di- Passive versus Object Voice | Indonesian Grammar

Choose di- passive when a patient is central and the actor is a third-person noun, unknown, irrelevant, or omitted: Buku itu dibaca Rina. Choose object voice when the patient is central and a first- or second-person actor stands immediately before a bare verb: Buku itu saya baca. Actor type and information structure jointly select the construction.

English encourages learners to build every passive with one passive auxiliary. Indonesian instead offers several patient-oriented voices. The difference is not merely formal versus informal: both Surat itu ditulis Rina and Surat itu saya tulis are standard, but their agent grammar differs. This guide focuses on the choice, while the voice-system overview supplies the full map.

The quick decision

Question	Choose	Pattern
Is the actor unknown, irrelevant, or deliberately omitted?	di- passive	patient + di-verb
Is the actor a third-person name or noun phrase?	di- passive	patient + di-verb + actor
Is the actor saya, kami, kita, kamu, or Anda?	object voice	patient + actor + bare verb
Is the actor dia?	both occur	compact conversational object voice or broader di- passive
Is the actor the main topic and the patient new?	neither patient-oriented choice	prefer actor voice

Novel itu dibaca Rina selama perjalanan pulang.

Rina read that novel on the way home. (di- passive with named third-person actor)

Novel itu saya baca selama perjalanan pulang.

I read that novel on the way home. (object voice with first-person actor)

Rina membaca sebuah novel selama perjalanan pulang.

Rina read a novel on the way home. (actor voice introducing an indefinite patient)

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First choose the discourse center: actor or patient. If the patient wins, then use actor person to choose between di- and object voice.

Both constructions place an affected participant—the book, letter, application, or person—in the privileged clause position. That patient is commonly definite, identifiable, questioned, or continued from earlier discourse.

Laporan tahunan itu sudah dibaca direktur.

The director has read that annual report. (di- passive; identifiable patient)

Laporan tahunan itu sudah kami baca bersama-sama.

We have read that annual report together. (object voice; identifiable patient)

Surat yang ditulis Diah kemarin belum dikirim.

The letter Diah wrote yesterday has not been sent. (di- passive in patient relative clause)

Surat yang kamu tulis kemarin belum sampai ke kantor pusat.

The letter you wrote yesterday has not reached headquarters. (object voice in patient relative clause)

Buku mana yang dibeli Anton untuk perpustakaan?

Which book did Anton buy for the library? (di- passive with questioned patient)

Buku mana yang kamu beli untuk perpustakaan kelas?

Which book did you buy for the classroom library? (object voice with second-person actor)

Neither construction is “passive because the actor is unimportant” in every sentence. A named agent may matter strongly; the patient simply organizes the clause.

Choose di- for a named third-person actor

With a third-person name or full noun phrase, di-verb + actor is the unmarked patient-oriented pattern. The short agent can follow the verb directly.

Paket itu diterima satpam pada pukul setengah delapan.

The security guard received the package at seven thirty. (di- passive with noun actor)

Jadwal baru tersebut disetujui seluruh kepala bagian.

All department heads approved the new schedule. (formal di- passive)

Anak yang tersesat itu ditemukan seorang pedagang dekat terminal.

A vendor found the lost child near the terminal. (di- passive with third-person actor)

Naskah pidato ini diperiksa Bu Ratna sebelum acara dimulai.

Ms. Ratna checked this speech script before the event began. (di- passive with title and name)

An optional oleh introduces an agent more explicitly. It is especially natural with a long, coordinated, contrastive, or separated agent phrase.

Rancangan tersebut diperiksa oleh tim hukum dan dua konsultan independen.

The proposal was reviewed by the legal team and two independent consultants. (formal; long coordinated agent)

Keputusan itu dibuat bukan oleh ketua, melainkan oleh seluruh anggota.

The decision was made not by the chair but by all members. (contrastive agent)

Jembatan itu dibangun pada tahun 1980 oleh perusahaan milik daerah.

The bridge was built in 1980 by a regionally owned company. (agent separated by time phrase, licensed by oleh)

Without oleh, a short agent normally remains adjacent to the passive verb: dibaca Rina, not dibaca kemarin Rina.

Choose di- when no actor needs expression

The actor can be unknown, obvious, generic, or deliberately backgrounded. In that case di- passive appears without an agent.

Sepeda saya dicuri di depan minimarket tadi malam.

My bicycle was stolen in front of the convenience store last night. (unknown actor)

Pendaftaran ditutup pada pukul empat sore.

Registration closes at four in the afternoon. (institutionally obvious actor)

Semua data akan disimpan selama lima tahun.

All data will be stored for five years. (formal agentless passive)

Jalan menuju pantai sedang diperlebar.

The road to the beach is being widened. (ongoing agentless passive)

Nama pemenang belum diumumkan.

The winner’s name has not yet been announced. (actor backgrounded)

English and Indonesian align fairly well here, but Indonesian does not require an equivalent of be. Di- is attached directly to the verb: ditutup, disimpan, diperlebar.

Choose object voice for first- and second-person actors

When the patient leads and the actor is saya, kami, kita, kamu, or Anda, place the actor immediately before a bare verb. Do not attach di- or retain meN-.

Permohonan Anda akan kami proses dalam tiga hari kerja.

We will process your application within three working days. (formal service object voice)

Kunci itu saya temukan di bawah kursi penumpang.

I found that key under the passenger seat. (object voice)

Masalah ini perlu kita bahas sebelum mengambil keputusan.

We need to discuss this issue before making a decision. (inclusive object voice)

Nomor teleponnya sudah kamu simpan, kan?

You have saved the phone number, right? (familiar object voice)

Ketentuan tersebut harus Anda baca dengan saksama.

You must read those provisions carefully. (formal-polite object voice)

Object voice is not inherently informal. Institutional akan kami proses is often more idiomatic than the heavy akan diproses oleh kami.

The actor and verb form a tight unit. Aspect, modality, and negation normally precede that unit:

Berkas itu belum saya terima sampai sekarang.

I have not received that file yet. (belum before actor–verb unit)

Kesalahan tersebut tidak akan kami ulangi.

We will not repeat that error. (negation and akan before actor–verb unit)

Bagian ini mungkin perlu kamu perbaiki lagi.

You may need to revise this section again. (modal sequence before actor–verb unit)

Why first-person di- is usually not the neutral choice

Indonesian can form di- passive + oleh saya/kami when the agent is contrastive or deliberately heavy. It is grammatical, but it is not the mechanical counterpart of every English “by me.”

Surat ini akan ditandatangani oleh saya sendiri, bukan oleh asisten saya.

This letter will be signed by me personally, not by my assistant. (formal contrastive first-person agent)

Surat ini akan saya tandatangani sebelum makan siang.

I will sign this letter before lunch. (neutral patient-oriented object voice)

Usulan tersebut disusun oleh kami, tetapi datanya berasal dari kementerian.

The proposal was prepared by us, but the data came from the ministry. (formal contrast on institutional authorship)

Usulan tersebut kami susun berdasarkan data dari kementerian.

We prepared the proposal using data from the ministry. (more compact object voice)

The issue is not an absolute ban on first-person passive agents. It is a strong preference: a short first/second-person actor and a topical patient normally trigger object voice.

Third-person pronouns occupy a gray area

With dia, compact object voice is common when both patient and actor are already given, especially in conversation and narrative (informal/neutral spoken).

Pesan itu dia baca, tetapi tidak dia balas.

He read the message but did not reply to it. (conversational object voice with dia)

Kunci cadangannya dia simpan di rumah tetangga.

She keeps the spare key at the neighbor’s house. (conversational object voice with dia)

Careful prose often chooses di-:

Pesan tersebut dibacanya, tetapi tidak dibalas.

He/She read the message but did not reply. (careful written style with -nya agent)

Kunci cadangan itu disimpan olehnya di rumah tetangga.

The spare key is kept by him/her at the neighbor’s house. (formal, explicit agent)

With a name, dibaca Raka is safer than treating the full name like a preverbal pronoun in elementary production.

Definiteness is a tendency, not an absolute rule

Patient-first clauses normally begin from an identifiable referent: buku itu, suratnya, permohonan Anda, or a previously mentioned noun. Actor voice naturally introduces a new indefinite patient.

Tadi pagi Rina membeli sebuah kamus bekas.

This morning Rina bought a used dictionary. (actor voice introducing new patient)

Kamus itu kemudian dibawa Rina ke kelas.

Rina then took that dictionary to class. (di- passive continuing known patient)

Kamus tersebut sudah saya pinjam untuk akhir pekan.

I have borrowed that dictionary for the weekend. (object voice continuing known patient)

An indefinite passive patient is possible when a genre presents it as the new event center:

Seorang pendaki ditemukan dalam keadaan selamat pada pagi ini.

A hiker was found safe this morning. (news; indefinite patient introduced as event center)

Tiga jembatan baru akan dibangun di wilayah utara.

Three new bridges will be built in the northern area. (formal plan; quantified patient)

Object voice with a new indefinite patient is much more restricted unless contrast makes it identifiable as a selected quantity.

Satu laporan akan saya baca malam ini; empat lainnya besok.

I will read one report tonight and the other four tomorrow. (contrast makes the quantity salient)

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Definiteness predicts what easily becomes a topic; it does not operate as a rigid morphological requirement on every di- passive.

Actor voice may be better than either passive

If the actor is the continuing topic or the patient is new, use meN- actor voice.

Saya membaca sebuah laporan tentang kualitas air tanah.

I am reading a report about groundwater quality. (actor-centered; new patient)

Rina membuka kotak itu, memeriksa isinya, lalu menelepon pengirim.

Rina opened the box, checked its contents, and then called the sender. (actor-centered narrative chain)

Petugas mengumpulkan semua formulir setelah sesi berakhir.

The officer collects all the forms after the session ends. (actor-centered event)

Turning every clause into a passive would fragment the continuing actor chain. Voice is an information-structure choice, not a requirement to avoid saying who acted.

Impossible hybrids

The two patient-oriented patterns cannot be blended freely.

❌ Buku panduan itu saya dibaca sebelum ujian.

Incorrect hybrid—object voice cannot combine preverbal saya with di-verb dibaca.

❌ Buku panduan itu saya membaca sebelum ujian.

Incorrect hybrid—object voice requires bare baca, not actor-voice membaca.

✅ Buku panduan itu saya baca sebelum ujian dimulai.

I read that guidebook before the exam began. (object voice)

✅ Buku panduan itu dibaca Rina sebelum ujian dimulai.

Rina read that guidebook before the exam began. (di- passive)

✅ Rina membaca buku panduan itu sebelum ujian dimulai.

Rina read that guidebook before the exam began. (actor voice)

All three correct forms can describe similar events, but each packages actor, patient, and verb differently.

Common Mistakes

1. Using di- mechanically with a first-person actor

❌ Permohonan Anda akan kami diproses hari ini.

Incorrect hybrid—kami before the verb requires object voice with bare proses.

✅ Permohonan perubahan alamat akan kami proses hari ini.

We will process the address-change application today. (formal object voice)

2. Retaining meN- in object voice

❌ Keputusan itu harus kita mempertimbangkan kembali.

Incorrect hybrid—the patient-first construction requires bare pertimbangkan after kita.

✅ Keputusan penting itu harus kita pertimbangkan kembali.

We must reconsider that important decision. (object voice)

3. Separating a bare di- passive agent from the verb

❌ Naskah itu diperiksa tadi malam Rudi.

Incorrect neutral agent placement—a bare noun agent should follow the di-verb directly.

✅ Naskah itu diperiksa Rudi tadi malam.

Rudi checked the script last night. (di- passive)

4. Assuming object voice is informal

❌ Kalimat dengan akan kami proses tidak boleh muncul dalam surat resmi.

Incorrect—first-person plural object voice is standard institutional Indonesian.

✅ Dokumen tersebut akan kami simpan sesuai dengan ketentuan perlindungan data.

We will store that document in accordance with data-protection provisions. (formal object voice)

5. Making every definite patient passive

❌ Karena objeknya memakai itu, kalimat harus selalu dimulai dengan objek.

Incorrect—definiteness supports topicality but does not override the paragraph’s discourse center.

✅ Rina mengambil koper itu, membawanya ke mobil, lalu mengunci pintu rumah.

Rina took that suitcase, carried it to the car, and then locked the house door. (actor-centered chain)

Key Takeaways

Use di- passive for patient-centered clauses with a third-person, omitted, or unknown actor.
Use object voice for a topical patient plus a tightly preverbal first- or second-person actor and bare verb.
Oleh helps introduce long, contrastive, or separated passive agents.
Patient definiteness strongly favors topic status but does not ban indefinite di- passives.
Never combine patient-first order with both a preverbal actor and di- or meN- morphology.

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