Other than prefix me- which has been discussed in here and here, in this topic we will try to cover all other affixes in Indonesian.

Prefix ber-

There are 10 function of prefix ber-:

1. Have something

bisa (poison) – berbisa (have poison / poisonous)

kesempatan (opportunity) – berkesempatan (have opportunity)

1. Using / wearing something

Topi (hat) – bertopi (wearing hat)

Gaun (dress) – bergaun (wearing dress)

1. Producing something

Buah (fruit) – berbuah (producing fruit)

Kokok (cockrow) – berkokok (producing cockrow)

1. Showing amount / number

Dua (two) – berdua (showing that there are two of them)

Tiga (three) – bertiga (showing that there are three of them)

1. Become, to acknowledge / address as

Kurang (less) – berkurang (to become less)

Saudara (brother) – bersaudara (to acknowledge as brother)

1. Acting / working as

Juang (fight) – berjuang (act as a fighter)

Tukang (handyman) – bertukang (working as a handyman)

1. In a state of

Gembira (happy) – bergembira (in a happy state)

Sedih (sad) – bersedih (in a sad state)

1. Doing something

Lari (run) – berlari (doing running)

Bicara (speak) – berbicara (speaking)

1. To do something for oneself

Dandan (groom / make-up) – berdandan (to groom oneself / to put make up on oneself)

Cukur (shave) – bercukur (to shave oneself)

1. Express reciprocal action

Gulat (wrestle) – bergulat (two or more people wrestling each other)

Tinju (boxing) – bertinju (two or more people do boxing to each other)

Mutation of ber-:

Prefix pe-

There are 5 function of prefix pe-:

1. To express the character

Malas (lazy) – pemalas (has character of lazy)

Lupa (forget) – pelupa (has character of easily forgetting things)

1. Doer of an action

Jaga (keep) – penjaga (someone who keep something / keeper)

Bunuh (kill) – pembunuh (someone who kill something / killer)

1. To state the profession

Dagang (trade) – pedagang (has profession in trading / trader)

Tari (dance) – penari (has profession in dancing / dancer)

1. Something that can cause

Manis (sweet) – pemanis (something to cause sweet / sweetener)

Lembut (soft) – pelembut (something to cause soft / softener)

1. Something with function to (…)

Hapus (erase) – penghapus (something to erase things / eraser)

Ukur (measure) – pengukur (something to measure things)

Mutation of pe-:

Prefix di-

Prefix di- function is to form passive verb:

1. Being object of an action

Beli (buy) – dibeli (to be buy / bought)

Makan (eat) – dimakan (to be eat / eaten)

1. Something affected with a tool or object

Gunting (scissors) – digunting (to get affected by scissors / cut)

Palu (hammer) – dipalu (to get affected by hammer / hammered)

1. Something made into something different or new

Tumis (stir-fry) – ditumis (to make into a stir-fry dish)

Sambal (chili sauce) – disambal (to make into a chili sauce dish)

1. Something given or equipped with

Cat (paint) – dicat (to be given paint / painted)

Pagar (fence) – dipagar (to be equipped with fence)

There is no mutation in prefix di-

Prefix ke-

There are 5 function of prefix ke-:

1. To define level

Dua (two) – kedua (level two)

Tiga (three) – ketiga (level three)

1. To show group of

Dua (two) – kedua (group of two / both)

Tiga (three) – ketiga (group of three)

1. Have status as

Kasih (love) – kekasih (have status as love / lover)

Tua (old / someone respected) – ketua (have status as someone respected)

1. Someone’s or something’s will

Hendak (want / will) – kehendak (someone’s will)

1. Destination

Pada (to / a preposition) – kepada (to show destination – to, for, on)

Luar (outside) – keluar (to go outside)

There is no mutation in prefix ke-

Prefix ter-

Adding prefix ter- will give new definition to a verb. There are 6 function of prefix ter-:

1. Expressing a circumstance

Kejut (shock) – terkejut (expressing shock)

Rawat (take care) – terawatt (expressing a state of being taken care of)

1. Expressing superlative rank

Pandai (clever) – terpandai (the most clever / cleverest)

Besar (big) – terbesar (the most big / biggest)

1. Stating something in a condition that can be done

Rekam (record) – terekam (a condition of being record / recorded)

Baca (read) – terbaca (a condition of being able to read)

1. Expressing unintentional actions

Injak (step on) – terinjak (unintentionally stepped on)

Kunci (lock) – terkunci (unintentionally locked)

1. Expression situations that suddenly happened

Bangun (wake up) – terbangun (suddenly wake up)

Ingat (remember) – teringat (suddently remember)

1. Declaring subject / actor

Gugat (sue) – tergugat (subjected to a sue)

Pidana (criminal) – terpidana (an actor of criminal act)

Mutation of ter-:

Prefix se-

Adding prefix se- will form an adverb. There are 7 function of prefix se-:

1. Expressing the meaning of one

Orang (person) – seorang (one person / a)

Ekor (tail) – seekor (one tail / one animal / a)

1. Expressing time

Belum (yet) – sebelum (expressing time before something / before)

Sudah (has been / already) – sesudah (expressing time after something has been done / after)

1. Like, as (..) as

Tinggi (tall) – setingi (as tall as)

Pandai (pandai) – sepandai (as clever as)

1. Whole

Rumah (house) – serumah (the whole house)

Dunia (world) – sedunia (the whole world)

1. Expressing meaning of together in a same place

Kantor (office) – sekantor (work together in the same office)

Rumah (house) – serumah (live together in the same house)

1. Expressing the most (capability) – usually followed by word “mungkin”

Banyak (much) – sebanyak (mungkin): as much as possible

Sederhana (simple) – sesederhana (mungkin): as simple as possible

1. With something

Izin (permission) – seizin (with permission of)

Pengetahuan (knowledge) – sepengetahuan (with knowledge of)

Mutation of se-:

There are not much example of infix, and it is rarely used now. I think this table summarize all of it. Please give correction if I missed anything.

Suffix –i

Adding suffix –I will make imperative sentence that need object. There are 6 function of suffix –i:

1. To ask someone to do an action repeatedly

Pukul (hit) – pukuli (hit (an object) repeatedly!)

Siram (to water) – sirami (water (an object) repeatedly!)

1. To ask someone to do an action to something (an object)

Duduk (sit) – duduki (sit on (an object)!)

Datang (come) – datangi (come to (an object)!)

1. To ask someone to feel something on

Hormat (respect) – hormati (respect (an object)!)

Patuh (obey) – patuhi (obey (an object)!)

1. To ask someone to put something on

Bumbu (seasoning) – bumbui (put seasoning on (an object)!)

Garam (salt) – garami (put salt on (an object)!)

1. Has characteristic like

Hewan (animal) – hewani (has characteristic of animal)

Alam (nature) – alami (has characteristic of nature)

1. To ask someone to make something to be

Lengkap (complete) – lengkapi (make (an object) become complete!)

Hitam (black) – hitami (make (an object) to become black!)

Suffix –kan

There are 4 function of suffix –kan:

1. To ask someone to cause something to become

Tenang (calm) – tenangkan (please make (an object) to become calm)

Cari (find) – carikan (please cause (an object) to be founded)

1. To ask someone to put something on (…)

Pinggir (edge) – pinggirkan (please put (an object) to the edge)

Asrama (dormitory) – asramakan (please put (an object) to a dormitory)

1. To ask someone to do something, usually for someone else

Lempar (throw) – lemparkan (please throw (an object))

Ambil (get) – ambilkan (please get (an object))

1. Do something with (…)

Bayar (pay) – bayarkan (pay with (an object))

Pukul (hit) – pukulkan (hit with (an object))

Suffix –an

There are 10 function of suffix –an:

1. To show a place of

Pangkal (base) – pangkalan (a place used as a base of something, like taxi base)

Kubang (hole) – kubangan (a place with )

1. Tools for something

Timbang (weigh) – timbangan (a tool to weigh something)

Ayun (swing) – ayunan (a tool to swing, like a swing set)

1. A way of something

Didik (educate / parenting) – didikan (the way someone educate something/someone else)

Pimpin (lead) – pimpinan (the way someone lead something / someone else)

1. Resemble, looks like (usually the base word is being repeated before adding suffix –an)

Rumah (house) – rumah-rumahan (something that looks like a house, a doll house)

Mobil (car) – mobil-mobilan (something that looks like a car, a toy car)

1. Cause or result of an action

Buat (make) – buatan (something made by someone)

Bantu (help) – bantuan (a help given by someone)

1. A group of

Laut (sea) – lautan (a group of sea / ocean)

Kotor (dirt) – kotoran (a group of dirt)

1. Each

Hari (day) – harian (each day)

Bulan (month) – bulanan (each month)

1. Have characteristic of

Manis (sweet) – manisan (sweet food, usually fruits preserved in sugar water or sweetmeats)

Asin (sour) – asinan (sour food, pickle)

1. Showing more quality (in casual conversation)

Tinggi (tall) – tinggian (taller)

Kecil (small) – kecilan (smaller)

1. Something that is being (…) or has been (…)

Catat (write / note) – catatan (something that has been written / noted)

Larang (ban / prohibit) – larangan (something that is being banned / prohibited)

Suffix –nya

Usually the suffix –nya means the ownership of a noun, like his book, her book, its book in Indonesian it will be “bukunya”

Other that this, -nya usually can translated as the, because its function is only to give emphasis. In detail, it will be as below:

1. Something that has been done / already happened

Tumbang (fall) – tumbangnya (the fall of something)

Tidur (sleep) – tidurnya (the sleep that has been done)

1. To show ownership

Baju (shirt) – bajunya (his shirt)

Mobil (car) – mobilnya (her car)

1. The situation that is being experienced

Gelap (darkness) – gelapnya (the darkness that is being experienced)

Tenang (peaceful) – tenangnya (the peace that is being experienced)

1. To give emphasis

Pintu (door) – pintunya (the door)

Meja (table) – mejanya (the table)

1. As pointer (sometimes followed by someone’s name)

Rumah (house) – rumahnya (to point the house)

Halaman (yard) – halamannya (to point the yard)

Suffix –lah

Adding suffix –lah is basically to make an imperative sentence more polite, or to give urgency in an imperative sentence.

Pergi (go) – pergilah (please go)

Tolong (help) – tolonglah (please help)

Ubah (change) – ubahlah (you need to change)

Biarkan (let) – biarkanlah (just let it …)

Suffix –kah

-kah is basically used to ask something, or to indicate that the sentence is a question.

Lading (farm) –ladangkah (is it farm?)

Datang (come) – datangkah (come or not?)

Salah (wrong) – salahkah (is it wrong or not?)

Mau (want) – maukah (want or not?)

Confix me-kan

The definitions of me-kan are:

1. Causative / made something to be …

Tinggi (tall) – meninggikan (make something to be tall)

Hancur (destroyed) – menghancurkan (cause something to be destroyed)

1. Do something for someone else

Baca (read) – membacakan (to do reading for someone else / read out loud)

Buka (open) – membukakan (to open something for someone else)

1. To make something go to

Tepi (edge) – menepikan (to make something go to the edge)

Darat (land) – mendaratkan (to make something go to the land / landing)

The mutation for me-kan is the same with mutation of me-

Confix me-i

The definitions of me-i are:

1. To give something to someone else / something else

Hadiah (gift) – menghadiahi (to give a gift so someone)

Garam (salt) – menggarami (to put salt into something)

1. To do something in (need locative noun)

Seberang (across) – menyeberangi (to cross something)

Datang (come) – mendatangi (to come to something)

1. To do something repeatedly

Lempar (throw) – melempari (to throw something repeatedly)

Salam (handshake) – menyalami (to do handshake repeatedly)

1. To cause

Basah (wet) – membasahi (cause something to be wet)

Kotor (dirty) – mengotori (cause something to be dirty)

The mutation for me-i is the same with mutation of me-

Confix di-kan

Like prefix di-, confix di-kan also create a passive verb. The definitions of di-kan are:

1. Causative, cause something to get

Untung (benefit) – diuntungkan (caused something to get benefit)

Habis (finished) – dihabiskan (caused something to be finished)

1. An action done for someone else

Beli (buy) – dibelikan (being bought for someone else)

Bayar (pay) – dibayarkan (being paid for someone else)

basically, since di- is the passive version of me-, you can refer to the definitions of me-kan and me-i and turn it into passive verb by change me- to di-.

Confix ber-an

The definitions of ber-an are:

1. An action done by many actors or done repeatedly

Gugur (fall) – berguguran (many things fall, usually dry leaves)

Lari (run) – berlarian (running repeatedly or many people running)

1. Reciprocal relationship

Salam (handshake) – bersalaman (two people or more shaking hand of each other)

Kenal (know) – berkenalan (two people or more getting to know each other)

Confix pe-an

The definitions of pe-an are:

1. A place to

Mandi (bath) – pemandian (a place to take a bath)

Makam (grave) – pemakaman (a place where there are lots of grave / graveyard)

1. A process

Pasar (market) – pemasaran (a process to market / marketing)

Curi (steal) – pencurian (a process of stealing)

Confix per-an

The definitions of per-an are:

1. A place to

Henti (stop) – perhentian (a place to stop)

Api (fire) – perapian (a place to make fire / fireplace)

1. Result of an action

Dagang (trade) – perdagangan (result of a trade / trading)

Juang (fight) – perjuangan (result of a fight)

1. Have many variations

Syarat (requirement) – persyaratan (requirements)

1. Showing an area

Kota (city) – perkotaan (an area of a city)

Kebun (farm) – perkebunan (an area of farming)

1. Something related to

Izin (permit) – perizinan (something related to the permit)

Setuju (agree) – persetujuan (related to something being agree of / agreement)

Confix ke-an

The definitions of per-an are:

1. A place to / of

Diam (live) – kediaman (a place to live)

Sultan (sultan) – kesultanan (a place where a sultan reign)

1. An unintentional action (passive)

Jatuh (fall) – kejatuhan (being unintentionally hit by something that fell)

Masuk (in) – kemasukan (something unintentionally got entered by something else)

1. Something that considered too much

Besar (big) – kebesaran (too big)

1. Looks like / resemble something (usually the based word being repeated)

Biru (blue) – kebiru-biruan (bluish)

Kuning (yellow) – kekuning-kuningan (yellowish)

1. In a certain state

Sepi (lonely) – kesepian (in a lonely state)

Miskin (poor) – kemiskinan (in a state of being poor)

1. A condition related to

Bersih (clean) – kebersihan (a condition related to cleanliness)

Kacau (chaotic) – kekacauan (a condition related to chaos)

1. A group of

Pulau (island) – kepulauan (a group of islands)