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- "We can not do what we want."
"We can not do what we want."
Translation:Kami tidak bisa melakukan apa yang kami mau.
December 8, 2018
3 Comments
JamesTWils
2054
Is "apa" absolutely necessary here? I had thought "yang" could mean something like "that which."
_adrianpop_
473
I just spoke to an Indonesian friend I have and he said that in this context, apa is optional. It only marks a passive sentence. It's not something you really think about when you speak.
Active:
Dia suka apa? (What does she like?)
Dia suka buku bahasa Indonesia
Passive:
Apa yang dia suka?
Yang dia suka (adalah) buku bahasa Indonesia
Both question mean "What does he/she like?" but in the 1st one the highlight is on dia, while in the 2nd one the highlight is on apa. So basically apa highlights/emphasizes WHAT (the thing) we actually want.