Saya meminjamkan sepeda motor saya kepada teman saya.

I lend my motorcycle to my friend.

Breakdown of Saya meminjamkan sepeda motor saya kepada teman saya.

• saya: I
• teman: the friend
• sepeda motor: the motorcycle
• saya: my
• kepada: to
• meminjamkan: to lend

Questions & Answers about Saya meminjamkan sepeda motor saya kepada teman saya.

What’s the difference between meminjam and meminjamkan?

• meminjam means “to borrow.” It’s used when the subject is the one receiving something.
  Example: Saya meminjam buku dari perpustakaan. (“I borrow a book from the library.”)
• meminjamkan means “to lend.” It’s used when the subject gives something temporarily to someone else.
  Example: Saya meminjamkan sepeda motor saya kepada teman saya. (“I lend my motorcycle to my friend.”)

How do the meN- prefix and -kan suffix work in meminjamkan?

• The meN- prefix marks it as an active verb.
• The -kan suffix can turn a root verb into a causative or give/offer sense.
• Root: pinjam (loan/borrow)
• meminjam = “to borrow” (active)
• meminjamkan = “to lend/allow someone to borrow”

Why is saya used twice in “Saya meminjamkan sepeda motor saya kepada teman saya”?

• First saya is the subject pronoun: I.
• In sepeda motor saya, saya shows possession: my motorcycle.
• In teman saya, saya again shows possession: my friend.

Which are the direct and indirect objects in this sentence?

• Direct Object (DO): sepeda motor saya (“my motorcycle”) – the thing being lent.
• Indirect Object (IO): teman saya (“my friend”) – the recipient of the lending.

Why do we use kepada before teman saya? Can we omit it?

• kepada marks the indirect object (“to”).
• Omitting it (Saya meminjamkan sepeda motor saya teman saya) sounds unnatural or ambiguous.
• You can sometimes replace kepada with ke, but it’s less common with verbs like meminjamkan.

Can you swap the order of objects?

• In Indonesian, the DO usually comes before the IO.
• Swapping them to “Saya meminjamkan teman saya sepeda motor saya” is possible but awkward and less common.
• Stick to: Subject – Verb – Direct Object – Indirect Object.

Is there any shorter way to say this?

• You could drop one of the possessive saya if context is clear:
  Saya meminjamkan motor saya kepada teman.
• Or use a pronoun for the friend:
  Saya meminjamkan sepeda motor saya kepadanya.