Indonesian has several ways to tell people not to act, and they are not interchangeable. Jangan masuk is a direct negative command, Dilarang masuk presents an institutional ban, Tidak boleh masuk states that entry is not permitted, Harap tidak masuk frames nonentry as a polite expectation, and Awas! calls immediate attention to danger.
The construction chosen reveals where authority comes from and what is foregrounded: the addressee, the prohibited action, the standing rule, or the danger itself. This page compares complete sentence types. The detailed lexical grammar of jangan, advanced clause linking, and individual discourse particles belong on their dedicated pages.
Five common architectures
| Pattern | Typical source | Main focus | Usual setting |
|---|---|---|---|
| jangan + predicate | speaker | prevent the addressee's action | spoken direction |
| dilarang + predicate | institution or rule | the prohibited action | signs and notices |
| tidak boleh + predicate | rule, authority, or norm | lack of permission | policy explanation |
| harap tidak + predicate | institutional speaker | polite expected compliance | public service notices |
| awas + danger/warning | urgent speaker | immediate hazard | spoken warning |
Jangan masuk ke ruang belakang sebelum saya panggil.
Do not enter the back room until I call you.
Dilarang masuk tanpa kartu akses yang masih berlaku.
Entry without a valid access card is prohibited. (posted notice)
Pengunjung tidak boleh masuk setelah loket ditutup.
Visitors may not enter after the counter closes. (rule)
Harap tidak masuk selama proses sterilisasi berlangsung.
Please do not enter while sterilization is in progress. (formal notice)
Awas! Jangan masuk; ada pecahan kaca di lantai.
Watch out! Do not enter; there is broken glass on the floor.
Jangan addresses a controllable action
Jangan + predicate directly tries to prevent an action or state. The addressee is normally omitted because the interaction identifies who must comply.
Jangan sentuh panci itu; pegangannya masih panas.
Do not touch that pot; its handle is still hot.
Jangan berdiri terlalu dekat dengan pintu kereta.
Do not stand too close to the train door.
Raka, jangan gunakan tangga yang sedang diperbaiki.
Raka, do not use the stairs that are being repaired.
The name Raka is a vocative and is followed by a comma. An explicit kamu is possible when contrast matters—Kamu jangan masuk; petugas boleh masuk—but adding it routinely can sound unnecessarily pointed.
Tolong jangan softens a personal command; mohon jangan is more formal. The jangan guide covers postponement with jangan dulu and feared outcomes with jangan sampai.
Tolong jangan letakkan tas di depan pintu darurat.
Please do not put bags in front of the emergency exit.
Mohon jangan membawa makanan ke dalam ruang arsip.
Please do not bring food into the archive room. (formal)
Dilarang foregrounds the ban
Dilarang is a di- form of melarang “prohibit.” In notices, the prohibiting authority and the affected actor are both predictable and therefore omitted. What remains prominent is the prohibited activity.
Dilarang merokok di seluruh area rumah sakit.
Smoking is prohibited throughout the hospital grounds. (posted notice)
Dilarang memotret dokumen tanpa izin petugas.
Photographing documents without staff permission is prohibited. (posted notice)
Dilarang parkir di depan gerbang selama jam kerja.
Parking in front of the gate is prohibited during working hours. (posted notice)
English past-tense wording can tempt learners to read dilarang as “was prohibited.” Indonesian di- does not itself mark past time. A notice saying Dilarang masuk applies now as a standing restriction unless context provides another time.
The prefix attaches: dilarang, never di larang. Locative di remains separate in di depan gerbang.
Tidak boleh states a rule or permission boundary
Tidak boleh + predicate says that an action lacks permission. It is useful when explaining who a policy covers, when it applies, or what exceptions exist.
Anak di bawah dua belas tahun tidak boleh masuk tanpa pendamping.
Children under twelve may not enter without an accompanying adult.
Pegawai tidak boleh membagikan kata sandi kepada siapa pun.
Employees must not share passwords with anyone. (workplace policy)
Makanan dari luar tidak boleh dibawa ke dalam aula.
Food from outside may not be brought into the hall.
Kendaraan boleh lewat setelah pukul enam, tetapi tidak boleh berhenti di jalur ini.
Vehicles may pass after six, but they may not stop in this lane.
Unlike direct jangan, this pattern can describe a rule to someone who is not the person controlled by it. A manager may say Tamu tidak boleh masuk while explaining policy to an employee. The explicit noun identifies the rule's target.
Harap tidak makes compliance a formal expectation
Harap tidak + predicate is common in service announcements and courteous notices (formal). Literally, harap relates to hoping or expecting; in this construction, an institution presents nonperformance as the behavior requested from the public.
Harap tidak menggunakan telepon selama pertunjukan.
Please do not use phones during the performance. (formal notice)
Harap tidak duduk di kursi yang telah diberi tanda.
Please do not sit in seats that have been marked. (formal notice)
Para tamu harap tidak meninggalkan barang berharga di kamar.
Guests are requested not to leave valuables in their rooms. (formal)
This is courteous but still directive. It does not merely report the writer's private hope. Mohon untuk tidak also appears in administrative prose (bureaucratic), but often sounds heavier than direct harap tidak or mohon jangan.
Awas identifies immediate danger
Awas! is an urgent attention call (spoken). It can stand alone when danger is visible or introduce a noun phrase or warning clause.
Awas, ada sepeda motor dari arah kanan!
Watch out, there is a motorcycle coming from the right!
Awas, kabel listriknya terbuka!
Watch out, the electrical cable is exposed!
Awas! Jangan pegang pagar besi itu!
Watch out! Do not touch that metal fence!
Awas jatuh! Pegang pegangan tangganya!
Careful, you might fall! Hold the stair rail!
Awas does not by itself encode which preventive action to take. Add jangan when the prohibited response must be explicit. Hati-hati is a broader “be careful” and need not signal an immediate hazard; awas is sharper and more urgent.
One safety rule in four settings
Suppose wet paint makes a room temporarily unsafe to enter. Indonesian repackages the same rule according to relationship and authority.
Jangan masuk ke kamar itu dulu; catnya masih basah.
Do not go into that room yet; the paint is still wet. (to a friend)
Dilarang memasuki ruangan ini. Cat masih basah.
Do not enter this room. Wet paint. (posted notice)
Selama pengecatan, pegawai tidak boleh memasuki ruangan tanpa izin pengawas.
During painting, employees may not enter the room without a supervisor's permission. (workplace policy)
Awas! Jangan masuk sekarang; lantainya licin karena cat!
Watch out! Do not enter now; the floor is slippery with paint! (urgent spoken warning)
The friend version foregrounds personal control; the notice suppresses both authority and actor; the policy names the regulated group and condition; the urgent warning foregrounds danger and then specifies the action.
Predictable and unpredictable actors
Subject omission is natural when the intended actor is recoverable. On a door, Dilarang masuk applies to potential entrants. In a spoken command, Jangan masuk targets the addressee. A recipe-like safety instruction may target the reader.
When different groups have different permissions, state them.
Pengunjung harap menunggu di lobi; teknisi boleh memasuki ruang mesin.
Visitors are requested to wait in the lobby; technicians may enter the machine room.
Siswa tidak boleh menyalakan alat ini tanpa didampingi guru.
Students must not switch on this device without teacher supervision.
Deleting pengunjung, teknisi, or siswa would hide a safety-critical distinction. Actor suppression is useful only when it preserves the correct audience.
Common Mistakes
1. Using jangan for every institutional ban
❌ Jangan parkir berlaku untuk semua pegawai dan tamu.
Poor policy wording — a direct command has been inserted into a descriptive policy sentence.
✅ Pegawai dan tamu tidak boleh parkir di jalur pemadam kebakaran.
Employees and guests may not park in the fire lane. (policy)
2. Reading dilarang as a past event
❌ Dilarang masuk berarti orang dahulu dilarang, tetapi sekarang boleh.
Incorrect interpretation — di- does not mark past tense.
✅ Dilarang masuk selama pemeriksaan keselamatan berlangsung.
Entry is prohibited while the safety inspection is in progress.
3. Separating passive di-
❌ Di larang menyentuh panel listrik ini.
Incorrect spelling — passive di- attaches to larang.
✅ Dilarang menyentuh panel listrik tanpa sarung tangan.
Touching the electrical panel without gloves is prohibited.
4. Adding an unnecessary generic addressee
❌ Kamu dilarang merokok di area peron.
Overly personal for a general posted notice.
✅ Dilarang merokok di area peron dan ruang tunggu.
Smoking is prohibited on the platform and in the waiting room. (posted notice)
5. Omitting a safety-critical actor distinction
❌ Tidak boleh masuk setelah pukul lima.
Incomplete policy when staff and visitors follow different rules.
✅ Pengunjung tidak boleh masuk setelah pukul lima, tetapi petugas jaga tetap boleh masuk.
Visitors may not enter after five, but duty officers may still enter.
Key Takeaways
- Jangan is a speaker's direct negative directive; dilarang foregrounds an institutional ban.
- Tidak boleh states a permission boundary and readily names the regulated group.
- Harap tidak is a courteous formal notice; awas signals immediate danger.
- Dilarang is not past tense, and its di- is attached.
- Omit the actor only when every reader can recover the intended person or group.
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