Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Teman perempuan saya kelaparan, jadi kami makan roti di kafe. - My female friend was starving, so we ate bread at the cafe.

If you really need to clarify gender (usually unnecessary with pacar), say: pacar saya yang perempuan. Avoid forms like pacar cewek saya (it can mean “my female friend’s boyfriend”).

Why is the possessor saya placed after the noun (teman perempuan saya), not before?

In Indonesian, the possessed noun comes first, then the possessor:

teman saya = my friend
teman perempuan saya = my female friend

You can also attach the clitic -ku:

teman perempuanku = my female friend (informal)

Why use kelaparan instead of lapar?

lapar = hungry
kelaparan = starving/very hungry, often stronger or more dramatic Kelaparan is formed with ke- -an and can intensify the base adjective. Comparable patterns: kedinginan (freezing), kehausan (parched).

Is kelaparan an adjective or a verb? Do I need a word for “to be”?

Indonesian doesn’t use a separate “to be” in this kind of predicate. Kelaparan functions as a predicate (stative verb/adjective):

Dia kelaparan. = She is starving.

No adalah is needed here.

How do I negate kelaparan: bukan or tidak?

Use tidak for verbs/adjectives:

Teman perempuan saya tidak kelaparan.

Use bukan for nouns/pronouns:

Dia bukan teman saya.

Does the sentence imply past or present? There’s no tense marking.

Indonesian doesn’t mark tense by default. Context or time words show time:

Past: Tadi teman perempuan saya kelaparan...
Completed: Teman perempuan saya sudah kelaparan, jadi kami makan...
Ongoing: Teman perempuan saya sedang/lagi lapar...

What does jadi do here? Can I replace it with karena?

jadi = “so/therefore,” introducing a result.
karena = “because,” introducing a reason.

You can flip the structure:

Karena teman perempuan saya kelaparan, kami makan roti di kafe.

In careful/formal writing, avoid doubling them as karena ... jadi ... in one sentence, though that’s common in casual speech.

When should I use kami vs kita for “we”?

kami = we (excluding the listener)
kita = we (including the listener)

In the given sentence, kami implies the listener wasn’t part of the eating.

Can I use aku instead of saya?

Yes, it changes register:

saya = neutral/polite
aku = informal/intimate
Jakarta slang: gue/gua

Keep pronouns consistent with your level of formality and your audience.

Why is it di kafe and not ke kafe?

di marks location (“at/in”): di kafe = at the café
ke marks movement (“to”): pergi ke kafe = go to the café

There’s no “a” or “the” in Indonesian. How do I say “a café” or “the café”?

“a café” (optional): sebuah kafe
“the café” (specific): kafe itu Indonesian often omits articles if specificity is clear from context.

What exactly does roti refer to?

Roti generally means bread and can include buns and some pastries. For a sandwich, say roti lapis (or sandwich, widely understood).

How do I say a piece/slice/loaf of bread?

A slice/piece: sepotong roti
A whole bun/loaf (counted as an item): sebuah roti
In shops, satu roti (one bread/bun) is common. For multiple slices: beberapa potong roti.

Is the comma before jadi necessary?

A comma before jadi is common and fine, especially when it links two clauses. You’ll also see it without a comma in casual writing.

Is teman perempuan saya definitely singular? How would I make it plural?

Nouns aren’t marked for plural by default. To make it clearly plural:

teman-teman perempuan saya = my female friends
Or add a quantifier: beberapa teman perempuan saya = several of my female friends

Can I use memakan instead of makan?

makan roti is the everyday, natural choice.
memakan is more formal/literary or used in the sense of “consume/take up” (e.g., costs, damage). You’ll also see dimakan for passive (“eaten”).

Is di a preposition or a prefix here? How do I write it?

Here di is a preposition and must be written separately: di kafe. As a passive verb prefix, di- attaches to a verb: dimakan (“is/was eaten”).

Are there more formal alternatives to jadi?

Yes:

maka
oleh karena itu
karena itu
sehingga (often “so that/thereby,” but used for result in formal text)

Can I say teman saya perempuan instead of teman perempuan saya?

Both are grammatical but differ slightly:

teman perempuan saya = my female friend (noun + modifier + possessor)
teman saya perempuan = my friend is female (emphasizes the friend’s gender as new info) In practice, both can be used; the first is the default for “female friend.”

How do I pronounce the tricky words?

Approximate syllables:

teman: tə-man
perempuan: pə-rəm-pu-an (the ə is like the ‘a’ in “sofa”)
kelaparan: kə-la-pa-ran
kafe: ka-fe
roti: ro-tee Stress is relatively flat compared to English; keep vowels clear.