has published a number of journal articles and book chapters on the learning of pragmatics of Indonesian by Australian students. He has also written many grammar units and a short self-study reading course in Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian, all of which are available on the BahasaKita website.