No verb 'to be'

By Speak Indo, from the Speak Indo Indonesian course.

Indonesian skips 'am/is/are' in most sentences.

How it works

Indonesian usually has no equivalent of 'to be' linking a subject to an adjective or noun. Just put them next to each other. The word adalah exists for formal definitions, but it's unusual in everyday speech.

Examples

• Saya lapar.
  I am hungry. (literally: I hungry.)
• Dia guru.
  She is a teacher.
• Rumah itu besar.
  That house is big.
• Jakarta adalah ibu kota Indonesia.
  Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia. (formal definition)