The masuk family lets Indonesian redistribute two participants in a motion event. Bare masuk presents the mover entering and normally marks the goal with ke. Memasuki promotes that location to a direct object. Memasukkan adds a causer and selects a separate theme—the person or thing made to enter—as its object. The suffixes therefore change valency, not merely style.
Passive dimasuki and dimasukkan preserve the difference, while pemasukan and termasuk have important lexicalized meanings. This page explains the family as used; general -i, -kan, di-, and nominal formation remains on the Word Formation pages.
No person or tense paradigm
Bare masuk is a complete intransitive predicate, not an infinitive. Its form stays unchanged across persons and times.
| Frame | Indonesian | Interpretive cue |
|---|---|---|
| first person | Saya masuk ke kamar. | saya; no agreement ending |
| third person | Dia masuk ke kamar. | dia; same root |
| plural | Mereka masuk ke kamar. | mereka; same root |
| completed | Saya sudah masuk. | separate sudah |
| ongoing transition | Dia sedang masuk. | separate sedang |
| future | Kami akan masuk. | separate akan |
Saya masuk ke kamar kerja setelah mengetuk pintu.
I entered the study after knocking on the door.
Para penonton sudah masuk sebelum hujan turun.
The spectators had already gone in before the rain began.
Sebentar lagi rombongan terakhir akan masuk.
The final group will enter shortly.
English enter, enters, and entered do not correspond to different Indonesian endings. What changes across this family is participant structure.
Masuk: the mover enters
Masuk is normally intransitive: its subject is the entity that moves from outside to inside. A spatial goal commonly follows ke, with ke dalam emphasizing movement into an interior. A source or route may follow dari or melalui.
Kucing tetangga masuk ke dapur melalui jendela kecil.
The neighbor's cat entered the kitchen through a small window.
Silakan masuk ke ruang tunggu dan ambil nomor antrean.
Please enter the waiting room and take a queue number.
Air hujan masuk dari celah di bawah pintu.
Rainwater came in through the gap under the door.
Udara dingin masuk melalui ventilasi yang rusak.
Cold air enters through the broken vent.
Kami masuk ke dalam gua bersama pemandu lokal.
We went into the cave with a local guide.
Broad Standard Indonesian favors masuk ke + place for an explicit destination. Everyday speech often omits ke with familiar institutional activities—masuk sekolah, masuk kerja—and these have conventional meanings such as attend school or report for work, not simply physical entrance.
Setelah libur panjang, anak-anak masuk sekolah pada hari Rabu.
After the long holiday, the children return to school on Wednesday.
Besok saya masuk kerja pukul satu siang karena ada janji dengan dokter.
Tomorrow I start work at one in the afternoon because I have a doctor's appointment.
Because masuk lacks a direct object, it does not form an ordinary di- passive. A destination-focused passive requires dimasuki.
Memasuki and dimasuki: promote the destination
Memasuki is transitive and selects the location, territory, period, stage, age, or situation entered as its direct object. It is common in careful narration and formal descriptions, though entirely standard in speech.
Para tamu memasuki ruang makan setelah dipersilakan.
The guests entered the dining room after being invited in.
Kapal itu memasuki perairan dangkal menjelang sore.
The ship entered shallow waters toward evening.
Proyek tersebut memasuki tahap pengujian akhir.
The project is entering the final testing stage. (formal)
Anaknya baru memasuki usia sekolah.
His/Her child has just reached school age.
No ke appears before this direct object: memasuki ruangan, not memasuki ke ruangan. The location can become the passive subject of dimasuki.
Rumah kosong itu dimasuki pencuri melalui atap.
The empty house was entered by a burglar through the roof.
Kawasan konservasi hanya boleh dimasuki peneliti berizin.
The conservation area may be entered only by authorized researchers. (formal)
Ruang steril tidak boleh dimasuki tanpa pakaian pelindung.
The sterile room must not be entered without protective clothing.
Passive dimasuki centers the entered location. It does not mean that the location itself was put inside something.
Memasukkan and dimasukkan: cause a theme to enter
Memasukkan adds a causer. Its direct object is the moved theme; the goal normally follows ke or ke dalam. The spelling has two consecutive k letters: the final k of masuk plus the initial k of -kan.
Rina memasukkan buku catatan ke tas kainnya.
Rina puts the notebook into her cloth bag.
Perawat memasukkan pasien ke ruang pemeriksaan dengan kursi roda.
The nurse takes the patient into the examination room in a wheelchair.
Masukkan kartu ke mesin dengan sisi chip menghadap atas.
Insert the card into the machine with the chip facing upward.
Saya memasukkan sayuran terakhir setelah kuah mendidih.
I add the last vegetables after the broth boils.
The motion schema extends to data, names, proposals, and institutional selection: something is caused to enter a container, list, system, or process.
Sekretaris memasukkan alamat baru ke basis data pelanggan.
The secretary enters the new address into the customer database.
Panitia memasukkan namanya ke daftar pembicara cadangan.
The committee put his/her name on the reserve-speaker list.
In passive dimasukkan, the moved theme becomes the subject while the goal stays in its phrase.
Berkas asli dimasukkan ke lemari tahan api.
The original documents were put into a fireproof cabinet.
Usulan warga dimasukkan ke dalam agenda rapat oleh sekretaris.
The residents' proposal was added to the meeting agenda by the secretary.
Gula tidak perlu dimasukkan sekaligus.
The sugar does not need to be added all at once.
Three related clause shapes
The same setting can make the valency contrast concrete:
Dara masuk ke ruang arsip untuk mencari kuitansi.
Dara enters the archive room to look for a receipt.
Dara memasuki ruang arsip melalui pintu belakang.
Dara enters the archive room through the rear door.
Dara memasukkan satu kotak dokumen ke ruang arsip.
Dara puts a box of documents into the archive room.
In the first two, Dara is the mover; memasuki merely promotes the goal to object. In the third, Dara causes a separate theme, satu kotak dokumen, to move. The -kan versus -i overview generalizes this theme–location contrast.
Pemasukan: income and other inputs
Pemasukan is a lexical noun meaning income, revenue, intake, entry, or the process of putting something into a system. Financial income is especially frequent and often contrasts with pengeluaran “expenditure.” It does not name every ordinary act of a person entering a room.
Pemasukan kedai meningkat setelah layanan antar dimulai.
The café's income increased after delivery service began.
Catat semua pemasukan dan pengeluaran setiap akhir pekan.
Record all income and expenses at the end of every week.
Pemasukan data dilakukan oleh dua petugas yang berbeda.
Data entry is carried out by two different officers. (formal)
Prosedur pemasukan barang ke gudang telah diperbarui.
The procedure for bringing goods into the warehouse has been updated. (formal)
The intended sense depends on its complement. Pemasukan bulanan is monthly income; pemasukan data is data input/entry.
Termasuk: inclusion, not literal inward motion
Termasuk is a lexicalized predicate meaning be included, belong to a category, or count as. It often combines with dalam for the containing category and can introduce an included example. It is not normally interpreted as accidental physical entry.
Biaya sarapan sudah termasuk dalam harga kamar.
The breakfast charge is already included in the room price.
Kota itu termasuk wilayah dengan curah hujan tinggi.
That city belongs to a region with high rainfall.
Semua peserta, termasuk pendamping, harus menunjukkan identitas.
All participants, including companions, must show identification.
Apakah kerusakan akibat banjir termasuk dalam jaminan ini?
Is flood damage included in this warranty?
Because the meaning is lexicalized, choosing termasuk cannot be reduced to a general claim that ter- always marks an accidental action.
Common Mistakes
1. Using di for a motion goal
❌ Saya masuk di ruang rapat setelah dipanggil.
Incorrect for motion into a destination — use ke.
✅ Saya masuk ke ruang rapat setelah dipanggil.
I entered the meeting room after being called.
2. Keeping ke after transitive memasuki
❌ Kapal mulai memasuki ke pelabuhan saat fajar.
Incorrect — the destination is already the direct object of memasuki.
✅ Kapal mulai memasuki pelabuhan saat fajar.
The ship began entering the harbor at dawn.
3. Omitting the moved theme after memasukkan
❌ Petugas memasukkan ke gudang sebelum hujan.
Incomplete — memasukkan requires something caused to enter.
✅ Petugas memasukkan peralatan ke gudang sebelum hujan.
The officer puts the equipment in the warehouse before the rain.
4. Confusing the two passives
❌ Paket itu dimasuki ke laci meja.
Wrong passive — the package is a moved theme, not an entered location.
✅ Paket itu dimasukkan ke laci meja.
The package was put into the desk drawer.
5. Dropping one k or splitting di-
❌ Berkasnya di masukan ke map biru.
Incorrect — passive di- attaches, and masukkan retains both k letters.
✅ Berkasnya dimasukkan ke map biru.
The document was put into the blue folder.
Key Takeaways
- Masuk + ke + goal presents self-directed entry and has no ordinary passive.
- Memasuki/dimasuki select the entered location as object or passive subject.
- Memasukkan/dimasukkan select a separate moved theme; the goal remains after ke/ke dalam.
- Pemasukan commonly means income, revenue, or input, while termasuk expresses inclusion.
- Actual derivatives are solid, memasukkan keeps both k letters, and aspect markers remain separate.
Now practice Indonesian
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Indonesian →Related Topics
- keluar and mengeluarkan: Verb Family and UsageB1 — Distinguish self-directed exit from caused removal, then trace the family's extensions into issuing, publication, output, and expenditure.
- ke: Direction and DestinationA1 — Use free ke for movement toward destinations and endpoints, contrasting it with static di and attached ordinal or derivational ke-.
- dalam, di dalam, and ke dalamA2 — Distinguish abstract framing with dalam from physical interior with di dalam and inward direction with ke dalam.
- -i Applicative Patterns: Subjects, Objects, and Argument OrderB2 — Track actor subjects, target objects, remaining themes, passive agents, pronouns, and omitted arguments in -i applicative clauses.
- -kan Valency Patterns: Subjects, Objects, and Argument OrderB2 — Identify actors, caused themes, affected objects, beneficiaries, and secondary themes in -kan clauses across active, passive, and object voice.
- -kan versus -i: Overview and FormationB2 — Recognize how -kan and -i select different affected participants in transfer, caused-motion, container, and surface-oriented lexical families.