Essential words
Even if you don't want to learn Indonesian, you'll find that learning some basic voabulary can really help you get around Indonesia. Here we have provided some essential vocabualry which will really help anyone living, working or visiting Indonesia.
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| Yes | Ya |
| There are two main no's - but people will understand what you mean if you just use tidak. | |
| No - for nouns | Bukan |
| Used for verbs and adjectives | Tidak e.g. Saya tidak suka itu – I don’t like that. |
| Don't | Jangan |
| No/don’t e.g. – Don’t do that! | Jangan lakukan itu |
| No - slang, can be used with adjectives, verbs or nouns. | Nggak |
| Help! | Tolong |
| Excuse me | Permisi |
| Sorry | Maaf |
| Thank you (lit. accept love) | Terima kasih |
| You are welcome (lit. give it back) | Kembali |
| You are welcome (lit. same same) | Sama Sama |
| Note there is no please as such. You can say: | |
| Please help me | Tolong bantu saya |
| Please sit down. | Silakan duduk |
| May I sit down? | Boleh saya duduk? |
| Please do | Silakan |
| What? | Apa |
| Why? | Mengapa? |
| Kenapa? | |