Email itu ditulis secara formal.

that

Breakdown of Email itu ditulis secara formal.

• email: the email
• ditulis: to be written
• secara formal: formally

Questions & Answers about Email itu ditulis secara formal.

What does itu mean here? Is it more like that or the?

Itu literally means that, but in many contexts it works like the English the.

• Email itu can be understood as:
  • that email (a specific one already known in the conversation), or
  • the email (the particular email being talked about).

If the speaker is contrasting distance, they might say:

• Email ini = this email (near the speaker)
• Email itu = that email (farther away or just “the one we mentioned before”).

So in this sentence, itu is just marking a specific, known email, similar to the.

Why is ditulis used instead of an active form like menulis?

Ditulis is the passive form of menulis (to write).

• Menulis = to write (active)

  • Dia menulis email itu secara formal.
    = He/She wrote the email formally.

• Ditulis = is/was written (passive)

  • Email itu ditulis secara formal.
    = The email was written formally.

Indonesian uses passive a lot, especially:

• To focus on the object (the email) rather than the person who wrote it.
• When the agent (the writer) is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context.

So the passive here emphasizes the email and its style, not .