Every phrasebook gives you one version of a sentence. Indonesian usually has two, and the gap between them is the difference between being understood and being answered in English.
So this list of common Indonesian phrases comes in pairs. It covers an ordinary day: greeting someone, ordering, paying, getting somewhere, getting out of a conversation. Each phrase comes with the version a book prints and the version you’ll hear. Knowing only the first is how you end up sounding like a government form at a food stall.
Greetings, and the one English doesn’t have
Selamat pagi ‘good morning’, until about eleven
Selamat siang ‘good midday’, eleven to three
Selamat sore ‘good afternoon’, three until dark
Selamat malam ‘good evening’, after dark
What the book says: Selamat pagi, Bapak.
What you’ll hear: Pagi, Pak!
Siang is the one that catches people. English jumps from morning to afternoon at noon. Indonesian puts a whole word in the middle of the day, and reaching for pagi at two in the afternoon is the single most common greeting mistake foreigners make. It marks you as new, and Indonesians find it charming exactly once.
The full greetings lesson has the timings and the double duty malam does as both hello and goodbye.
How are you, and what to say back
Apa kabar? ‘How are you?’, literally ‘what news’
Unlike the English version, it expects a real answer.
Baik ‘good’
Baik-baik saja ‘all fine here’, softened by the doubling
Kabar baik ‘good news’, answering in the question’s own terms
The apa kabar lesson has the answers people give when things are not fine, which is the half nobody teaches.
Thank you, in three strengths
Terima kasih ‘thank you’
Makasih ‘thanks’
Makasih banyak ‘thanks a lot’
Makasih is terima kasih worn down by use, the same way tidak becomes nggak. Keep the full form for someone older, for officials, and for anyone you’d address as Pak or Bu. The thank you lesson sets out which form goes where.
The trap: saying terima kasih on its own in response to an offer is understood as a polite refusal, not an acceptance. English “thank you” leans towards yes. Indonesian leans the other way. To accept, say ya, mau or boleh.
Sorry, and the word you’ll underuse
Maaf ‘sorry’, a real apology and the opener to a stranger
Permisi ‘excuse me’, for passing someone, entering a room, leaving a group
Tolong ‘please’, when asking for help
Tidak apa-apa ‘it’s nothing’, the reply to an apology
Permisi is the one worth over-learning. Indonesians say it many times a day, in situations where an English speaker would say nothing and simply move past. It costs one word and it’s the fastest way to sound less foreign, and the maaf and permisi lesson separates the three words English keeps lumping together.
Ordering food
Saya mau nasi goreng ‘I want fried rice’, direct and completely normal
Minta nasi goreng, ya ‘Fried rice, please’, softer
Minta is ‘to ask for’, and the ya on the end turns an instruction into a request. That little ya does a great deal of work across the whole language.
You will be asked about chilli. If you’re not asked, assume spicy.
Pedas atau tidak? ‘Spicy or not?’
Tidak pedas ‘not spicy’. What you’ll hear: nggak pedes ya
Tidak pakai gula ‘without sugar’, and tidak pakai attaches to anything
Indonesian pedas is calibrated for people who’ve eaten chilli since childhood. Say it when you order. The chilli is usually cooked in, not added at the end. There is a whole lesson on ordering spicy food, because tidak pakai is the phrase that saves every meal with a dietary restriction.
Asking what things cost
Berapa? ‘How much?’
Berapa harganya? the fuller version
Bisa lebih murah? ‘Can you go lower?’
Note bisa, not boleh. Bisa asks whether a lower price is possible. Boleh would ask whether the seller is permitted to offer one, which isn’t the question. The bisa vs boleh lesson is short and saves a recurring mistake.
And when you’re bargaining, don’t counter with a number straight away. Indonesian haggling opens with a reaction: Mahal! ‘Expensive!’
Getting around
Di mana pasar? ‘Where is the market?’
Pasar di mana, Pak? the same question, in more natural word order, with a title
Lurus ‘straight ahead’
Belok kiri / belok kanan ‘turn left’ / ‘turn right’
Dekat ‘near’, jauh ‘far’
The three little words that do the heavy lifting here are di, ke and dari, meaning at, to and from. Same sentence, one marker apart:
Saya di Bali ‘I’m in Bali’
Saya ke Bali ‘I’m going to Bali’
Saya dari Bali ‘I’m from Bali’
They are one system, and the di, ke and dari lesson teaches them together for that reason.
The question everyone will ask you
Mau ke mana? ‘Where are you going?’
You’ll hear it from neighbours, security guards and shopkeepers several times a day. It is not curiosity, and the answer is not your itinerary. It’s the local equivalent of “morning, alright?”.
Jalan-jalan ‘just out and about’
Ke sana ‘over there’
Any of those is complete and polite.
Saying no without saying no
A flat tidak is grammatically fine and socially cold. Indonesian softens refusals almost always, with words that all look positive.
Tidak usah ‘no need’ is the standard, and not rude. What you’ll hear: nggak usah
The harder half is hearing a no that never arrives. Direct refusal is avoided, so it comes dressed as something else:
Belum ‘not yet’ can mean not ever
Nanti ‘later’ can mean no
Mungkin ‘maybe’ very often means no
If you’re waiting for a confirmation that hasn’t come, you probably already have your answer. The lesson on refusing lists the soft noes in the order you’ll meet them.
Getting help, and turning every conversation into a lesson
These six sentences are worth more than any vocabulary list, because they let you learn from anyone you talk to.
Apa artinya? ‘What does that mean?’
Bahasa Indonesianya apa? ‘What’s the Indonesian for it?’. Point at something and you get the word
Pelan-pelan, ya ‘Slowly, please’
Sekali lagi? ‘Again?’
Saya tidak mengerti ‘I don’t understand’
Bisa bahasa Inggris? ‘Do you speak English?’
Goodbye, and the one that means never
Selamat jalan is said to the person leaving.
Selamat tinggal is said by the person leaving.
Selamat tinggal carries weight. It’s the goodbye of departures with no return date. Say it walking out of a shop and you’ve announced you’re leaving the country.
The way out: sampai jumpa ‘see you’. It works in both directions and can’t be got wrong, which is why almost nobody uses the other two day to day. The goodbyes lesson has the rest of the leaving phrases.
The one habit worth taking away
Stop using pronouns for the person in front of you and use a title instead.
Pak for a man older than you, Bu for a woman older than you, Mas and Mbak for people around your own age. It sounds warmer, it sidesteps every register trap, and it’s what Indonesians do with each other. Bapak and Ibu also mean father and mother, which tells you exactly how much respect they carry.
That single habit will do more for you than another fifty phrases. The titles lesson covers when each one applies, and the beginner course takes the rest from the top.
If you want to go past a phrase list, the honest version of how hard Indonesian actually is sets expectations, and the full list of resources covers the apps, books and tutors worth paying for.