"The service of this store is very good."

Translation: Pelayanan toko ini sangat bagus.

[tsuj1g1r1]

So, if Rick is passing by, is it wrong to use "baik" here? Because from what I gather from lockers001's comment and the examples used in the rest of this lesson, is that "baik" would actually be a better word choice than "bagus"?

[lockers001]

My comment was copied and pasted from a google search. I don't think anyone would be confused it baik and bagus are mixed up ... but, according to the web page, they are not always interchangeable. I hope the info helps.

[Angela927992]

My understanding is that bagus is for something which looks good, while baik is for good quality or condition. For example mobil bagus means the car looks good. While mobil baik, means the quality of the car is good. So it would not be correct to answer Apa kabar? with the answer Bagus. However, having said that, the two words seem to be used interchangeably in common usage.

[_adrianpop_]

Reminder:

• The prefix pe- and the affix -an are used to form nouns

• Pelayanan means service

• The root is layan (verb) which means to serve

[Ria___]

What is the rule for whether bagus or baik is used? Is bagus only for inanimate things and actions, but baik is used for people and animals?

[lockers001]

I use google a lot to find answers ... which is my way odd admitting that my Indo still has lots of gaps. I found this ... "Although they have the same meaning, it does not mean that these two words can be used interchangeably. Indeed, sometimes you can use either ‘baik’ or ‘bagus’ but not at all times.

Some Indonesian people might give you a simple explanation on the difference between these two words by saying that ‘baik’ is more about what you cannot see and ‘bagus’ is more about what you can see. Let’s try to look deeper into it.

The adjective ‘baik’ is more often used when someone is talking about:

Human beings & their inner quality
Animals & their inner quality
Situations & relationships
The adjective ‘bagus’ is more often used when someone is talking about:

Inanimate objects & their quality
Intangible things & their quality"

[Ria___]

So my gut instinct was somewhat correct regarding inanimate things and actions vs people and animals.

Looking at other translations, it seems although both "baik" and "bagus" can mean "nice", "baik" directly translates to "well" and "bagus" to "good". And I suppose you can say that your dog is well, but you don't tend to say that your mattress is well... And although "baik" doesn't always mean well, if the subject cannot be well then it probably can't be baik.

[lockers001]

Makes sense ... hence, bagus for inanimate objects.

[ali16152]

I feel that baik means okay or well, while bagus is a stronger description - great or even excellent.

[Serfive]

What about 'pelayanannya toko ini sangat bagus'?

[Jadajos]

Why is layanan not allowed? I seem to remember it beeing used in a similar context in an earlier lesson.

[andi177904]

Pelayanannya yang toko bagus sekali. ?