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Questions & Answers about Dompet saya hilang.
What do the words mean and what’s the literal structure?
- dompet = wallet
- saya = I/me; after a noun it means my
- hilang = missing/lost/gone
Structure: Subject noun phrase dompet saya (my wallet) + stative predicate hilang (missing). Indonesian doesn’t require a verb like “is” here.
Why is there no “is”? Can I use adalah?
Indonesian typically drops a copula before adjectives/states. So Dompet saya hilang is correct. Adalah is used mainly to equate two nouns (e.g., Dia adalah guru = He is a teacher), not before adjectives. Dompet saya adalah hilang is ungrammatical.
Is hilang an adjective or a verb?
Both, depending on context:
- As a state/adjective: Kunci itu hilang (That key is missing).
- As an intransitive event: Dia hilang dari pandangan (He disappeared from sight).
Related words:
- menghilang = to disappear
- menghilangkan = to remove/eliminate
- kehilangan = to lose (undergo loss), as in Saya kehilangan dompet.
What’s the difference between Dompet saya hilang and Saya kehilangan dompet?
- Dompet saya hilang focuses on the wallet’s state (it’s missing/gone). It’s what you’d blurt out upon noticing.
- Saya kehilangan dompet focuses on you experiencing the loss. It can sound a bit more formal or explicit about the act/event of losing. Both are natural; choose based on what you want to highlight.
What if I left it behind somewhere rather than it “went missing”?
Use ketinggalan for “left behind”:
- Dompet saya ketinggalan di taksi.
- Saya ketinggalan dompet di kantor. This suggests you forgot it, not necessarily that it vanished or was stolen.
How do I indicate past time or recency, since there’s no tense?
Add time/aspect words:
- Recent: barusan, baru saja (just now)
- Earlier today: tadi, tadi pagi/siang/sore
- Past: kemarin (yesterday)
Examples:
- Barusan dompet saya hilang.
- Tadi di stasiun, dompet saya hilang.
Can I add sudah? What nuance does it add?
Yes. Sudah marks completion/already:
- Waktu saya sadar, dompet saya sudah hilang. (By the time I realized, it was already gone.)
- Dompet saya sudah hilang can sound odd if said in isolation; it’s more natural with context or a time reference.
How do I say “it’s not missing” or “it’s not missing yet”?
- Not missing: Dompet saya tidak hilang.
- Not yet missing: Dompet saya belum hilang. Use tidak (not) with adjectives/verbs; don’t use bukan here.
Is dompet saya the only way to say “my wallet”? What about casual options?
- Neutral/polite: dompet saya
- Informal: dompetku (-ku = my)
- Very casual/colloquial (Jakarta): dompet gue
- Formal/explicit ownership: dompet milik saya
- “Mine” (elliptical): punya saya (e.g., Punya saya hilang = Mine is missing)
Can I put the pronoun first, like English “my wallet”? Is saya dompet okay?
No. In Indonesian the possessor follows the noun: dompet saya. Alternatives:
- Clitic: dompetku
- Using punya: dompet punya saya (more emphatic/colloquial) Saya dompet is ungrammatical.
Is Dompet saya tidak ada natural? How does it differ from hilang?
Yes, it’s common. Tidak ada means “is not there/doesn’t exist (here),” implying absence without claiming it’s lost.
- Dompet saya tidak ada = I can’t find it / it’s not around.
- Dompet saya hilang = It’s gone/lost (stronger, more final).
How do I make this sound polite when asking for help?
Useful patterns:
- Permisi, dompet saya hilang. Bisa bantu?
- Tolong, dompet saya hilang.
- Add address terms for politeness: Pak/Bu, dompet saya hilang. If reporting: Dompet saya hilang di … sekitar jam …
How can I emphasize that it’s my wallet that’s missing using yang?
- Dompet saya yang hilang. (It’s my wallet that’s missing, not something else.)
- Yang hilang dompet saya. (The one that’s missing is my wallet.) Use this for contrast or clarification.
Any quick pronunciation tips?
- dompet: DOM-pet (e as in “pet”)
- saya: SA-ya (y as in “yes”)
- hilang: HEE-lang (ng = nasal as in “sing”) Indonesian stress is typically on the second-to-last syllable.
Can hilang be used for people? Any cautions?
Yes: Anak saya hilang (My child is missing).
Be careful with kehilangan + person: Saya kehilangan anak can mean “I lost my child,” which may imply death in some contexts. If you mean “my child is missing,” prefer Anak saya hilang.
How do I say it was stolen instead of just missing?
Use dicuri (stolen):
- Dompet saya dicuri. This explicitly states theft, unlike hilang, which is neutral about the cause.