Indonesian argument roles cannot be read from linear order alone. In Rina membaca buku itu, Rina is actor subject and the book is object. In Buku itu dibaca Rina, the book is patient subject and Rina a postverbal agent. In Buku itu saya baca, the book is the patient pivot while saya is the pronominal actor immediately before a bare verb. Voice morphology, relative-clause accessibility, and discourse continuity jointly diagnose those relations.
This page concentrates on arguments and order. The system overview introduces the forms; separate pages handle discourse choice, aspect or negation, and advanced text organization.
Actor voice: actor subject, postverbal object
The neutral transitive pattern is actor subject + meN-verb + object.
Rina membaca buku geografi di kereta pagi.
Rina reads a geography book on the morning train.
Damar menulis catatan pada halaman kosong.
Damar writes a note on a blank page.
Petugas mengembalikan buku itu ke rak referensi.
The officer returns the book to the reference shelf.
The actor subject can remain understood across coordinated predicates.
Rina menemukan buku itu, membawanya ke meja, lalu membacanya.
Rina finds the book, takes it to a table, then reads it.
The omitted subjects of membawanya and membacanya are Rina. Attached -nya represents the book as object.
An actor head is accessible to a yang relative while actor voice remains:
Pembaca yang membawa buku itu ke meja adalah Rina.
The reader who carries the book to the table is Rina.
Siapa yang membaca buku geografi di kereta?
Who is reading the geography book on the train?
These diagnostics identify Rina or siapa as the actor-voice subject, not merely as the first noun phrase.
di- passive: patient subject and postverbal agent
The neutral pattern is patient subject + di-verb + optional agent.
Buku geografi itu dibaca Rina di kereta pagi.
The geography book is read by Rina on the morning train.
Catatan itu ditulis Damar pada halaman kosong.
The note is written by Damar on a blank page.
Buku tersebut dikembalikan petugas ke rak referensi.
The book is returned by the officer to the reference shelf.
The patient can continue across passive predicates:
Buku itu ditemukan Rina, dibawa ke meja, lalu dibaca sampai selesai.
The book is found by Rina, carried to a table, then read to the end.
The book is the understood subject of dibawa and dibaca. Rina remains actor only in the first clause; agent omission does not create a new subject.
A patient head is accessible in a relative:
Buku yang dibaca Rina di kereta itu sudah langka.
The book Rina reads on the train is now rare.
Apa yang dikembalikan petugas ke rak referensi?
What did the officer return to the reference shelf?
The postverbal actor is not an object. In Buku itu dibaca Rina, Rina does the reading; voice has demoted the actor syntactically without reversing semantic roles.
Agent expression: adjacency, oleh, and -nya
A short third-person name or noun can immediately follow the passive verb.
Laporan itu dibaca Nadia sebelum rapat.
The report is read by Nadia before the meeting.
If an adjunct intervenes, oleh clearly introduces the delayed agent. A long agent also favors oleh, especially in formal prose.
Laporan itu dibaca sebelum rapat oleh seluruh anggota tim hukum.
The report is read before the meeting by every member of the legal team. (formal)
Keputusan tersebut ditandatangani oleh ketua dan dua orang saksi.
The decision is signed by the chair and two witnesses. (formal)
Third-person agent -nya attaches to the passive verb in compact narration.
Novel itu dibacanya sampai lewat tengah malam.
He/She read the novel until after midnight. (written narrative)
Catatan tersebut ditulisnya dengan pensil.
He/She wrote the note in pencil. (written narrative)
Write dibacanya, ditulisnya solidly. This agent clitic differs from object -nya in actor voice membacanya.
Object voice: patient pivot and pronominal actor
With a first- or second-person pronominal actor, the patient normally precedes the pronoun and the verb has no meN- prefix.
Buku geografi itu saya baca di kereta pagi.
I read that geography book on the morning train.
Catatan ini perlu kamu tulis pada halaman baru.
You need to write this note on a new page.
Buku tersebut akan kami kembalikan ke rak referensi.
We will return that book to the reference shelf.
The pronoun and bare verb form a tight unit. Aspect or modal markers normally precede the pronoun: sudah saya baca, perlu kamu tulis, akan kami kembalikan.
Short clitics ku- and kau- attach to the verb:
Buku itu kubaca dua kali selama liburan.
I read that book twice during the holiday.
Alamat ini kautulis terlalu dekat dengan tepi kertas.
You wrote this address too close to the edge of the paper. (careful/literary)
Ku- is common in written narrative and some speech; kau- is more marked and often literary/careful. Full saya/kamu + root is broadly useful.
Linguistic analyses differ over whether the preverbal patient in every object-voice clause should be called a grammatical subject or a privileged pivot distinct from subject. For learners, the robust facts are more important than the label: it precedes the pronominal actor, controls topic continuity, and is the natural relative-clause head.
Buku yang saya baca di kereta itu memuat peta lama.
The book I read on the train contains an old map.
Catatan yang kamu tulis tadi sulit dibaca.
The note you wrote earlier is difficult to read.
Full nouns, pronouns, and omitted arguments
Actor-centered series
Rina membaca buku referensi itu setelah makan siang.
Rina reads that reference book after lunch. (full nouns)
Dia membacanya di meja pojok.
She reads it at the corner table. (pronouns)
A: Rina masih di perpustakaan? B: Masih membaca.
A: Is Rina still at the library? B: She's still reading. (object omitted)
Third-person patient-centered series
Buku referensi itu dibaca Rina setelah makan siang.
That reference book is read by Rina after lunch. (full nouns)
Buku itu dibacanya di meja pojok.
She reads the book at the corner table. (patient noun plus agent clitic)
A: Bagaimana bukunya? B: Sudah dibaca sampai akhir.
A: What about the book? B: It has been read to the end. (agent omitted)
First-person patient-centered series
Buku referensi itu saya baca setelah makan siang.
I read that reference book after lunch. (full patient and pronoun actor)
Buku itu kubaca di meja pojok.
I read the book at the corner table. (clitic actor)
A: Buku referensinya sudah kamu baca? B: Sudah saya baca sampai akhir.
A: Have you read the reference book? B: I have read it to the end. (patient omitted in the answer)
Omission relies on the discourse model. The missing participant retains its role; it does not convert one voice into another.
Frame setters and changed order
Adjuncts can precede any voice pattern without changing core arguments.
Di kereta pagi, Rina membaca buku geografi itu.
On the morning train, Rina reads that geography book.
Di kereta pagi, buku geografi itu dibaca Rina.
On the morning train, that geography book is read by Rina.
Di kereta pagi, buku geografi itu saya baca sampai selesai.
On the morning train, I read that geography book to the end.
Locative di kereta pagi is a frame-setting prepositional phrase. The actor and patient relations still come from meN-, di-, or pronoun-plus-root order.
Valency decides which patient can become pivot
Suffixes such as -kan and -i can select different objects before voice applies.
Perusahaan mengirimkan kartu baru kepada pelanggan.
The company sends a new card to the customer.
Kartu baru itu dikirimkan kepada pelanggan.
The new card is sent to the customer.
Perusahaan mengirimi pelanggan kartu baru.
The company sends the customer a new card.
Pelanggan itu dikirimi kartu baru.
The customer is sent a new card.
-Kan selects the transferred theme kartu baru; -i selects recipient pelanggan. Passive voice promotes the object licensed by the derived stem. Voice cannot promote a participant the lexical frame has left inside a prepositional phrase.
Five-sentence argument retelling
Full third-person actors
Rina menemukan sebuah buku catatan di bawah meja.
Rina finds a notebook under the table.
Rina menunjukkan buku itu kepada pustakawan.
Rina shows the book to the librarian.
Pustakawan memeriksa nama pemiliknya.
The librarian checks the owner's name.
Pustakawan membaca buku itu dengan hati-hati.
The librarian reads the book carefully.
Pustakawan menyimpan buku itu di lemari barang temuan.
The librarian stores the book in the lost-property cabinet.
Patient continuity with di-
Buku catatan itu ditemukan Rina di bawah meja.
The notebook is found by Rina under the table.
Buku itu ditunjukkan kepada pustakawan.
The book is shown to the librarian.
Nama pemiliknya diperiksa dengan teliti.
Its owner's name is checked carefully.
Buku itu dibaca oleh pustakawan.
The book is read by the librarian.
Buku itu kemudian disimpan di lemari barang temuan.
The book is then stored in the lost-property cabinet.
Patient continuity with first-person object voice
Buku catatan itu saya temukan di bawah meja.
I found the notebook under the table.
Buku itu saya tunjukkan kepada pustakawan.
I showed the book to the librarian.
Nama pemiliknya saya periksa bersama petugas.
I checked its owner's name with an officer.
Buku itu saya baca dengan hati-hati.
I read the book carefully.
Buku itu kemudian saya simpan di lemari barang temuan.
I then stored the book in the lost-property cabinet.
The actors and patients keep their semantic roles across all three versions. Morphology and information structure change which participant is privileged.
Common Mistakes
Calling a postverbal di- agent an object
❌ Dalam kalimat “Buku itu dibaca Rina”, Rina adalah benda yang dibaca.
Incorrect analysis — Rina is the reader and passive agent.
✅ Buku itu dibaca Rina di meja dekat jendela.
Rina reads the book at the table near the window.
Retaining meN- in object voice
❌ Buku itu sudah saya membaca dua kali.
Incorrect — first-person object voice uses saya plus the bare root.
✅ Buku itu sudah saya baca dua kali tahun ini.
I have read that book twice this year.
Putting aspect after the object-voice verb
❌ Novel itu saya baca sudah sampai tamat.
Incorrect neutral order — sudah precedes the pronominal actor and bare verb.
✅ Novel itu sudah saya baca sampai tamat.
I have read that novel to the end.
Promoting the wrong participant after -i
❌ Kartu itu dikirimi kepada pelanggan kemarin.
Incorrect — dikirimi selects a recipient subject, not the transferred card.
✅ Pelanggan itu dikirimi kartu pengganti kemarin.
The customer was sent a replacement card yesterday.
Separating the passive prefix or agent clitic
❌ Buku itu di baca nya diruang depan.
Incorrect spelling — dibacanya is solid, while locative di ruang is separate.
✅ Buku itu dibacanya di ruang depan.
He/She read the book in the front room. (written narrative)
Key Takeaways
- Actor voice selects an actor subject and object; di- selects a patient subject and optional postverbal agent.
- Object voice privileges a patient while a first- or second-person actor immediately precedes a bare verb.
- Relative clauses, topic continuity, and morphology diagnose roles more reliably than surface order alone.
- Argument omission preserves recoverable roles, and frame-setting adjuncts do not become core arguments.
- Lexical valency and suffixes determine which participant is eligible for patient-oriented voice before discourse chooses the pivot.
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Start learning Indonesian →Related Topics
- Choosing Voice Across a Discourse: Overview and FormationB2 — See Indonesian voice as a system for tracking actors, patients, themes, and continuing topics across connected clauses.
- 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.
- Choosing Voice Across a Discourse: Aspect, Modality, and NegationC2 — Place Indonesian aspect, modal, and negative particles around actor voice, di- passive, object voice, and ter- while preserving pivot and scope.
- meN- Actor Voice: Subjects, Objects, and Argument OrderA2 — Identify actor-voice subjects and objects through verb morphology, position, omission, clitics, relativization, and voice alternations.
- di- Passive: Subjects, Objects, and Argument OrderA2 — Track patient subjects, demoted agents, remaining complements, pronouns, and word-order changes in Indonesian di- passive clauses.
- Object Voice with a Bare Verb: Subjects, Objects, and Argument OrderC1 — Track the patient pivot, preverbal pronominal actor, remaining complements, valency, and relativization in Indonesian object voice.