Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Saya memiliki banyak buku di rumah.

memiliki is the formal verb for “to have” or “to possess,” derived from the root milik (“ownership”) with the meN- prefix. It’s more common in written or formal Indonesian. In everyday spoken language, you’d often use punya instead (e.g., Saya punya banyak buku di rumah).

Why doesn’t buku change form to signal plural “books”?

Indonesian nouns typically do not inflect for number. buku can mean “book” or “books.” Quantity is indicated by context or words like banyak. If you want to explicitly mark plurality, you can use reduplication (buku-buku), but it’s optional and often adds emphasis.

Why is banyak placed before buku rather than after?

In Indonesian, most quantifiers and adjectives come before the noun they modify. So banyak buku literally means “many books.” Placing it after the noun (like “books many”) would be ungrammatical.

What function does di rumah serve, and why is the preposition di used?

di rumah indicates location (“at home” or “in the house”). di is the preposition for physical locations in Indonesian and always precedes the noun. In standard writing, you keep di separate from the noun (not dirumah).

Could di rumah be moved to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Indonesian has relatively flexible word order for emphasis. You could say Di rumah, saya memiliki banyak buku to foreground the location. The neutral/default order remains Subject–Verb–Object–Adverbial: Saya memiliki banyak buku di rumah.

Why is the pronoun Saya used here, and can aku be used instead?

Saya is the polite or formal first-person pronoun, suitable for most contexts. aku is more informal or intimate, used among close friends or family. You can say Aku memiliki banyak buku di rumah, but it sounds more casual.

Could you omit memiliki and still express “I have many books at home”?

You can replace memiliki with punya: Saya punya banyak buku di rumah. But you can’t drop the verb entirely—Saya banyak buku is ungrammatical. Another alternative structure is Di rumah saya ada banyak buku (“In my house, there are many books”), using ada (“to exist”).

When should you use reduplication (buku-buku) instead of a quantifier like banyak?

Use reduplication (buku-buku) when you want to emphasize that you’re talking about books in general or a collection of books without focusing on exact quantity (e.g., buku-buku lama = “old books”). banyak buku stresses the large number, whereas buku-buku simply marks plural.