Questions & Answers about Jawaban itu salah.
What does each word in Jawaban itu salah mean, and what are their roles?
- Jawaban = answer (a noun). From the root jawab (to answer) + the nominalizing suffix -an.
- itu = that/the (a demonstrative). Here it points to a specific, known answer.
- salah = wrong/incorrect (an adjective functioning as the predicate).
Structure: Subject noun phrase (Jawaban itu) + predicate adjective (salah) = That/The answer is wrong.
Why is there no word for is? Do I need adalah or ialah here?
Indonesian usually drops a copula in simple equational sentences with adjectives. You say Jawaban itu salah, not Jawaban itu adalah salah.
- adalah/ialah are mainly used to link a subject to a noun phrase, especially in formal writing: Dia adalah guru (He is a teacher). With adjectives, omit them.
What exactly does itu convey here? Is it that or the?
itu can mean:
- that (deictic: physically/mentally “over there” or previously mentioned): Jawaban itu salah = That answer is wrong.
- the (definiteness: a specific, known item): often translates as the in English.
Placement: demonstratives typically follow the noun (buku itu, jawaban itu). As a standalone pronoun, Itu can mean That.