Learn how to use the phrase "Do you speak English?"
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| Halo semuanya! Nama saya Fira. Hi everybody! I’m Fira. |
| Welcome to IndonesianPod101.com’s “Bahasa Indonesia dalam 3 menit”. The fastest, easiest, and most fun way to learn Indonesian. |
| In the last lesson, we learned the most common forms of greetings in Indonesian. Do you remember them? |
| In this lesson we’re going to learn a very useful phrase: “Do you speak English?” |
| If you find yourself in a situation where you need assistance in English, this phrase can be a lifesaver. And because you’re asking it in Indonesian, you can be sure that everyone will understand what you’re saying, even if their answer is no. |
| Here's the informal way to say it. |
| Kamu bisa berbahasa Inggris? |
| [slowly] Kamu bisa berbahasa Inggris? |
| Kamu bisa berbahasa Inggris literally means “You can speak english.” but depending on the way you say it, you can turn it into a question. Kamu is the informal way to say “you?” The next word is the verb, bisa, which means “be able”. |
| Berbahasa is a verb. This word is made up with, Bahasa, which itself is a noun meaning “language" and Ber- is a prefix. When ber- is combined with the word stem bahasa, it means “to talk or to speak”. |
| And you probably recognize Inggris to be “english”. |
| To learn more about ber- verbs, like berbahasa, please look at our Absolute Beginner series on IndonesianPod101.com. You can find very detailed grammar lessons and resources there! |
| We’re now going to make this sentence formal. First, we have to use the word apakah, which roughly means “tell me whether...” |
| Next, we need to use the formal version of “you,” which is Anda. And everything else stays the same: |
| Apakah anda bisa berbahasa inggris? |
| [slowly] Apakah anda bisa berbahasa inggris. |
| Adding permisi, "excuse-me", the sentence becomes even more polite: |
| Permisi, apakah anda bisa berbahasa inggris? |
| [slowly] Permisi, apakah anda bisa berbahasa inggris? |
| The responses you will receive could be one of these three: |
| Bisa. "I can." |
| [slowly] Bisa. |
| Sedikit. "A little." |
| [slowly] sedikit. |
| Maaf, saya tidak bisa. "Sorry, I can’t." |
| [slowly] Maaf, saya tidak bisa. |
| Maaf is a polite way to say you’re sorry. |
| Saya is Indonesian for “I”. |
| Since this last one is a negative statement, we need to say tidak which means “no”, before the verb, bisa. So “Sorry I can’t” is Maaf, saya tidak bisa. |
| Now it’s time for Fira’s Insights. |
| For those of you who are not only English speakers, you can obviously use this question with any language you need. Just substitute Inggris with… |
| Italia for Italian. |
| Rusia for Russian. |
| Spanyol for Spanish. |
| Jerman for German. |
| In this lesson we mentioned the expression maaf. In the next lesson we will learn more about this and other ways to apologize in Indonesian. It’s never too late to show your good manners with Indonesian people! |
| I'll see you in our next Bahasa Indonesia dalam 3 menit lesson. |
| Sampai jumpa! |
Comments
HideHi Joy hazle,
Thank you for your comment. Very good! Selamat belajar ya. Semangat! Happy learning. Keep up the spirit!
Sarah
Team IndonesianPod101.com
...saya mencoba untuk belajar Bahasa Indonesia lagi !
Halo Fira. Saya Nama Joy. Saya Bisa berbahasa Ingris dan Bahasa Indonesia sedik saja!
Hi Renaud,
Yes, they are exactly the same. However, "sedang" has a more formal nuance. :wink:
If you have more question please let us know.
Dipta
Team IndonesianPod101.com
Fira, can I say : "Saya sedang belajar bahasa Indonesia." for "I'm learning Indonesia." Or should I say "Saya lagi belajar bahasa Indonesia." ? Or is it exactly the same ?
Thanks !
Hi Renaud,
Sama-sama! We are so glad to hear that! :smile:
If you have any question please let us know.
Dipta
Team IndonesianPod101.com
Thanks to indonesianpod101, Saya bisa berbahasa Indonesia! Terima khasi ! :sunglasses:
Hi Tze-wei,
I'm so glad to hear that!
Thank you very much for your kind comment! :flushed:
If you have any questions regarding the lessons, please don't hesitate to ask me, I'll try my best to help :thumbsup:
Fira
Team IndonesianPod101.com
Thank you very much for the detailed explanations, Fira. This is the best language channel and audio-visual aid I have ever come across!
Hi Jim,
Thanks for the comment.
Yeah I understand that it will be a little confusing about when to use tidak and bukan.
Bukan is used for denying the noun or pronoun, if something is wrong.
for example, "Itu bukan mobil saya" which means "That is not my car".
you cannot say "Itu tidak mobil saya" in this case.
Tidak is used for denying the adjectives or verbs, if something is wrong.
for example, "Mobil itu tidak murah" which means "That car is not cheap".
and you cannot say "Mobil itu bukan murah".
I hope this helps :wink:
Cheers,
Fira
Team Indonesianpod101.com
Why is it : "Maaf, saya tidak bisa" instead of "Maaf, saya bukan bisa"
I thought tidak was "no" and bukan "not" and can't means can not so i would put bukan here. Is really confusing tidak and bukan sometimes :)