Teman perempuan saya memakai gaun biru di pesta ulang tahun.

Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Indonesian grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Indonesian now

Questions & Answers about Teman perempuan saya memakai gaun biru di pesta ulang tahun.

Does teman perempuan mean girlfriend or just female friend?

It usually means a female friend (non-romantic). For a romantic partner, use:

  • pacar (gender-neutral, the standard word for boyfriend/girlfriend)
  • cewek saya (very colloquial for my girlfriend; cewek = girl)
  • kekasih (formal/literary, lover)

So:

  • Teman perempuan saya... = My female friend...
  • Pacar saya... = My girlfriend/boyfriend...
  • If you must specify gender: pacar perempuan saya (my girlfriend), though most people just say pacar saya and let context clarify.
Why is saya placed after the noun (teman perempuan saya) instead of before it?

In Indonesian, possessive pronouns typically follow the noun. So:

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

You can also attach the clitic -ku for my:

  • temanku = my friend
  • teman perempuanku = my female friend

Note the difference:

  • teman perempuan saya = my female friend (female is part of the noun phrase)
  • teman saya perempuan = my friend is female (perempuan functions more like a predicate here)
  • temanku perempuan is usually understood as my friend is female (predicate), not my female friend
What’s the difference between memakai, pakai, and mengenakan?

All can mean wear, but register and nuance differ:

  • pakai: informal/colloquial. Example: Dia pakai gaun biru.
  • memakai: neutral and common in speech and writing. Example: Dia memakai gaun biru.
  • mengenakan: more formal or written style; also used in news. Example: Dia mengenakan gaun biru.

Do not use menggunakan for clothes (use for tools/devices/rules). For clothing, prefer memakai or mengenakan.

Indonesian verbs don’t show tense. How do I say wore vs is wearing vs was wearing?

Add time or aspect markers:

  • Past/completed: sudah, tadi, kemarin
    • Tadi dia memakai gaun biru. (Earlier, she wore…)
  • Progressive: sedang (neutral), lagi (colloquial)
    • Dia sedang memakai gaun biru. (She is/was in the middle of wearing…) Context often makes tense clear without markers.
Why is it gaun biru and not biru gaun?

Adjectives generally follow nouns in Indonesian:

  • gaun biru = blue dress Use yang to single out or contrast:
  • gaun yang biru = the one that is blue (as opposed to other colors)
Is gaun the normal word for dress? How is it different from baju and rok?
  • gaun = dress (one-piece, often more formal or full-length, but can be general)
  • baju = a top/shirt; also a broad term for clothing in some contexts (e.g., baju tidur = pajamas)
  • rok = skirt

So a blue dress is best as gaun biru.

Can I say di pesta or ke pesta here? What about pada?
  • di pesta = at the party (location; your sentence uses this, which is natural)
  • ke pesta = to the party (destination). You can say Dia memakai gaun biru ke pesta (She wore a blue dress to the party), which is also idiomatic.
  • pada pesta = at the party in a more formal style; more common with time expressions (pada hari Senin).
How do I say the birthday party vs a birthday party?

Indonesian has no articles. Use context or demonstratives:

  • di pesta ulang tahun = at a/the birthday party (ambiguous)
  • di pesta ulang tahun itu = at the birthday party (that specific one)
  • di pesta ulang tahun ini = at this birthday party

If it’s your party:

  • di pesta ulang tahun saya If it’s her party:
  • di pesta ulang tahunnya
How do I make the subject plural (my female friends)?

Use reduplication or a quantifier:

  • teman-teman perempuan saya = my female friends
  • beberapa teman perempuan saya = some of my female friends
  • para teman perempuan saya = my female friends (formal/collective)

The verb stays the same (no plural agreement): Teman-teman perempuan saya memakai gaun biru...

Where did the p go in memakai (from pakai)?

It’s a regular meN- prefix assimilation rule:

  • meN- + pakai → memakai (the initial p of the root drops; the prefix becomes mem-) Other examples:
  • meN- + tulis → menulis (t drops)
  • meN- + baca → membaca (b stays; prefix becomes mem-)
Can I use yang to say the friend who wore a blue dress?

Yes. yang introduces a relative clause:

  • Teman perempuan saya yang memakai gaun biru di pesta ulang tahun... = My female friend who wore a blue dress at the birthday party... This structure expects more information after it (e.g., ...mendapat banyak pujian = ...received many compliments).
Is teman perempuan saya interchangeable with teman wanita saya or teman cewek saya?

Similar meaning but different register:

  • teman perempuan saya: neutral, widely used
  • teman wanita saya: more formal/bureaucratic tone
  • teman cewek saya: casual/slang In Indonesia, wanita tends to be formal; cewek is colloquial. Stick with perempuan for neutral everyday speech.
Is pesta hari ulang tahun correct?
Natural phrasing is pesta ulang tahun. Adding hari is unnecessary here. You may see hari ulang tahun (birthday, literally day of birth) in other contexts, but the party is pesta ulang tahun.
How would I say My girlfriend wore a blue dress at my birthday party?

Use pacar and add the possessor for the party:

  • Pacar saya memakai gaun biru di pesta ulang tahun saya.
Could I say bergaun biru instead of memakai gaun biru?

Yes, with a slightly literary/descriptive feel:

  • Dia bergaun biru = She is dressed in a blue dress. It’s common in captions or descriptive writing. For everyday speech, memakai/mengenakan gaun biru is more neutral.
Is saya the only word for my? What about aku?

Both mean I/my, but register differs:

  • saya: polite/neutral. Teman perempuan saya...
  • aku: informal/intimate. Possessive forms:
    • teman perempuanku (my female friend)
    • teman perempuan aku (colloquial, two-word possessive)
Pronunciation tips for gaun and ulang tahun?
  • gaun: the diphthong au sounds like the ow in now; roughly “gow-oon” in two quick beats.
  • ulang: oo-lahng (g is hard if present; here it ends with ng)
  • tahun: tah-hoon (h is pronounced; u as in “put” but a bit longer)
  • memakai: meh-mah-kai (ai like eye)