Agen menandatangani kontrak setelah menerima uang muka.

The agent signs the contract after receiving the down payment.

Breakdown of Agen menandatangani kontrak setelah menerima uang muka.

• setelah: after
• menerima: to receive
• kontrak: the contract
• uang muka: the down payment
• agen: the agent
• menandatangani: to sign

Questions & Answers about Agen menandatangani kontrak setelah menerima uang muka.

What is going on morphologically in the verb bolded as menandatangani? Why is it so long?

It’s a derived verb built from:

• meN- (active verb prefix) + tanda tangan (signature) + -i (suffix) = menandatangani = to sign something.

Note the assimilation rule for meN-: when the base begins with t, the initial t is dropped. So meN- + tanda tangan → meN- + (t)anda tangan → menandatangani. The first t disappears; the t you still see is the one in tangan.

Related forms:

• penandatangan = signatory
• penandatanganan = the signing (event)
• Passive: ditandatangani = be signed (by)

Why does the verb take the suffix -i? Could I use -kan instead?

With this root, -i is the standard, lexicalized choice: menandatangani [dokumen] = sign [a document]. The suffix -i often marks the target/location of an action.

You may see menandatangankan in some legal writing, usually meaning “to have (something) signed” or “to cause the signing,” e.g., arranging or executing a signing on someone’s behalf. For ordinary “sign a contract,” stick with menandatangani.

Can I just say tanda tangan as a verb instead of menandatangani?

Colloquially, yes:

• Agen tanda tangan kontrak… (informal)
• Agen menandatangani kontrak… (neutral/formal)

There’s also a very colloquial synonym meneken (from Dutch tekenen): Agen meneken kontrak…

Why is there no “a/the” before kontrak? Should I add sebuah?

Indonesian has no articles. Bare nouns are fine. You can add a determiner if you need specificity:

• Indefinite: sebuah kontrak (a contract; emphasizes singular/new)
• Definite: kontrak itu / kontrak tersebut / kontraknya (that/the contract)

Who is understood to be receiving the down payment in setelah menerima uang muka?

By default, the subject is controlled by the matrix subject, so it refers to the same subject as the main clause (agen). To avoid ambiguity, make it explicit:

• Setelah agen menerima uang muka, … Or use a passive subclause if the receiver doesn’t matter:
• Setelah uang muka diterima, agen menandatangani kontrak.

Can I move the setelah-clause to the front? Do I need a comma?

Yes. Both word orders are fine:

• Agen menandatangani kontrak setelah menerima uang muka.
• Setelah menerima uang muka, agen menandatangani kontrak. (use a comma when it comes first)

What’s the difference between setelah and sesudah?

They’re near-synonyms meaning “after.” Setelah is slightly more common in writing; sesudah is equally correct. You can use either here.

Is there any tense marking here? How do I say “will sign” or “has signed”?

Indonesian doesn’t mark tense morphologically. Time is read from context and adverbs:

• Future: akan menandatangani (will sign), or rely on context.
• Completed: sudah/telah menandatangani (has signed).
• Not until: baru can add the nuance “only after”: Agen baru menandatangani kontrak setelah menerima uang muka.

How do I make a passive version?

Common passives:

• Short passive: Kontrak ditandatangani agen setelah agen menerima uang muka.
• With oleh: Kontrak ditandatangani oleh agen setelah ia menerima uang muka. If you don’t want to repeat the subject: Kontraknya akan ditandatangani setelah uang muka diterima.

Is menerima just “receive,” and why not bare terima?

The base is terima (receive), but as a finite verb you normally use the meN- form menerima. Bare terima survives in set phrases like terima kasih (thank you). You can also use mendapat (to get/obtain) with a slightly different nuance:

• setelah menerima uang muka (after accepting/receiving the down payment)
• setelah mendapat uang muka (after getting an advance)

What exactly is uang muka? Is it the same as a deposit?

Uang muka is an advance/down payment (literally “front money”). It’s common in sales and services. For a security deposit (e.g., rental), uang jaminan is more precise. Colloquially, you’ll also hear DP (from “down payment”) and sometimes uang panjar or uang tanda jadi.

Any common spelling pitfalls in this sentence?

Yes:

• tanda tangan is two words as a noun; but the verb menandatangani is one word.
• Don’t write tandatangan (as a noun) or menandatangi (missing “-ang-”).
• Passive is ditandatangani (not “di tandatangani”).

How do I pluralize agen if I mean more than one agent?

Context often suffices. If you need to mark plural explicitly:

• para agen (the agents; formal)
• agen-agen (reduplication)

Could I use sebelum to say the opposite, “before receiving a down payment”?

Yes:

• Agen menandatangani kontrak sebelum menerima uang muka. Negation with a condition often uses sampai or sebelum:
• Agen tidak akan menandatangani kontrak sampai menerima uang muka.

Do I need yang anywhere here?

No. Yang is for relative clauses or for focusing. Setelah introduces a temporal clause and doesn’t require yang.

What’s the register of this sentence? How would it sound in casual speech?

Neutral–formal. A casual Jakarta-style version could be:

• Agen tanda tangan kontrak setelah terima DP. Even more casual: Agen bakal tanda tangan kontrak abis terima DP. (abis = setelah; very colloquial)

Are there useful collocations with these words?

• menandatangani kontrak/perjanjian/nota kesepahaman (MoU)
• uang muka 50% / bayar uang muka / meminta uang muka
• penandatanganan kontrak (the contract signing)

How can I emphasize that the agent signs on someone else’s behalf?

Use a causative or an agent phrase:

• Agen menandatangankan kontrak atas nama klien. (arranges/executes the signing on behalf of the client; legalese)
• More plainly: Agen menandatangani kontrak atas nama klien. (signs on the client’s behalf)