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Ibu memasak ayam tanpa saus pedas untuk nenek.

Ibu memasak ayam tanpa saus pedas untuk nenek.
Mother cooks chicken without spicy sauce for grandmother.
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Questions & Answers about Ibu memasak ayam tanpa saus pedas untuk nenek.

What does Ibu mean here—Mom, Mrs./Ma’am, or just “a woman”?
  • Ibu can mean:
    • Mom/Mother (a kinship term).
    • A respectful title like Ma’am/Mrs. (e.g., Ibu Sari).
    • A polite second-person pronoun (“you,” to an adult woman) in address.
  • In this sentence, it most naturally reads as Mom/Mother as the subject.
Why is Ibu capitalized but nenek isn’t? Should Nenek be capitalized too?
  • Words at the start of a sentence are capitalized anyway, so Ibu is capitalized here regardless.
  • Capitalize kinship terms when used as a name/form of address (e.g., Ibu “Mom,” Nenek “Grandma”).
  • If you mean them as common nouns, keep them lowercase (e.g., “a mother,” “a grandmother”).
  • So both are acceptable depending on intent: untuk Nenek (Grandma specifically) vs untuk nenek (for a grandmother).
What’s the basic structure of the sentence?
  • Indonesian is broadly SVO: Ibu (S) memasak (V) ayam (O).
  • Then two prepositional phrases: tanpa saus pedas (“without spicy sauce”) and untuk nenek (“for Grandma”).
  • Adjectives follow nouns: saus pedas = “spicy sauce.”
Does ayam mean chicken meat or a live chicken here?
  • Unmarked ayam usually means chicken (as food) in cooking contexts.
  • To specify a live/whole animal, use a classifier: seekor ayam (one chicken).
  • For pieces: sepotong/potongan ayam (a piece of chicken). For meat: daging ayam.
What’s the difference between memasak and masak?
  • memasak is the standard/neutral active verb “to cook” (meN- verb).
  • masak is the base form; commonly used in casual speech as a verb too.
  • You’ll hear both; memasak is more formal/complete; masak is everyday/colloquial.
How do I express tense (is cooking, cooked, will cook) in Indonesian?
  • Verbs don’t change for tense. Use time/aspect words:
    • Present/progressive: sedang (Ibu sedang memasak…)
    • Past: tadi/kemarin (Ibu tadi memasak…)
    • Future: akan/nanti (Ibu akan memasak…)
    • Habitual can be unmarked or with biasanya.
Is tanpa the right word for “without”? Can I use tidak instead?
  • Yes, tanpa means “without” and takes a noun phrase: tanpa saus pedas.
  • tidak negates verbs/adjectives, not nouns like this. Don’t say “tidak dengan saus pedas.”
  • A common colloquial alternative is tidak/enggak pakai/pake: nggak pake saus pedas.
Can I just say tanpa pedas to mean “non-spicy”?
  • Better options:
    • tidak pedas (“not spicy”) if describing the dish.
    • tanpa rasa pedas (“without the spicy taste”).
    • Or keep the original meaning: tanpa saus pedas (“without spicy sauce”), which targets the sauce specifically.
Why does pedas come after saus?
  • Adjectives follow nouns in Indonesian: saus pedas (“spicy sauce”), ayam goreng (“fried chicken”), kopi panas (“hot coffee”).
Do I need yang (as in saus yang pedas)?
  • Not required. saus pedas is a simple noun–adjective phrase (“spicy sauce” in general).
  • saus yang pedas is more specific/emphatic: “the sauce that is spicy” (e.g., distinguishing it from a non-spicy one already known in context).
Is saus pedas the same as sambal?
  • Not exactly.
    • saus pedas = any spicy sauce (including bottled chili sauce).
    • sambal = Indonesian chili paste/condiment (usually fresher, chunkier).
  • If the intent is specifically no chili paste, say tanpa sambal.
Can I move untuk nenek somewhere else in the sentence?
  • Yes, prepositional phrases are flexible:
    • Ibu memasak ayam untuk nenek tanpa saus pedas.
    • Untuk nenek, Ibu memasak ayam tanpa saus pedas.
  • Moving it changes emphasis slightly but not the core meaning.
Should I use untuk, buat, bagi, or kepada here?
  • For beneficiaries, use untuk (neutral) or buat (colloquial).
    • Ibu memasak … untuk/buat nenek.
  • bagi is formal/literary and less common in everyday speech here.
  • kepada marks recipients of directed actions (give/say) rather than “for”: use it with memberi/mengatakan, not with memasak.
Can I omit the subject or object if it’s clear from context?
  • Yes, Indonesian allows ellipsis.
    • If context is clear: Memasak ayam tanpa saus pedas untuk nenek. (Subject understood.)
    • Or drop the object if already known: Ibu memasak tanpa saus pedas untuk nenek.
How would the passive voice look?
  • Passive focuses on the object:
    • Ayam dimasak (oleh) Ibu tanpa saus pedas untuk nenek.
  • The agent oleh Ibu can be dropped if understood: Ayam dimasak tanpa saus pedas untuk nenek.
How do I specify quantities?
  • Whole chicken(s): seekor ayam, dua ekor ayam.
  • Pieces: sepotong/potong ayam, beberapa potong ayam.
  • Breast/leg: dada/paha ayam.
  • Generic meat: daging ayam.
Is the spelling saus correct? I’ve seen saos.
  • Standard Indonesian uses saus. You’ll see saos or sos informally or regionally, but saus is the recommended spelling.
What’s a natural casual rewrite of the sentence?
  • Colloquial Jakarta-style: Ibu masak ayam, nggak pake saus pedas, buat Nenek.
  • Even shorter among family: Bu masak ayam, nggak pedas, buat Nenek. (Using Bu as a clipped form of Ibu.)