Learn Basic Indonesian (Part 2)

About counting items in Indonesian

In Indonesian  language, like many other Asian languages, objects are counted  based on the category they fall into; namely according to their characteristics,  rather than just by number.

For people, they are counted  as 'orang'. Then, you can say 'dua orang murid' (two students) and 'dua orang guru' (two teachers).

For animals, they are counted  in tails (ekor) - whether  they really have one or not; such as 'dua ekor anjing' (literaly means two tails of dogs, which just means two dogs).

For flat objects, such as paper (kertas), they are counted  by using 'lembar'... Tiga (3) lembar kertas, three sheets of paper.


About vocabulary in Indonesian

If compared with English, Indonesian  vocabulary is very literal, which can help your learning considerably,  if you have internalized with the raw vocabulary. For example: pencil in Indonesian is 'pensil'. There is no plural for the word 'gigi' (can be either tooth or teeth).
In English, you have to differentiate between young animals to mention dog/puppy, cat/kitten and so on. While in Indonesian, you simply add the word 'anak' for young animals so just say anjing/anak anjing, kucing/anak kucing, etc.

Learn Basic Indonesian (Part 1)

About Spelling in Indonesian

Since it is very regular, Indonesian  spelling is very easy to master. Once you learn how it sounds,  you will be able to read Indonesian  quickly and effortlessly. Probably, the only  sound that poses a challenge to
English speakers is represented by the sound 'ng' such as in the word 'orang' (person) or 'terbang' (to fly).

Some words have the sound 'ng' in the middle of a word such as in the 'jangan' (don't do something) or 'tangan' (hands).


About Tenses in Indonesian

There are no tenses in Indonesian.  Unlike English, Indonesian verbs do not change to express person or time. So, for example, the word 'pergi' (to go) does not change its form to express I go, he goes, we went, they will go etc. The pronouns  (saya, dia, etc) alone tell you who is doing the action expressed by the verb.

So, how does Indonesian express concept of time to  express present, past and future events?

Points in time are simply expressed by stating when an action is supposed to take place. For instance, you just say  'dia makan nasi goreng setiap  hari' (I eat fried rice  every day) or 'dia sedang makan nasi goreng' (he is eating fried rice). The verb is automatically sent into the continuous.

Indonesian  uses what we call tense markers.  These words that are used before the verb which  convey the idea of tense. 'Sedang' means now in Indonesian, for example, 'dia sedang tidur' (meaning he is sleeping now). If you replace sedang with sudah (meaning already) such as 'saya sudah sarapan' (I've already had lunch) then the meaning changes into past.