Indonesian has short pronoun forms that are grammatically bound to a neighboring word. EYD V writes possessive and object -ku, -mu, -nya attached to the word before them, but subject-like ku- and kau- attached to the verb after them. That gives bukuku “my book,” melihatnya “see him/her/it,” kubaca “read by me/I read it,” and kauambil “taken by you/you take it.”
These forms are not loose texting abbreviations. The side of attachment reflects syntactic role: enclitics lean backward, proclitics lean forward. This page treats their spelling and punctuation; the clitic system explains their full grammatical range.
-ku, -mu, and -nya attach to the word before
After a noun, -ku, -mu, and -nya commonly mark a possessor. They are enclitics: bound forms that follow their host and are written in the same graphic word.
| Structure | Correct form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| buku + -ku | bukuku | my book |
| tas + -mu | tasmu | your bag |
| rumah + -nya | rumahnya | his/her/their house; the house |
Bukuku tertinggal di meja dekat jendela.
I left my book on the table near the window.
Tasmu sudah saya taruh di dalam mobil.
I've put your bag in the car.
Rumahnya tidak jauh dari stasiun.
His house isn't far from the station.
English possessives are separate words (my book, your bag) or use an apostrophe (Rina's book). Indonesian bound possessors use neither a space nor an apostrophe. Their attachment is part of standard spelling in neutral, formal, and informal registers.
Object enclitics also attach backward
After a verb, the same forms can represent an object. Melihatnya can mean “see him,” “see her,” “see it,” or “see them,” depending on context. Membantumu means “help you,” and menungguku means “wait for me.” Indonesian does not mark gender in -nya.
Saya melihatnya keluar dari lift beberapa menit lalu.
I saw him leave the elevator a few minutes ago.
Kalau sempat, saya akan membantumu memindahkan meja itu.
If I have time, I'll help you move that table.
Tolong tunggu aku di lobi; jangan menungguku di luar.
Please wait for me in the lobby; don't wait for me outside.
The final example contrasts free aku after tunggu with bound -ku after menunggu. Both can be grammatical, but their spellings encode different choices. A free pronoun stands alone; an enclitic must attach.
Enclitics can also attach to prepositions: untukku “for me,” kepadamu “to you,” dengannya “with him/her/it.” The orthographic direction is unchanged.
Paket ini untukmu, bukan untukku.
This package is for you, not for me.
Ku- and kau- attach to the following verb
Bound ku- “I” and kau- “you” precede a verb, especially in object-voice constructions. They are proclitics: write them solid with the verb that follows. Surat itu kubaca presents the letter as the affected object and ku- as the actor; Kunci itu kauambil works the same way with kau-.
Surat itu kubaca tadi malam sebelum tidur.
I read that letter last night before going to bed.
Kunci cadangan itu kauambil dari laci, bukan?
You took that spare key from the drawer, didn't you?
Semua pesanmu sudah kubalas pagi ini.
I answered all your messages this morning.
This forward attachment is not merely a shorter way to spell any occurrence of aku or kau. Free kau remains a separate word when it is an independent subject: Kau masih muda “You are still young”; kau mengambil has free kau followed by an active verb. Bound kauambil is a different syntactic packaging.
| Form | Boundary | Role | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ku | attaches left | possessor/object | bukuku, menungguku |
| -mu | attaches left | possessor/object | tasmu, membantumu |
| -nya | attaches left | possessor/object and other clitic functions | rumahnya, melihatnya |
| ku- | attaches right | bound actor before verb | kubaca |
| kau- | attaches right | bound actor before verb | kauambil |
Punctuation comes after the complete form
A comma, period, question mark, or exclamation mark follows the entire word, including its clitic. Punctuation never creates a space inside bukuku, melihatnya, or kubaca.
“Bukuku,” kata Rani, “ada di dalam tas biru.”
“My book,” Rani said, “is in the blue bag.”
“Sudah kubaca,” jawab Dimas, “tetapi belum kubalas.”
“I've read it,” Dimas replied, “but I haven't answered it yet.”
“Kuncinya kauambil?” tanya Ibu.
“Did you take the key?” Mom asked.
In the first quotation, the comma follows bukuku before the closing quotation mark. In the second, ku- remains joined to each verb before punctuation. In the question, kauambil and kuncinya retain both attachments even at the edge of quoted material.
At a capitalized acronym boundary, EYD V uses a graphic hyphen, as in KTP-mu. A pronoun referring to God is capitalized and hyphenated in forms such as ciptaan-Nya. These special hyphens prevent a disruptive capital/lowercase boundary from looking like an ordinary lowercase word; they do not make the clitic independent.
KTP-mu masih berlaku sampai tahun depan, kan?
Your identity card is still valid until next year, right?
Register and typography
The attached spellings are standard across registers. In informal messages, writers may use nonstandard spacing or omit letters, but that does not create a second formal rule. In edited prose, use bukuku, melihatnya, kubaca, and kauambil.
Indonesian ordinary spelling has no mandatory accent marks. The acute accent sometimes used in dictionaries to distinguish vowel qualities has no role in clitic attachment. The information is carried by the left or right word boundary.
Common Mistakes
1. Spacing a possessive enclitic like English my
❌ Buku ku tertinggal di kantor.
Incorrect — possessive -ku attaches to buku.
✅ Bukuku tertinggal di kantor.
My book was left at the office.
2. Separating an object enclitic
❌ Saya melihat nya di depan lift.
Incorrect — object -nya attaches to melihat.
✅ Saya melihatnya di depan lift.
I saw her in front of the elevator.
3. Detaching a subject proclitic
❌ Surat itu ku baca tadi pagi.
Incorrect — bound ku- attaches to the following verb.
✅ Surat itu kubaca tadi pagi.
I read that letter this morning.
4. Treating kau- as an informal abbreviation with optional spacing
❌ Kunci itu kau ambil dari meja.
Incorrect for the bound construction — kau- must attach to ambil.
✅ Kunci itu kauambil dari meja.
You took that key from the table.
Key Takeaways
- Attach possessive and object -ku, -mu, -nya backward: bukuku, tasmu, melihatnya.
- Attach actor ku- and kau- forward to the verb: kubaca, kauambil.
- Free aku and free kau remain separate; bound forms are not casual abbreviations.
- Put punctuation outside the complete attached form, including inside direct quotations.
- Use special hyphens at disruptive capital boundaries such as KTP-mu and ciptaan-Nya.
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Start learning Indonesian →Related Topics
- Attaching Prefixes and SuffixesA2 — Write ordinary Indonesian affixes solid with lowercase bases and use boundary hyphens around capitalized or acronym bases.
- Hyphens in ReduplicationA1 — Use a hyphen inside Indonesian full, affixed, and changing-sound reduplication while avoiding informal digit shortcuts.
- Object and Possessive -ku, -mu, and -nyaA2 — Attach -ku, -mu, and -nya to nouns, verbs, and prepositions while recovering their relation from the host and context.
- Subject Proclitics ku- and kau-B1 — Use attached ku- and kau- as first- and second-person actors in compact object-focused clauses.
- -nya: Pronoun, Definite Marker, and NominalizerB2 — Interpret -nya through its host and context as third-person reference, possession, discourse anchoring, nominalization, or stance.
- Clitic Placement and Host ChoiceB2 — Place Indonesian actor proclitics and possessor, object, and prepositional enclitics on the hosts their grammatical roles require.