-

se-

When prefix se- is combined with a noun it would mean ‘one of that noun’. In the example below, ‘gelas’ means glass. Therefore, segelas means one glass. In English, se + noun usually translates into a / an.

Examples

Root WordSe + Root WordIn A SentenceMeaning
gelassegelasDia memberi saya segelas airHe gives me one glass of water
mobilsemobilSaya pergi ke sekolah semobil dengan teman sayaI go to school with my friend in one car
orangseorangYang lulus ujian cuma seorangOnly one person passed the exam
kotasekotaDi Indonesia kami dulu tinggal sekotaIn Indonesia we used to live in the same city
If it occurs with group numbers prefix se- is to form cardinal numbers and fractions.

Examples

Se + Root WordMeaningSe + Root WordMeaning
sejutaone millionsepuluhten
seribuone thousandsebelaseleven
setengahhalfsepertigaone third
seperdelapanone eightseperempata quarter
It also replaces the number “satu” or one before classifiers. When a measure word is being used in conjunction with only one object, the numeral prefix se- is used in front of the measure word, not satu.

Examples

Root WordSe + Root WordMeaning
batangsebatang lilina candle stick
buahsebuah apelan apple
cangkirsecangkir teha cup of tea
ekorseekor kambinga goat
gelassegelas aira glass of water
helaisehelai rambutone piece of hair
ikatseikat bungaa bunch of flowers
kejapsekejap matain a blink of an eye
lembarselembar kertasone piece of paper
mangkuksemangkuk supa bowl of soup
orangseorang wanitaa woman
pasangsepasang sepatua pair of shoes
piringsepiring makanana plate of food
potongsepotong kuea slice of cake
sendoksesendok makanone table spoon
siungsesiung bawang putiha clove of garlic
suapsesuap nasia mouthful of rice
tangkaisetangkai bungaa flower
titiksetitik daraha drop of blood
If you combine prefix se- with adjective it would mean ‘as good as that adjective’. In the example below, cantik means beautiful. Therefore, secantik means as beautiful as.

Examples

Root WordSe + Root WordIn A SentenceMeaning
cantiksecantikDia secantik ibunyaShe is as pretty as her mother
kuatsekuatDia tidak sekuat duluHe is not as strong as he used to be
kecilsekecilDia tidak pernah tinggal di rumah sekecil iniHe never lives in a house as small as this

Popular posts from this blog

-
Image
The Classifiers: Buah, Orang and Ekor The Indonesian language has a fairly large number of classifiers to count objects based on their characteristics. Among the many classifiers for items, the most common one is buah, literally ‘fruit’. If you count cars, for instance, the you can use the classifier: sebuah mobil ‘a car, one car’, dua buah mobil ‘two cars’ etc. The classifiers can come handy to singularize a word. The sentence Ada mobil di depan rumah kita can mean ‘there is a car in front of our house’, or ‘there are cars in front of our house’ because every noun in the Indonesian language can be singular or plural. In order to singularize the word you can say Ada sebuah mobil di depan rumah kita ‘there is a car in front of our house’. The classifier buah can be used with many objects. Even objects that should carry a different classifier such as batang (used for stick-like objects), biji (used for very small round objects), helai (used for flat soft items), or keping (u...
Read more

Numbers

-
1 satu 21 dua puluh satu 2 dua 25 dua puluh lima 3 tiga 30 tiga puluh 4 empat 50 lima puluh 5 lima 65 enam puluh lima 6 enam 72 tujuh puluh dua 7 tujuh 80 delapan puluh 8 delapan 90 sembilan puluh 9 sembilan 100 seratus 10 sepuluh 110 seratus sepuluh 11 sebelas 150 seratus lima puluh 12 dua belas 200 dua ratus 15 lima belas 900 sembilan ratus 20 dua puluh 1000 seribu 0 nol zero 0.2 nol koma dua zero point two 1.7 satu koma tujuh one point seven 1/4 seperempat a quarter 1/2 setengah half 1/8 seperdelapan one eighth 10.000 sepuluh ribu ten thousand 100.000 seratus ribu one hundred thousand 500.000 lima ratus ribu setengah juta five hundred thousand half a million 1.000.000 sejuta/satu juta one million 1.000.000.000 satu milyar one billion Comma and Zero In Indonesian the comma that is used in English to signify thousands is replaced by a dot. There are two words for “zero”: nol and kosong, both about equally commonly used. Number The word  nomor  functions as a kind of “mar...
Read more

Interrogative Sentences

-
Interrogative Sentences Interrogatives can be formed by: using Intonation and/or adding a question tag, ‘ bukan ‘ or ‘ kan ‘(colloquial) to the questions if we wish to confirm our questions; using particle – kah ; using the word  apa  or  apakah ; using interrogative pronouns: apa, siapa, berapa, bagaimana ; using interrogative adverbs:  mengapa, di mana, ke mana, kapan. Si Dul ada? Si Dul ada, bukan? Si Dul ada, kan? Si Dul ada kah? Menangiskah dia? Apakah pak Ali guru? Siapa duduk disana? Bagaimana dia? Kapan dia pergi? Is Dul in/around? Dul is in/around, isn’t he? Dul is in/around, isn’t he? Is Dul in/around? Did she cry? Is pak Ali a teacher? Who was it that sat there? how is she? When did he go?
Read more