Siapa asks for the identity of a person. Indonesian often leaves it in the same slot where the answer would appear: Kamu melihat siapa? “Who did you see?” It can also stand initially, combine with yang in a focused identification pattern, follow a noun as possessor, or remain after a required preposition.
Start from the answer slot
Replace the unknown person in a statement with siapa. There is no person agreement, question conjugation, or English-style do auxiliary.
| Role | Answer phrase | Question phrase |
|---|---|---|
| subject | Rudi datang | siapa datang? |
| object | melihat Rudi | melihat siapa? |
| possessor | buku Rudi | buku siapa? |
| companion | dengan Rudi | dengan siapa? |
| recipient | kepada Rudi | kepada siapa? |
Siapa datang paling awal tadi pagi?
Who arrived earliest this morning?
Kamu melihat siapa di depan apotek?
Who did you see in front of the pharmacy?
Buku siapa yang tertinggal di ruang rapat?
Whose book was left in the meeting room?
Kamu pergi ke pameran dengan siapa?
Who did you go to the exhibition with?
English moves who to the front in all four questions. Indonesian position reveals the role directly.
Subject questions: siapa and siapa yang
Bare siapa can occupy subject position, especially in short, conversational questions where the predicate is simple.
Siapa menelepon saat kita sedang makan?
Who called while we were eating?
Siapa membawa kunci gudang hari ini?
Who has the warehouse key today?
Siapa belum mengisi daftar hadir?
Who has not filled in the attendance list yet?
The very common pattern siapa yang + predicate presents the unknown person as the one satisfying a description. It is useful when the predicate is longer, when identification is prominent, or when the question contrasts possible people.
Siapa yang mengatur jadwal wawancara minggu ini?
Who is arranging this week's interview schedule?
Siapa yang pertama kali menemukan kerusakan tersebut?
Who first discovered that damage?
Siapa yang bersedia menggantikan saya pada giliran sore?
Who is willing to replace me on the afternoon shift?
Both patterns ask about a human subject. Yang is not triggered by human animacy: it packages the following predicate as the identifying description. That is why it becomes especially natural in focused or elaborated subject questions.
Di antara tiga calon itu, siapa yang paling berpengalaman?
Among those three candidates, who is the most experienced?
This page uses the pattern without developing the full grammar of relative clauses; that belongs to the subject-relative guide.
Object questions: keep siapa after the verb
For a neutral object question, put siapa directly where the human object belongs.
Tadi kamu menghubungi siapa tentang perubahan jadwal?
Who did you contact earlier about the schedule change?
Mereka mengundang siapa untuk berbicara pada pembukaan?
Who did they invite to speak at the opening?
Petugas sedang mencari siapa di lantai dua?
Who are the officers looking for on the second floor?
Dokter itu memeriksa siapa lebih dulu?
Who did that doctor examine first?
Indonesian needs no did, and the verb does not change. In-situ order also prevents ambiguity about siapa being the object.
When the person is fronted as the focused identity, siapa yang + agent + bare verb is common object voice:
Siapa yang kamu hubungi setelah rapat?
Who was it that you contacted after the meeting?
Siapa yang mereka pilih sebagai ketua baru?
Who did they choose as the new chair?
Compare subject and object focus:
Siapa yang memanggil Rina dari luar?
Who called Rina from outside?
Siapa yang Rina panggil dari luar?
Who did Rina call from outside?
In the first, siapa is the actor and memanggil has actor voice. In the second, siapa is the selected object, followed by agent Rina and bare panggil. Do not add yang to every in-situ object question; Rina memanggil siapa? is already complete.
Yang datang siapa?: an identifying predicate
The order yang + predicate + siapa? starts from a known role or event and asks who fills it. It is particularly natural as a follow-up.
Yang menjaga loket malam ini siapa?
Who is the person staffing the counter tonight?
Yang akan menjemput tamu di bandara siapa?
Who is the one who will pick up the guest at the airport?
Tadi yang datang bersama Bu Nita siapa?
Who was the person who came with Ms. Nita earlier?
This order differs in information structure from a broad Siapa yang datang? The yang phrase is treated as known or topical, and siapa supplies its identity.
Possessors: noun + siapa
Indonesian possessors follow the possessed noun. Replace the human possessor with siapa in the same position: buku siapa, not siapa buku.
Payung siapa yang ada di dekat pintu?
Whose umbrella is near the door?
Ini nomor telepon siapa?
Whose phone number is this?
Kalian memakai mobil siapa untuk perjalanan besok?
Whose car are you using for tomorrow's trip?
Ide siapa yang akhirnya dipilih oleh panitia?
Whose idea was ultimately selected by the committee?
English places whose before the noun. Indonesian preserves its ordinary possessed-possessor order.
Keep required prepositions
If the answer needs dengan, kepada, untuk, oleh, dari, or another preposition, the question keeps it. Siapa does not absorb the relation.
Dengan siapa Anda membahas hasil pemeriksaan itu?
With whom did you discuss those test results?
Surat keberatan ini harus dikirim kepada siapa?
To whom must this objection letter be sent?
Paket besar di meja depan itu untuk siapa?
Who is that large parcel on the front desk for?
Laporan tersebut disusun oleh siapa?
Who prepared that report?
Kamu menerima informasi itu dari siapa?
Who did you receive that information from?
The preposition may remain in situ or be fronted with siapa. Fronted Dengan siapa Anda berbicara? often sounds careful or (formal); final Anda berbicara dengan siapa? is neutral and conversational.
Anda berbicara dengan siapa sebelum sidang dimulai?
Who did you speak with before the hearing began?
Do not omit a preposition merely because English permits stranded with or to. Indonesian grammar still marks companion, recipient, source, and agent relations explicitly.
Siapakah and echo Siapa?
Attached -kah produces siapakah, a focused or formal form frequent in rhetoric, quizzes, and careful writing. It is one word.
Siapakah tokoh yang dimaksud dalam kutipan tersebut?
Who is the figure referred to in that quotation? (formal)
Siapakah yang berhak menandatangani dokumen ini?
Who is authorized to sign this document? (formal)
In conversation, standalone Siapa? can request repetition or express surprise when a name was unheard.
Maaf, tadi Anda menyebut siapa?
Sorry, who did you mention just now?
Siapa? Saya tidak mendengar namanya.
Who? I didn't hear the name.
This echo use recovers missing human material; its full particle pragmatics are outside this page.
Common Mistakes
Adding yang to an ordinary in-situ object
❌ Kamu melihat yang siapa di halte?
Incorrect — siapa already occupies the object slot after melihat.
✅ Kamu melihat siapa di halte dekat kampus?
Who did you see at the bus stop near campus?
Omitting a required preposition
❌ Kamu berbicara siapa setelah acara?
Incorrect for ‘speak with whom’ — the companion relation requires dengan.
✅ Kamu berbicara dengan siapa setelah acara?
Who did you speak with after the event?
Copying English possessor order
❌ Siapa jaket yang tergantung di kursi itu?
Incorrect — the possessor follows the possessed noun.
✅ Jaket siapa yang tergantung di kursi itu?
Whose jacket is hanging on that chair?
Adding an English do auxiliary
❌ Siapa melakukan kamu undang ke acara itu?
Incorrect — Indonesian does not use an empty do auxiliary in siapa questions.
✅ Kamu mengundang siapa ke acara itu?
Who did you invite to that event?
Separating attached -kah
❌ Siapa kah yang bertanggung jawab atas kunci ini?
Incorrect spelling — enclitic -kah attaches to siapa.
✅ Siapakah yang bertanggung jawab atas kunci ini?
Who is responsible for this key? (formal)
Key Takeaways
- Siapa replaces an unknown person in the same subject, object, possessor, or prepositional slot as the answer.
- Bare siapa and siapa yang both form subject questions; yang packages a focused identifying description rather than marking animacy.
- Neutral objects stay in situ; fronted siapa yang + agent + bare verb uses object voice.
- Possessors follow the noun, and required prepositions remain present.
- Write formal siapakah as one word and punctuate direct questions with a question mark.
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Start learning Indonesian →Related Topics
- Question Words and In-Situ SyntaxA1 — Use Indonesian question words in the position where their answers belong, while recognizing when time, reason, and manner expressions are fronted.
- apa: Things, Predicates, and Echo QuestionsA2 — Use apa for unknown things, categories, purposes, and unheard content, while keeping it distinct from yes-no apakah.
- -kah and Focused QuestionsB1 — Attach -kah to a question word or predicate to focus the questioned constituent, especially in formal, rhetorical, and literary styles.
- siapa pun, siapa saja, and siapa-siapaB1 — Distinguish unrestricted siapa pun, alternative-based siapa saja, and polarity-sensitive siapa-siapa while spelling each form correctly.
- Subject Relative ClausesA2 — Build relative clauses whose understood subject is an actor, patient, or the subject of a nonverbal predicate.
- Object Relatives and Voice SwitchingB2 — Relativize a transitive patient by switching to object voice or a di-passive instead of retaining actor-voice meN-.