Indonesian can introduce a topic with tentang, mengenai, or perihal, all often translated as “about,” “concerning,” or “regarding.” Their informational relation overlaps, but their genres do not. Tentang is the neutral everyday choice, mengenai is common in news and formal exposition, and perihal strongly evokes official correspondence, headings, or an explicitly named matter.
This page focuses on topic relations and register. Full subordinate-clause syntax and the derivational morphology inside lexical mengenai belong to dedicated adjacent pages; formal prepositions places these choices in the wider written system.
tentang: the neutral topic marker
Tentang + noun phrase identifies what speech, writing, thought, or information concerns. It works naturally in conversation and in most ordinary writing (neutral).
Kami sedang berbicara tentang rencana liburan sekolah.
We're talking about plans for the school holiday.
Saya membaca artikel tentang keamanan data pribadi.
I read an article about personal data security.
Ada pertanyaan tentang jadwal ujian minggu depan.
There is a question about next week's exam schedule.
The complement can be a concrete issue, a person understood as a topic, or a nominalized event. Buku tentang Kartini is a book whose subject is Kartini; it does not mean a book located around her.
Film itu bercerita tentang keluarga yang pindah ke kota kecil.
The film tells the story of a family that moves to a small town.
Jangan khawatir; kami tidak sedang berbicara tentang kamu.
Don't worry; we aren't talking about you. (informal/neutral)
With berbicara, tentang explicitly introduces the topic. Transitive membahas and membicarakan can instead take the topic directly in careful prose: membahas jadwal and membicarakan masalah itu. Do not assume that every speech verb requires the same preposition.
mengenai: formal “concerning”
As a topic marker, mengenai is common in news, institutional explanations, meeting documents, and careful analytical prose (formal/journalistic). It often introduces the subject matter of information, policy, a report, or a question.
Pemerintah menerbitkan penjelasan mengenai aturan perjalanan terbaru.
The government issued an explanation concerning the latest travel rules. (formal)
Berita itu memuat informasi mengenai penutupan jalan utama.
The news report contains information about the closure of the main road. (journalistic)
Kami belum menerima keputusan mengenai permohonan tersebut.
We have not yet received a decision regarding that application. (formal)
In many sentences, replacing mengenai with tentang preserves the basic topic relation but makes the phrasing less institutional. That does not make tentang incorrect in formal prose or mengenai impossible in speech. Genre, rhythm, and collocation select the natural option.
An initial mengenai phrase can announce the item to be addressed:
Mengenai perubahan jadwal rapat kami akan mengirim pemberitahuan terpisah.
Regarding the change to the meeting schedule, we will send a separate notice. (formal)
A short initial topic phrase does not automatically need a comma copied from English. Writers may add punctuation when a long frame would otherwise be hard to parse.
Lexical mengenai: “hit, touch, affect”
The same written word can be a lexical transitive verb derived from kena. In this use mengenai means “hit,” “strike,” “touch,” or “affect,” and it takes a direct object rather than introducing a topic.
Bola itu mengenai kaca ruang tamu.
The ball hit the living-room window.
Percikan minyak panas mengenai tangan saya.
A splash of hot oil hit my hand.
Cabang pohon yang jatuh mengenai kabel listrik.
The falling tree branch hit the power line.
Compare laporan mengenai banjir “a report about the flood” with bola mengenai kaca “the ball hit the glass.” The first mengenai establishes a topic relation inside a noun phrase. The second is the predicate and describes an impact.
The verbal form follows Indonesian affix spelling and is written as one word. Its complete derivation and argument patterns belong on the word-formation pages, but learners must recognize that the topic marker and lexical verb are not interchangeable merely because they look identical.
perihal: an official matter or heading
Perihal names the matter under consideration and is strongly associated with letters, memoranda, notices, administrative headings, and deliberately official prose (formal/bureaucratic). It can introduce a complement or function as a noun meaning “matter/subject.”
Perihal: Permohonan Izin Penelitian
Subject: Application for Research Permission. (official heading)
Kami menindaklanjuti surat Saudara perihal perubahan lokasi kegiatan.
We are following up on your letter regarding the change in the event location. (official)
Kami akan membahas perihal tersebut dalam rapat berikutnya.
We will discuss that matter at the next meeting. (formal)
In the heading, Perihal: labels a following noun phrase; it is not a full sentence. In perihal tersebut, perihal behaves as a noun “the matter” and tersebut identifies it. Everyday friends would normally say tentang hal itu, not perihal tersebut.
Official correspondence also often uses the shorter heading Hal:. Whether an institution mandates Hal or Perihal is a document-style decision, not a difference in the underlying topic relation.
One issue across three genres
Consider a proposed closure of a neighborhood park. The topic stays constant while the genre changes the natural marker.
Casual conversation
A: Kamu sudah dengar tentang rencana penutupan taman? B: Sudah, warga sedang membicarakannya.
A: Have you heard about the plan to close the park? B: Yes, residents are discussing it. (informal conversation)
News report
Wali kota memberikan penjelasan mengenai rencana penutupan taman pada konferensi pers hari ini.
The mayor gave an explanation regarding the plan to close the park at today's press conference. (journalistic)
Official correspondence
Perihal: Permohonan Peninjauan Kembali Rencana Penutupan Taman
Subject: Request for Reconsideration of the Plan to Close the Park. (official heading)
Tentang makes the casual question direct and unmarked. Mengenai fits the packaged institutional information of a news sentence. Perihal fits the document’s subject line. Replacing all three with one form would flatten these genre signals.
“About” has other meanings
English about does not always introduce a topic. Indonesian uses other expressions for approximation, surrounding space, and imminent events.
Sekitar seratus orang menghadiri pertemuan itu.
About a hundred people attended the meeting.
Ada beberapa kafe di sekitar stasiun.
There are several cafés around the station.
Kereta akan segera berangkat.
The train is about to leave.
None of these takes tentang, mengenai, or perihal, because no discourse topic is being introduced. Translate the relation rather than the English word.
Word boundaries
Write topic prepositions separately from full complements: tentang proyek, mengenai aturan, perihal perubahan jadwal. The lexical verb mengenai remains one derived word, and passive dibahas has attached di-. Free location di kantor and destination ke kantor remain separate, while derived forms with di- and ke- attach according to EYD V.
Perihal itu dibahas di kantor sebelum tim pergi ke lokasi.
That matter was discussed at the office before the team went to the site.
Common Mistakes
Stacking two topic markers
❌ Kami berbicara tentang mengenai jadwal baru.
Incorrect — tentang and mengenai duplicate the same topic relation.
✅ Kami berbicara tentang jadwal baru.
We talked about the new schedule.
Using tentang for physical impact
❌ Bola itu tentang jendela dapur.
Incorrect — physical impact requires the lexical verb mengenai.
✅ Bola itu mengenai jendela dapur.
The ball hit the kitchen window.
Doubling an official subject heading
❌ Perihal: Tentang Perubahan Jadwal Rapat
Incorrectly redundant heading — perihal already labels the subject matter.
✅ Perihal: Perubahan Jadwal Rapat
Subject: Change to the Meeting Schedule. (official heading)
Translating approximate “about” as a topic marker
❌ Tentang seratus orang menghadiri acara itu.
Incorrect — the intended meaning is approximate quantity, not topic.
✅ Sekitar seratus orang menghadiri acara itu.
About a hundred people attended the event.
Joining a topic marker to its complement
❌ Kami berbicara tentangperubahan iklim.
Incorrect spelling — tentang is separate from its complement.
✅ Kami berbicara tentang perubahan iklim.
We talked about climate change.
Key Takeaways
- Tentang is the unmarked topic marker in conversation and general prose.
- Mengenai favors news, institutional, and formal exposition; lexical mengenai can instead mean “hit/affect.”
- Perihal names an official matter and is especially natural in headings and correspondence.
- Genre selects among overlapping topic markers; they are not free stylistic synonyms.
- English “about” also marks approximation, location, and imminence, which require other Indonesian expressions.
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