Advanced Causative Constructions in Indonesian

In Brief

Indonesian expresses different kinds of causation with verbs that show how much control or pressure is involved. Membuat causes a result, memaksa forces someone, meminta requests, memerintahkan orders, and mengusulkan proposes an idea or course of action. The complement after each verb is not identical: choosing between a noun phrase, a bare verb, untuk, and agar is part of using these constructions naturally.

Overview

A causative construction presents one event as the reason another event or state occurs. In Berita itu membuat saya khawatir (“The news made me worried”), the news is the cause and my worry is the result. A causer is the person or thing that brings about the result; the person affected or prompted to act is sometimes called the causee. These labels are only shortcuts: think “source of the cause” and “person affected by it.”

At B2, the main challenge is no longer simply recognizing a causative verb. You need to select a verb that accurately conveys the relationship: an accidental result, strong compulsion, a polite request, an official command, or a suggestion open to discussion. English often uses patterns such as “make someone do,” “ask someone to do,” and “order someone to do.” Indonesian divides these meanings similarly, but it does not use one fixed equivalent of English “to.”

These multiword constructions also interact with voice and register. Indonesian can foreground the person under pressure through a passive form such as dipaksa, omit an understood subject, or use an agar clause when the desired result matters more than naming the person who should produce it.

How It Works

The basic meaning hierarchy

The following scale is useful, but it is not a rigid grammatical ranking. Context, intonation, workplace authority, and politeness markers can change how forceful a sentence feels.

Verb	Core relationship	Typical English rendering	Degree of control
membuat	something causes an action or state	make, cause	result-focused; not necessarily intentional
mengusulkan	someone puts an idea forward	propose, suggest	no obligation
meminta	someone asks for an action	ask, request	compliance is expected or hoped for
memerintahkan	an authority gives an order	order, command	strong institutional or personal authority
memaksa	pressure removes a real choice	force, compel	strongest coercion

This distinction matters. A manager may meminta an employee to send a report as a courteous request, memerintahkan the employee to send it as an explicit order, or memaksa the employee to send it against the employee’s will.

Membuat: causing an action or state

The broadest pattern is:

causer + membuat + affected person/thing + result

The result may be an adjective, a stative expression (a phrase describing a condition), or a verb phrase.

Result type	Pattern	Example	Meaning
adjective/state	membuat + object + adjective	Musik itu membuat saya tenang.	The music makes me calm.
verbal action	membuat + object + verb	Lelucon itu membuat mereka tertawa.	The joke made them laugh.
result with menjadi	membuat + object + menjadi + noun/adjective	Pengalaman itu membuatnya menjadi lebih sabar.	The experience made him/her more patient.

A bare verb commonly follows the affected participant: membuat anak itu menangis, not normally membuat anak itu untuk menangis. Membuat does not itself say whether the cause was deliberate. Hujan membuat jalan licin describes a natural consequence, while Ia membuat anak-anak tertawa may describe an intentional one.

Do not confuse this construction with lexical causative verbs formed with -kan, such as membangunkan (“wake someone up”) or menenangkan (“calm someone down”). A lexical causative packages the result into one verb; membuat states the cause and result separately.

Memaksa: forcing someone to act

The usual pattern is:

memaksa + person + (untuk) + verb

Both a bare verb and untuk + verb occur: Mereka memaksa saya menandatangani formulir and Mereka memaksa saya untuk menandatangani formulir. Untuk makes the boundary before a longer action phrase clearer and is frequent in careful or formal prose. The passive counterpart is:

person + dipaksa + (untuk) + verb

In Saya dipaksa untuk menyerahkan dokumen itu, saya is the grammatical subject (what the sentence is about), although someone else applies the force. Indonesian may omit that subject when context supplies it: Dipaksa untuk menyerahkan means “(someone was) forced to submit/hand [it] over,” but by itself it is a fragment rather than a fully explicit sentence.

Meminta: requesting an object or action

Meminta has several useful complement patterns:

Pattern	Function	Example
meminta + noun	ask for something	Saya meminta penjelasan.
meminta + person + (untuk) + verb	ask someone to act	Saya meminta Rina untuk menunggu.
meminta agar + clause	request that a result occur	Kami meminta agar pintu ditutup.
meminta + person + adjective/state	request a state, in compact instructions	Guru meminta semua orang diam.

A clause is a group of words with its own subject-and-predicate relationship. After agar, that relationship may be explicit: Direktur meminta agar semua staf hadir tepat waktu. The passive form diminta is extremely common in notices and formal requests: Pengunjung diminta untuk tidak menyentuh benda pameran. It softens the focus on whoever is issuing the request, though the instruction itself may still be firm.

Memerintahkan: issuing an order

The central pattern is:

memerintahkan + person + untuk + verb

For example, Komandan memerintahkan pasukan untuk mundur. The ordered person can be omitted when obvious: Ia memerintahkan penutupan jalan itu (“He/She ordered the closure of the road”). With a clause, agar is also possible, especially when the order is framed around the desired result: Hakim memerintahkan agar terdakwa dibebaskan.

Memerintahkan is more formal and authority-laden than menyuruh. In everyday conversation, menyuruh + person + verb is often the natural choice for “tell someone to”: Ibu menyuruh saya membeli gula. Depending on context and tone, menyuruh can be neutral or bossy; memerintahkan sounds like a definite command.

Mengusulkan: proposing an idea or course of action

Unlike meminta and memerintahkan, mengusulkan normally introduces what is proposed, not a person who is directly made to act.

Pattern	Example	Meaning
mengusulkan + noun phrase	Mereka mengusulkan perubahan rencana.	They proposed a change to the plan.
mengusulkan agar + clause	Saya mengusulkan agar rapat ditunda.	I propose that the meeting be postponed.
mengusulkan untuk + verb	Kami mengusulkan untuk bertemu lagi besok.	We propose meeting again tomorrow.

A noun phrase is a noun plus any words belonging with it, such as perubahan rencana (“a change to the plan”). With untuk, make sure the intended actor is recoverable from context. If the proposal concerns a different or specifically named actor, agar + clause is clearer: Kami mengusulkan agar tim hukum meninjau kontrak itu.

Active and passive perspective

The meN- forms foreground the initiator: memaksa, meminta, mengusulkan, and memerintahkan. Their di- passive forms foreground what is requested, proposed, ordered, or forced:

Active	Passive	Typical focus
Polisi memaksa mereka keluar.	Mereka dipaksa keluar oleh polisi.	police vs. affected people
Panitia meminta peserta menunggu.	Peserta diminta menunggu.	committee vs. participants
Tim mengusulkan perubahan itu.	Perubahan itu diusulkan oleh tim.	team vs. proposal
Atasan memerintahkan pemeriksaan.	Pemeriksaan diperintahkan oleh atasan.	authority vs. ordered action

The oleh phrase (“by ...”) is optional when the actor is obvious, unknown, or unimportant.

Examples in Context

Indonesian	English	Note
Hal itu membuat saya sedih.	That makes me sad.	membuat + person + adjective
Kemacetan membuat kami tiba terlambat.	The traffic made us arrive late.	Caused action; no untuk
Keputusan itu membuat suasana menjadi tegang.	That decision made the atmosphere tense.	menjadi marks the resulting state
Mereka memaksa saya menandatangani surat itu.	They forced me to sign the letter.	Bare verb after the affected person
Para tahanan dipaksa untuk menyerahkan barang pribadi.	The prisoners were forced to hand over their personal belongings.	Passive; untuk introduces the action
Saya meminta semua orang diam selama presentasi.	I asked everyone to be quiet during the presentation.	Compact state complement
Kami meminta tamu untuk melepas sepatu.	We ask guests to remove their shoes.	Explicit requested action
Warga meminta agar proyek itu ditinjau kembali.	Residents requested that the project be reviewed again.	agar introduces a clause
Pengunjung diminta tidak mengambil foto.	Visitors are requested not to take photos.	Impersonal public instruction
Direktur memerintahkan staf untuk menghapus data tersebut.	The director ordered the staff to delete the data.	Explicit authority and recipient
Pengadilan memerintahkan agar pembayaran segera dilakukan.	The court ordered that payment be made immediately.	Formal, result-focused passive clause
Mengusulkan perubahan rencana bukan berarti menolak tujuan awal.	Proposing a change to the plan does not mean rejecting the original goal.	Proposal expressed as a noun phrase
Saya mengusulkan agar kita membahas risiko terlebih dahulu.	I suggest that we discuss the risks first.	Inclusive proposal with kita
Ketua tim menyuruh saya menelepon klien.	The team leader told me to call the client.	Everyday menyuruh, less institutional than memerintahkan

Common Mistakes

Adding untuk after membuat

• Wrong: Film itu membuat saya untuk menangis.
• Right: Film itu membuat saya menangis.
• Why: In the ordinary causative pattern, the action follows the affected person directly. English “made me cry” also has no “to,” but learners may overgeneralize untuk from request and order patterns.

Treating mengusulkan like “order someone to”

• Awkward: Saya mengusulkan dia mengubah jadwal.
• Clear: Saya mengusulkan agar dia mengubah jadwal.
• Why: Mengusulkan puts forward an idea; it does not directly govern a person in the same way as meminta or memerintahkan. Agar clearly introduces the proposed situation.

Confusing a request with coercion

• Wrong for a polite request: Saya memaksa Anda mengirimkan salinannya besok.
• Right: Saya meminta Anda mengirimkan salinannya besok.
• Why: Memaksa says that the other person is forced and lacks a genuine choice. Use meminta when you mean “ask” or “request.”

Omitting the recipient of an order when it is unclear

• Unclear: Manajer memerintahkan untuk memeriksa mesin.
• Clear: Manajer memerintahkan teknisi untuk memeriksa mesin.
• Why: If context does not identify who must act, name that person or group. Alternatively, focus on the result: Manajer memerintahkan agar mesin diperiksa.

Reading every passive request as optional

• Misreading: Penumpang diminta mengenakan sabuk pengaman as merely a casual suggestion.
• Correct interpretation: Passengers are required or firmly requested to wear seat belts.
• Why: Diminta avoids naming the authority and sounds polite, but in signs, regulations, and official announcements it can carry real institutional force.

Usage Notes

Politeness does not equal optionality

Indonesian institutions often phrase instructions with diminta, diharapkan (“are expected”), or mohon (“please”). These forms manage tone and social distance; they do not automatically make compliance optional. Look at the setting. A notice from airport security has more practical force than the same wording in a friendly invitation.

You can soften meminta with tolong, mohon, or an indirect question. However, stacking politeness words can sound excessive. Mohon kirimkan formulir ini hari ini is already a natural formal request; Saya mohon meminta Anda untuk... is usually needlessly heavy.

Untuk and agar are not interchangeable everywhere

Untuk + verb introduces an action without stating a new subject: meminta Budi untuk menunggu. Agar + clause introduces a desired situation and can have its own subject: meminta agar Budi menunggu. The two sentences can describe the same request, but the first foregrounds Budi as the recipient, while the second foregrounds the desired result.

With a passive desired action, agar is especially useful: memerintahkan agar pintu dikunci. English speakers may want to insert “to be” before a passive verb; Indonesian simply uses the passive di- verb dikunci.

Pronouns and attachment

The enclitic -nya (a short form attached to a word) can represent the affected person after membuat: Berita itu membuatnya marah (“The news made him/her angry”). Because -nya can also have possessive and definite-like functions, use a full noun when context could be ambiguous.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Direct causation versus reported causation

Membuat is flexible, but formal explanatory prose often prefers a more explicit verb. Menyebabkan means “cause” and typically takes a noun or event as its result: Banjir menyebabkan kerusakan besar (“The flood caused major damage”). Compare:

• Banjir membuat jalan itu tidak dapat dilalui. — The flood made the road impassable.
• Banjir menyebabkan penutupan jalan itu. — The flood caused the closure of the road.

The first presents a resulting state; the second packages the consequence as a noun. Avoid assuming that menyebabkan is simply a more formal replacement in every membuat + person + verb sentence.

Lexical causatives and analytic causatives

Indonesian can express causation inside one derived verb or through a separate causative verb. Compare:

• Ibu membangunkan anak itu. — The mother woke the child up.
• Suara petir membuat anak itu bangun. — The thunder made the child wake up.

The -kan verb membangunkan directly names the causative action. The membuat construction is productive and lets you state the external cause. The choice affects perspective, not just style.

Hidden actors in formal language

Official Indonesian often suppresses the person who requests or commands:

• Peserta diminta hadir pukul delapan. — Participants are requested to be present at eight.
• Perubahan jadwal telah diusulkan. — A schedule change has been proposed.
• Pemeriksaan diperintahkan setelah insiden tersebut. — An inspection was ordered after the incident.

This can create an impersonal, administrative tone. To identify responsibility, restore the actor with an active sentence or an oleh phrase. This is particularly important when reading news reports, regulations, and organizational correspondence.

A practical force scale

When revising your own sentence, ask three questions:

1. Is this merely a consequence? Choose membuat.
2. Is someone communicating a desired action? Choose mengusulkan, meminta, or memerintahkan according to authority and obligation.
3. Is unwilling compliance central to the meaning? Choose memaksa.

This prevents a common advanced-learner problem: producing a grammatically possible sentence whose social meaning is much stronger than intended.

Practice Tips

1. Rewrite one event five ways. Start with Rina mengirim laporan and place it after membuat, meminta, memerintahkan, and memaksa; then turn the report into a proposal with mengusulkan agar. Notice how the relationship changes.
2. Practice active–passive pairs. Change Panitia meminta peserta menunggu to Peserta diminta menunggu. Then decide when naming the actor with oleh adds useful information.
3. Collect real notices. In Indonesian announcements or news articles, highlight diminta, dipaksa, diperintahkan, and diusulkan. For each one, identify the hidden actor, the affected person, and the intended result.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Suffixes -kan and -i — compare causation expressed inside a derived verb with causation expressed through a separate verb such as membuat.