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Untuk and supaya: for, and so that

Two ways to say why you are doing something, and they are not interchangeable.

a2Lesson 9 of 345 min

By the end of this lesson

  • Say what something is for
  • Say what you are doing something in order to achieve

Untuk plus a noun

Ini untuk kamu. ‘This is for you.’
Obat untuk sakit kepala. ‘Medicine for a headache.’

Untuk plus a verb

Saya datang untuk belajar. ‘I came to study.’
Uang untuk beli motor. ‘Money to buy a motorbike.’

The verb after untuk stays bare. No infinitive marker, because there are no verb forms to mark.

Supaya plus a clause

Supaya needs a whole clause after it, with its own subject.

Saya belajar supaya bisa bicara. ‘I study so that I can speak.’
Tutup pintunya supaya nyamuk tidak masuk. ‘Close the door so the mosquitoes don’t get in.’

The difference in one line

Untuk points at a purpose. Supaya points at a result you want to happen.

Saya beli obat untuk sakit kepala. The medicine is for headaches.
Saya minum obat supaya tidak sakit kepala. I take it so I won’t get a headache.

If what follows has its own subject and verb, you need supaya. If it is a noun or a bare verb, untuk.

Buat, the casual one

Buat replaces untuk in speech almost entirely.

Ini buat kamu. ‘This is for you.’

Confusingly, buat also means ‘to make’. Buat kopi is ‘make coffee’ in one sentence and ‘for coffee’ in another, and only the surrounding words tell you which.

Agar

Agar is supaya in formal register. It appears in official notices and instruction manuals.

What the book says: Agar tidak terjadi kesalahan, mohon diperiksa kembali.
What you’ll hear: Dicek lagi ya, supaya nggak salah.

Words from this lesson

untukfor, in order toFollowed by a noun or a bare verb.
supayaso thatFollowed by a whole clause. Agar is the formal form.
buatforThe casual replacement for untuk. Also means 'to make'.