An Indonesian relative clause follows a noun and begins with yang. In a subject relative, the noun being described supplies the understood subject inside that clause: orang yang membaca is “the person who reads,” while buku yang dibaca is “the book that is read.” The relativized subject can be an actor, a patient promoted by passive voice, or the subject of a nonverbal predicate.
This page focuses on that structural relationship, not basic word-order drills, individual affix formation, or the pragmatic meanings of particles.
The subject diagnostics page explains why actor and patient can both occupy the privileged subject or pivot relation.
The basic relation: head noun + yang + predicate
The noun before yang is the head. Inside the relative clause, there is no repeated pronoun for that same participant.
Orang yang membaca majalah itu menunggu di dekat jendela.
The person reading the magazine is waiting near the window.
Anak yang tertawa tadi adik sepupu saya.
The child who laughed earlier is my younger cousin.
Bus yang berhenti di depan pasar menuju pusat kota.
The bus that stops in front of the market goes downtown.
The relative predicates are membaca majalah itu, tertawa tadi, and berhenti di depan pasar. Their understood subjects are respectively orang, anak, and bus.
English marks this relationship with who, that, or which. Indonesian normally uses one invariant linker, yang, regardless of whether the head is human, animate, or inanimate.
Actor subjects with meN-
When the head noun is the actor of a transitive event, Standard Indonesian keeps actor-voice morphology inside the relative clause.
Perawat yang merawat pasien itu bekerja pada giliran malam.
The nurse who treats that patient works the night shift.
Mahasiswa yang menulis artikel tersebut berasal dari Kupang.
The student who wrote that article is from Kupang.
Tetangga yang membawa kue tadi baru pindah minggu lalu.
The neighbor who brought the cake earlier moved in only last week.
Petugas yang memeriksa tiket kami sangat ramah.
The officer who checked our tickets was very friendly.
The head nouns are actors, so merawat, menulis, membawa, and memeriksa retain their actor-voice forms. Relative structure does not license arbitrary prefix deletion.
Casual speech in some regions and styles may reduce meN- on familiar verbs, but this is a register pattern, not the neutral Standard Indonesian model. At A2, produce the full standard forms in careful speech and writing.
Orang yang sedang membaca dekat pintu itu guru bahasa saya.
The person currently reading near the door is my language teacher.
Here sedang occurs after yang and before the actor-voice predicate.
Patient subjects with di-
A patient can also be the understood subject of a relative clause. Passive di- makes that patient structurally prominent.
Buku yang dibaca Rendi itu milik perpustakaan kota.
The book that Rendi read belongs to the city library.
Paket yang dikirim kemarin sudah tiba di kantor cabang.
The package that was sent yesterday has arrived at the branch office.
Pintu yang diperbaiki tukang itu sekarang dapat dikunci.
The door repaired by the tradesperson can now be locked.
Data yang dikumpulkan tim lapangan masih perlu diperiksa.
The data collected by the field team still needs to be checked.
The head nouns buku, paket, pintu, and data are not event initiators. Nevertheless, each is the understood subject or pivot of its di- relative. The actor may follow the passive verb—Rendi, tukang itu, tim lapangan—or remain unexpressed.
Write passive di- attached: dibaca, dikirim, diperbaiki, dikumpulkan. A space would turn di into a preposition and destroy the voice form.
Nonverbal predicate relatives
The predicate after yang need not be a verb. An adjective phrase or prepositional phrase can describe the head as its understood subject; nominal identities are often recast with menjadi or formal merupakan.
The required pattern orang yang sedang sibuk combines yang with an aspect-like marker and an adjective predicate.
Orang yang sedang sibuk itu akan saya hubungi nanti.
The person who is busy now is the one I will contact later.
Kamar yang terlalu sempit itu akan dijadikan gudang.
The room that is too narrow will be made into a storeroom.
Dokumen yang di atas meja harus diserahkan kepada petugas.
The document that is on the table must be handed to the officer.
Pria yang merupakan ketua panitia sedang berbicara dengan wartawan.
The man who is the committee chair is speaking with reporters. (formal)
Prepositional predicates inside relatives can sound heavier than compact modifiers, while a nominal identity usually needs recasting. Natural Indonesian may prefer dokumen di atas meja and pria yang menjadi ketua panitia, depending on the intended contrast.
Dokumen di atas meja harus diserahkan kepada petugas.
The document on the table must be handed to the officer. (more compact)
Pria yang menjadi ketua panitia sedang berbicara dengan wartawan.
The man serving as committee chair is speaking with reporters.
The core insight remains: yang can introduce any predicate category whose understood subject is the head.
Tense and aspect remain separate
Indonesian relative predicates do not conjugate for tense. Time phrases and aspect or modal markers occur inside the relative clause, normally after yang and before the predicate they modify.
Tamu yang sudah datang dipersilakan masuk ke aula.
Guests who have already arrived are invited to enter the hall.
Surat yang belum ditandatangani diletakkan di map merah.
The letter that has not yet been signed is placed in the red folder.
Karyawan yang akan mengikuti pelatihan harus mendaftar hari ini.
Employees who will attend the training must register today.
Jalan yang masih licin sebaiknya dihindari malam ini.
The road that is still slippery should be avoided tonight.
Mesin yang sedang diperiksa tidak boleh dinyalakan.
The machine that is being inspected must not be switched on.
The patterns are yang sudah datang, yang belum ditandatangani, yang akan mengikuti, yang masih licin, and yang sedang diperiksa. Do not add a relative-tense ending to the predicate.
Restrictive and parenthetical relatives
A restrictive relative identifies which member of a set the speaker means. Standard Indonesian does not put commas around it.
Pegawai yang membawa kartu akses boleh masuk melalui pintu samping.
Employees who carry access cards may enter through the side door.
This refers only to employees meeting the condition. Commas would invite a parenthetical reading in which the employees are already identified and the relative merely adds information.
Bu Maya, yang sedang bertugas di Makassar, akan kembali hari Jumat.
Ms. Maya, who is currently on duty in Makassar, will return on Friday.
Because Bu Maya is already a unique referent, the relative is supplementary and is set off by commas. Do not copy English comma placement mechanically; first decide whether the relative identifies the head or comments on an already identified head.
Demonstratives close the full noun phrase
When ini or itu identifies the larger noun phrase, it normally follows the whole relative clause.
Orang yang menelepon tadi itu kepala cabang baru.
The person who called earlier is the new branch head.
Dokumen yang sudah diterjemahkan ini siap dikirim.
This document that has been translated is ready to be sent.
The sequence is head + relative + demonstrative: orang [yang menelepon tadi] itu. An itu inside the relative may instead belong to an object, as in orang yang membawa tas itu “the person carrying that bag.” Meaning and constituency determine which noun itu closes.
Orang yang membawa tas itu sedang mencari loket informasi.
The person carrying that bag is looking for the information counter.
Orang yang membawa tas merah itu sedang mencari loket informasi.
That person carrying a red bag is looking for the information counter.
The first can group tas itu; the second more naturally groups final itu with the full head phrase, though context and prosody still matter.
Common Mistakes
Dropping yang before a full relative predicate
❌ Orang membaca laporan itu menunggu direktur.
Incorrect intended relative — without yang, membaca starts a main predicate rather than clearly modifying orang.
✅ Orang yang membaca laporan itu menunggu direktur.
The person reading the report is waiting for the director.
Suppressing actor-voice morphology
❌ Petugas yang periksa paspor kami duduk di meja dua.
Nonstandard in careful Indonesian — use the full actor-voice form memeriksa.
✅ Petugas yang memeriksa paspor kami duduk di meja dua.
The officer who checked our passports is sitting at desk two.
Separating passive di-
❌ Barang yang di kirim pagi tadi belum diterima.
Incorrect spelling — passive di- attaches to kirim.
✅ Barang yang dikirim pagi tadi belum diterima.
The goods sent this morning have not yet been received.
Repeating the relativized subject
❌ Anak yang dia sedang tidur itu keponakan saya.
Incorrect — the head anak already supplies the subject inside the relative.
✅ Anak yang sedang tidur itu keponakan saya.
The child who is sleeping is my niece or nephew.
Copying commas around a restrictive relative
❌ Siswa, yang belum membayar, harus menemui bendahara.
Incorrect for the intended restrictive meaning; the commas make the information parenthetical.
✅ Siswa yang belum membayar harus menemui bendahara.
Students who have not paid must see the treasurer.
Key Takeaways
- The head noun supplies the understood subject after yang.
- An actor subject uses actor voice; a patient subject can use attached passive di-.
- Adjective and prepositional predicates can occur after yang; noun identities are commonly recast with menjadi or merupakan.
- Aspect and modality follow yang and precede the predicate they modify.
- Restrictive relatives take no commas; parenthetical relatives around an already identified head do.
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Start learning Indonesian →Related Topics
- Relative Clauses with yangA2 — Build Indonesian noun modifiers with yang, leaving a recoverable gap whose grammatical role is licensed by the relative clause's voice.
- Identifying the SubjectB2 — Identify Indonesian subjects through predicate position, voice, referentiality, relativization, and discourse rather than semantic agency alone.
- Object Relatives and Voice SwitchingB2 — Relativize a transitive patient by switching to object voice or a di-passive instead of retaining actor-voice meN-.
- meN- Actor Voice: Overview and FormationA1 — Recognize meN- actor voice, form its main nasal variants, and build neutral clauses with an actor subject and optional object.
- di- Passive: Overview and FormationA1 — Recognize and form the Indonesian di- passive, where an affected patient is subject and a third-person agent may follow or remain unspoken.
- Ordering Aspect and Modal MarkersB2 — Build and interpret Indonesian marker chains by reading each word's scope over what follows, especially around negation, prospect, ability, and aspect.