If... then: kalau, jika, seandainya

By Speak Indo, from the Speak Indo Indonesian course.

Real conditions use kalau/jika. Hypotheticals use seandainya.

How it works

Indonesian has several ways to say 'if': • kalau, most common, covers most 'if' situations (casual + formal) • jika, formal written equivalent of kalau • seandainya, hypothetical / counterfactual ('if only', 'suppose') • apabila, formal 'when/if' in legal/official Indonesian The sentence form: [Kalau/Jika condition], (maka) result. The word maka ('then') is optional but adds emphasis.

Examples

• Kalau hujan, kita tinggal di rumah.
  If it rains, we'll stay home.
• Jika ada pertanyaan, tanyakan saya.
  If you have questions, ask me.
• Seandainya saya kaya, saya keliling dunia.
  If I were rich, I'd travel the world.