Saya, kamu, Ibu, Bapak

Use saya for I. With a child or a friend, kamu means you. Address an older woman as Ibu or Bu, an older man as Bapak or Pak: Dan Ibu? means And you?

Indonesian has no grammatical gender. Dia can mean he or she. Verbs and descriptions stay the same for every person and for both learner sexes.

Indonesian needs no am/is/are before a name, noun identity or description: Saya tetangga baru. Greetings such as Selamat malam are learned whole.

A pronoun replaces a person or thing, such as saya or dia. Indonesian needs no article like English a/the. Singular means one, without a compulsory noun ending.

Ada, tidak, bukan

Ada says there is or there are. Tidak ada says there is no: Ada kafe di sini. Di mana? asks where; siapa? asks who and apa? asks what.

Use tidak before a verb or adjective: Dia tidak lapar. Use bukan for a noun identity: Ini bukan kunci saya. A negative location can also use bukan: Bukan di sini.

Punya expresses possession in ordinary conversation. It does not change for person: Saya punya kunci. Tolong is a request word; jangan means do not and is initially a useful warning chunk.

Ini, itu, saya

Ini means this/these and itu that/those. They follow the noun in a noun phrase: kunci ini. Alone, Ini kunci saya means This is my key.

A possessor also follows the noun: rumah saya, kunci kamu, kafe Bu Rina. There are no articles corresponding to a/an/the and no gender agreement.

Tolong requests something or help. Silakan offers permission or invites someone to act. Learn Kopi, tolong and Silakan makan as everyday phrases.

A possessive expression identifies the owner: kunci saya, my key.

Tinggal, main, mau

Verbs keep the same form with saya, kamu and dia: Saya tinggal di sini, Dia tinggal di atas. There are no person endings.

Use mau before an action or destination: Saya mau tidur, Saya mau ke kafe. Common prefixed verbs such as bekerja can be learned as whole words beside the conversational kerja.

Kamu bisa main besok? is an early polite request chunk. Bisa means can; a full comparison with permission follows later. Tidak comes before the verb or modal.

Indonesian has no inflected present tense. The same verb describes now or a routine, with context.

Di, kami, kita

Write the location word di separately: di sini, di kafe, di atas. Di mana? asks where.

Kami means we without the listener. Kita includes the listener. If Sari and Intan say they are helping you, they use kami. If you suggest going together, use kita.

Whose can be asked with milik siapa? or conversational punya siapa?. A noun may take -nya for a previously mentioned or clear owner/thing: kuncinya means his/her key or the key, depending on context.

A preposition connects a noun to a place or relation; di introduces a location.