Collocations with buat, membuat, and bikin | Indonesian Grammar

English uses make as an unusually broad light verb: make a cake, a decision, money, the bed, progress, sense, and a phone call. Indonesian distributes those ideas across membuat, more specific verbs, and fixed expressions. This page maps the combinations worth learning together; for the full morphology and voice behavior, see the buat verb family.

The main register contrast is membuat (neutral; formal when its setting is formal) versus bare buat and bikin (informal). Register, however, cannot rescue an unnatural collocation: changing membuat to bikin does not make every English make phrase Indonesian.

The core: bringing a result into existence

Use membuat + noun phrase when an actor creates a physical item, text, plan, or other identifiable result. The object names what comes into existence.

Sari membuat roti pisang untuk bekal perjalanan besok.

Sari is making banana bread for tomorrow's journey.

Tim desain membuat peta sederhana agar pengunjung tidak tersesat.

The design team made a simple map so visitors would not get lost.

Panitia membuat daftar kebutuhan sebelum meminta penawaran harga.

The committee drew up a list of requirements before requesting quotations. (formal)

Physical creation is only the center of the network. Membuat rencana, membuat catatan, and membuat perjanjian are conventional because a plan, note, or agreement is construed as a produced result. That does not license arbitrary nouns after membuat.

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Learn a light verb together with its noun. Knowing that membuat means “make” does not predict whether Indonesians say membuat, melakukan, mengadakan, menghasilkan, or a single specific verb in a new phrase.

Materials: dibuat dari, terbuat dari, and dibuat dengan

Dibuat dari + material describes a production event while centering the product. Passive di- attaches to the verb; the preposition dari remains separate.

Wadah makanan ini dibuat dari serat tebu yang dapat terurai.

This food container is made from biodegradable sugarcane fiber.

Kalung itu dibuat dari perak daur ulang oleh perajin setempat.

That necklace was made from recycled silver by a local craftsperson.

Terbuat dari presents material composition as a property, usually without interest in the maker or production event. Dibuat dengan instead introduces an instrument, method, or manner—not the substance itself.

Dinding pondok itu terbuat dari anyaman bambu.

The walls of that hut are made of woven bamboo. (composition)

Motif pada kain tersebut dibuat dengan alat tenun tradisional.

The pattern on that cloth was made with a traditional loom. (instrument)

English often permits simply made of/from/with. Indonesian asks whether you are profiling composition (terbuat dari), an act of production (dibuat dari), or a means (dibuat dengan).

Decisions and other institutional results

Membuat keputusan is standard, but mengambil keputusan is at least as important and is often the more idiomatic choice when people deliberate and then commit themselves. Mengambil kebijakan is not a safe substitute for every “make policy” context; institutions commonly menetapkan kebijakan “establish a policy.”

Direksi membuat keputusan akhir setelah meninjau laporan keuangan.

The board made its final decision after reviewing the financial report. (formal)

Kami belum berani mengambil keputusan sebelum semua biaya dihitung.

We do not yet dare make a decision before all the costs have been calculated.

Pemerintah daerah menetapkan kebijakan baru tentang pengelolaan sampah.

The regional government established a new waste-management policy. (formal)

This is the central transfer lesson: where English reaches for a light make, Indonesian often names the action more precisely.

Causation: membuat and bikin plus a changed situation

In membuat + affected participant + predicate, no object is created. Instead, the subject causes the participant to enter the state or perform the action named afterward.

Kabar dari rumah membuat Laila jauh lebih tenang.

The news from home made Laila much calmer.

Gangguan jaringan membuat kami harus mengulang pembayaran.

The network disruption made us repeat the payment.

Lampu yang terlalu terang membuat bayi itu sulit tidur.

The overly bright light made the baby find it difficult to sleep.

A very common expanded pattern is membuat + participant + jadi + predicate. Jadi makes the resulting state especially explicit. It is natural in speech and general prose; edited formal writing may prefer menjadikan + object + complement.

Tirai baru itu membuat ruang tamu jadi terasa lebih hangat.

Those new curtains make the living room feel warmer.

Perubahan rute membuat perjalanan jadi dua puluh menit lebih lama.

The route change made the journey twenty minutes longer.

Penataan ulang tersebut menjadikan layanan lebih mudah diakses.

The reorganization made the service more accessible. (formal)

Do not insert English to as untuk before the caused predicate: membuat kami menunggu, not membuat kami untuk menunggu.

Buat saya: beneficiary or viewpoint

Prepositional buat means “for” (informal). After a created item it normally marks its intended recipient or use.

Aku bikin sup hangat buat Raka yang sedang kurang enak badan.

I'm making warm soup for Raka, who is feeling unwell. (informal beneficiary)

Kursi dekat colokan itu buat saya, ya?

That seat near the outlet is for me, right? (informal beneficiary)

At the beginning of an evaluation, buat saya can instead mean “for me; in my view” (informal). A careful or formal equivalent is menurut saya or bagi saya, depending on meaning.

Buat saya, bagian tersulitnya justru menjelaskan keputusan itu kepada tim.

For me, the hardest part is actually explaining that decision to the team. (informal viewpoint)

Menurut saya, usulan kedua lebih realistis untuk dilaksanakan tahun ini.

In my view, the second proposal is more realistic to implement this year. (formal/neutral viewpoint)

The untuk versus buat guide develops this prepositional use. Do not confuse it with verbal buat in Aku buat kopi “I make coffee.”

Bikin in conversational frames

Bikin is a widely understood conversational verb (informal). It readily combines with food and small products, plans or content made among peers, and caused reactions. It does not mark tense and is not merely childish speech.

Nanti malam kita bikin sambal yang tidak terlalu pedas saja.

Tonight let's make a sambal that isn't too spicy. (informal)

Dita lagi bikin video pendek tentang warung-warung tua di kotanya.

Dita is making a short video about the old food stalls in her city. (informal)

Pesan tanpa nama itu bikin aku kepikiran sampai pagi.

That anonymous message kept me thinking about it until morning. (informal)

Jangan bikin suasana tambah tegang sebelum acara dimulai.

Don't make the atmosphere even tenser before the event begins. (informal)

Siapa yang bikin meja lipat sekeren ini?

Who made such a cool folding table? (informal)

In national formal writing, use membuat or a more specific verb. Jakarta-influenced speech also has ngebikin, but bikin itself is much more broadly understood; neither belongs unquoted in an official report.

Formal–colloquial pairs

The pairings below preserve the event while changing the social setting. Notice that pronouns, vocabulary, and sometimes the chosen verb change together.

Laporan: Tim teknis membuat perkiraan biaya berdasarkan harga pasar terkini.

Report: The technical team prepared a cost estimate based on current market prices. (formal)

Obrolan: Aku bikin perkiraan kasar dulu, nanti kita cek bareng.

Conversation: I'll make a rough estimate first, then we'll check it together. (informal)

Pengumuman: Kebisingan dapat membuat peserta sulit mendengar instruksi.

Announcement: Noise may make participants unable to hear the instructions. (formal)

Obrolan: Suara musiknya bikin aku enggak dengar apa-apa.

Conversation: The music is making it impossible for me to hear anything. (informal)

Notula: Rapat memutuskan untuk menunda peluncuran hingga bulan depan.

Minutes: The meeting decided to postpone the launch until next month. (formal; specific verb)

Obrolan: Kita tunda peluncurannya sampai bulan depan saja.

Conversation: Let's just postpone the launch until next month. (informal; specific verb)

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A natural register shift is often a clause-wide rewrite, not a one-word swap. Bikin may pair with aku and enggak; membuat in a report often pairs with institutional nouns and precise verbs.

Sort the English “make” phrases by Indonesian partner

Meaning	Natural Indonesian	Why
make a cake / list	membuat kue / daftar	create a result
make a decision	membuat / mengambil keputusan	established alternatives
make a mistake	melakukan kesalahan	perform an erroneous act
make money	menghasilkan uang	produce earnings
make the bed	merapikan tempat tidur	tidy an existing bed
make a call	menelepon / menghubungi	specific communication verb
make sense	masuk akal	fixed predicate
make an effort	berusaha	specific verb

Saya melakukan kesalahan saat menyalin nomor rekening.

I made a mistake while copying the bank-account number.

Usaha kecil itu mulai menghasilkan uang setelah enam bulan.

That small business started making money after six months.

Tolong rapikan tempat tidur sebelum tamu datang.

Please make the bed before the guests arrive.

Penjelasan itu masuk akal, tetapi datanya masih perlu diperiksa.

That explanation makes sense, but the data still needs checking.

Common Mistakes

1. Extending membuat to every English make collocation

❌ Saya membuat tempat tidur sebelum tamu datang.

Wrong lexical choice for the intended meaning—the sentence says I constructed a bed.

✅ Saya merapikan tempat tidur sebelum tamu dari luar kota datang.

I made the bed before the out-of-town guests arrived.

2. Confusing material with instrument

❌ Ukiran itu dibuat dari pahat kecil milik kakek.

Wrong preposition for the intended instrument reading—the chisel is not the material.

✅ Ukiran itu dibuat dengan pahat kecil milik kakek.

That carving was made with Grandfather's small chisel.

3. Adding untuk before a caused predicate

❌ Perubahan jadwal membuat kami untuk menunggu lebih lama.

Incorrect English transfer—causative membuat takes the affected participant directly.

✅ Perubahan jadwal membuat kami menunggu satu jam lebih lama.

The schedule change made us wait an hour longer.

4. Building a prefixed form as menbikin

❌ Laboratorium menbikin laporan hasil pengujian sesuai prosedur resmi.

Incorrect word formation—the meN- prefix does not produce menbikin.

✅ Laboratorium membuat laporan hasil pengujian sesuai prosedur resmi.

The laboratory prepares a test-results report in accordance with official procedures. (formal)

5. Reading every buat saya as a beneficiary

❌ Buat saya, film itu terlalu panjang berarti film tersebut dibuat khusus untuk saya.

Incorrect interpretation—initial buat saya marks a viewpoint here.

✅ Buat saya, akhir film itu terlalu panjang dan mudah ditebak.

For me, the ending of that film is too long and predictable. (informal viewpoint)

Key Takeaways

Membuat creates a result or causes a changed state; bikin covers many of the same frames (informal).
Dibuat dari profiles production from a material; terbuat dari profiles composition; dibuat dengan introduces a means.
Buat saya may mark a beneficiary or, clause-initially, an informal viewpoint.
English make must be sorted among membuat, mengambil, melakukan, menghasilkan, merapikan, and more specific predicates.

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