Breakdown of Dia memasak ikan goreng dengan bawang putih dan garam.
Questions & Answers about Dia memasak ikan goreng dengan bawang putih dan garam.
Indonesian dia is gender-neutral: he or she. To specify, add a noun or context:
- dia laki-laki (male), dia perempuan (female), or use the person’s name. For respect, use beliau (formal, for elders/important people). You may also see ia (more written/formal, usually as a subject only).
Indonesian verbs don’t inflect for tense. Use particles or time words:
- Ongoing: sedang or informal lagi — Dia sedang memasak...
- Completed/past: sudah/telah, or time words (tadi, kemarin) — Dia sudah memasak...
- Future: akan, or time words (nanti, besok) — Dia akan memasak...
- menggoreng ikan (dengan...) emphasizes the action of frying.
- memasak ikan goreng treats ikan goreng as a named dish (fried fish) being prepared. Both are fine; choose based on whether you highlight the method or the dish.
Adjectives usually follow nouns. Here goreng functions as an adjective (fried), so ikan goreng is the noun phrase.
- goreng ikan is not a noun phrase; it’s an imperative (Fry the fish!) or appears in a verb phrase like menggoreng ikan.
No articles are used; rely on context or add markers:
- One fish/indefinite: seekor ikan (classifier ekor for animals).
- Definite: ikan itu or attach -nya: ikannya (often the fish, sometimes his/her fish depending on context).
Unmarked ikan can be singular or plural. To mark plural, use:
- Reduplication: ikan-ikan.
- Quantifiers/classifiers: banyak ikan, beberapa ekor ikan, dua ekor ikan.
dengan means with and marks instruments/ingredients. Alternatives:
- pakai (informal): ... pakai bawang putih dan garam.
- menggunakan (formal): ... menggunakan bawang putih dan garam. For flavoring, you may also see berbumbu bawang putih dan garam (seasoned with).
Yes. bawang is the onion/garlic family; putih means white. Common pairs:
- bawang putih = garlic
- bawang merah = shallot
- bawang bombai = bulb onion
Most natural is after the object: Dia memasak ikan goreng dengan bawang putih dan garam. For emphasis, you can front it: Dengan bawang putih dan garam, dia memasak ikan goreng. Avoid splitting the verb and its object with the dengan phrase in neutral style.
Use the di- passive to foreground the patient:
- With the action fry: Ikan itu digoreng dengan bawang putih dan garam (oleh dia).
- Mirroring the dish noun phrase: Ikan goreng itu dimasak dengan bawang putih dan garam (oleh dia) — natural because ikan goreng is the dish name. The agent (oleh dia) is optional; spoken Indonesian often uses -nya on the verb: digorengnya.
meN- marks active transitive verbs and triggers sound changes:
- p/t/k/s often drop: memotong (< potong), menulis (< tulis), mengirim (< kirim), menyapu (< sapu).
- b/f/v take mem-: membaca, memfokuskan, memvaksinasi.
- c/j/d/z take men-: mencuci, menjaga, mendengar.
- g/h and vowels take meng-: menggoreng, menghitung, mengajar. Hence masak → memasak, goreng → menggoreng.
- Verb to salt: menggarami or imperative garami: Garami ikannya sedikit.
- General add: beri garam or tambahkan garam.
- Adjectives: asin (salty), gurih (savory/umami).