"Tidak, kamu suka jeruk."
Translation:No, you like oranges.
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508
As a native Indonesian speaker, here is my explanation.
"Tidak, saya suka jeruk" can be translated into "No, i like an orange" or "No, i like oranges"
It would be correct literally to say "Tidak, saya suka sebuah jeruk" or "Tidak, saya suka jeruk-jeruk"
But it will become so weird if you say that in informal conversation. And many Indonesians will stare at you shockingly while holding their laughs .
I'm not sure what the linguistic term is, but "sebuah" functions as a counter for how many items something is.
It works in a similar way to how in English you would say "a piece" of paper.
A bicycle --> Sebuah sepeda
Literally, "sebuah" means "a fruit of" (which doesn't really translate so well into English), and is a counter for generally most items. Some counters only work for counting certain things, and won't make sense when counting anything else.
- Sebuah benda = a thing
- Sebuah lemari = a wardrobe
- Sebuah cerita = a story
- "Selembar" kertas = a piece of paper (literally: a page of). Selembar is for counting paper, plastic, or cloth items
- "Sebutir" beras = a grain of rice. Sebutir is used exactly how "a grain of" is used in English
- "Seekor" anjing = a dog (literally: a tail of). Seekor is for counting animals
- "Seorang" anak = a child (literally: a person). Seorang is for counting people
- "Sehelai" rambut = a thread of hair
You can also use these counters in its long form:
- Sebuah = satu buah --> Satu buah sepeda
- Selembar = satu lembar --> Satu lembar kertas
- Sebutir = satu butir --> Satu butir beras
- Seekor = satu ekor --> Satu ekor anjing etc...
Hope it helps
When we're talking about something in general (a noun), in English we'd pluralize it ( I like apples, you like women, he likes children, etc), with some exceptions.
But in Indonesian we use singular, with some exceptions as well.
- I like apples --> Saya suka apel
- you like women --> Kamu suka perempuan
- they like animals --> Mereka suka binatang
- we like sports --> Kami suka olahraga
- (exception!) he likes children --> Dia suka anak-anak (becomes pluralized)
- (English exception!) Tom likes food (stays singular) --> Tom suka makanan
Perhaps what makes this confusing is that in English the color orange can be referred to as "orange" or "oranges". The fruit is also referred to as an "orange" or "oranges". However most people would say "I like oranges" and rarely say "I like orange" when talking about fruit. Saying "I like orange" sounds like you are saying you like the color orange, while "I like oranges" is what people usually say when talking about the fruit. In an art context "I like oranges" will be interpreted easily as meaning that one likes different colors of orange. This leads me to ask: Is there a different word for the color orange in bahasa Indonesian? or is it also jeruk.
508
An orange = sebuah jeruk or jeruk Oranges = jeruk-jeruk or jeruk
Color -> orange = oranye or jingga
489
jeruk refers only to fruits from citrus family. there are many kinds of jeruk in indonesia. jeruk manis, jeruk nipis, jeruk bali, jeruk keprok, jeruk purut, etc. there are many of them (you can google yourself if you want more details), but the point is all of "jeruk" only refers to these fruits in citrus family. the word "jeruk" never used to define any specific color. for the color orange you mentioned, the official word and the generally accepted standard is "jingga". but some people may sometimes say "kuning jeruk" (literally: the yellow color of oranges) to call a specific color of yellow. tldr, citrus-like fruit is "jeruk", color of orange is "jingga". hope this helps.
When we're talking about something generally (a noun), in English we'd pluralize it ( I like apples, you like women, he likes children, etc), with some exceptions. But in Indonesian we use singular, with some exceptions as well.
- I like apples --> Saya suka apel
- you like women --> Kamu suka perempuan
- (exception!) he likes children --> Dia suka anak-anak (stays plural)
508
In English, when you like something unspecific, you say it in plural.
In Indonesian, on the other hand, you say it in singular.
That's the basic rule.
I like oranges = saya suka jeruk (it's not a particular orange)
I like cars = saya suka mobil (we don't know the type of the car)
I hope it can help you.