Common Verbs in Indonesian

Overview

Building a solid vocabulary of everyday verbs is essential for basic communication in Indonesian. The good news is that Indonesian verbs never change form — no conjugation for person, number, or tense. The verb stays the same in every situation, and you simply add time markers or context to indicate when something happens.

Many common Indonesian verbs can be used in their base form (root word) in casual speech. In more formal contexts, they may take prefixes like me(N)- or ber-, but at the A1 level, learning the root forms will serve you well in daily conversation.

How It Works

Essential Everyday Verbs

Indonesian	English	Example Sentence
pergi	go	Saya pergi ke pasar.
datang	come	Dia datang kemarin.
makan	eat	Kami makan nasi.
minum	drink	Saya minum air.
tidur	sleep	Anak-anak tidur.
buat/membuat	make	Ibu buat kue.
bicara	speak	Dia bicara bahasa Inggris.
tulis	write	Saya tulis surat.
baca	read	Dia baca buku.
beli	buy	Saya beli baju baru.

Movement Verbs

Indonesian	English
pergi	go
datang	come
pulang	go home
jalan	walk
lari	run
masuk	enter
keluar	exit
naik	go up / ride
turun	go down / get off

Daily Activity Verbs

Indonesian	English
bangun	wake up
mandi	bathe/shower
kerja	work
belajar	study
masak	cook
cuci	wash
cari	look for
tunggu	wait

Examples in Context

Indonesian	English	Note
Saya pergi kerja setiap hari.	I go to work every day.	Habitual action
Kami makan nasi.	We eat rice.	Basic SVO
Dia minum kopi.	He/She drinks coffee.	No gender distinction
Dia bicara bahasa Indonesia dengan baik.	He/She speaks Indonesian well.	Manner adverb at end
Anak-anak sudah tidur.	The children have slept.	Sudah for completed
Saya beli sayur di pasar.	I bought vegetables at the market.	Context implies past
Ibu masak di dapur.	Mother cooks in the kitchen.	Location with di
Dia baca buku setiap malam.	He reads a book every night.	Habitual
Kami pulang jam lima.	We go home at five.	Time expression
Tolong tunggu sebentar.	Please wait a moment.	Request

Common Mistakes

Adding English-style endings to verbs

• Wrong: makans or going patterns applied to Indonesian
• Right: makan stays as makan in all contexts
• Why: Indonesian verbs do not conjugate at all. The base form is always correct.

Confusing pergi and pulang

• Wrong: Saya pergi rumah. for "I go home"
• Right: Saya pulang. (I go home)
• Why: Indonesian has a specific verb pulang for "going home." Pergi means to go somewhere else.

Forgetting prepositions with movement verbs

• Wrong: Saya pergi pasar.
• Right: Saya pergi ke pasar.
• Why: Movement verbs like pergi typically require ke (to) before the destination.

Practice Tips

1. Learn verbs in context by building daily routine sentences: Saya bangun, mandi, makan, pergi kerja, pulang, makan malam, tidur. This creates a narrative that is easy to remember.
2. Practice each verb with all three time markers: sudah makan (already ate), sedang makan (eating now), akan makan (will eat).

Related Concepts

• Basic Verb Structure — how verbs work with time markers