Family and Friends

Family and Friends

Immediate Family Members

• Ayah is the term for “father” while Ibu translates to “mother”.
• Adik refers to a “younger brother or sister” and Kakak means an “older brother or sister”.
• Use Anak laki-laki for “son” and Anak perempuan for “daughter”.

Extended Family

• Use Nenek for “grandmother” and Kakek for “grandfather”.
• Paman is “uncle” and Bibi is “aunt”.
• Cucu refers to “grandchildren”, while Keponakan refers to “niece or nephew”.

Family Relationships

• Use Menantu for “son-in-law” or “daughter-in-law”. Mertua means “parents-in-law”.
• The term Sepupu refers to “cousins”.
• Suami and Istri mean “husband” and “wife” respectively.

Friends and Acquaintance

• The term Teman is used for “friend”. Sahabat implies a “best friend”.
• Kenalan implies an “acquaintance” or “someone you know”.
• Teman sekelas means “classmate” and Teman sekamar for a “roommate”.

Showing Possession

• Use Saya punya… to express “I have…”. For example, “Saya punya satu adik” means “I have one younger sibling”.
• … milik saya can be used to denote “… is mine”. For example, “Rumah ini milik saya” translates to “This house is mine”.

Plurals

• In Indonesian, plurals are often indicated through repetition. So “brothers and sisters” becomes “adik-adik” or “saudara-saudara”.
• Note that this repetition form isn’t used for all words. The context will often make clear whether a word is meant in singular or plural form.

Adjectives and Descriptions

• Dia baik means “He/She is kind”.
• For ages, use Dia… tahun. For example, “Dia dua puluh tahun” means “He/She is twenty years old”.
• Dia tinggal di… for “He/She lives in…”
• For occupations, use Dia seorang…. For example, “Dia seorang dokter” means “He/She is a doctor”.
• Describing appearance, Dia tinggi means “He/She is tall”, Dia pendek for “He/She is short”, Dia gemuk implies “He/She is fat” and Dia kurus for “He/She is thin.”