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All, many, few: talking about amounts

The quantity words, including two that go before the noun when everything else in Indonesian goes after.

a2Lesson 17 of 345 min

By the end of this lesson

  • Say all, many, some and a few
  • Notice which quantity words break the usual word order

The list

semua ‘all’
banyak ‘many, a lot’
beberapa ‘several’
sedikit ‘a little, few’
cukup ‘enough’
kurang ‘not enough’

Indonesian does not split many from much, or few from little. Banyak and sedikit cover both countable and uncountable, which removes a distinction English speakers spend years teaching to learners of their own language.

Word order, and the exception

Most of these come before the noun, which breaks the pattern you learned with adjectives.

banyak orang ‘a lot of people’
beberapa hari ‘a few days’
semua orang ‘everyone’

But banyak also works after a noun, where it behaves like a normal adjective:

Orangnya banyak. ‘There are a lot of people.’

Both are correct. The first counts, the second describes.

Sedikit as a softener

Sedikit placed before an adjective softens it, exactly like the English “a bit”.

Sedikit pedas. ‘A bit spicy.’
Sedikit mahal. ‘A little expensive.’

You met this in the food lesson. It is also the polite way to disagree.

Cukup does two jobs

Sudah cukup. ‘That’s enough.’
Cukup bagus. ‘Quite good.’

The second use, meaning “fairly”, is extremely common and is not obvious from the first.

Terlalu

Terlalu ‘too much’, and it always goes before.

Terlalu mahal. ‘Too expensive.’
Terlalu banyak. ‘Too many.’

Note this is the terlalu flagged in the ter- lesson as not being a ter- form. It is its own word.

What you’ll actually hear

Banyak is often replaced by banyak banget for emphasis, and in Jakarta by banyak amat.

What the book says: Ada banyak orang di sana.
What you’ll hear: Orangnya banyak banget.

Words from this lesson

semuaall
banyakmany, much, a lot
sedikita little, few
beberapaseveral, some
cukupenough