Making someone do: -kan suffix

By Speak Indo, from the Speak Indo Indonesian course.

Adding -kan to a verb makes it causative or transitive.

How it works

The suffix -kan appears in several verb patterns. Two useful ones are: 1. Causative or result-changing: • tinggi (high) → meninggikan (to raise, make higher) • cepat (fast) → mempercepat (to speed up) • ingat (remember) → mengingatkan (to remind) 2. Benefactive, doing something for someone: • beli (buy) → belikan (buy for someone) • ambil (take) → ambilkan (get something for someone) Not every -kan verb can be predicted from these two labels, so learn the sentence pattern with the verb. In requests, the bare imperative commonly keeps -kan: Tolong ambilkan air. In a full active statement, it usually combines with meN-: Dia mengambilkan saya air.

Examples

• Tolong ambilkan saya segelas air.
  Please get me a glass of water. (benefactive)
• Guru mengingatkan kami tentang ujian.
  The teacher reminded us about the exam.
• Tolong belikan roti di toko.
  Please buy (for me) bread at the shop.