Because Indonesian verbs never change, a verb you learn once is finished. No conjugation table, no irregular past, no third person s. Twenty of them will carry you through most ordinary days.
The twenty
makan ‘to eat’
minum ‘to drink’
pergi ‘to go’
datang ‘to come’
pulang ‘to go home’
tidur ‘to sleep’
bangun ‘to wake up, to get up’
kerja ‘to work’
beli ‘to buy’
jual ‘to sell’
bayar ‘to pay’
lihat ‘to see, to look’
dengar ‘to hear’
bicara ‘to speak’
tahu ‘to know a fact’
kenal ‘to know a person’
bawa ‘to bring’
cari ‘to look for’
tunggu ‘to wait’
mau ‘to want’
Two that English has no single word for
Pulang is not just to go. It is to return home specifically, and Indonesians use it constantly.
Saya mau pulang. ‘I want to go home.’
Kenal is to know a person, as opposed to tahu, which is to know a fact. Confusing them is the same mistake French speakers make in reverse with savoir and connaître.
Saya tahu restoran itu. ‘I know that restaurant exists.’
Saya kenal dia. ‘I know him personally.’
Mau does two jobs
Mau is want, and in speech it also carries the future, quietly replacing akan.
Saya mau kopi. ‘I want coffee.’
Saya mau pergi besok. ‘I’m going tomorrow.’
Same word, and only the sentence tells you which. This is one of the clearest examples of Indonesian letting context carry a distinction that English marks with grammar.
Putting them to work
Combine any of these with the time markers you already have and you have a working sentence.
Saya sudah makan. ‘I have eaten.’
Dia lagi tidur. ‘She’s sleeping.’
Kami mau cari hotel. ‘We’re going to look for a hotel.’
Three tenses, three verbs, and not one of them changed shape.