Email itu ditulis secara formal.

That email is written formally.

Breakdown of Email itu ditulis secara formal.

• itu: that
• 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 who wrote it.

How can I add who wrote the email to this sentence?

You can add an agent with oleh, or use an active sentence:

1. Passive with oleh

   • Email itu ditulis secara formal oleh saya.
     = The email was written formally by me.
   • Email itu ditulis secara formal oleh dia.
     = The email was written formally by him/her.

2. Active form

   • Saya menulis email itu secara formal.
   • Dia menulis email itu secara formal.

In everyday Indonesian, oleh is often dropped if the agent is a pronoun and follows directly:

• Email itu ditulis saya secara formal.
  (more colloquial, still passive: “That email was written by me, formally.”)

How do we know if ditulis means is written or was written? Where is the tense?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense.
Ditulis can mean:

• is written (present)
• was written (past)
• even will be written (future), if the context makes that clear.

Tense comes from:

• Time words: kemarin (yesterday), tadi (earlier), besok (tomorrow), etc.
• Context.

Examples:

• Kemarin, email itu ditulis secara formal.
  = Yesterday, the email was written formally.
• Sekarang, email itu ditulis secara formal.
  = Now, the email is being written / is written formally.

So ditulis itself is tense-neutral; you read tense from context.

What exactly does secara mean, and why is it used before formal?

Secara is a preposition that, in practice, turns many adjectives into adverbial phrases (describing how something is done).
Secara formal = in a formal way / formally.

Pattern:

• pelan (slow) → secara pelan (slowly)
• resmi (official) → secara resmi (officially)
• langsung (direct) → secara langsung (directly)

In Email itu ditulis secara formal, secara formal describes the manner of writing (how it was written).

You can think of secara + adjective as a regular way to say in a … way or …-ly in English.

Can I drop secara and just say Email itu ditulis formal?

For manner (how something is done), secara formal is the standard, natural choice.
Email itu ditulis formal sounds off or non‑standard in most contexts.

More natural alternatives:

• Email itu ditulis secara formal. (as given)
• Email itu sangat formal. (The email is very formal — describing the email’s nature, not the manner of writing.)
• Email itu bersifat formal. (The email is formal in character.)

So to say written in a formal way, keep secara formal.

What is the difference between secara formal and secara resmi?

Both can sometimes overlap, but they are not identical:

• Formal

  • Has to do with style, tone, level of formality.
  • Opposite of informal / casual.
  • Secara formal = using formal language, polite forms, proper structure.

• Resmi

  • Has to do with official status.
  • Opposite of unofficial / private.
  • Surat resmi = an official letter, often from an institution or authority.

So:

• Email itu ditulis secara formal.
  = The email is written in a formal style.
• Email itu ditulis secara resmi.
  = The email is written in an official manner / as an official communication.

An email to a friend: formal? maybe no; resmi? usually no.
An email from a government office: likely both formal and official.

Why is it formal, not formalnya or secara formalnya?

-nya can do several things (possessive, demonstrative, etc.), but here you don’t need it:

• secara formal
  = in a formal way (neutral, standard).

• formalnya on its own (e.g., Email itu formalnya bagus.) sounds odd and is not the normal way to talk about manner.

• secara formalnya is generally wrong or at least very unnatural in this meaning.

Use:

• secara formal for manner: ditulis secara formal (written formally).
• Bare formal to describe a noun:
  
  • Email itu formal. (That email is formal.)
    Here you’re describing the email itself, not the way it was written.

Can I omit itu and just say Email ditulis secara formal?

Yes, you can, but the meaning shifts slightly.

• Email itu ditulis secara formal.
  = A specific email (that one / the one we know about) was written formally.

• Email ditulis secara formal.
  = Email (in general, or in this situation) is written formally.
  Could be interpreted as a general rule, or as something less specific.

So itu helps signal that we’re talking about one particular, known email.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move secara formal?

The base sentence word order is:
Email itu (topic) – ditulis (verb) – secara formal (manner).

You can move secara formal for emphasis or style:

• Secara formal, email itu ditulis.
  Emphasis on the formality; sounds a bit more formal or written-style.

• Email itu ditulis secara formal.
  Most natural, neutral order.

Other permutations like Email itu secara formal ditulis are possible but often sound awkward and are rarely needed in normal speech. The given order is the best default.