Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dia memanggang ayam gurih di oven kecil. - He/She roasts savory chicken in a small oven.

Dia is gender‑neutral third person singular: it can mean he or she.
To specify gender, add a descriptor or name: dia laki-laki (male), dia perempuan (female), or just use the person’s name/title.
For respectful reference to an elder/important person, use beliau.

What’s the difference between dia and ia?

Both mean he/she.
Dia can be subject or object and is neutral in speech and writing.
Ia is mostly used as a subject in written/formal Indonesian and is not used as an object. Example: Saya melihat dia (I saw him/her), not Saya melihat ia.

Why is it memanggang and not something like mengpanggang?

The verb comes from the root panggang (roast/bake) with the active prefix meN-.
With roots starting with p, the initial p drops and the prefix surfaces as mem-: meN- + panggang → memanggang.
Similar patterns: pukul → memukul, pakai → memakai.

Does memanggang mean roast or bake?

Both. Memanggang covers dry-heat cooking, typically in an oven:

When would I use membakar instead of memanggang?

Membakar = to burn/grill over open flame/charcoal. Think barbecue: ayam bakar, membakar sate.
Memanggang = dry heat without direct flame (often in an oven), or roasting over dry heat.

What exactly does gurih mean?

Gurih = savory/umami, rich, often from fat, stock, coconut milk, or seasonings (e.g., MSG).
It is not “salty” (asin) and not “crispy” (renyah). Lezat means “delicious.”

Why do adjectives come after the noun, as in ayam gurih and oven kecil?

In Indonesian, adjectives normally follow the noun: ayam gurih (savory chicken), oven kecil (small oven).
Comparatives/superlatives: lebih kecil (smaller), paling kecil/terkecil (smallest): di oven yang lebih kecil, di oven paling kecil.

Do I need yang between the noun and adjective (e.g., ayam yang gurih)?

Use yang to identify or contrast a specific item (“the one that is…”): ayam yang gurih = the chicken that is savory (as opposed to others).
Yang is also used for relative clauses: ayam yang dipanggang di oven kecil = the chicken that is roasted in a small oven.
Without yang, it’s a simple descriptive noun phrase.

How do I say “a small oven” or “the small oven,” since Indonesian has no articles?

No articles by default: di oven kecil can mean “in a small oven” or “in the small oven.”
Make it definite with a demonstrative: di oven kecil itu/ini (that/this small oven).
Make it explicitly “a” with a classifier: di sebuah oven kecil (in a small oven). For whole animals, use seekor, not sebuah.

Is di the right preposition here? What about ke or di dalam?

di = at/in/on a location: di oven kecil (in/at the small oven; context implies inside).
ke = to/toward (movement): ke oven kecil would mean “to the small oven.”
di dalam emphasizes inside: di dalam oven kecil is unambiguously “inside the small oven.”

What’s the difference between the preposition di and the passive prefix di-?

Preposition di is written separately and shows location: di oven kecil.
Passive prefix di- attaches to verbs: dipanggang (is/was roasted). No space: Ayam itu dipanggang.
Don’t hyphenate either in standard Indonesian.

How do I show tense/aspect (is roasting, roasted, will roast)?

Indonesian uses time/aspect markers rather than verb inflection:

Ongoing: sedang/lagi → Dia sedang memanggang ayam gurih…
Completed: sudah/telah → Dia sudah memanggang…; add time words like tadi, kemarin.
Future: akan/nanti → Dia akan memanggang…

How would a passive version of the sentence look?

Ayam gurih dipanggang di oven kecil (oleh dia).
The agent oleh dia is optional and often omitted: Ayam gurih dipanggang di oven kecil.
Colloquial topicalization is also common: Ayam gurih itu dia panggang di oven kecil.

Does ayam here mean the animal or the meat?

In cooking contexts, ayam usually means chicken meat.
To specify a whole chicken, use the classifier seekor: seekor ayam.
For a piece: sepotong ayam; you can also say daging ayam for “chicken meat.”

Any pronunciation tips for memanggang and gurih?

memanggang: pronounce the ngg as [ŋg] (like the ng in “sing” plus a hard g): me-mang-gang.
gurih: pronounce the final h softly; two syllables: gu-rih.
Indonesian r is a light tap/trill; syllables are evenly timed.