Indonesian Plural
Learning the Indonesian Plural is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you master it the more you get closer to mastering the Indonesian language. But first we need to know what the role of Plural is in the structure of the grammar in Indonesian.
Indonesian Plurals are grammatical numbers, typically referring to more than one of the referent in the real world. In the English language, singular and plural are the only grammatical numbers.
Grammar Tips:
While
in English, the plural is formed by adding (s) to the singular. In Indonesian,
this is how it’s formed:
seorang
teman (a friend) becomes: teman-teman (some friends)
seorang
wanita (one woman) becomes: beberapa wanita (some women)
buku
saya ( my book) becomes : buku-buku saya ( my books)
aku
kedinginan ( i'm cold) becomes : kita dingin ( we're cold)
ini
adalah mobil merahku (this is my red car) becomes:ini adalah mobil-mobil
merahku (these are my red cars)
Here are some examples:
| English Plural | Indonesian Plural |
| Plural | Jamak |
| my book | buku saya |
| my books | buku-buku saya |
| our daughter | putri kami |
| our daughters | putri-putri kami |
| I'm cold | Aku kedinginan |
| we're cold | kita dingin |
| his chickens | ayam-ayamnya |
| their chicken | ayam mereka |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Plural in Indonesian has a logical pattern. Locate the Plural above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Bahasa Indonesia.
List of Plurals in Indonesian
Below is a list of the Plurals and Singulars in Indonesian placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Indonesian vocabulary.
| English Plural | Indonesian Plural |
| alligator | buaya |
| alligators | buaya |
| bear | beruang |
| bears | beruang |
| bird | burung |
| birds | burung |
| bull | banteng |
| bulls | banteng |
| cat | kucing |
| cats | kucing |
| cow | sapi |
| cows | sapi |
| deer | rusa |
| many deer | banyak rusa |
| dog | anjing |
| dogs | anjing |
| donkey | keledai |
| donkeys | keledai |
| eagle | burung elang |
| eagles | elang |
| elephant | gajah |
| elephants | gajah |
| giraffe | jerapah |
| giraffes | jerapah |
| goat | kambing |
| goats | kambing |
| horse | kuda |
| horses | kuda |
| lion | singa |
| lions | singa |
| monkey | monyet |
| monkeys | monyet |
| mouse | tikus |
| mice | tikus |
| rabbit | kelinci |
| rabbits | kelinci |
| snake | ular |
| snakes | ular |
| tiger | harimau |
| tigers | harimau |
| wolf | serigala |
| wolves | serigala |
Plural and Singular have a very important role in Indonesian, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with the Bahasa Indonesia Plural, you might want to check the rest of our Indonesian lessons here: Learn Indonesian. Don't forget to bookmark this page.