Questions & Answers about Dia memakai baju biru di pesta tadi malam.
Does Dia mean “he” or “she”? How do I make the gender clear?
Indonesian third-person singular pronouns don’t mark gender, so dia can mean either “he” or “she.” To clarify gender, use context or add a word:
- Neutral/descriptive: dia laki-laki (male), dia perempuan (female), pria itu, wanita itu.
- Casual: cowok itu, cewek itu.
- Respectful for elders/important people: beliau. Note: ia is a more formal/written variant of dia (mostly as a subject). You’d say Ia memakai… but usually not use ia after prepositions; there you use dia or the clitic -nya (e.g., kepadanya).
Is memakai the same as pakai or mengenakan? Which sounds most natural for clothing?
- pakai: very common in everyday speech. Example: Dia pakai baju biru…
- memakai: a bit more neutral/formal than plain pakai. Your sentence is perfectly natural.
- mengenakan: more formal/literary/news style, often used specifically for clothing. Example: Dia mengenakan baju biru…
- Avoid menggunakan for clothes; it means “to use” and sounds odd with garments.
Why is it memakai and not “mengpakai”? What happened to the “p”?