"It is big."

Translation: Ia besar.

[Lims41]

what is the difference between itu and ia?

[lockers001]

Itu besar ... itu = that, the it.
Ia besar = he/she is big.
I thought their translation was wrong so I asked my Indo wife and she agreed.

[rizalmuhammad]

No. "Ia" can refer as "it" or "he/she" but rarely in use

[XylonPH]

If it is rarely use, what would be the better way of saying things?

[Lims41]

Thanks for response. New question: does this mean that ia and dia are synonyms?

[Rick392366]

"dia" and "ia" are not synonyms.
Please see the following topic for more info:
https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/28585404

[aliceusa]

that's what she said

[lokahitapr]

it should be "ini besar" not "ia besar" bcs "ia" is "she/he"

[Rathod00072]

Exactly, I was also confused.
Ini means It then why ia is used here.
Indonesian is very confusing.

[WahidFeb]

That is duolingo wrong translation. The answer should be "Itu besar" or "Ini besar"

[PERCE_NEIGE]

No, Duolingo is not wrong. It's a rare use, so it makes you confused, but this sentence is very interesting, as rare uses are also part of the language.

Grammatically, it's not wrong at all.

From the Reddit specialized in Indonesian language:

" [Dia and Ia are] mostly interchangeable, except :

• [Ia is always a subject pronoun, while Dia can be used as an object, Saya suka dia, I love him/her. ]

• Ia can't be used as object after verb/preposition : "Aku cinta dia" is valid, "Aku cinta ia" isn't. "Hadiah dari dia" is valid, "Hadiah dari ia" isn't.

Dia can only be used for person. "Bonekaku yang cantik, ia menemaniku belajar" is valid, "Bonekaku yang cantik, dia menemaniku belajar" isn't.
[This sentence shows that you can't use "dia" for an inamate objet, for instance a car of a doll, so Dia is only he/she and not it, at least not an inamate "it" (so, it can't be "it", except when talking about baby and animals as they are also living beings),
but you can still use "ia" for he, she AND it.]

In spoken conversation, ia risk the listener mistaking it for iya, so people rarely use ia. For non-person, we just usually mention the name directly."

[akucintaDani]

"ini" means "this is big" not "it/that". "Itu" means "it/that"

[PERCE_NEIGE]

Ia is he, she AND it....

[dieprinzessin]

why is 'dia besar' wrong?

[lockers001]

dia = he/she

[PERCE_NEIGE]

And also "it" for an animal or a baby.

[cuet17]

Is "ini besar" acceptable?

[TotokTriyadi]

Yes ofcourse, in Bahasa Indonesia the word "ia" means "she/he"

[VipinRahul]

Ini is this right? Itu is that.

[TotokTriyadi]

Lebih tepatnya ini besar, bukan ia besar. Karena ia untuk kata ganti orang. Sehingga karena belum tahu seharusnya pakai ini.

[TamaAkbar]

"It is" refers to stuff or person? If person, I think the correct translate is "He or She" *by the way I am Indonesian

[akucintaDani]

"it" refers to stuff or animals. "He or she" refers to people and animals sometimes

[Alex982702]

So, authers of Duolingwo are wrong here?

[AiraHarune8]

Shouldn't it be "inu besar"?
I think " Ia besar" means he/she is big

[Ry2FN]

Hi

[Dee218652]

Why la, i never hear this

[Cherry305928]

"Ia"/"Dia"="she"/"he"/"it"
For example:
"Dia suka kamu"/"Dia daria Jakarta, bukan dari Jepang"
"Ia" is less used than "Dia", however, both has the same translation/meaning.
"Itu"/"Ini"="that" (long distance)/"this" (near whose is speaking)
For example:
"Itu menu"/"Ini munu"

[tomas130111]

Dia and Ia mean he and she, not it

[tomas130111]

I suggest to comfirm it is correct or not