Aspect, modality, and negation do not alter the internal form of mengirimkan, mengirimi, memasukkan, or memenuhi. Separate preverbal markers build the interpretation: sudah mengirimkan, sedang mengirimi, akan memasukkan, boleh memenuhi, tidak mengirimkan, belum mengirimi, and jangan memasukkan. Suffix choice continues to determine the object even as marker scope changes.
This page isolates marker behavior. For participant alignment see -kan versus -i arguments, and for the larger marker system see Aspect and Modality.
Minimal marker sequences
| Marker | -kan sequence | -i sequence |
|---|---|---|
| sudah | sudah mengirimkan surat kepada Rina | sudah mengirimi Rina surat |
| sedang | sedang memasukkan barang ke dalam kotak | sedang memenuhi kotak dengan barang |
| akan | akan mengirimkan surat kepada Rina | akan mengirimi Rina surat |
| boleh | boleh memasukkan barang ke dalam kotak | boleh memenuhi kotak dengan barang |
| tidak | tidak mengirimkan surat kepada Rina | tidak mengirimi Rina surat |
| belum | belum memasukkan barang ke dalam kotak | belum memenuhi kotak dengan barang |
| jangan | jangan masukkan barang ke dalam kotak | jangan penuhi kotak dengan barang |
Commands commonly use root-based masukkan and penuhi after jangan; full jangan memasukkan/memenuhi is also possible in formal rules. In every case the suffix remains attached.
Sudah and sedang with transfer events
Sudah presents the relevant sending event as achieved. It does not change which transfer participant is object.
Amir sudah mengirimkan surat itu kepada Rina melalui pos berdaftar.
Amir has sent that letter to Rina by registered post.
Amir sudah mengirimi Rina tiga pucuk surat sejak bulan Jun.
Amir has sent Rina three letters since June.
Sedang places the viewpoint inside an unfolding event. A single instantaneous dispatch may sound odd with a long progressive unless the context supplies preparation or transmission. Repeated recipient-centered correspondence works naturally.
Pegawai itu sedang mengirimkan fail digital kepada semua cawangan.
The officer is sending the digital files to all branches.
Bahagian khidmat pelanggan sedang mengirimi pemohon notis secara berperingkat.
The customer-service division is sending applicants notices in stages. (formal)
The progressive readings come from sedang and the extended context semua cawangan/secara berperingkat, not from a tense ending or -i itself.
Sudah and sedang with filling events
Sukarelawan sudah memasukkan semua bungkusan kecil ke dalam kotak.
The volunteers have put all the small packets into the box.
Sukarelawan sedang memenuhi kotak terakhir dengan selimut.
The volunteers are filling the final box with blankets.
The first can be complete even if the box remains partly empty; semua quantifies the packets. The second presents progressive change toward an affected full container. Sudah memenuhi kotak normally asserts that the relevant filling threshold or requirement has been reached.
Bekalan makanan itu sudah memenuhi kotak simpanan hingga ke bahagian atas.
The food supplies have filled the storage box to the top.
Stativity restricts sedang. In Perabot memenuhi ruang tamu, memenuhi can describe a relatively stable distribution “the furniture fills the living room.” Perabot sedang memenuhi ruang tamu requires a special dynamic construal, such as furniture progressively being brought in; otherwise simple memenuhi is more natural.
Akan and prospective alignment
Akan precedes the unchanged actor-voice verb. The suffix still predicts the future passive topic.
Universiti akan mengirimkan surat keputusan kepada Rina minggu hadapan.
The university will send the decision letter to Rina next week.
Universiti akan mengirimi setiap calon surat keputusan melalui e-mel.
The university will send every candidate a decision letter by email. (formal)
If later discourse follows surat keputusan, theme-centered -kan is efficient. If it follows setiap calon, recipient-centered -i is available. Future reference does not neutralize the discourse contrast.
Boleh and its scope
Boleh can mark ability, permission, or situational possibility. It takes scope over the suffixed event.
Pegawai boleh mengirimkan salinan itu kepada Rina selepas mendapat kelulusan.
The officer may send the copy to Rina after obtaining approval.
Satu kotak boleh dipenuhi dengan kira-kira dua puluh helai selimut.
One box can be filled with about twenty blankets.
The passive example keeps di- and -i within attached dipenuhi. Do not insert boleh inside the word. With an uncontrolled stative reading, boleh memenuhi expresses possibility (“can fill/occupy”), not permission.
Tidak, belum, and jangan
Tidak negates the event or state without an expectation of later completion.
Amir tidak mengirimkan surat itu kepada Rina kerana alamatnya salah.
Amir did not send the letter to Rina because the address was wrong.
Belum means that the event has not occurred yet and normally remains expected.
Amir belum mengirimi Rina surat balasan.
Amir has not sent Rina a reply yet.
The suffix still decides what would be object if the event occurred. Negation does not erase valency.
Jangan prohibits a controllable action:
Jangan masukkan botol kaca ke dalam kotak ini.
Do not put glass bottles into this box.
Jangan penuhi kotak itu dengan barang yang terlalu berat.
Do not fill that box with items that are too heavy.
Ordinary verbal negation takes tidak, not bukan. Bukan mengirimkan surat, tetapi mengirimi penerima notis secara terus is possible only as explicit metalinguistic or constituent contrast, not as a normal negative clause.
Marker order and layered scope
| Sequence | Meaning |
|---|---|
| sudah boleh mengirimkan | it has become possible/permitted to send |
| belum boleh mengirimkan | it is not yet possible/permitted to send |
| tidak akan mengirimi | will not send the recipient anything |
| sudah tidak memenuhi | no longer fills/meets |
| belum memenuhi | does not yet fill/meet |
Selepas akaun diaktifkan, pegawai sudah boleh mengirimkan dokumen sulit itu.
After the account was activated, the officer could finally send the confidential document.
Kotak yang rosak itu sudah tidak memenuhi syarat keselamatan.
That damaged box no longer meets the safety requirements.
Sudah tidak presents a transition into non-applicability; belum presents a threshold not yet reached. Reordering to boleh sudah or memenuhi belum is not an equivalent English-style auxiliary rearrangement.
Common Mistakes
1. Moving the marker after the verb
❌ Amir mengirimkan sudah surat itu kepada Rina.
Incorrect—sudah precedes the predicate.
✅ Amir sudah mengirimkan surat itu kepada Rina.
Amir has sent the letter to Rina.
2. Splitting the attached voice prefix
❌ Mereka sedang meng irimi pelanggan notis.
Incorrect—the actor-voice prefix is attached within mengirimi.
✅ Mereka sedang mengirimi pelanggan notis.
They are sending customers notices.
3. Using bukan for ordinary negation
❌ Dia bukan memasukkan barang ke dalam kotak.
Incorrect without contrast—ordinary event negation takes tidak.
✅ Dia tidak memasukkan barang ke dalam kotak.
She did not put the goods into the box.
4. Combining tidak and belum
❌ Kotak itu tidak belum dipenuhi.
Incorrect—belum already includes negation.
✅ Kotak itu belum dipenuhi.
The box has not been filled yet.
5. Letting negation switch the suffix frame
❌ Surat itu belum dikirimi kepada Rina.
Incorrect alignment—theme passive requires dikirimkan.
✅ Surat itu belum dikirimkan kepada Rina.
The letter has not been sent to Rina yet.
Key Takeaways
Place sudah, sedang, akan, boleh, tidak, and belum before the invariant suffixed predicate; use jangan with a controllable command. Marker scope creates completion, progression, prospect, possibility, or negation without changing the -kan theme object or -i recipient/location object. Stative readings can resist sedang, and layered marker order must remain semantically coherent.
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