The naik family divides one broad upward idea among different grammatical perspectives. With naik, the subject itself rises, boards, or increases. Menaiki selects a vehicle, slope, mountain, or other object that the actor mounts or traverses. Menaikkan introduces a causer who makes something go up or increase.
No person or tense endings
None of these predicates changes for person, number, or tense. Indonesian uses context and separate time or aspect words.
| Context | Indonesian | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| I, now | saya naik bus | context |
| she, earlier | tadi dia naik bus | tadi |
| they, ongoing | mereka sedang naik bus | sedang |
| we, tomorrow | besok kami akan naik bus | besok, akan |
Saya naik bus dari terminal dekat pasar setiap pagi.
I take the bus from the terminal near the market every morning.
Tadi dia naik bus yang menuju pusat kota.
Earlier she boarded the bus heading downtown.
Besok kami akan naik bus pertama ke bandara.
Tomorrow we will take the first bus to the airport.
English ride, rode, and will ride do not produce different Indonesian verb endings. Naik is a complete predicate, not an infinitive.
naik: the subject moves upward, boards, or increases
The core of naik is a change to a higher position or level. The moving entity is the subject; a destination can follow with ke, and a source with dari.
Kami naik ke lantai tiga lewat tangga darurat.
We went up to the third floor by the emergency stairs.
Asap hitam naik dari belakang gudang.
Black smoke rose from behind the warehouse.
Air sungai naik hampir satu meter setelah hujan deras.
The river rose almost one meter after the heavy rain.
Anak itu naik ke kursi untuk meraih rak paling atas.
The child climbed onto a chair to reach the top shelf.
With public transport, naik + vehicle conventionally means board, ride, or travel by that vehicle. The vehicle follows without ke.
Kalau terburu-buru, kita naik taksi saja.
If we're in a hurry, let's just take a taxi.
Penumpang mulai naik kereta dari peron dua.
Passengers are beginning to board the train from platform two.
Naik also describes an intransitive increase: the thing whose value changes is the subject.
Harga cabai naik lagi menjelang akhir pekan.
Chili prices rose again before the weekend.
Suhu tubuhnya naik pada malam hari.
Her body temperature rises at night.
Jumlah pengunjung terus naik sejak pameran dibuka.
Visitor numbers have continued to rise since the exhibition opened.
menaiki: the vehicle or path is the object
Menaiki is transitive. It selects what the actor mounts, climbs, or traverses upward: a vehicle, mountain, hill, staircase, or sloping path. This object-oriented framing often sounds more deliberate or descriptive than everyday naik bus.
Para pendaki menaiki gunung itu melalui jalur utara.
The hikers ascend that mountain by the northern route.
Kami menaiki tangga batu menuju candi utama.
We climb the stone steps toward the main temple.
Presiden menaiki pesawat setelah menyapa para petugas.
The president boards the plane after greeting the staff. (formal)
Ia perlahan menaiki bukit sambil mendorong sepedanya.
She slowly climbs the hill while pushing her bicycle.
Menaiki gunung is grammatical and profiles the mountain as the traversed object. In everyday outdoor contexts, mendaki gunung is often the more specific collocation for mountaineering. There is no reliable rule based only on English “climb”; learn the Indonesian object and context.
Compare the two vehicle frames:
Kami naik kapal di Pelabuhan Tanjung Perak.
We board a ship at Tanjung Perak Port.
Para penumpang menaiki kapal satu per satu.
The passengers board the ship one by one.
The first is the ordinary travel construction; the second foregrounds the particular vehicle as an affected or traversed object.
menaikkan: cause something to rise or increase
Menaikkan is causative and transitive. Its subject causes the following object to move upward, become louder or higher, or increase in value.
Toko itu menaikkan harga beras setelah biaya angkut bertambah.
The shop raises the price of rice after transport costs increase.
Petugas menaikkan bendera tepat pukul tujuh.
The officer raises the flag at exactly seven.
Tolong naikkan volume televisi sedikit saja.
Please turn the television volume up just a little.
Dokter menaikkan dosis obat secara bertahap.
The doctor increases the medication dose gradually.
Mereka menaikkan kotak-kotak itu ke lantai dua dengan katrol.
They hoist those boxes to the second floor with a pulley.
The contrast with intransitive naik is a change in valency:
Harga sewa naik pada awal tahun.
The rent rises at the beginning of the year.
Pemilik rumah menaikkan harga sewa pada awal tahun.
The landlord raises the rent at the beginning of the year.
In the first sentence harga sewa changes. In the second, pemilik rumah causes that change and harga sewa becomes the object. General causative -kan patterns are covered in the word-formation guide.
dinaikkan: the raised item as subject
Dinaikkan is the passive counterpart of menaikkan. It promotes the item or quantity being raised; the causer may follow or remain unstated.
Tarif parkir akan dinaikkan mulai bulan depan.
Parking rates will be increased starting next month.
Bendera dinaikkan oleh dua anggota paskibra.
The flag is raised by two flag-raising troop members.
Barang berat itu dinaikkan ke truk dengan alat khusus.
The heavy item is lifted onto the truck with special equipment.
Masalah tersebut dinaikkan ke tingkat pimpinan untuk dibahas.
The issue is escalated to the leadership level for discussion. (formal)
The last use is an established institutional extension. Write passive di- solid in dinaikkan, but locative di separately in di kantor.
Harga beras dinaikkan di toko itu, dan pelanggan langsung mengeluh.
The price of rice was raised at that shop, and customers complained immediately.
kenaikan: an increase or upward transition
Kenaikan is an established noun for an increase, rise, ascent, promotion, or move to a higher class or rank. Its complement identifies what goes up.
Kenaikan harga bahan bakar memengaruhi biaya pengiriman.
The increase in fuel prices affects shipping costs.
Serikat pekerja mengusulkan kenaikan gaji sebesar lima persen.
The labor union proposes a five-percent pay rise.
Ia merayakan kenaikan pangkat bersama keluarganya.
She celebrated her promotion with her family.
Sekolah mengumumkan hasil kenaikan kelas pada hari Jumat.
The school announces grade-promotion results on Friday.
The morphology is regular, but these institutional readings are lexicalized collocations. Do not select kenaikan merely because English uses a noun related to “raise.”
Idioms and lexicalized combinations
Restoran kecil itu sedang naik daun setelah videonya viral.
That small restaurant is becoming popular after its video went viral. (informal)
Mendengar tuduhan itu, ayah langsung naik pitam.
On hearing the accusation, Dad immediately flew into a rage.
Setelah lima tahun, ia akhirnya naik jabatan menjadi manajer.
After five years, she was finally promoted to manager.
Naik daun means become popular, naik pitam means become furious, and naik jabatan means move to a higher position. These cannot be generated safely by translating English word for word.
Common Mistakes
Making the vehicle a caused object
❌ Saya menaikkan bus ke kantor setiap pagi.
Incorrect for riding the bus — menaikkan means cause the bus to rise or put it up.
✅ Saya naik bus nomor tujuh ke kantor setiap pagi.
I take the number seven bus to the office every morning.
Using menaiki for an intransitive price change
❌ Harga telur menaiki menjelang hari raya.
Incorrect — the price itself rises, so use naik.
✅ Harga telur naik menjelang hari raya.
Egg prices rise before the holiday.
Omitting the causative suffix
❌ Perusahaan naik harga langganan bulan depan.
Incorrect in careful Standard Indonesian — an actor causing the increase requires menaikkan.
✅ Perusahaan menaikkan harga langganan bulan depan.
The company is raising the subscription price next month.
Separating passive di-
❌ Tarif masuk di naikkan tanpa pemberitahuan.
Incorrect spelling — passive di- attaches to naikkan.
✅ Tarif masuk dinaikkan tanpa pemberitahuan.
The admission fee was increased without notice.
Adding an English tense ending
❌ Kemarin air sungai naik-ed sangat cepat.
Incorrect — Indonesian predicates never take English past-tense endings.
✅ Kemarin air sungai naik sangat cepat.
Yesterday the river rose very quickly.
Key Takeaways
- Naik gives the moving or increasing entity subject status.
- Menaiki selects a mounted or upward-traversed object; menaikkan selects something caused to rise.
- Dinaikkan passivizes the caused-rise frame, while kenaikan names an increase or established upward transition.
- Time and aspect remain separate, actual derivatives are solid, and lexicalized combinations must be learned whole.
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
- turun, menuruni, and menurunkan: Verb Family and UsageB1 — Distinguish downward motion with turun, traversed paths with menuruni, caused decrease with menurunkan, and trend language with menurun.
- -i: Meanings and Derivational NetworkB2 — Understand how -i maps locations, goals, recipients, and repeatedly affected targets onto direct-object position across productive and lexicalized families.
- -kan: Meanings and Derivational NetworkC1 — Understand how -kan adds or promotes participants in causative, caused-result, benefactive, transfer, and lexicalized verb families.
- ke-...-an: Meanings and Derivational NetworkB2 — Connect abstract qualities, states, excessive degree, affected experiences, and lexical domains within the ke-...-an network.
- -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.