English uses “millions” or “hundreds” as shorthand for saying the exact number when something is “a lot.” In Indonesian suffix -an is used to express that.
- Jutaan orang di Indonesia tinggal di kota-kota besar.
- “Millions of people in Indonesia live in big cities.”
The equivalent of “dozens,” then, is puluhan, literally “tens.”
- Puluhan murid datang ke kantor kepala sekolah .
- “Dozens of students come to the school principal’s office.”