Asal, bahasa, pekerjaan

Use dari for origin: Saya dari Jerman. Asal kamu dari mana? is a useful question. Saya insinyur needs no am or article.

For languages say bahasa Indonesia, bahasa Jerman, bahasa Inggris. Bisa bahasa Indonesia is a natural way to say you can speak Indonesian.

Learn repair requests as chunks: Maaf, saya tidak mengerti, Tolong bicara pelan-pelan, Tolong eja. Letters are practised as the complete Indonesian alphabet, without changing your written name.

Indonesian uses these 26 letters. Spell a name one letter at a time, keeping its written spelling. Practise B E C K E R and later spell your contact address and street name.

Ada, tidak ada

Use ada with one or more things: Ada tempat tidur. Tidak ada meja expresses absence. No singular/plural verb contrast is needed.

Say Ada apa di situ? to ask what is there. Locations follow di: di kamar mandi, di dapur.

Boleh saya masuk? asks permission; silakan masuk gives it. Learn them as whole phrases here. Hanya before a phrase means only.

Sofa kuning, sangat besar

An adjective normally follows the noun: sofa kuning, lampu merah. Adjectives do not change for number or grammatical gender.

Sangat goes before an adjective: sangat besar. Sekali can go after it: besar sekali. Both express very in these patterns.

Tidak negates descriptions. -nya can refer to a known object: Sofanya besar means The sofa is big. It is not always a possessive ending.

Meja, kursi, satu cangkir

Indonesian nouns do not require plural endings. Meja dan kursi can mean a table and chairs, with context showing the number.

Reduplication such as kursi-kursi can make plurality explicit when helpful. After a numeral use an unmarked noun: dua kursi, not a required doubled form.

Punya expresses having. Milik identifies ownership: Meja ini milik Rina. Learn Tidak apa-apa as a reassurance chunk.

Kami membantu, sudah di sini

Use kami for a group excluding the person spoken to, kita for a group including them, kalian for more than one you and mereka for they.

Verbs stay unchanged: kami membantu, mereka membantu. Sudah can show that a state has begun or an action is complete: Miko sudah di kursi.

Time can be expressed with a phrase, without a tense ending: pada malam hari, pada siang hari. Tidak punya waktu means have no time.