Basic Bahasa Indonesia Vocabulary

Here a list of what I consider the most useful words in Bahasa Indonesia. Those you have to memorize first when you start learning this language.

I’ve used large parts of this vocabulary list in the series of articles I wrote about Bahasa Indonesia for beginners. You can find those articles here.

I use some personnal abreviations or notations to help you have the right pronounciation. I explained it in this article.

Essential words

1. Orang : people
2. Anak : child
3. Hal : thing
4. Ya : yes
5. Tida(k) : no
6. Bagus : good
7. Terima kasih (inf. makasih) : thank you
8. Teman : friend
9. Rumah : house
10. Tas : bag
11. Baju : cloth
12. Harga : price
13. Gedung : building
14. Cowok : guy
15. Cewek : girl
16. Pacar : boy/girlfriend

Verbs

1. Ada : have / there is
2. Ambil : take
3. Dapat : get
4. Pergi : go
5. Mau : want
6. Bisa : can
7. Boleh : may
8. Bawa : bring
9. Butuh : need
10. Kasih : give
11. Jadi : become
12. Tidak jadi : cancel
13. Bantu : help
14. Rasa : feel
15. Cari : look for
16. Beli : buy
17. Main : play
18. Tidur : sleep
19. Tau : know
20. Pulang : go home
21. Ketemu : meet
22. Hilang : loose
23. Tanya : ask (a question)
24. Minta : ask (for something)
25. Suka : like
26. Tarau : put
27. Jalan : go (by walking)
28. Naik : ride (lit. rise).
29. Turun : get off (lit. go down)
30. Berhenti : stop
31. Ikut : join / follow
32. Tunggu : wait

Conjunctions and adverbs

1. Dan : and
2. Atau : or
3. Dengan / sama : with
4. Tetapi (inf. tapi) : but
5. Kalau : if
6. Juga : also
7. Ini : this
8. Itu : that
9. Sini : here
10. Situ : there
11. Banya(k) : a lot
12. Sedikit : few
13. Mungkin : maybe
14. Semua : all
15. Lebih : more
16. Kurang : less
17. Nanti : after
18. Kemarin : yesterday
19. Besok : tomorrow
20. Masih : still
21. Belum : not yet

Adjectives

1. Besar : large
2. Kecil : small
3. Bagus : good
4. Tidak bagus : bad
5. Cape(k) : tired
6. Takut : afraid
7. Senang : happy
8. Sedih : sad
9. Jauh : far
10. Dekat : close
11. Marah : angry
12. Benar : right
13. Salah : wrong / faulty