Question Formation in Indonesian

Overview

Forming questions in Indonesian is straightforward. For yes/no questions, you can simply raise your intonation at the end of a statement, add apakah at the beginning, or attach the suffix -kah to the key word. For information questions, Indonesian has a set of question words similar to English "wh-words."

The beauty of Indonesian questions is that the word order often stays the same as in statements. You do not need to invert subject and verb as in English. This makes forming questions much easier once you know the question words.

How It Works

Yes/No Questions

Method	Example	English
Intonation only	Kamu mau makan?	Do you want to eat?
Apakah + statement	Apakah kamu mau makan?	Do you want to eat?
Key word + -kah	Maukah kamu makan?	Would you like to eat?

Question Words

Indonesian	English	Example
apa	what	Ini apa? (What is this?)
siapa	who	Siapa nama kamu? (What is your name?)
di mana	where (location)	Di mana kamu tinggal? (Where do you live?)
ke mana	where (destination)	Ke mana kamu pergi? (Where are you going?)
dari mana	where (origin)	Dari mana kamu? (Where are you from?)
kapan	when	Kapan kamu datang? (When are you coming?)
bagaimana	how	Bagaimana caranya? (How do you do it?)
mengapa/kenapa	why	Mengapa kamu tidak datang? (Why didn't you come?)
berapa	how much/many	Berapa harganya? (How much is it?)

Question Word Position

Question words can appear at the beginning or end of a sentence:

Position	Example	Meaning
Beginning	Apa yang kamu mau?	What do you want?
End	Kamu mau apa?	What do you want?
Beginning	Siapa yang datang?	Who came?
End	Ini milik siapa?	Whose is this?

Examples in Context

Indonesian	English	Note
Apakah kamu berbicara bahasa Indonesia?	Do you speak Indonesian?	Formal yes/no question
Di mana kamu tinggal?	Where do you live?	Location question
Ini apa?	What is this?	Informal word order
Mengapa?	Why?	Standalone question word
Berapa harganya?	How much does it cost?	Price question
Siapa orang itu?	Who is that person?	Identifying someone
Kapan kita berangkat?	When do we leave?	Time question
Bagaimana kabar kamu?	How are you?	Common greeting
Kamu suka tidak?	Do you like it or not?	Tidak as question tag
Mau ke mana?	Where are you going?	Common casual question

Common Mistakes

Inverting word order like English

• Wrong: Apakah mau kamu makan? (inverting subject and verb)
• Right: Apakah kamu mau makan?
• Why: Indonesian keeps standard SVO order in questions. Just add apakah or raise intonation.

Confusing di mana, ke mana, and dari mana

• Wrong: Di mana kamu pergi? (using location "where" for destination)
• Right: Ke mana kamu pergi? (Where are you going?)
• Why: Indonesian distinguishes location (di mana), destination (ke mana), and origin (dari mana).

Overusing apakah in casual speech

• Wrong: Using apakah in every casual question
• Right: Simply use rising intonation: Kamu mau makan?
• Why: Apakah is somewhat formal. In casual speech, intonation alone is sufficient.

Practice Tips

1. Practice forming questions about your daily life using each question word: Apa yang saya makan? (What did I eat?), Di mana saya bekerja? (Where do I work?), Kapan saya bangun? (When did I wake up?).
2. For yes/no questions, start with the intonation-only method — it is the most natural in conversation. Add apakah when you want to be formal or extra clear.

Related Concepts

• Basic Verb Structure — sentence structure that questions are built on
• Discourse Particles — particles like -kah and sih that appear in questions