-i: Meanings and Derivational Network | Indonesian Grammar

The suffix -i typically makes a location or target the direct object of a verb. That target may be a physical place approached, a recipient supplied with something, a container filled, a surface marked, or an entity affected repeatedly. This object-remapping insight is more reliable than any fixed English translation, because English distributes the same relationships across prepositions, word order, and unrelated verbs. The -i formation page explains the stem and voice boundaries used below.

The target-as-object principle

Compare datang ke kantor “come to the office” with mendatangi kantor “visit/approach the office.” In the base construction, kantor follows the preposition ke. In the -i derivative, the office is the direct object. The suffix therefore changes syntax as well as vocabulary.

Mereka datang ke kantor kami sebelum pukul delapan.

They came to our office before eight.

Mereka mendatangi kantor kami untuk meminta penjelasan.

They visited our office to ask for an explanation.

Air mengalir ke sawah melalui saluran kecil.

Water flows to the rice field through a small channel.

Saluran kecil itu mengaliri sawah selama musim kemarau.

That small channel supplies the rice field with water during the dry season.

The direct object is not necessarily changed physically. An office can simply be approached, while a rice field is supplied across its area. “Target” is deliberately broad enough to cover both.

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After an -i verb, first ask what the direct object is a target of: motion, transfer, application, contact, attention, or repeated action. That relation usually reveals the derivative's core meaning.

A root-family map

The four required families show how -i remaps different base relationships.

Base expression	-i expression	Object selected by -i
Formulir itu berisi data	Petugas mengisi formulir	container/field receiving content
datang ke rumah warga	mendatangi rumah warga	goal approached
mengirim paket kepada Rina	mengirimi Rina paket	recipient supplied
memberi tanda pada kotak	menandai kotak	item receiving a mark

Petugas mengisi formulir itu dengan data dari paspor.

The officer fills the form with data from the passport.

Tim medis mendatangi rumah warga yang sulit berjalan.

The medical team visits the home of a resident who has difficulty walking.

Saya mengirimi Rina salinan semua kuitansi.

I send Rina copies of all the receipts.

Editor menandai kalimat yang perlu diperjelas.

The editor marks the sentences that need clarification.

The meaning of the base remains essential. Isi contributes content, datang approach or arrival, kirim transfer, and tanda a mark. -I does not itself mean “fill,” “visit,” “send,” or “mark”; it makes the relevant container, goal, recipient, or marked entity structurally central.

Locations and goals as direct objects

Motion and posture bases frequently develop location-oriented derivatives. Memasuki ruangan makes the room the goal entered; menduduki kursi makes the chair or position the place occupied; mengelilingi kota makes the city the entity encircled; mendekati pintu makes the door the endpoint approached.

Para tamu memasuki ruangan melalui pintu samping.

The guests enter the room through the side door.

Ia menduduki kursi dekat pintu keluar.

She occupies the seat near the exit.

Jalan lingkar baru mengelilingi pusat kota.

The new ring road circles the city center.

Jangan mendekati tepi tebing saat angin kencang.

Do not approach the cliff edge when the wind is strong.

English sometimes uses no preposition (enter the room), sometimes a particle (sit in the chair), and sometimes a preposition (go around the city). None of those English forms directly predicts -i. The Indonesian lexical family decides whether the location becomes an object.

Recipients as direct objects

With transfer-like bases, -i often promotes the recipient. In mengirimi Rina paket, Rina immediately follows the verb as the recipient-object, while paket expresses what is transferred. Similar patterns occur with meminjami seseorang uang “lend someone money” and menawari tamu minuman “offer guests a drink.” The unsuffixed but syntactically similar memberi anak hadiah “give a child a gift” shows that recipient-first order is not proof of -i by itself.

Bank mengirimi nasabah pemberitahuan tentang perubahan biaya.

The bank sends customers a notice about the fee change. (formal)

Tono meminjami saya sepeda selama dua hari.

Tono lends me a bicycle for two days.

Tuan rumah menawari para tamu teh hangat.

The host offers the guests warm tea.

Panitia memberi setiap peserta tanda pengenal.

The committee gives every participant an identification badge.

Contrast recipient-oriented mengirimi Rina paket with theme-oriented mengirimkan paket kepada Rina. Both describe transfer, but they choose a different first object.

Saya mengirimi Dimas foto hasil pemeriksaan.

I send Dimas a photo of the test result.

Saya mengirimkan foto hasil pemeriksaan kepada Dimas.

I send a photo of the test result to Dimas.

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For transfer verbs, track the noun immediately after the verb. -I often puts the recipient there; -kan commonly keeps the transferred theme there and expresses the recipient with kepada.

Applying material or a property to a target

With noun and property bases, -i can mean supply, cover, or affect the object with what the base denotes. Mewarnai gambar applies color to a picture, memagari kebun supplies a fence around a garden, meminyaki engsel applies oil to a hinge, and memenuhi kolam dengan air brings fullness to the pool.

Anak-anak mewarnai gambar hewan laut.

The children color pictures of sea animals.

Pemilik memagari kebun dengan kawat.

The owner fences the garden with wire.

Teknisi meminyaki engsel yang mulai berderit.

The technician oils the hinge that has begun to squeak.

Hujan semalam memenuhi kolam penampung.

Last night's rain filled the holding pond.

The added material may follow dengan, while the location or target remains the direct object: meminyaki engsel dengan pelumas, mengisi botol dengan air. English often makes the material the verb's semantic center (“oil”) but does not mark the target relationship morphologically.

Repeated and distributed application

Many -i verbs invite a repeated, distributed, or extensive reading because the action is applied across a target or to multiple parts. Menulisi dinding suggests writing over the wall, memukuli seseorang repeated blows, mencabuti rumput pulling weeds one after another, and menanami lahan planting across an area.

Seseorang menulisi dinding belakang dengan cat merah.

Someone covered the back wall with red writing.

Massa memukuli kendaraan itu dengan tongkat.

The crowd struck the vehicle repeatedly with sticks.

Kami mencabuti rumput liar di sekitar tanaman cabai.

We pull out the weeds one by one around the chili plants.

Petani menanami lahan itu dengan jagung dan kacang tanah.

The farmer plants corn and peanuts across the field.

Repetition is a tendency, not an invariant meaning of -i. Menandai satu kotak can be one mark, mengisi satu kolom one bounded action, and mendatangi satu rumah one visit. The base's event type, the extent of the object, plurality, and context create the iterative reading together.

Saya hanya menandai satu jawaban.

I marked only one answer.

Petugas mendatangi rumah itu satu kali saja.

The officer visited that house only once.

Polysemy and lexicalized extensions

Target orientation supports extensions, but frequent words acquire conventional meanings. Mengisi can mean fill a container, complete a form, occupy a position, fill time, or contribute to a program. Menandai can mean make a visible mark or signal the beginning of a period. The target relationship persists abstractly, but translation changes.

Direktur baru akan mengisi jabatan itu mulai bulan depan.

The new director will fill that position starting next month. (formal)

Kami mengisi waktu dengan bermain kartu.

We pass the time by playing cards.

Penyanyi lokal akan mengisi acara penutupan.

A local singer will perform at the closing event.

Kesepakatan itu menandai berakhirnya sengketa panjang.

The agreement marks the end of a long dispute. (formal)

Other families are less transparently compositional. Mengetahui means “know/find out,” mengatasi “overcome/deal with,” menghadapi “face/deal with,” menghargai “value/appreciate/respect,” and memenuhi can mean “meet” a requirement. These must be learned with their objects and collocations.

Kami belum mengetahui penyebab gangguan tersebut.

We do not yet know the cause of the disruption. (formal)

Pemerintah daerah berusaha mengatasi kekurangan air bersih.

The local government is trying to address the shortage of clean water. (formal)

Semua pelamar harus memenuhi persyaratan administrasi.

All applicants must meet the administrative requirements. (formal)

The contrast between menerangi “illuminate” and lexicalized menerangkan “explain/clarify” is a useful warning: related -i and -kan forms can diverge sharply.

Lampu kecil itu menerangi seluruh lorong.

That small lamp illuminates the entire corridor.

Petugas menerangkan prosedur pengajuan izin.

The officer explains the permit application procedure.

Voice preserves the target mapping

Active mengirimi, passive dikirimi, imperative kirimi, and object voice saya kirimi all keep the recipient-oriented stem. Voice changes the clause's perspective, not which lexical argument pattern the suffix makes available.

Perusahaan mengirimi pelanggan kode verifikasi.

The company sends customers verification codes.

Pelanggan dikirimi kode verifikasi melalui SMS.

Customers are sent verification codes by text message.

Pelanggan itu akan kami kirimi kode baru.

We will send that customer a new code.

Common Mistakes

Retaining a preposition before the derived direct object

❌ Tim itu mendatangi ke lokasi longsor.

Incorrect — lokasi longsor is already the direct object of mendatangi.

✅ Tim itu mendatangi lokasi longsor.

The team visits the landslide site.

Putting the transferred theme after recipient-oriented -i

❌ Saya mengirimi paket kepada Rina.

Incorrect for the intended transfer frame — mengirimi expects the recipient as its first object.

✅ Saya mengirimi Rina paket.

I send Rina a package.

✅ Saya mengirimkan paket kepada Rina.

I send a package to Rina.

Assuming -i always means repetition

❌ Karena memakai -i, menandai satu kotak harus berarti memberi banyak tanda.

Incorrect interpretation — -i does not force repetition in every family.

✅ Saya menandai satu kotak dengan satu tanda centang.

I mark one box with one check mark.

Choosing -kan when the goal should be the object

❌ Para tamu memasukkan gedung melalui pintu timur.

Incorrect for ‘enter the building’ — memasukkan requires a separate theme caused to enter.

✅ Para tamu memasuki gedung melalui pintu timur.

The guests enter the building through the east door.

Reading a lexicalized derivative literally

❌ Saya mengatasi buku itu berarti saya menaruhnya di atas sesuatu.

Incorrect interpretation — mengatasi conventionally means ‘overcome/deal with.’

✅ Saya mengatasi masalah itu dengan meminta bantuan.

I deal with the problem by asking for help.

Key Takeaways

-I commonly makes a location, goal, recipient, surface, or repeatedly affected entity the direct object.
The base supplies the event; the suffix remaps its target rather than contributing one fixed English word.
Recipient-oriented -i and theme-oriented -kan often contrast through the noun immediately after the verb.
Repeated or distributed readings are common but arise jointly from the suffix, base, object, and context.
Productive target orientation coexists with lexicalized meanings such as mengetahui, mengatasi, and menghargai.
Voice morphology preserves the derived role pattern.

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