Apa
Interrogative pronouns ‘apa’ is used to ask about objects, concrete or abstract. It means ‘what’ or ‘what kind of’.
- Apa kabar?
- How are you? Literally: What’s the news?
- Apa nama gedung ini?
- What’s the name of this building?
Siapa
Interrogative pronouns ‘siapa’ is used to ask questions to do with a person, such as a person’s name, who a person is, or to whom an object belongs.
- Siapa dia?
- Who’s he/she?
- Siapa nama Anda?
- What’s your name?
- Ini buku Siapa?
- Who’s book is this?
Siapa means ‘who’ and apa means ‘what. In Indonesian we don’t ask “What is your name?” but “WHO is your name?”.