A purpose expression presents an action as the route toward an intended outcome. Indonesian usually chooses the linker by asking who is expected to carry out that outcome: untuk is the practical default when the same actor controls both actions, while agar and supaya readily introduce a proposition with its own actor. Demi packages the goal as something valued or protected.
This page analyzes complex purpose relations, including negative purpose and the difference between intention and actual result. It does not inventory every use of the individual linkers or reteach basic clause structure. For the complement patterns themselves, see agar and supaya clauses and untuk complements.
Start with subject control
Compare two plans made by the same person:
Laras datang lebih awal untuk menyiapkan ruang rapat.
Laras came early to prepare the meeting room.
Laras datang lebih awal agar petugas keamanan dapat memeriksa ruang rapat.
Laras came early so that the security officers could inspect the meeting room.
In the first sentence, the unspoken actor of menyiapkan is automatically understood as Laras. Laras controls both coming and preparing. In the second, petugas keamanan is stated as the actor of the intended inspection. Agar allows the purpose to be built as a complete proposition rather than as Laras's second action.
| Relation | Usual choice | Practical question |
|---|---|---|
| One actor performs both actions | untuk + predicate | Who will do the second action? The main-clause actor. |
| The intended outcome has its own actor | agar/supaya + clause | Who must make the outcome happen? State that actor. |
| A valued goal is named | demi + goal noun | What interest, principle, or person is being served? |
Untuk when the actor is shared
With untuk, the purpose predicate normally has no overt subject because its actor is recovered from the main clause. The result is compact and strongly action-oriented.
Saya menyimpan tanda terima itu untuk mengajukan penggantian biaya besok.
I'm keeping that receipt to request reimbursement tomorrow.
Kami mematikan notifikasi untuk menyelesaikan laporan tanpa gangguan.
We turned off notifications to finish the report without interruptions.
Dimas naik kereta pertama untuk menghadiri wawancara pukul delapan.
Dimas took the first train to attend an interview at eight.
The understood subjects of mengajukan, menyelesaikan, and menghadiri are respectively saya, kami, and Dimas. English infinitival to behaves similarly in these examples, so this pattern is often easy for English-speaking learners.
The controller is not always the grammatical subject. With an imperative, it is the addressee; with a passive, context can identify the person expected to act. Those patterns require interpretation, so name the actor with agar if ambiguity would matter.
Silakan pindai kode ini untuk membuka formulir pendaftaran.
Please scan this code to open the registration form.
Dokumen itu dikirim kembali untuk diperiksa oleh tim hukum.
The document was sent back to be examined by the legal team.
In the passive purpose untuk diperiksa oleh tim hukum, the examination's actor is stated in an oleh phrase. The important point is that the clause describes the intended use of the returned document, not a separately negotiated plan by a new subject.
Agar and supaya for an intended proposition
Agar and supaya introduce the state of affairs someone wants to bring about. Agar is neutral and especially common in careful instructions and writing. Supaya is neutral in conversation and also acceptable in ordinary prose. Neither marker guarantees success.
Manajer mengubah jadwal agar semua teknisi dapat mengikuti pelatihan.
The manager changed the schedule so that all the technicians could attend the training.
Aku menaruh kuncinya di meja supaya kamu mudah menemukannya.
I put the key on the table so that you could find it easily. (conversational)
Pemerintah daerah menambah armada agar warga tidak menunggu terlalu lama.
The local government added vehicles so that residents would not have to wait too long.
These clauses can also retain the same actor. The difference is one of packaging: agar/supaya presents a desired proposition, often with modality such as dapat, bisa, or tidak, whereas untuk packages a controlled second action more tightly.
Nadia berlatih setiap pagi agar dapat berbicara lebih percaya diri saat presentasi.
Nadia practices every morning so that she can speak more confidently during presentations.
Kami berangkat sebelum subuh supaya bisa menghindari kemacetan di pelabuhan.
We left before dawn so that we could avoid traffic at the port. (conversational)
Saya mencatat nomor laporannya agar dapat memantau proses pengaduan.
I wrote down the report number so that I could track the complaint process.
When the actor remains the same, untuk is normally leaner: Kami berangkat ... untuk menghindari kemacetan. Choosing agar dapat makes the desired possibility more explicit.
Demi names the interest being served
Demi most naturally precedes a noun phrase naming a goal, principle, person, or collective interest. It sounds weightier than untuk and is frequent in formal notices, public statements, and solemn personal commitments.
Demi keselamatan penumpang, pintu darurat tidak boleh dihalangi.
For the safety of passengers, the emergency exit must not be obstructed. (formal)
Mereka menunda kepulangan demi masa depan anak-anak mereka.
They postponed returning home for the sake of their children's future.
Demi transparansi, seluruh hasil seleksi akan diumumkan secara terbuka.
In the interest of transparency, all selection results will be announced publicly. (formal)
Ia menerima pekerjaan tambahan demi keluarganya.
He or she took on extra work for the sake of the family.
Formal Indonesian also permits demi + verbal goal, especially when the action is construed as a high-priority cause. This is grammatical, but it remains rhetorically stronger than everyday untuk.
Demi menjaga independensi penelitian, penyandang dana tidak terlibat dalam analisis data.
To safeguard the study's independence, the funder took no part in the data analysis. (academic)
Demi mencegah kebocoran, petugas menutup katup utama.
To prevent a leak, the officer closed the main valve. (formal)
Do not automatically stack demi untuk. In edited Indonesian, one well-chosen purpose marker is clearer.
Negative purpose: preventing an outcome
Negative purpose says that an action is taken to keep something from becoming true. Agar/supaya tidak + predicate is the broad, natural pattern, even when the actor remains the same. Untuk tidak is clearest when untuk is selected by a governing predicate and the actor chooses deliberate nonaction, as in memilih untuk tidak menanggapi “choose not to respond”; it is often less idiomatic as a free purpose adjunct.
Reno memilih naik taksi agar tidak terlambat menghadiri sidang.
Reno chose to take a taxi so as not to arrive late for the hearing.
Saya menonaktifkan kamera agar tidak menghabiskan kuota internet terlalu cepat.
I turned off the camera so as not to use up my data allowance too quickly.
Wakil perusahaan memilih untuk tidak menanggapi tuduhan itu sebelum audit selesai.
The company representative chose not to respond to the allegation before the audit was completed.
Ibu mengunci pagar agar anak-anak tidak berlari ke jalan.
The mother locked the gate so that the children would not run into the street.
Kami melapisi paket itu dua kali supaya isinya tidak rusak selama perjalanan.
We wrapped the package twice so that its contents would not be damaged in transit. (conversational)
Often a positive prevention verb is more idiomatic than untuk tidak: untuk menghindari keterlambatan “to avoid being late” or demi mencegah kebocoran “to prevent a leak.” Jangan can occur when the embedded wording carries directive force, especially in speech.
Tolong kecilkan suaramu supaya jangan membangunkan bayi.
Please lower your voice so you don't wake the baby. (conversational directive)
Panitia memisahkan kedua antrean untuk menghindari kebingungan di pintu masuk.
The committee separated the two lines to avoid confusion at the entrance.
Intention is not an actual result
A purpose clause reports a plan from an actor's perspective. The outcome may fail. A result clause with sehingga reports what actually followed. This is the difference between answering “What was the aim?” and “What happened as a consequence?”
Fira memesan kursi dekat pintu agar mudah keluar, tetapi pintunya kemudian dikunci.
Fira booked a seat near the door so that she could leave easily, but the door was later locked.
Fira duduk dekat pintu sehingga ia menjadi orang pertama yang keluar.
Fira sat near the door, with the result that she was the first person to leave.
Kami memperbarui aplikasi supaya masalahnya hilang, tetapi galat yang sama muncul lagi.
We updated the app so that the problem would disappear, but the same error appeared again.
Kami memperbarui aplikasi sehingga pengaturan lama terhapus.
We updated the app, and as a result the old settings were erased.
Clause order and punctuation
Final purpose expressions are integrated with the action and normally take no comma. An initial purpose phrase or clause frames the whole instruction and is followed by a comma under standard EYD V punctuation.
Petugas memasang pembatas agar pengunjung tidak mendekati panggung.
The officers installed barriers so that visitors would not approach the stage.
Agar pengunjung tidak mendekati panggung, petugas memasang pembatas.
So that visitors would not approach the stage, the officers installed barriers.
Demi ketertiban bersama, harap antre di belakang garis kuning.
For everyone's orderly conduct, please queue behind the yellow line. (formal notice)
Initial placement foregrounds the goal and is common in instructions or argumentative prose. Final placement answers why the immediately preceding action was performed.
Common Mistakes
1. Using untuk despite a clear change of actor
❌ Rani membuka jendela untuk tamu bisa melihat taman.
Incorrect in careful Indonesian — the intended viewer has changed, but untuk leaves the actor relation poorly formed.
✅ Rani membuka jendela agar para tamu bisa melihat taman dengan jelas.
Rani opened the window so that the guests could see the garden clearly.
2. Doubling purpose markers
❌ Kami datang lebih awal untuk agar mendapat tempat di depan.
Incorrect — untuk and agar redundantly compete for the same purpose relation.
✅ Kami datang lebih awal untuk mendapat tempat di barisan depan.
We came early to get a place in the front row.
3. Treating demi as an automatic synonym of everyday untuk
❌ Saya ke dapur demi mengambil sendok.
Grammatically interpretable but pragmatically overblown for an ordinary errand.
✅ Saya pergi ke dapur untuk mengambil sendok bersih.
I went to the kitchen to get a clean spoon.
4. Reporting an intention as though it were an achieved result
❌ Teknisi memasang pembaruan sehingga sistem tidak lagi lambat, tetapi sistemnya masih lambat.
Contradictory — sehingga presents the faster system as an actual result.
✅ Teknisi memasang pembaruan agar sistem tidak lagi lambat, tetapi masalahnya belum teratasi.
The technician installed an update so that the system would no longer be slow, but the problem has not been resolved.
5. Adding a comma before a final integrated purpose clause
❌ Sinta menyalakan lampu teras, agar kurir mudah menemukan rumahnya.
Incorrect standard punctuation — the final purpose clause is integrated with the main clause.
✅ Sinta menyalakan lampu teras agar kurir mudah menemukan alamat rumahnya.
Sinta turned on the porch light so that the courier could find her home address easily.
Key Takeaways
- Use untuk for a tightly controlled second action whose actor is understood from the main clause.
- Use agar or supaya for a desired proposition, especially when its actor differs from the main-clause actor.
- Use demi for a valued goal or protected interest; its tone is often formal or weighty.
- Negate a purpose broadly with agar/supaya tidak; use untuk tidak when a controlling predicate selects a deliberate nonaction, and consider an idiomatic prevention verb.
- Purpose describes an aim; sehingga describes an actual consequence.
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Start learning Indonesian →Related Topics
- Action Complements with untukB1 — Use untuk to connect a prospective action to a purpose, selected predicate, evaluation, or nominal plan while tracking its understood actor.
- Desired-Outcome Clauses with agar and supayaB1 — Use agar and supaya to introduce a wished-for result as a proposition, including outcomes with their own subject and negation.
- untuk: Beneficiary and PurposeA1 — Use untuk to mark intended beneficiaries, purposes, uses, and prospective goals.
- agar, supaya, and untukA2 — Choose a purpose linker by deciding whether the intended action shares the main actor or forms a proposition with its own subject.
- Shared Subjects and ControlB2 — Track the understood subject of embedded actions after ingin, mau, mencoba, mulai, menyuruh, membiarkan, and related predicates.
- Cause, Reason, and Result ChainsB1 — Distinguish causal sources, resulting outcomes, intensity endpoints, and discourse conclusions across multi-clause chains.