The Plural in Indonesian: It’s More Complicated than You Think Indonesian language textbooks often suggest that forming the plural in Indonesian is very simple. All…
Posts published in “Uli Kozok”
Instead of asking mengapa? or the more colloquial kenapa? (why?), you may as well ask karena apa? (because of what?; what for?; why): Although karena…
The term syukur originates from the Arabic word shukran (شكراً), meaning ‘thank you’. So, what sets it apart from terima kasih, the conventional Indonesian expression…
Numbers with decimal point and thousand separator |n numerous English-speaking nations, including former British and American colonies, a full-stop (period) is used to denote the…
This word is difficult to find in the dictionaries because the “proper” form is actually “gemas”. Gemes is the Jakartanese pronunciation. The word describes the…
Contributed and posted by ‘The Indonesian Way’, a textbook for the Indonesian language by George Quinn and Uli Kozok. “Saya minta” is a very useful…
Contributed and posted by ‘The Indonesian Way’, a textbook for the Indonesian language by George Quinn and Uli Kozok. The small ceremony of a formal…
Modesty is an important virtue in Indonesia. Indonesians tend to avoid making blunt negative statements such as Makanan ini tidak enak “I don’t like this food.” It is much better to use 'Makanan ini kurang enak' which literally means “This food is less delicious.”
Contributed and posted by ‘The Indonesian Way’, a textbook for the Indonesian language by George Quinn and Uli Kozok. It is important to bear a…
Contributed and posted by ‘The Indonesian Way’, a textbook for the Indonesian language by George Quinn and Uli Kozok. A guling is a cylindrical pillow…
Posted by ‘The Indonesian Way’, a textbook for the Indonesian language by George Quinn and Uli Kozok. Expressions of disagreement are often prefaced with an…
Colloquial Indonesian has its roots in Betawi Malay, a Malay based creole with an estimated 2,7 million speakers, spoken by the indigenous population of Jakarta…