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- Topic: Indonesian >
- "Dia minum air."
22 Comments
Dia is not gender specific and there should be options for that (he/she/it), as well as an "another correct answer" blurb.
1638
Hai! Please try to add your sentence in the report. For example, sentences with he or she are allowed, but not with "it". The pronoun "dia" is just for people.
To translate "it", then the sentences would be:
Itu minum air. / (if the subject is far)
Ini minum air. / (if the subject is near)
Selamat belajar! :)
- 336
Yeah, I have faced this same problem Please someone explain how do you differentiate between present simple and present continuous sentences for example how the following sentences 1. She drinks water. 2. She is drinking water. would be translated to Bahasa Indonesia?
Both answers are correct and have the same meaning. She/he is drinking water ... or ... drinks water. Its the same .
Sentences in Indonesian are usually simpler than English because they have less rules. We don't differentiate actions/occurrences by time, so "Dia minum air" could be translated to "He/she drinks water" and "He/she is drinking water". It could even be translated to past/past continuous and future/future continuous tense depending on the context. If your answer was wrong, please report.
"dia" seems to mean he and she. is one preferred over the other? is there a preferred translation for each of them?
No, it is gender-neutral.
She drinks water = Dia minum air
He drinks water = Dia minum air
No . Its same meaning in australia when we say sibling. It can mean boy or girl
How do you know whether its she/he (dia), is drinking/drinks (minum)? How to gender classify and tense classify?
Indonesian doesn’t have gender classification like a lot of languages. It’s simply contextual to the conversation or the situation.
Also if you want to use the the formal way to say it (dia is informal) then you use “Beliau”
Now even though Indonesian pronouns are gendeless, they do have local dialect that refers to gender but it’s only when addressing someone directly or speaking to someone indirectly in conversation but they usually is only when you know the person and their name such like saying “I seen mrs Ahmed last night ...”
These terms are as followed;
Bapak / pak - Is the equivalent To “Mr” in English. This term is used when addressing a married man, a mature man that is your senior or a man over the age of 30. It’s a very respectful term when addressing someone that fits this criteria.
Ibu/bu - This means “mrs” and is used as a show of respect for a married woman, a woman that is your senior or a woman over the age of 30.
Mas - This is the same as saying “brother or bro” in English. This is used when addressing a common young male, family member (when refering to your actual brother) or a community member that is older than you or equal age. Such as you see a young waiter you would call him by “mas” when addressing him.
Mbak - The same as “sister/sis”. This is used when addressing a common young woman, your family Member or a community member that is older or Equal ages with you, such as a waitress you would show respect by addressing her as Mbak. So instance you are ready to order food you would raise your hand and call it “mbak” to the waitress. Be mindful of this term when you are working alongside woman younger than you, as this term is a mark of Respect in Javanese dialect but Can sometimes make no Javanese Indonesian feel uncomfortable as they think you are calling them as older than yourself. However in public it’s okay, I’ve never had issue, woman tend to get really happy at your respect by using the term.
Lastly you have Adik/dik - which is used when addressing a child, both family And community Members and is also the equivalent To “brother or sister” in English.
Hope This helped a little.
Also there is other dialect that has variations on these such as the betawi people using the term “abang” for brother or used for husband.
My fiancé calls me “abang” all the time or “sayang” (ignore sayang though, it means “babe” and has not relation to this topic haha!, unless you have an Indonesian girl you want to melt the heart of by calling her it :P)
You're partly correct. However, we rarely, even barely, translated "it" to "dia". We often say "itu/ini" (depending on the location of "it") for "it" as in "it is red" = "itu/ini merah", but we just usually directly say the subject/object, for example
"This is an apple. It is red." is normally translated to "Ini apel. Apel ini merah." and not "Ini apel. Ini merah."
Another example is
"That is a house. It is big." is normally translated to "Itu rumah. Rumah itu besar." and not "Itu rumah. Itu besar."
And, yes, "that/this" AND "it" can be translated to "itu/ini" and have similar use, but when translating "itu/ini" to "that/this" OR "it", it depends on the context.
