ini versus itu versus tersebut | Indonesian Grammar

Choose ini for something in the speaker's current physical, temporal, or discourse sphere. Choose itu for something distal, already identifiable, or shared with the listener. Choose tersebut (formal) to retrieve a referent previously placed on record in news, legal, administrative, or academic prose. Textual prior mention is a different dimension from physical distance.

The individual ini, itu, and tersebut pages develop each form. This guide makes the three-way decision.

A three-question decision

Am I presenting the referent as here, current, or active in my immediate discussion? Use ini.
Can the listener identify it through distance, prior conversation, or shared knowledge? Use itu.
Am I formally retrieving an entity already introduced in the text? Use noun + tersebut.

Form	Primary anchor	Typical setting
ini	speaker's current sphere	pointing, current time, active passage
itu	distal or mutually identifiable referent	pointing, narrative callback, shared memory
tersebut	explicit prior textual mention	(formal) news, law, administration, scholarship

Saya akan memakai komputer ini untuk presentasi.

I will use this computer for the presentation.

Komputer itu milik bagian keuangan.

That computer belongs to the finance department.

Perusahaan membeli sebuah komputer baru. Komputer tersebut akan digunakan untuk mengolah data pelanggan.

The company bought a new computer. The computer will be used to process customer data. (formal)

💡

Physical distance distinguishes ini and pointing itu. It does not license tersebut: that form looks backward in a formal text.

Noun-final order

All three forms normally follow the complete noun phrase they identify. English puts this/that before a noun, so this is a persistent transfer trap.

Saya memilih kemeja biru ini untuk wawancara besok.

I chose this blue shirt for tomorrow's interview.

Tolong pindahkan dua kursi kayu itu ke teras.

Please move those two wooden chairs to the veranda.

Direktur telah menandatangani rancangan perjanjian tersebut.

The director has signed the aforementioned draft agreement. (formal)

The demonstrative closes the phrase:

Structure	Example
noun + demonstrative	buku ini
noun + adjective + demonstrative	rumah besar itu
number + noun + description + demonstrative	tiga dokumen penting tersebut

The forms do not change for number. Buku ini may be one contextually singular book; buku-buku ini and tiga buku ini make plurality overt while ini stays unchanged.

A pointing scene: ini versus itu

Imagine a market stall. The buyer is holding one mango, while another lies near the seller.

Mangga ini sudah matang atau masih keras?

Is this mango ripe yet, or is it still hard? (the buyer is holding it)

Yang ini sudah matang; mangga itu baru bisa dimakan besok.

This one is ripe; that mango won't be ready to eat until tomorrow.

Kalau begitu, saya ambil yang ini dan dua mangga kecil itu.

In that case, I'll take this one and those two small mangoes.

Jangan yang di belakang itu; kulitnya memar.

Not the one at the back; its skin is bruised.

Here distance and gesture organize the contrast. Tersebut would sound as if the buyer were reading an inventory report, not pointing spontaneously.

Proximity can also be temporal or discourse-based.

Minggu ini saya bekerja dari rumah.

This week I am working from home.

Dalam bagian ini, penulis menjelaskan metode penelitiannya.

In this section, the author explains the research method.

Itu also retrieves shared or previously mentioned reference

Itu is not limited to objects far away. It can retrieve something speaker and listener remember or something just introduced in an ordinary narrative.

Kita makan lagi di warung dekat terminal itu, yuk.

Let's eat again at that food stall near the terminal.

Kamu masih ingat guru matematika kita waktu SMP itu?

Do you still remember that math teacher we had in junior high?

The physical location of the stall or teacher is irrelevant. Shared experience makes the reference identifiable.

Narrative callback

Tadi pagi saya menemukan seekor anak kucing di bawah mobil.

This morning I found a kitten under a car.

Anak kucing itu basah kuyup dan terus mengeong.

The kitten was soaking wet and kept meowing.

Saya membawa anak kucing itu ke klinik hewan dekat kantor.

I took the kitten to the veterinary clinic near my office.

The first sentence introduces a kitten; subsequent anak kucing itu retrieves it. English may use the kitten, but Indonesian itu makes the discourse link overt. A bare noun or -nya can also maintain reference when context is sufficiently clear.

Tersebut creates a formal reference chain

Tersebut follows a noun already introduced in the document. It is common in (formal) news, regulations, contracts, administrative letters, and academic writing. It contributes institutional detachment as well as anaphoric retrieval.

News paragraph

Pemerintah kota mengumumkan program baru untuk memperbaiki saluran air di lima kecamatan.

The city government announced a new program to improve drainage in five districts. (news)

Program tersebut akan dimulai pada awal Oktober dan berlangsung selama enam bulan.

The program will begin in early October and run for six months. (news/formal callback)

Menurut pemerintah kota, pelaksanaan program tersebut tidak akan menutup jalan utama.

According to the city government, implementation of the program will not close the main road. (news/formal)

No program is spatially “over there.” Tersebut retrieves the program placed on record in the preceding sentence.

Legal and administrative paragraph

Pemohon wajib menyerahkan salinan izin usaha yang masih berlaku.

The applicant must submit a copy of a valid business license. (formal administrative provision)

Salinan izin usaha tersebut harus diterima paling lambat tujuh hari kerja sebelum pemeriksaan.

The copy of that business license must be received no later than seven working days before the inspection. (formal)

Apabila dokumen tersebut tidak lengkap, permohonan dikembalikan kepada pemohon untuk diperbaiki.

If the document is incomplete, the application is returned to the applicant for correction. (formal/legal)

Formal prose need not repeat tersebut after every noun. Alternate with names, -nya, or omission when reference remains unambiguous; otherwise the paragraph becomes bureaucratically heavy.

Panitia menerima usulan tersebut dan langsung memeriksa lampirannya.

The committee received the proposal and immediately checked its attachments. (formal)

Standalone ini and itu

Ini and itu can point without a following noun. They may be complete arguments or the subject-like element of a zero-copula identification.

Ini kartu akses saya.

This is my access card.

Itu pintu keluar darurat.

That is the emergency exit.

Ini terlalu besar; saya mau yang lebih kecil.

This is too large; I want a smaller one.

Itu sudah pernah kita bahas minggu lalu.

We already discussed that last week.

Use yang ini and yang itu for “this one” and “that one.”

Yang ini lebih ringan, tetapi yang itu lebih tahan air.

This one is lighter, but that one is more water-resistant.

Tersebut does not normally serve as an everyday standalone pronoun. It needs an overt retrieved noun such as dokumen tersebut, orang tersebut, or keputusan tersebut. If the noun is recoverable in conversation, use itu, yang itu, -nya, or omission instead.

💡

Initial Ini buku saya is not pre-noun demonstrative order. Ini means “this [thing]” as one clause element, and buku saya identifies it.

Choosing between itu and tersebut after prior mention

Both can look backward; register and textual stance decide between them.

Aku bertemu tetangga baru tadi malam. Tetangga itu ternyata satu kampus denganku.

I met a new neighbor last night. That neighbor turns out to attend the same university as me. (informal narrative)

Petugas mewawancarai seorang saksi. Saksi tersebut memberikan keterangan tambahan.

An officer interviewed a witness. The witness provided additional information. (formal/news)

Tetangga tersebut would be grammatically possible in a report, but it clashes with the relaxed aku narrative. Saksi itu is possible in speech; saksi tersebut sustains an impersonal journalistic chain.

Common Mistakes

1. Copying English pre-noun order

❌ Saya perlu ini dokumen sebelum rapat.

Incorrect Standard Indonesian noun-phrase order.

✅ Saya perlu dokumen ini sebelum rapat dimulai.

I need this document before the meeting begins.

2. Treating tersebut as formal spatial that

❌ Lihat pesawat tersebut di atas kita!

Inappropriately report-like for spontaneous pointing; prior textual mention is absent.

✅ Lihat pesawat itu di atas kita!

Look at that plane above us!

3. Using tersebut without an overt noun

❌ Tersebut akan dibahas dalam rapat besok.

Incorrect standalone use—the formal retriever needs its noun.

✅ Usulan tersebut akan dibahas dalam rapat besok.

The proposal will be discussed at tomorrow's meeting. (formal)

4. Inventing plural agreement

❌ Karena paketnya jamak, “ini” harus diubah menjadi “ini-ini”.

Incorrect—demonstratives do not agree in number.

✅ Tiga paket ini harus dikirim hari ini.

These three packages must be sent today.

5. Using tersebut throughout casual conversation

❌ Aku sudah baca pesan tersebut; nanti aku balas pesan tersebut.

Needlessly bureaucratic inside an intimate conversational style.

✅ Aku sudah baca pesan itu; nanti aku balas.

I've read that message; I'll reply later. (informal)

Key Takeaways

Ini anchors a referent in the speaker's current sphere.
Itu marks distance, shared identifiability, or ordinary narrative callback.
Tersebut retrieves a prior mention in formal textual reference chains; it is not formal spatial “that.”
Put all three after the complete noun phrase.
Ini and itu stand alone; tersebut normally retains an overt noun.

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