As a Pronoun
| Formal Form | Colloquial Form | Meaning |
| Bagaimana cara mendapatkannya? Saya baru seminggu di New York, bahasa Inggris saya masih kacau. Saya dengar sekarang dia di London. |
Gimana cara dapetinnya? Gua baru seminggu di New York, Inggrisnya masih ngaco. Katanya sekarang dia di London. |
How can I find it? I’d only been a week in New York, my English is still poor. I hear she’s now in London. |
As a Ligature
It links possessive nouns to the possessed. It can also occur with pronoun substitutes.
| Formal Form | Colloquial Form |
| Bu Siti, berapa tahunkah usia ibu berbeda dengan kakak ibu?Saya putus dengan pacar saya karena ibunya. | Bu Siti, beda berapa taun sama kakaknya? Mrs. Siti, what’s the age difference between you and your sister? Gue putus sama cewek gue gara-gara ibunya dia. I broke up with my girlfriend because of her mother. |
As a Marker of Definiteness and As an Emphasizer
| Formal Form | Colloquial Form | Meaning |
| Tinggal di daerah mana di Jakarta?Pemeran penjahat di film itu akhirnya mati. Minuman ini terlalu manis. Kamu? bagaimana perasaan kamu? Selamat malam, Budi ada? |
Di Jakarta-nya dimana tinggalnya? Di film itu penjahatnya akhirnya mati. Minumannya terlalu manis. Elunya gimana perasannya? Selamat malam, Budinya ada? |
In which part of Jakarta do you live? In that movie the bad guy is finally dead. The drink is too sweet. How do you feel? Good evening, is Budi in? |
Emphasizing Words Other Than Nouns
| Formal Form | Colloquial Form | Meaning |
| Dulu saya seorang penyanyi. Siapa yang tidak siap? |
Saya penyanyi dulunya. Siapanya yang nggak siap? |
I used to be a singer. Who is actually not ready? |
As a Nominaliser
| Formal Form | Colloquial Form |
| Ayah saya sudah meninggal. Beliau meninggaltahun 2005.Nama saya sebenarnya Armand, tapi dimana-mana saya dipanggil Maman. | Babe gue udah meninggal. Meninggalnya tahun 2005. My father has died. He died in 2005. Nama gue sebenernya Armand, tapi di mana-mana dipanggilnya Maman. My real name is Armand, but everywhere I’m called Maman. |
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.
