diper-: Valency, Lexicalization, and Register | Indonesian Grammar

Diper- allows a speaker or writer to keep an affected entity at the center of a causative event. Tim desain memperbesar logo begins with the causer; logo diperbesar tim desain begins with the item whose size changes. This is a change in grammatical viewpoint, not a change in the underlying participants.

This page explains valency, agent expression, aspect, competing constructions, lexicalized frames, and formal-colloquial choices. See diper- formation for word shape and diper- meaning for semantic networks. The neighboring memper- guides treat actor-oriented clauses.

Reversing the grammatical viewpoint

The transparent active-passive relationship is:

Viewpoint	Typical order	Example
actor-oriented	causer + memper-verb + affected entity	Editor memperbesar foto
patient-oriented	affected entity + diper-verb + optional causer	Foto diperbesar editor

Editor memperbesar foto itu untuk sampul majalah.

The editor enlarges that photograph for the magazine cover.

Foto itu diperbesar editor untuk sampul majalah.

That photograph is enlarged by the editor for the magazine cover.

Pemerintah daerah memperpanjang jalur bus sampai terminal baru.

The local government is extending the bus route to the new terminal.

Rute bus kota itu diperpanjang hingga kampus baru.

That city bus route is being extended to the new campus.

Petugas mempercepat pemeriksaan penumpang lanjut usia.

The officers expedite checks for elderly passengers.

Pemeriksaan penumpang lanjut usia dipercepat oleh petugas.

Checks for elderly passengers are expedited by the officers.

The diper- verb does not take a new direct object corresponding to the affected entity: that entity has already become the clause's subject or topic. A measure, endpoint, or other complement may still follow.

💡

To convert a transparent active clause, move the affected object to the front, change memper- to diper-, and place the third-person causer after the verb or omit it. Then check whether the discourse really benefits from a patient-first viewpoint.

Expressing or omitting the causer

A short third-person causer may follow the passive verb directly. Oleh is also available and becomes useful when the agent is long, coordinated, contrastive, or separated from the verb by other material.

Ruang rapat itu diperbesar pemilik gedung tahun lalu.

The building owner enlarged that meeting room last year.

Ruang rapat itu diperbesar oleh pemilik gedung setelah jumlah pegawai bertambah.

The meeting room was enlarged by the building owner after the number of employees increased.

Masa konsultasi diperpanjang oleh kementerian dan pemerintah daerah.

The consultation period is extended by the ministry and the local government. (formal)

When the causer is unknown, obvious, or irrelevant, leaving it unexpressed is often the most natural choice.

Pendaftaran diperpanjang sampai hari Senin.

Registration has been extended until Monday.

Akses ke ruang tunggu diperluas bulan depan.

Access to the waiting room will be expanded next month.

English learners sometimes add oleh mereka merely because an English passive contains by them. Indonesian readily leaves a recoverable agent unspoken.

First- and second-person agents favor object voice

With saya, kami, kita, kamu, and similar first- or second-person agents, Indonesian normally uses object voice: affected entity + agent + bare inner verb. The diper- passive is most natural with a third-person agent or no expressed agent.

Foto ini saya perbesar sedikit supaya wajahnya terlihat jelas.

I will enlarge this photo a little so that the face is clearly visible.

Masa sewanya akan kami perpanjang sampai akhir tahun.

We will extend the rental period until the end of the year.

Proses ini harus kamu percepat sebelum tenggat.

You must speed up this process before the deadline.

The heavier passive with oleh saya is possible when first-person agency is contrastive or institutionally explicit.

Perubahan tersebut diperiksa dan disetujui oleh saya sendiri selaku ketua tim.

The change was reviewed and approved by me personally as team leader. (formal)

For ordinary “I enlarged it,” however, foto itu saya perbesar is more idiomatic than foto itu diperbesar saya. See the object-voice overview for the wider pattern.

Aspect, modality, and negation remain separate

Indonesian does not inflect diperbesar for tense. Separate words locate or qualify the event: sudah completed, sedang ongoing, akan future, belum not yet, harus necessity, and dapat/bisa possibility.

Logo itu sudah diperbesar, tetapi warnanya belum diperbaiki.

The logo has already been enlarged, but its color has not yet been corrected.

Jalan utama sedang diperlebar di dekat pasar.

The main road is currently being widened near the market.

Kontrak tersebut akan diperpanjang setelah evaluasi selesai.

The contract will be extended after the evaluation is completed. (formal)

Pemeriksaan tidak boleh dipercepat dengan mengabaikan prosedur keselamatan.

The inspection must not be sped up by disregarding safety procedures.

These markers precede the passive verb. The prefix remains attached: akan diperpanjang, not akan di perpanjang.

Measure, endpoint, and domain complements

The affected dimension may be made explicit after the verb.

Ukuran huruf diperbesar menjadi delapan belas poin.

The font size is increased to eighteen points.

Pipa itu diperpanjang dua meter sampai melewati pagar.

The pipe is extended by two meters to pass beyond the fence.

Jadwal keberangkatan dipercepat dari pukul sembilan menjadi pukul tujuh.

The departure time is moved forward from nine o'clock to seven.

Cakupan bantuan diperluas ke keluarga yang kehilangan pekerjaan.

The scope of assistance is expanded to families who lost their jobs. (formal)

These complements do not alter voice. They specify the amount, endpoint, temporal shift, or domain of the change.

Diper- clauses inside noun phrases

A passive clause after yang can identify an entity through the change it underwent. Indonesian needs no participle ending comparable to English enlarged or extended.

Foto yang diperbesar itu terlihat agak buram.

The photograph that was enlarged looks slightly blurry.

Kontrak yang diperpanjang kemarin belum ditandatangani direktur.

The contract that was extended yesterday has not yet been signed by the director.

Prosedur yang dipercepat tetap harus memenuhi standar keselamatan.

The expedited procedure must still meet safety standards. (formal)

The passive phrase can also complement an event noun or appear under nominalization:

Keputusan bahwa tenggat akan diperpanjang diumumkan pagi ini.

The decision that the deadline would be extended was announced this morning. (formal)

Permintaan untuk memperbesar gambar itu datang dari bagian desain.

The request to enlarge the image came from the design department.

The second example deliberately uses active memperbesar after untuk because the requested action is presented without promoting a particular patient as clause topic. Voice remains a syntactic choice inside the noun phrase.

Competition with neighboring verbs

Diperbesar versus dibesarkan

Dibesarkan has lexical readings that diperbesar lacks, especially “be raised/brought up” for a child. With images, openings, capacity, or numerical magnitude, diperbesar is normally the precise choice.

Dia dibesarkan oleh neneknya di sebuah desa kecil.

She was raised by her grandmother in a small village.

Foto masa kecilnya diperbesar untuk pameran keluarga.

Her childhood photograph was enlarged for a family exhibition.

Diperpanjang versus dipanjangkan

Both can describe lengthening, with overlap. Dipanjangkan is comfortable for a directly manipulated physical object; diperpanjang is especially conventional with contracts, permits, deadlines, routes, and periods.

Lengan bajunya dipanjangkan dua sentimeter oleh penjahit.

The shirt sleeves were lengthened by two centimeters by the tailor.

Izin tinggalnya diperpanjang untuk enam bulan lagi.

Her residence permit was extended for another six months.

Diper- versus dibuat lebih

Dibuat lebih + adjective is an analytic alternative. It is especially useful when no compact derivative is established or when conversation favors a transparent phrase.

Pintu masuk dibuat lebih lebar agar kursi roda mudah lewat.

The entrance is made wider so that wheelchairs can pass easily.

Teksnya dibikin lebih besar saja biar Ibu gampang bacanya.

Just make the text bigger so Mom can read it easily. (informal)

The first phrase is neutral; dibikin and sentence-final conversational particles give the second a clearly (informal) tone.

Diper- versus spontaneous or stative predicates

Diperbesar evokes an externally caused event. Membesar centers on change without promoting an external causer; lebih besar simply compares degrees.

Bercak lembap di dinding itu makin membesar.

The damp patch on the wall keeps getting bigger.

Bercak itu diperbesar pada gambar agar kerusakannya terlihat jelas.

The patch is enlarged in the image so that the damage is clearly visible.

💡

Choose among membesar, lebih besar, and diperbesar by event structure: spontaneous change, comparison, or externally caused patient-oriented change.

Lexical families must be learned with their frames

Diperoleh usually takes the obtained item as subject and often adds a source with dari, melalui, or dengan. It is common in (formal) and (academic) prose; everyday speech often uses didapat or didapatkan.

Kesimpulan ini diperoleh dari analisis terhadap seratus sampel.

This conclusion was obtained from an analysis of one hundred samples. (academic)

Info itu aku dapat dari grup keluarga.

I got that information from the family group chat. (informal)

Diperalat normally has a negative, evaluative meaning “be exploited as a tool.” Diperistri is marked by gender and historical or literary register.

Warga khawatir tuntutan mereka akan diperalat untuk kampanye politik.

Residents worry that their demands will be exploited for a political campaign. (formal)

Dalam legenda tersebut, putri bungsu diperistri oleh seorang pangeran.

In that legend, the youngest princess is taken as wife by a prince. (literary)

Larger families such as diperlakukan, dipersatukan, and dipertimbangkan also contain suffixes and have conventional complements. Do not drop those suffixes or infer their entire behavior from a general diper- rule.

Setiap pengaduan akan dipertimbangkan secara terpisah.

Each complaint will be considered separately. (formal)

💡

Learn a lexical derivative together with its frame: diperoleh dari sumber, diperlakukan sebagai anggota, diperalat untuk kepentingan, and dipertimbangkan oleh panitia.

Formal compression and conversational paraphrase

Administrative prose often compresses several changes into coordinated diper- predicates:

Berdasarkan hasil evaluasi, kapasitas layanan akan diperbesar, masa operasional diperpanjang, dan proses verifikasi dipercepat.

Based on the evaluation, service capacity will be increased, the operating period extended, and the verification process accelerated. (formal)

A conversation can express the same three root meanings analytically:

Katanya tempatnya mau dibikin lebih besar, waktu bukanya ditambah, terus proses ceknya dibikin lebih cepat.

They say the place will be made bigger, its opening hours extended, and the checking process made faster. (informal)

Neither strategy is inherently more accurate. The compact coordination suits official prose; the analytic version matches casual rhythm. Standard diperbesar, diperpanjang, and dipercepat can still occur naturally in speech.

Ternyata batas waktunya diperpanjang sampai besok.

It turns out the deadline has been extended until tomorrow.

Bisa enggak prosesnya dipercepat sedikit?

Could the process be sped up a little? (informal)

Common Mistakes

1. Keeping the affected entity after the passive verb as an object

❌ Diperbesar editor foto itu untuk halaman depan.

Incorrect neutral order—the affected entity should be the passive subject before diperbesar.

✅ Foto itu diperbesar editor untuk halaman depan.

The editor enlarged that photograph for the front page.

2. Using diper- directly before an ordinary first-person agent

❌ Foto ini diperbesar saya nanti malam.

Awkward in ordinary usage—a first-person agent normally selects object voice.

✅ Foto ini akan saya perbesar nanti malam.

I will enlarge this photograph tonight.

3. Attaching a separate aspect word

❌ Kontraknya akandiperpanjang bulan depan.

Incorrect spelling—akan is a separate modality word.

✅ Kontraknya akan diperpanjang bulan depan.

The contract will be extended next month.

4. Using a passive causative for spontaneous change

❌ Antrean itu diperpanjang sendiri sampai ke luar gedung.

Poor choice if the queue simply grew longer without an external causer.

✅ Antrean itu memanjang sampai ke luar gedung.

The queue extends all the way outside the building.

5. Coining a passive derivative without an established active family

❌ Semua pegawai diperamah setelah mengikuti pelatihan.

Not an established way to say that the employees were made friendlier.

✅ Semua pegawai dibuat lebih ramah setelah mengikuti pelatihan.

All the employees were made friendlier after attending the training.

Key Takeaways

Diper- promotes the affected entity while leaving a third-person causer optional after the verb.
First- and second-person agents normally use object voice: foto itu saya perbesar, not ordinary foto itu diperbesar saya.
Aspect and modality are separate words: sudah diperbesar, akan diperpanjang, harus dipercepat.
Competitors divide labor by event structure and collocation: dibesarkan oleh nenek, diperbesar untuk dicetak, and dibuat lebih lebar.
Productive causative grammar coexists with lexical families whose complements, meanings, and register must be learned individually.

Now practice Indonesian

Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.

Start learning Indonesian →