Elementary Indonesian
Your first affixes, joining ideas into real sentences, and daily life beyond survival.
34 lessons · 6 chapters
Chapter 1
Your first affixes
- 1What Indonesian affixes are, and why they are the whole gameOne root word becomes a dozen words once you can see the pieces. This is the map before the detail.6 minWhere people get stuck
- 2The ber- prefix: having, doing, and being in a stateThe friendliest affix in the language. It rarely changes shape and it turns nouns into verbs you can guess.6 min
- 3The me- prefix, first lookThe most common affix in Indonesian, and the one that changes shape. Here is the shape of the problem before the full rules.6 minWhere people get stuck
- 4The di- passive, and why Indonesian uses it so muchEnglish avoids the passive. Indonesian reaches for it constantly, and translating word for word makes you sound wrong.6 minWhere people get stuck
- 5The ter- prefix: accidental, finished, or the mostOne prefix, three unrelated jobs. Knowing which one is in play is a matter of reading the sentence, not the word.6 min
Chapter 2
Joining ideas
- 6Yang: the little word that does the most workYang turns any description into a noun. It has no clean English equivalent and it is everywhere.7 minWhere people get stuck
- 7And, but, or: the everyday joinersFour small words, one of which has two forms depending on whether you are joining things or sentences.5 min
- 8Kalau: if, when, and as forOne word covers conditions, timing and changes of subject. There is no separate word for if and when.5 min
- 9Untuk and supaya: for, and so thatTwo ways to say why you are doing something, and they are not interchangeable.5 min
- 10Karena and jadi: because, and soCause and consequence, plus the casual word that replaces both and means several other things.5 min
Chapter 3
Past, plans and experience
- 11Telling something that happenedNo past tense exists, so a story is carried by time words and by order. Here is how a narrative actually holds together.6 min
- 12Pernah: have you everThe word for experience. Have you ever, I never have, and the answer that is neither yes nor no.5 min
- 13Making plans and saying what you intendThree ways to talk about the future, and the cultural habit of leaving the time vague on purpose.5 min
- 14Sudah, belum, masih: the three-way answerOne question, three possible states. English needs a sentence for each, Indonesian needs a word.5 minWhere people get stuck
- 15For three years, since March, until FridaySaying how long something lasted or has been going on, which needs different words from saying when it happened.5 min
Chapter 4
Counting and quantity
- 16Classifiers: counting people, animals and thingsIndonesian slips a measure word between the number and the noun. Three of them cover almost everything.5 min
- 17All, many, few: talking about amountsThe quantity words, including two that go before the noun when everything else in Indonesian goes after.5 min
- 18Every, each and bothSmall words for routines and distribution, including the doubling trick that turns a number into a rate.4 min
- 19About, roughly, more or lessIndonesian is comfortable being imprecise, and has more ways to say roughly than to say exactly.4 min
Chapter 5
Everyday life
- 20Renting a place in IndonesiaThe vocabulary of kos, villas and yearly contracts, plus the questions that decide whether the price is real.6 min
- 21Money, banks and cash machinesThe words on the ATM screen, the ones on the transfer form, and the two that decide what a price actually means.5 min
- 22Phones, data and getting onlineBuying a SIM, topping up, and the words that come up when the signal does not.5 min
- 23Buying clothes and asking for another sizeSizes, colours and the one sentence that gets you a different one without a word of English.4 min
- 24At the market: produce, weights and freshnessHow things are sold, how to ask for half a kilo, and the words that separate a good vendor from a tourist price.5 min
- 25When something breaksThe words for broken, blocked and leaking, and how to get someone to come and fix it.5 min
- 26Reading an Indonesian menuThe dishes you will meet everywhere, the words that describe how they were cooked, and the one that decides how much you sweat.6 min
- 27Rain, heat and the two seasonsIndonesia has no four seasons. It has a wet one and a dry one, and knowing the words is logistics rather than small talk.5 min
Chapter 6
People and feelings
- 28Describing what someone is likeAppearance and character, plus the one comment about weight that Indonesians make freely and foreigners never see coming.5 min
- 29Saying how you feelThe everyday emotions, and two words for tired that are not interchangeable.5 min
- 30Inviting someone, and the invitation that is only politenessHow to ask someone out, and how to tell a real invitation from the ritual one everyone extends.5 minWhere people get stuck
- 31Saying yes, and saying no without saying noAccepting is easy. Declining takes a formula, and using the blunt version costs more than you would expect.5 minWhere people get stuck
- 32Small talk, and the questions that are not nosyThe standard opening questions, several of which would be intrusive in English and are not here.5 minWhere people get stuck
- 33Giving an opinion and disagreeing gentlyHow to say what you think, and how to disagree in a culture that avoids contradiction.5 min
- 34Jobs and what people doThe vocabulary of work, including the prefix that turns almost any activity into the person who does it.5 min