Before Google Translate and online dictionaries, we had to browse through a massive dictionary to find the meaning or translation for a single word.

Nowadays, physical dictionaries have become obscure.

That has made learning languages way easier.

But with all these resources at our fingertips, it becomes increasingly difficult to focus. Sometimes, aspiring language learners end up just translating a bunch of words without learning any.

This is why we’ve compiled a masterlist of 200+ basic Indonesian words for beginners. 

Memorizing these words will help you to accurately build sentences, ask questions, express emotions, and much more.

Without further ado, let’s get right into it.

Table of Contents

1. Pronouns
2. Numbers
3. Nouns
4. Verbs
5. Adjectives
6. Conjunctions
7. Others
8. Conclusion

1. Pronouns

The first set of words you should add to your Indonesian vocabulary are pronouns. These are the words we use to refer to a person, place, or thing without actually saying its name:

• Tom is mad. = He is mad.

We’ll cover three types of Indonesian pronouns today: personal, demonstrative, and interrogative. 

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are critical for building most basic sentences. It would be hard to speak a language and get by as a beginner without mastering the pronouns below, especially the first seven.

English	Indonesian
I	aku
you	kamu (singular) / kalian (plural)
he	dia
she	dia
it	itu
we	kita (including the 2nd person) / kami (excluding the 2nd person)
they	mereka
me	aku
him	dia
her	dia
us	kita (including the 2nd person) / kami (excluding the 2nd person)
them	mereka

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are used to make it clear what the speaker is referring to. You’ll find these useful when asking for directions or trying to explain something specific to a stranger.

English	Indonesian
this	ini
that	itu
these	ini
those	itu

Interrogative Pronouns / Question Words

Asking questions is crucial in our day-to-day interactions. You don’t want to be stuck in a situation where you can’t even ask for help when you need it. 

English	Indonesian
who	siapa
whom	siapa
whose	siapa
what	apa
which	yang mana

Speaking of questions, it’s also worth learning these interrogative adverbs…

English	Indonesian
when	kapan
where	di mana
why	mengapa
how	bagaimana

2. Numbers

When you first start learning Indonesian numbers, you should focus on mastering the first ten digits plus zero. This will make it easier for you to understand the rest of the numbers.

Numbers	English	Indonesian
0	zero	nol
1	one	satu
2	two	dua
3	three	tiga
4	four	empat
5	five	lima
6	six	enam
7	seven	tujuh
8	eight	delapan
9	nine	sembilan
10	ten	sepuluh

3. Nouns

As a beginner in Indonesian, you should probably focus most of your attention on memorizing as many basic nouns as possible. When used together with verbs, they form a complete thought—in a pinch, you can even use nouns by themselves to get an urgent point across! 

Time

If there’s one thing everyone would agree on, it’d be the fact that time is king. Time is an important element in our conversations and interactions, and knowing how to express it is crucial.

English	Indonesian
hour	jam
minute	menit
morning	pagi
afternoon	sore
evening	malam
day	hari
month	bulan
year	tahun
Monday	Senin
Tuesday	Selasa
Wednesday	Rabu
Thursday	Kamis
Friday	Jumat
Saturday	Sabtu
Sunday	Minggu

People

If you travel or live in Indonesia, these people-related words will be important for your daily interactions. You never know when you’ll need someone to call a police officer or when you’ll need directions to the nearest butcher.

English	Indonesian
butcher	tukang daging
woodman	tukang kayu
police officer	polisi
doctor	dokter
nurse	perawat
firefighter	pemadam kebakaran
teacher	guru
father	ayah
mother	ibu
sister	saudara perempuan
brother	saudara laki-laki
Mr.	Tuan / Bapak
Ms.	Nyonya / Ibu

Places Around Town

Indonesia is a beautiful country with beautiful cities. Your experience traveling or living in this country will be even more interesting once you know the names of places you see around town. These words are especially crucial when you’re taking public transportation or a taxi and want to make sure you’re dropped off at the right spot.

English	Indonesian
hospital	rumah sakit
supermarket	supermarket
school	sekolah
downtown	pusat kota
university	universitas
city hall	balai kota
main square	alun-alun
bank	bank
museum	museum
restaurant	restoran
café	kafe
police station	kantor polisi
train station	stasiun kereta
bus station	terminal

School/Office Essentials

If you happen to study or work in Indonesia, the list below will be of great use as you learn to express yourself in the office or at school.

English	Indonesian
pen	pena
notebook	buku catatan
computer	komputer
pencil case	tempat pensil
headphones	headphone
mouse	mouse
keyboard	keyboard
wifi	wifi
charger	charger
cable	kabel
backpack	ransel
desk	meja tulis
copybook	buku tulis

Body Parts

English	Indonesian
eye	mata
nose	hidung
ear	telinga
face	muka
arm	lengan
chest	dada
cheek	pipi
forehead	dahi
mouth	mulut
chin	dagu
armpit	ketiak
abdomen	daerah perut
leg	kaki
toe	jari kaki
finger	jari tangan
ankle	pergelangan kaki
hip	panggul
forearm	lengan bawah
elbow	siku
wrist	pergelangan tangan

Food

Ever heard of the Indonesian dishes satay, sambal, or beef rendang? These dishes are popular in neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, as well. Food plays a large role in Indonesian culture, and learning food-related words can come in handy for your next shopping spree or restaurant visit.

English	Indonesian
ٍٍvegetables	sayuran
fruit	buah
meat	daging
milk	susu
egg	telur
coffee	kopi
yogurt	yogurt
bread	roti
bacon	daging babi asap
pie	pai
ham	ham
chicken	ayam
juice	jus
sausage	sosis

4. Verbs

Memorizing some basic Indonesian verbs alongside the most common nouns is a great way to start learning how to form sentences. Here, we’ll cover verbs you might use to describe your day-to-day life and a few other key action words you should know. 

Daily Routine Verbs

If you’re a writer who likes to journal, keeping your diary in Indonesian is a brilliant language learning hack. Mastering the words in the list below will make that easier for you.

English	Indonesian
to get up	bangun
to eat	makan
to drink	minum
to go	pergi
to work	bekerja
to study	belajar
to drive	menyetir
to ride	berkendara
to sleep	tidur
to wake up	bangun
to hang	menggantung
to do laundry	mencuci pakaian
to nap	tidur siang
to work out	berolahraga
to go out	pergi keluar
to prepare	untuk mempersiapkan
to cook	memasak
to clean	membersihkan
to wash	mencuci
to tidy up	merapikan
to connect	menghubungkan
to communicate	berkomunikasi
to wear	memakai
to take (something) off	melepas
to grab	meraih
to mix	mencampur
to hold	memegang
to freeze	membekukan
to change	mengganti
to move	pindah

Other Common Verbs

Here are some common verbs that you’ll need in your day-to-day interactions.

English	Indonesian
to give	memberi
to get	menerima
to do	melakukan
to make	membuat
to let	membiarkan
to ask	meminta
to smile	tersenyum
to find	menemukan
to use	menggunakan
to take	mengambil
to come	datang
to look	melihat
to hear	mendengar
to smell	mencium
to talk	berbicara
to exit	keluar
to call	menelepon
to feel	merasakan
to answer	menjawab
to laugh	tertawa
to cry	menangis
to steal	mencuri
to run	berlari
to walk	berjalan
to meet	bertemu
to create	menciptakan
to finish	menyelesaikan

5. Adjectives

Adjectives allow us to describe things and better express ourselves. Learning even just a few easy Indonesian adjectives can help you add spice to your conversations and flair to your writing! 

Describing Objects

As a beginner Indonesian learner, you might find yourself struggling to describe the objects around you. This list will help you do just that.

English	Indonesian
big	besar
small	kecil
long	panjang
short	pendek
quirky	unik
smooth	halus
rough	kasar

Describing People

Knowing how to describe people can work wonders for your social life in Indonesia! Here’s a list of common adjectives for doing that.

English	Indonesian
pretty	cantik
handsome	tampan
tall	tinggi
short	pendek
disgusting	menjijikkan
sociable	mudah bergaul
funny	lucu
beautiful	cantik
lovely	menyenangkan
caring	perhatian
selfless	tidak mementingkan diri sendiri
arrogant	sombong
humble	rendah hati
courageous	berani
weak	lemah
strong	kuat

Describing Emotions

Indonesia has a very warm culture that’s vivid with emotions and feelings. Learning to express your emotions and understand people’s self-expressions will make you more local friends than you might think!

English	Indonesian
happy	bahagia
sad	sedih
joyful	gembira
traumatized	trauma
depressed	tertekan
anxious	cemas
stressed out	stres
jolly	periang

Describing Weather

English	Indonesian
sunny	cerah
rainy	hujan
wet	basah
humid	lembap
dry	kering
frigid	dingin
foggy	berkabut
windy	berangin
stormy	berbadai
breezy	semilir
windless	tanpa angin
calm	tenang

6. Conjunctions

What separates a beginner from a fluent speaker is how fluidly they can speak. Conjunctions help you connect sentences and speak smoothly, which will make it easier for natives to understand you. 

English	Indonesian
and	dan
but	tapi
then	kemudian
because	karena
so	jadi

7. Others

Below is a list of some Indonesian filler words. You’ll find that these are just as important as conjunctions.

English	Indonesian
Am I wrong? / Am I right?	Kan?
So, it’s like this… / Well… / Look…	Begini… (informal: Gini…)
What is it… / What’s its name…	Apa tu… / Apa tu namanya…
See…	Tu kan…

8. Conclusion

Congrats! Now you’re 200 words in, and believe it or not, you’re just about 800 words away from fluency.

That’s right. 

Statistically, 1000 words is the amount of vocabulary you’ll need in order to understand 85.5% of conversations.

Crazy stat, right?

That means that if you memorize four other sets of lists like this one, you’ll practically be a fluent Indonesian speaker.

Wondering what the most efficient system is for learning more words?

Enter IndonesianPod101.

IndonesianPod101 provides thousands of well-categorized lessons that are organized and structured to make learning easy. 

The audio, video, and text lessons incorporate the most effective language learning tools: a pronunciation comparison feature, line-by-line breakdowns, slowed-down audio, vocabulary flashcards and slideshows, and more.

Even better, you can seek the help of a language expert on the same platform! With our MyTeacher service for Premium PLUS members, you can reach out to a personal tutor with questions or even have them develop a personalized learning program that fits your goals. 

You can access IndonesianPod101 via your mobile or desktop by signing up for free on the website.

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