"Tini sends a letter to Andi."

Translation: Tini mengirim surat kepada Andi.

[R_Wlsn_1969]

Hai. Kepada is apparently used when someone or something (a letter in this case) is going to a person, as opposed to a place.

http://www.phrasebase.com/archive2/malay-language-lessons/malay-grammar-daridaripadakekepadapada.html

https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Indonesian/Grammar/Prepositions

[Stewart737090]

Terima kasih!

[TonyBerjaya]

The letter must be related to Tini's pregnancy.

[Emanuel855925]

The plot thickens

[judy967009]

Why kepada and not just ke?

[doJob1]

I'm a Malay speaker, but afaik

kepada(means to) specially is used when the stuff to be/being delivered will be sent to a living thing (like a letter, ball)

while

ke(means to) can be used (at least informally) in both of the cases (the moving/thing being delivered will be sent/arrived at something living or not living)

[Away54]

mengirim followed by kepada and mengirim followed by ke have a different meaning. We will try to simplify the explanation by using some examples:

1) saya mengirim surat kepada Andi = I send a letter to Andi

2) saya mengirim surat ke luar negeri = I send a letter abroad.

[littlejoshua]

Same question here. What’s the difference between ke and kepada here? Terima kasih

[Away54]

ke and kepada are used to indicate a destination. But, ke comes before (or is for) place while kepada is to a person.

[Keith_APP]

How about "Tini mengirim Andi surat". If not, why is it wrong?

[AbdullahAAK]

Maybe because the noun or group of nouns in front of mengirim becomes the thing being sent. So if youre sending (mengirim Andi surat) then you're sending the Andi of the letter(s)...which sounds very weird.

[Away54]

If you want to say the sentence without "kepada", you may say it like follows:

"Tini mengirimi Andi surat."

[Verena597490]

I was wondering about it..shouldn't she tell.him in person?

[Violet138039]

Maybe because of the same reason why high schoolers do in the Valentine's day...? ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[daniel562838]

So Andi is the dad ? Or her best friend? Don't miss the next chapters!