Passive voice with di-

By Speak Indo, from the Speak Indo Indonesian course.

Prefix di- on a verb makes it passive. Common in formal and written Indonesian.

How it works

The active me- prefix has a passive counterpart di-. The structure is: Object + di-verb + (oleh) + Agent • Active: Saya membaca buku. = I read the book. • Passive: Buku dibaca oleh saya. = The book is read by me. Passive is very common in Indonesian, more so than in English. It's often used to keep focus on the object or to be formal/impersonal.

Examples

• Surat itu ditulis oleh adik saya.
  The letter was written by my younger sibling.
• Makanan sudah dimasak.
  The food has already been cooked.
• Pintu dibuka perlahan.
  The door was opened slowly.