To Form Adjectives
It can be attached to adjectives to form the comparative:
| Adjective | Meaning | With Suffix -an | Meaning |
| gemuk cepet pinter bener |
fat fast clever true, real |
Kok sekarang gemukan? Cepetan dikit jalannya. Pinteran gua dibandingin elu. Harganya beneran murah! |
How come you’re fatter now? Please walk faster. I am more clever than you. The price us really cheap. |
It emphasizes the meaning:
| Adjective | Meaning | With Suffix -an | Meaning |
| bener | true, real | Harganya beneran murah! | The price us really cheap. |
To Form Verbs
It occurs with some verbs which correspond to ber- .. -an verbs in formal Indonesian. These verbs are reciprocals, indicating that two people do the same thing to each other.
| Formal Form | Colloquial Form | Meaning |
| Mereka sudah lama berpacaran. Umumnya Aries dan Libra selalu bermusuhan. |
Mereka udah lama pacaran. Biasanya Aries sama Libra suka musuhan. |
They have been dating for a while. Usually Aries and Libra are enemies with each other. |
It can also occur reduplicated to indicate continued action:
| Formal Form | Colloquial Form | Meaning |
| Mereka sedang berkejar-kejaran. Sejak tadi Toni dan Nina saling melihat satu sama lain. Karena dia maka saya pun mengikuti jejaknya. |
Mereka lagi kejar-kejaran. Dari tadi Toni dan Nina liat-liatan terus. Gara-gara dia gue jadi ikut-ikutan. |
They are running around. Toni and Nina have been gazing at each other. He made me follow him around or follow what he’s doing. |
In a few cases the -an form corresponds to ber- .. -an form in formal Indonesian which is not reciprocal but indicates random action by a number of people or continued action.
| Formal Form | Colloquial Form | Meaning |
| Kami bertiduran di lantai. Dia berjualan di pasar. |
Kami tiduran di lantai. Dia jualan di pasar. |
We lay about on the floor. She earned her living by selling things in the market. |
Some colloquial verbs have no corresponding ber- verb in formal Indonesian. A noun derived with suffix-an directly acting as a verb.
| Noun | Colloquial Form | Meaning |
| rekam uji ikut |
Besok siang gue musti rekaman. Anak gue lagi ujian hari ini. Gue ikutan dong. |
I have to do some recording tomorrow afternoon. My child is doing an exam today. I would like to join in please. |
In a few cases the -an verb also corresponds to prefix ber- only in formal Indonesian.
| Formal Form | Colloquial Form | Meaning |
| Saya sudah lama berteman dengan dia. Dia rajin berlatih piano. |
Gua udah lama temenan sama dia. Dia rajin latihan piano. |
She and I have been friends for a while. He practices piano diligently. |
Reference: Colloquial Jakartan Indonesian by James Neil Sneddon, 2006.
For more information or articles about colloquial, colloquial Indonesian, colloquial Jakartan Indonesian by Dr. Timothy Hassall from ANU, Canberra, Australia, click here.
