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When something breaks

The words for broken, blocked and leaking, and how to get someone to come and fix it.

a2Lesson 25 of 345 min

By the end of this lesson

  • Report a problem in the house
  • Ask someone to come and repair it

The four words

rusak ‘broken, not working’
bocor ‘leaking’
mampet ‘blocked’
mati ‘dead, off’

AC nya rusak. ‘The air conditioning is broken.’
Atapnya bocor. ‘The roof leaks.’
Wastafelnya mampet. ‘The sink is blocked.’
Listriknya mati. ‘The power is out.’

Note -nya on each one. It marks the specific thing in question, the definiteness use you met in A1, and leaving it off sounds oddly generic.

Asking for repair

Bisa benerin? ‘Can you fix it?’
Kapan bisa datang? ‘When can you come?’
Tolong diperbaiki, ya. ‘Please have it repaired.’

That last one uses the di- passive, and it is the polite form: it asks for the thing to be fixed rather than telling the person to fix it. This is a real politeness strategy in Indonesian and worth copying.

Tukang

Tukang plus a trade names the person.

tukang listrik ‘electrician’
tukang ledeng ‘plumber’
tukang kayu ‘carpenter’
tukang kebun ‘gardener’

It is not a demeaning word. It also appears in tukang bakso, the meatball seller, and tukang parkir, the man who waves you out of a parking space and expects two thousand rupiah.

Water and power

Both go off. It is normal and usually brief.

Mati lampu. ‘Power cut.’ Literally ‘dead light’, and it is the standard phrase whatever is off.
Air nya nggak ngalir. ‘The water isn’t running.’

What you’ll actually hear

What the book says: Pendingin ruangan tidak berfungsi dengan baik.
What you’ll hear: AC-nya rusak, Pak.

Words from this lesson

rusakbroken, out of order
bocorleaking
mampetblockedCasual. Tersumbat is the formal form.
benerinto fixCasual for memperbaiki. Jakarta -in suffix.
tukangtradesmanTukang plus a job: tukang listrik, tukang kayu.