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Questions & Answers about Saya suka matematika.
What is suka, and why doesn’t it change form for different subjects?
suka is a verb meaning to like. In Indonesian, verbs are not conjugated for person, number, or tense—they remain the same whether the subject is I, you, we, or they. You indicate time with adverbs (e.g., sudah for past, akan for future) rather than changing the verb ending.
What does saya mean and when should I use aku instead?
saya is the polite/formal pronoun for I and is safe in any context—formal, business, or with strangers. aku is informal and used among close friends, family, or people your own age. Using aku in a formal meeting or with an elder may sound too familiar or disrespectful.
Why is there no article like the or a before matematika?
Indonesian does not use definite or indefinite articles. Nouns stand alone: rumah can mean a house or the house, depending on context. So Saya suka matematika naturally covers both I like math and I like the math.
How do I make the sentence negative, as in I don’t like math?
Place tidak before the verb:
Saya tidak suka matematika.This translates to . If you wanted to negate the noun, you’d put before the entire predicate, but here it simply negates .