-kan versus -i: Subjects, Objects, and Argument Order | Indonesian Grammar

The actor subject comes before an actor-voice verb, but suffix choice determines which nonactor participant becomes the privileged object. In mengirimkan surat kepada Rina, the theme surat is object; in mengirimi Rina surat, recipient Rina is object. In memasukkan barang ke kotak, the moving barang is object; in memenuhi kotak dengan barang, affected container kotak is object. Voice, relativization, clitic placement, and information structure reveal these relations more reliably than English translations do.

This page focuses on arguments and order. Formation, discourse choice, aspect, and advanced restrictions remain on the other four pages of the comparison series.

Actor voice: the first postverbal noun is privileged

The neutral template is:

actor subject + meN-base-suffix + selected object + other participant

Dimas mengirimkan surat resmi kepada Rina tadi pagi.

Dimas sent an official letter to Rina this morning.

Dimas mengirimi Rina surat resmi tadi pagi.

Dimas sent Rina an official letter this morning.

Petugas memasukkan barang rapuh ke kotak berlapis busa.

The officer puts fragile goods into a foam-lined box.

Petugas memenuhi kotak berlapis busa itu dengan barang rapuh.

The officer fills that foam-lined box with fragile goods.

Dimas and petugas are actor subjects throughout. Suffix choice changes the object: letter versus recipient, moving goods versus affected box. Kepada Rina, ke kotak, and dengan barang retain prepositions because those participants are not the selected objects of those particular frames.

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Separate grammatical relation from semantic role: an object may be a theme, recipient, or container. “Object” never means “the thing” by definition.

Passive promotes the selected object

Attached di- replaces actor-voice meN- and promotes the participant selected by the derived stem.

Surat resmi itu dikirimkan kepada Rina oleh Dimas.

The official letter was sent to Rina by Dimas.

Rina dikirimi surat resmi oleh Dimas pada pagi yang sama.

Rina was sent an official letter by Dimas that same morning.

Barang rapuh itu dimasukkan petugas ke kotak berlapis busa.

The fragile goods were put by the officer into a foam-lined box.

Kotak berlapis busa itu dipenuhi petugas dengan barang rapuh.

The foam-lined box was filled by the officer with fragile goods.

The passive subjects are surat, Rina, barang, and kotak. Swapping them without changing the verb produces a different or impossible role assignment.

A short agent may directly follow the passive verb; a long or delayed agent favors oleh.

Paket itu dikirimkan kurir pada sore hari.

The package was sent by the courier in the afternoon.

Semua pelanggan dikirimi pesan kemarin oleh tim layanan dari kantor pusat.

All customers were sent a message yesterday by the service team from headquarters.

The agent remains the actor, not another object. Locative di is separate in di kantor, while passive di- is attached in dikirimkan and dikirimi.

Relativization confirms object selection

Actor heads retain actor voice:

Pegawai yang mengirimkan surat kepada Rina bekerja di bagian hukum.

The employee who sent the letter to Rina works in the legal department.

Pegawai yang mengirimi Rina surat bekerja di bagian hukum.

The employee who sent Rina a letter works in the legal department.

Selected-object heads use passive or pronoun-agent object voice:

Surat yang dikirimkan kepada Rina sudah ditandatangani direktur.

The letter sent to Rina has been signed by the director.

Rina, yang dikirimi surat oleh bagian hukum, segera membalas.

Rina, who was sent a letter by the legal department, replied immediately.

Barang yang kami masukkan ke kotak itu mudah pecah.

The goods we put into that box are fragile.

Kotak yang kami penuhi dengan barang rapuh diberi label merah.

The box we filled with fragile goods was given a red label.

Kotak yang kami masukkan barang is not a valid way to make the goal the object of memasukkan. Use a tempat relative or select memenuhi if the container's affected state is intended.

Kotak tempat kami memasukkan barang itu disimpan di ruang belakang.

The box into which we put the goods is kept in the back room.

Pronoun-agent object voice preserves the suffix

When a first- or second-person actor appears in object voice, the selected object comes first, followed by the pronoun and the derived stem without meN-.

Surat itu sudah saya kirimkan kepada Rina.

I have sent that letter to Rina.

Rina sudah saya kirimi surat pemberitahuan.

I have sent Rina a notification letter.

Barang ini harus kamu masukkan ke kotak pendingin.

You must put these goods into the cooler box.

Kotak pendingin itu perlu kamu penuhi dengan botol air.

You need to fill that cooler box with bottles of water.

Do not retain meN- after saya/kamu in this frame. The suffix remains because voice changes, but lexical valency does not: saya kirimkan, saya kirimi, kamu masukkan, kamu penuhi.

Full nouns, pronouns, and omitted arguments

Transfer with -kan

Laras mengirimkan undangan digital kepada Pak Arman.

Laras sends a digital invitation to Mr. Arman. (full nouns)

Dia mengirimkannya kepada beliau lewat surel.

She sends it to him by email. (actor and theme pronouns)

A: Undangannya bagaimana? B: Sudah dikirimkan kepada Pak Arman.

A: What about the invitation? B: It has been sent to Mr. Arman. (actor omitted)

Transfer with -i

Laras mengirimi Pak Arman undangan digital.

Laras sends Mr. Arman a digital invitation. (full nouns)

Dia mengiriminya undangan melalui surel kantor.

She sends him an invitation through the office email. (recipient clitic)

A: Pak Arman sudah diberi kabar? B: Sudah dikirimi undangan.

A: Has Mr. Arman been informed? B: He has been sent an invitation. (actor omitted)

In mengirimkannya, attached -nya is the theme. In mengiriminya undangan, it is the recipient; the following undangan makes that reading clear.

Moving theme and affected container

Nadia memasukkan semua buku ke kardus besar.

Nadia puts all the books into a large box. (full object)

Nadia memasukkannya ke kardus besar satu per satu.

Nadia puts them into a large box one by one. (theme pronoun)

A: Buku-bukunya di mana? B: Sudah dimasukkan ke kardus besar.

A: Where are the books? B: They have been put into a large box. (actor omitted)

Nadia memenuhi kardus besar itu dengan buku-buku lama.

Nadia fills that large box with old books. (container object)

Nadia memenuhinya dengan buku yang akan disumbangkan.

Nadia fills it with books that will be donated. (container pronoun)

A: Kardus besarnya masih kosong? B: Sudah dipenuhi buku lama.

A: Is the large box still empty? B: It has been filled with old books. (actor omitted)

Omission is licensed by context; it does not collapse the suffix contrast.

Changed order means changed information structure

Indonesian does not freely swap recipient and theme after the same verb. It changes suffix, voice, or prepositional framing.

Surat itu dikirimkan kepada Rina, lalu disimpan di meja kerjanya.

The letter was sent to Rina and then kept on her desk.

Rina dikirimi surat, lalu diminta menghubungi kantor pusat.

Rina was sent a letter and then asked to contact headquarters.

The first continues to track the letter; the second tracks Rina. Likewise:

Barang-barang itu dimasukkan ke kotak, lalu dibawa ke gudang.

The goods were put into a box and then taken to the warehouse.

Kotak itu dipenuhi barang, lalu ditutup dengan pita perekat.

The box was filled with goods and then sealed with tape.

Topic continuity supports the object selection diagnosed by morphology.

Valency limits prevent mechanical pairing

Some derivatives do not alternate or differ lexically.

Kami mendatangi kantor cabang untuk meminta penjelasan.

We visit the branch office to ask for an explanation.

Manajer mendatangkan teknisi dari kantor cabang.

The manager brings in a technician from the branch office.

Kantor cabang is the visited goal of mendatangi; teknisi is the caused-moving object of mendatangkan. The pair is licensed, but it is not a free reordering of identical participants.

Staf membersihkan lemari arsip sebelum pemeriksaan.

The staff clean the filing cabinet before the inspection.

There is no ordinary partner membersihi lemari; lexical evidence must precede structural analysis.

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Voice tests confirm a licensed frame; they cannot license a derivative that Indonesian does not have.

Common Mistakes

Promoting the recipient with dikirimkan

❌ Rina dikirimkan surat oleh Dimas kemarin.

Incorrect in the target contrast — recipient Rina requires recipient-oriented dikirimi.

✅ Rina dikirimi surat oleh Dimas kemarin pagi.

Rina was sent a letter by Dimas yesterday morning.

Promoting the theme with dikirimi

❌ Surat itu dikirimi kepada Rina oleh Dimas.

Incorrect — dikirimi selects a recipient as its passive subject.

✅ Surat itu dikirimkan kepada Rina oleh Dimas melalui kurir.

The letter was sent to Rina by Dimas through a courier.

Making the goal the object of memasukkan

❌ Kotak itu kami masukkan barang rapuh kemarin.

Incorrect — the object of memasukkan must be the moving theme.

✅ Kotak itu kami penuhi dengan barang rapuh kemarin.

We filled that box with fragile goods yesterday.

Retaining meN- after a pronominal object-voice actor

❌ Barang itu sudah kami memasukkan ke gudang.

Incorrect object voice — remove meN- after kami.

✅ Barang itu sudah kami masukkan ke gudang belakang.

We have put those goods into the rear warehouse.

Separating clitics and joining locative di

❌ Rina sudah saya kirimi nya dikantor.

Incorrect spelling — -nya attaches, while locative di is separate.

✅ Rina sudah saya kirimi undangannya di kantor.

I have sent Rina the invitation at the office.

Key Takeaways

Actor voice keeps the actor as subject; suffix choice selects theme, recipient, moving object, or affected container.
Passive and pronoun-agent object voice promote that selected object without deleting -kan or -i.
Relativization and topic continuity confirm the participant mapping.
Attached -nya may represent a theme, recipient, or container according to the lexical frame.
Changed order requires a licensed suffix, voice, or prepositional alternation—not free swapping based on English labels.

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