Choose an -i applicative when an established Indonesian verb treats a goal, recipient, container, surface, or other target as its direct object. Then choose actor voice, di- passive, or pronoun-agent object voice according to what the clause is about. These are two linked decisions: the suffix selects a lexical object frame, while voice selects the discourse pivot.
This page is a decision guide rather than a formation lesson. Review the -i overview for stem formation and the argument page for detailed diagnostics.
First decision: should the target be a direct object?
The clearest contrast is datang ke rumah versus mendatangi rumah.
Dokter datang ke rumah pasien sekitar pukul enam.
The doctor comes to the patient's house around six.
Dokter mendatangi rumah pasien untuk pemeriksaan lanjutan.
The doctor visits the patient's house for a follow-up examination.
The base-plus-ke clause profiles motion or arrival. The -i derivative profiles the house as the goal actively visited. Both can describe the doctor's movement, but they answer different discourse needs.
Kami berjalan ke rumah ketua RT setelah hujan reda.
We walk to the neighborhood head's house after the rain stops.
Kami mendatangi rumah ketua RT untuk menyerahkan surat.
We visit the neighborhood head's house to deliver a letter.
Choose mendatangi when visiting or approaching the goal is the lexical event you intend. Do not create an -i form merely because English happens to use to or at.
Second decision: -i target or -kan theme?
Where both suffixes exist, they often select different objects.
Transfer
Nina mengirimi temannya surat dan dua foto.
Nina sends her friend a letter and two photos.
Nina mengirimkan surat dan dua foto kepada temannya.
Nina sends a letter and two photos to her friend.
Mengirimi selects recipient temannya; mengirimkan selects transferred themes surat dan dua foto. The choice affects passive voice:
Temannya dikirimi surat dan dua foto oleh Nina.
Her friend is sent a letter and two photos by Nina.
Surat dan dua foto itu dikirimkan oleh Nina kepada temannya.
The letter and two photos are sent to her friend by Nina.
Container and content
Petugas mengisi formulir dengan data dari paspor.
The officer fills the form with data from the passport.
Petugas mengisikan data dari paspor ke formulir elektronik.
The officer enters the passport data into the electronic form.
Mengisi selects container formulir; mengisikan selects content data and leaves the destination after ke.
Surface and content
Anak itu menulisi halaman belakang dengan nama teman-temannya.
The child covers the back page with the names of his/her friends.
Anak itu menuliskan nama temannya pada halaman belakang.
The child writes a friend's name on the back page.
The -i verb foregrounds the written-on surface and often invites distributed coverage. -Kan foregrounds the content produced. Neither suffix is an all-purpose substitute for the other.
Third decision: which participant is the topic?
Once the -i frame is chosen, voice organizes the clause around an actor or target.
Sari mengisi formulir permohonan di loket dua.
Sari fills out the application form at counter two.
Formulir permohonan itu diisi Sari di loket dua.
The application form is filled out by Sari at counter two.
Formulir permohonan itu saya isi di loket dua.
I fill out that application form at counter two.
Actor voice keeps Sari as the continuing actor. Diisi makes the form the patient subject with a third-person agent. Saya isi also makes the form the clause's pivot but uses first-person object voice.
The same choice applies to goals, recipients, and marked objects:
Tim inspeksi mendatangi rumah itu dua kali.
The inspection team visits that house twice.
Rumah itu didatangi tim inspeksi dua kali.
That house is visited twice by the inspection team.
Rumah itu kami datangi dua kali.
We visit that house twice.
Voice does not erase -i. It changes which participant anchors the discourse while preserving the target-oriented frame.
Definiteness is a discourse tendency, not a suffix rule
An -i object is often definite because a speaker targets a known form, house, recipient, or page.
Tolong isi formulir yang ada di meja saya.
Please fill out the form on my desk.
Kami mendatangi rumah yang dilaporkan warga.
We visit the house reported by residents.
Editor menandai halaman itu dengan stiker kuning.
The editor marks that page with a yellow sticker.
Indefinite and nonspecific objects are also grammatical:
Setiap sore, relawan mendatangi beberapa rumah di tepi sungai.
Every afternoon, volunteers visit several houses by the river.
Perusahaan akan mengirimi setiap pelanggan sebuah kartu baru.
The company will send every customer a new card.
Saya perlu menandai satu halaman untuk dibahas besok.
I need to mark one page to discuss tomorrow.
-I assigns object status; it does not supply an article equivalent to English the.
Animacy follows the target role
Recipient objects are normally animate or institutionally capable of receiving something. Location, container, and surface objects are normally inanimate.
Bagian layanan mengirimi para pemohon pesan pengingat.
Customer service sends the applicants a reminder message.
Sistem mengirimi alamat surel itu tautan verifikasi.
The system sends that email address a verification link.
The email address is grammatically a recipient-like target by metonymy: the person or account behind it receives the link.
Tim medis mendatangi tiga desa terpencil.
The medical team visits three remote villages.
Petugas menandai setiap kotak yang bocor.
The officer marks every leaking box.
There is no general requirement that an -i object be animate. The lexical relation—receiving, being approached, containing, or being marked—determines the natural class of object.
Four events across dialogue, news, and narrative
Genre makes the topic choice visible. The event remains comparable, but the clause is organized differently.
Mengisi formulir
A: Kamu lagi apa? B: Lagi mengisi formulir visa.
A: What are you doing? B: Filling out a visa form. (informal dialogue)
Hingga Jumat sore, sebanyak 1.200 formulir pendaftaran telah diisi oleh calon peserta.
By Friday afternoon, prospective participants had completed a total of 1,200 registration forms. (news style)
Formulir yang semula kutunda itu akhirnya kuisi di kereta.
I finally filled out the form I had been putting off on the train. (narrative)
The dialogue tracks the actor's current activity; the report tracks the number of forms and aggregate completion; the narrative fronts a previously salient form and uses kuisi.
Mendatangi rumah
A: Besok kamu ada kunjungan ke mana? B: Aku akan mendatangi rumah Bu Sari untuk pemeriksaan lanjutan.
A: Where are you going on a home visit tomorrow? B: I'll visit Ms. Sari's house for a follow-up examination. (informal workplace dialogue)
Rumah warga yang terdampak banjir didatangi petugas kesehatan pada Senin pagi.
Homes of residents affected by the flood were visited by health officers on Monday morning. (news style)
Rumah itu kami datangi lagi setelah menerima pesan tanpa nama.
We visited that house again after receiving an anonymous message. (narrative)
Mengirimi teman surat
A: Masih sering kontak? B: Iya, aku mengirimi teman lamaku surat setiap ulang tahunnya.
A: Still in touch often? B: Yes, I send my old friend a letter on every birthday. (informal dialogue)
Para pelanggan dikirimi surat pemberitahuan mengenai perubahan jadwal.
Customers were sent notification letters about the schedule change. (news/formal style)
Teman yang lama tak kutemui itu kukirimi surat dari setiap kota.
I sent the friend I had not seen for years a letter from every city. (narrative)
Menandai halaman
A: Bagian mana yang penting? B: Aku menandai halaman dua puluh tiga.
A: Which part is important? B: I marked page twenty-three. (informal dialogue)
Halaman yang memuat data pribadi ditandai oleh tim pemeriksa.
Pages containing personal data were marked by the review team. (formal report)
Halaman terakhir kutandai dengan daun kering yang kutemukan di taman.
I marked the last page with a dry leaf I found in the park. (narrative)
Formally possible alternatives are not pragmatically interchangeable. Each genre chooses a form that supports its continuing topic and degree of agent prominence.
A compact decision guide
- Is a base goal merely a destination? Use a base plus preposition: datang ke rumah.
- Is an established verb presenting that goal as a visited target? Use -i: mendatangi rumah.
- In a transfer, should the recipient be object? Use mengirimi teman surat. Should the theme be object? Use mengirimkan surat kepada teman.
- Should actor or target anchor the clause? Select actor voice, di- passive, or object voice accordingly.
- Check the lexical family; similar English meanings do not guarantee an Indonesian -i derivative.
Common Mistakes
Choosing -i solely because English has “to”
❌ Saya membicarai Rina setelah rapat.
Incorrect coinage for ‘talk to Rina’ — Indonesian uses berbicara kepada.
✅ Saya berbicara kepada Rina setelah rapat selesai.
I spoke to Rina after the meeting ended.
Treating base motion and target-oriented visiting as identical
❌ Datang ke rumah dan mendatangi rumah selalu memiliki fokus peristiwa yang sama.
Incorrect analysis — the first profiles arrival, while the second profiles the house as visited target.
✅ Tim bantuan mendatangi rumah warga untuk mencatat kebutuhan mereka.
The aid team visits residents' homes to record their needs.
Choosing -kan when the recipient should be the object
❌ Saya mengirimkan teman saya surat dari Ambon.
Incorrect frame — mengirimkan selects the transferred theme, not the recipient.
✅ Saya mengirimi teman saya surat dari Ambon.
I send my friend a letter from Ambon.
Assuming an -i object must be animate
❌ Mendatangi desa tidak gramatikal karena desa bukan makhluk hidup.
Incorrect — a place can be the approached goal-object.
✅ Dokter keliling mendatangi desa itu setiap dua minggu.
A traveling doctor visits that village every two weeks.
Keeping actor voice when the target is the topic
❌ Formulir yang Sari mengisi di loket dua sudah hilang.
Incorrect in careful Standard Indonesian — the head noun is the filled target, not the actor subject.
✅ Formulir yang diisi Sari di loket dua sudah hilang.
The form Sari filled out at counter two has gone missing.
Key Takeaways
- Choose -i when an established lexical family makes a goal, recipient, container, surface, or target its object.
- Base-plus-preposition and -i clauses can describe related events with different structural viewpoints.
- In productive alternations, -i commonly selects a target or recipient, while -kan selects a transferred or caused theme.
- Definiteness and animacy are tendencies shaped by the target role, not fixed suffix requirements.
- After choosing the frame, voice identifies what the clause is about: actor, third-person patient, or patient with a pronominal actor.
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Start learning Indonesian →Related Topics
- -i Applicative Patterns: Overview and FormationB2 — Recognize how -i stems select locations, goals, recipients, containers, and repeatedly affected targets as direct objects.
- -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.
- -i Applicative Patterns: Aspect, Modality, and NegationC1 — Place aspect, modal, and negative particles before unchanged -i predicates while controlling scope, voice, event type, and volitional control.
- Choosing Voice Across a Discourse: Choosing This ConstructionC1 — Choose actor voice, di- passive, object voice, or ter- by tracking the participant that each clause and larger discourse keeps prominent.
- -kan: Valency, Lexicalization, and RegisterB2 — Use -kan stems with the right objects, voice patterns, competing suffixes, lexical conventions, and formal or conversational forms.
- -kan versus -iB1 — Choose -kan when the caused or transferred theme is structurally affected and -i when a recipient, location, container, or surface becomes the affected object.