The pe- prefix (agent nouns)

By Speak Indo, from the Speak Indo Indonesian course.

pe- on a verb root forms 'a person who does X'. Similar to the English -er ending.

How it works

pe- turns a verb root into a noun for the doer: • kerja (work) → pekerja (worker) • tulis (write) → penulis (writer) • ajar (teach) → pengajar (teacher) • lari (run) → pelari (runner) • main (play) → pemain (player) Like the me- prefix, pe- assimilates based on the first letter of the root: pe-, pem-, pen-, peng-, peny-. Compare with guru (teacher), that's a different root, not formed from a verb.

Examples

• Pemain sepak bola itu terkenal.
  That soccer player is famous.
• Saya seorang penulis.
  I am a writer.
• Pekerja keras selalu sukses.
  Hard workers always succeed.