Suffixes -kan and -i in Indonesian

In Brief

The suffixes -kan and -i often turn a root into a verb that takes an object, but they organize the event differently. -kan commonly makes or causes something to happen, does something for someone, or directs a moving thing; -i commonly treats a person, place, or surface as the target of an action. These are useful tendencies, not a rule that lets you predict every verb, so learn frequent derived verbs together with their object patterns.

Overview

Indonesian builds many verbs by adding an affix (a short element attached to a word) to a root. The suffixes -kan and -i are especially important because they can change transitivity: whether a verb takes a direct object (the person or thing directly affected by the action). Compare bangun “wake up” with membangunkan adik “wake the younger sibling up.” The suffix does more than lengthen the word; it changes how participants fit into the sentence.

At B1, the practical goal is to recognize three broad ideas. With -kan, the subject may cause a result, act for someone’s benefit, or move something in a direction. With -i, the direct object is often a location, destination, person, or surface that receives the action. English frequently expresses these distinctions with a preposition, a different verb, or word order rather than a suffix: “put the book on the table,” “cover the table with a cloth,” and “wake someone up.”

Both suffixes often appear with the active prefix me(N)-, which changes shape according to the root: menjelaskan, memberikan, mengisi. They also work with passive di- (dijelaskan, diberikan, diisi), commands without me(N)- (jelaskan, isi), and some other verb formations. You therefore need to see the complete word, not treat -kan or -i as an independent word with one fixed translation.

How It Works

Start with the complete verb pattern

A useful basic model is:

Form	Typical function	Example
root	basic meaning; may or may not take an object	bangun “wake up”
me(N)- + root + -kan	active verb, often causative/benefactive/directional	membangunkan anak “wake the child up”
me(N)- + root + -i	active verb whose object is often a target/location	mendatangi kantor “come to/visit the office”
di- + root + -kan/-i	passive: the affected object becomes the subject	Anak itu dibangunkan. “The child was woken up.”
root + -kan/-i	common command form	Bangunkan saya! “Wake me up!”

The prefix and suffix have different jobs. In menjelaskan, for example, men- marks an active verb and -kan helps form the verb meaning “explain/clarify something.” The spoken-language omission of me(N)- does not automatically remove the suffix: informal Aku jelasin nanti corresponds to standard Saya akan menjelaskannya nanti.

1. -kan as a causative: cause a result

A causative presents the subject as causing another person or thing to enter a state or perform an action. A root that describes a state can become a transitive verb:

Root or base	With -kan	Change in meaning
bangun “wake up”	membangunkan	wake someone up
tidur “sleep”	menidurkan	put someone to bed / cause to sleep
panas “hot”	memanaskan	heat something
bersih “clean”	membersihkan	clean something / make it clean
jelas “clear”	menjelaskan	explain / make clear
besar “big”	membesarkan	enlarge; raise a child

The object after the verb is the person or thing that undergoes the result: Mereka membangunkan saya means that I changed from sleeping to awake.

2. -kan as benefactive: do something for someone

A benefactive construction says that an action is performed for another person. Indonesian can place the item involved directly after an -kan verb and express the beneficiary with untuk:

• Ibu membelikan sepatu untuk Rina. — “Mother bought shoes for Rina.”
• Tolong bukakan pintu untuk tamu itu. — “Please open the door for that guest.”

With some common verbs, especially memberikan, the recipient can immediately follow the verb: Tolong berikan saya buku itu. Here saya is the recipient and buku itu is the thing transferred. Another clear, widely useful pattern is berikan buku itu kepada saya, with kepada marking the recipient.

Do not assume that every -kan verb is benefactive. The interpretation comes from the root, the objects, and the situation.

3. -kan with movement or transfer

With suitable roots, -kan can highlight the thing being moved or directed. The moved item is normally the direct object; its destination follows a preposition such as ke “to” or pada “onto.”

• Dia memasukkan kunci ke tas. — “She put the key into the bag.”
• Kami mengirimkan dokumen itu kepada manajer. — “We sent the document to the manager.”
• Letakkan gelas di meja. — “Put the glass on the table.”

A helpful question is: What is being moved, transferred, or brought into a result? That noun often follows the -kan verb.

4. -i makes a target, place, or surface the object

With many -i verbs, the direct object names where the action is directed: a destination, person, container, place, or surface. English often puts this noun after “to,” “at,” “in,” or “on,” but Indonesian places it directly after the verb.

• Kami mendatangi kantor polisi. — “We went to/visited the police station.”
• Dia mengisi botol itu dengan air. — “She filled the bottle with water.”
• Mereka menanami kebun dengan cabai. — “They planted the garden with chilies.”
• Tolong tandatangani formulir ini. — “Please sign this form.”

In mengisi botol dengan air, the container botol is the direct object; the substance is introduced by dengan. This reverses the perspective found in memasukkan air ke dalam botol, where air is the moved object.

5. Contrasting -kan and -i

Some roots form a meaningful pair. The contrast is often called an object-orientation contrast: the suffix helps determine which participant is presented as the direct object.

Focus	Typical pattern	Example
moved thing or caused result	verb-kan + thing + destination/recipient	memasukkan buku ke tas — put the book into the bag
destination, container, or target	verb-i + place/person + material or means	mengisi tas dengan buku — fill the bag with books
cause someone to experience an action/state	verb-kan + affected person/thing	mendudukkan anak di kursi — seat the child on the chair
act at or toward a target	verb-i + target/place	menduduki kursi itu — occupy that seat

This contrast is productive, but it is not perfectly regular. Menjelaskan is the normal verb for “explain,” while a theoretical swap to -i is not a free alternative. Likewise, mengunjungi “visit” must be learned as a common lexical verb. Treat the broad meanings as guides, then confirm and memorize the pattern of each frequent verb.

6. Active, passive, and command forms

Once you know which suffix a verb requires, it normally remains when the voice changes:

Function	-kan example	-i example
active	Petugas menjelaskan aturan itu.	Turis mengunjungi museum itu.
passive	Aturan itu dijelaskan oleh petugas.	Museum itu dikunjungi banyak turis.
command	Jelaskan aturan itu!	Kunjungi museum itu!

In a passive sentence, the noun affected by the verb moves to the subject position. The suffix does not disappear: menjelaskan → dijelaskan, not dijelas.

Examples in Context

Indonesian	English	Note
Tolong berikan saya buku itu.	Please give me that book.	Recipient immediately follows berikan
Saya mengunjungi rumahnya.	I visited his house.	-i verb with the visited place as object
Dia menjelaskan masalah itu dengan sabar.	He explained the problem patiently.	-kan forms the standard verb “explain”
Mereka membangunkan saya pukul enam.	They woke me up at six.	Causative: caused me to wake
Ayah memanaskan sup untuk makan malam.	Dad heated the soup for dinner.	Causes the soup to become hot
Bisa tolong bukakan jendela untuk saya?	Could you open the window for me?	Action performed for someone
Kami mengirimkan undangan itu kepada semua tamu.	We sent the invitation to all the guests.	Transferred item followed by recipient
Masukkan pakaian ini ke lemari.	Put these clothes in the wardrobe.	Moved item is the object
Petugas mengisi tangki dengan air bersih.	The worker filled the tank with clean water.	Container is the object of mengisi
Para petani menanami lahan itu dengan jagung.	The farmers planted the land with corn.	The cultivated location is the object
Jangan menduduki kursi yang basah itu.	Do not sit on/occupy that wet chair.	Seat is the target of menduduki
Guru itu mengajari kami bahasa Indonesia.	That teacher taught us Indonesian.	Learners are the direct object
Aturan baru diumumkan kemarin.	The new rule was announced yesterday.	Passive di-...-kan
Dokumen ini harus ditandatangani hari ini.	This document must be signed today.	Passive di-...-i

Common Mistakes

Treating -kan and -i as interchangeable

• Wrong: Saya menjelasi masalah itu.
• Right: Saya menjelaskan masalah itu.
• Why: The standard verb meaning “explain” is menjelaskan. General tendencies do not license a free suffix swap; learn established derived verbs.

Keeping an English preposition before an -i object

• Wrong: Kami mendatangi ke kantor polisi.
• Right: Kami mendatangi kantor polisi.
• Why: In this sentence, kantor polisi is already the direct destination object of mendatangi. Compare the unsuffixed pattern kami datang ke kantor polisi “we came to the police station.”

Choosing the wrong participant as the object

• Wrong for “fill the bottle with water”: Dia mengisi air dengan botol.
• Right: Dia mengisi botol dengan air.
• Why: Mengisi treats the container or location as its object. The material used to fill it follows dengan.

Dropping the suffix in a passive

• Wrong: Masalah itu dijelas oleh guru.
• Right: Masalah itu dijelaskan oleh guru.
• Why: Changing me(N)- to passive di- does not remove -kan. The verb is built from the same derived stem jelas-kan.

Using a causative when no caused action is intended

• Wrong for “The child woke up”: Anak itu membangunkan.
• Right: Anak itu bangun.
• Why: Membangunkan normally needs someone or something that is caused to wake: Ibu membangunkan anak itu. Use bangun when the subject wakes up on their own.

Usage Notes

Full me(N)-...-kan and me(N)-...-i forms are normal in careful speech, news, education, and formal writing. Everyday conversation often shortens active verbs: menjelaskan may become jelasin, and memberikan may be replaced by kasih in informal contexts. These colloquial forms vary by speaker and region. For reliable standard Indonesian, keep the full affixes in writing and in formal situations.

Commands commonly omit the active prefix while retaining the suffix: Dengarkan saya! “Listen to me!”, Tuliskan alamatnya! “Write down the address!”, and Isi formulir ini! “Fill in this form!” Some command verbs are lexicalized with one suffix, so the natural form must still be learned word by word.

English translations can hide the Indonesian structure. English “teach” does not visibly show whether the learner or the material is foregrounded. Indonesian commonly contrasts mengajari seseorang sesuatu (“teach someone something,” with the learner as object) and mengajarkan sesuatu kepada seseorang (“teach something to someone,” with the material as object). Paying attention to the noun immediately after the verb is more useful than searching for one English equivalent of each suffix.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

At a more advanced level, -kan and -i participate in families of related verbs whose meanings are partly systematic and partly lexical. Consider duduk “sit”: mendudukkan anak means “seat the child,” while menduduki wilayah means “occupy a territory.” The core causative-versus-target contrast helps, but context and conventional usage determine the final meaning.

The “repeated or thorough” sense sometimes associated with -i is real in certain verbs, but it should not be applied mechanically. Memukuli can suggest striking someone repeatedly, while memukul can describe one act of hitting. Melempari presents a target as being pelted with thrown items, whereas melemparkan batu foregrounds the stone being thrown. The target/multiple-contact interpretation grows naturally from directing an action onto a person or surface; it is not an automatic meaning of every -i verb.

Derivation may also produce meanings that are no longer transparently predictable from the root. Mengetahui means “know,” menghendaki means “want/require,” and mengalami means “experience.” An advanced learner should analyze recognizable patterns but also respect dictionary entries and usage evidence. Affix knowledge narrows the possibilities; it does not replace vocabulary learning.

Finally, object choice affects passive possibilities. In Guru mengajari kami bahasa Indonesia, kami is the direct object and can become the passive subject: Kami diajari bahasa Indonesia. In Guru mengajarkan bahasa Indonesia kepada kami, bahasa Indonesia is the direct object: Bahasa Indonesia diajarkan kepada kami. This is why suffix choice matters beyond word formation: it shapes the grammar of the whole clause.

Practice Tips

1. Learn a verb with its frame, not alone. Record mengisi wadah dengan bahan (“fill a container with a substance”) and memasukkan benda ke tempat (“put an item into a place”), including the prepositions.
2. Build three-form sets. For each new verb, practice active, passive, and command forms: menjelaskan → dijelaskan → jelaskan. This keeps the suffix stable while the prefix changes.
3. Ask what follows the verb. When reading, underline the first noun after an -kan or -i verb. Label it “caused result,” “moved thing,” “recipient,” “place,” or “target.” Real examples will teach you which broad tendency each verb follows.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Prefix me(N)- — learn how the active prefix combines with roots and changes its nasal form.
• Next steps: Advanced Causative Constructions — compare suffix-based causatives with verbs such as membuat, memaksa, and meminta.