Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog karena dia suka mengenal pikiran orang. - My friend wants to become a psychologist because he/she likes getting to know people’s thoughts.

Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog karena dia suka mengenal pikiran orang.

My friend wants to become a psychologist because he/she likes getting to know people’s thoughts.

Breakdown of Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog karena dia suka mengenal pikiran orang.

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Questions & Answers about Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog karena dia suka mengenal pikiran orang.

Why is it “Teman saya” and not “Saya punya teman yang…”? Do they mean the same thing?

Both are correct but they have different structures and a slight difference in feel.

Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog…
Literally: “My friend wants to become a psychologist…”
This is a simple “[noun] + saya” possessive pattern (friend + my).
Saya punya teman yang mau menjadi psikolog…
Literally: “I have a friend who wants to become a psychologist…”

Differences:

Focus
- Teman saya… focuses on the friend as the topic.
- Saya punya teman yang… starts with me (I have a friend), then adds information about the friend.
Use in real sentences
- If the friend is already known in the context, Teman saya… is more natural.
- If you are introducing this friend for the first time, Saya punya teman yang… is often used.

So the meaning in context is basically the same, but the sentence structure and focus are a bit different.

Could I say just “Teman mau menjadi psikolog…” and drop “saya”?

Normally, no. “Teman mau menjadi psikolog…” by itself sounds incomplete or odd.

Teman saya = my friend
Teman alone usually means friend in a general sense, not a specific person.

You can drop “saya” only if everyone already knows which friend you’re talking about from context, and even then Indonesian speakers would usually keep “saya” or replace it with a name or another possessor:

Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog. – My friend…
Teman dia mau menjadi psikolog. – His/her friend…
Teman Andi mau menjadi psikolog. – Andi’s friend…

Without anything after teman, it feels like “Friend wants to become a psychologist…” which sounds incomplete in both languages.

What is the nuance of “mau” here? How is it different from “ingin” or “akan”?

In this sentence:

mau = want to (a desire/intention)
Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog… = My friend wants to become a psychologist…

Comparisons:

mau vs ingin
- mau:
  - Very common in everyday speech.
  - Slightly more casual.
- ingin:
  - A bit more formal or polite.
  - Can sound slightly stronger or more “idealistic”: a wish or aspiration.
In this sentence, mau and ingin are both fine:
- Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog…
- Teman saya ingin menjadi psikolog…
  The meaning is almost the same, but ingin can feel a bit more serious/aspirational.
mau vs akan
- akan = will / going to (future action), not desire.
- Teman saya akan menjadi psikolog = “My friend will become a psychologist”
  → This sounds like a prediction or plan, not just a desire.

So:

mau/ingin → talks about wanting.
akan → talks about the future event itself.

Why is it “menjadi psikolog” and not just “jadi psikolog”? What’s the difference between jadi and menjadi?

Both jadi and menjadi can mean to become, but they differ in style and usage.

menjadi
- More formal and neutral.
- Common in writing and in careful speech.
- Very natural in “menjadi + profession/role”:
  - menjadi dokter – to become a doctor
  - menjadi guru – to become a teacher
  - menjadi psikolog – to become a psychologist
jadi
- Can also mean to become, but is more colloquial.
- Has extra meanings: to be, to turn into, to end up as, to result in.
- Used a lot in everyday conversation:
  - Dia mau jadi psikolog. – He/she wants to become a psychologist.
  - Air jadi es. – Water becomes ice.

In this sentence, “mau menjadi psikolog” sounds a bit more formal/neutral, like something you might write in an essay.
“mau jadi psikolog” is more conversational. Both are correct; it’s mostly about style.

What’s the difference between “psikolog” and “psikologi”?

They are related but not the same:

psikolog – psychologist (a person, a profession)
- Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog. – My friend wants to become a psychologist.
psikologi – psychology (the field/discipline)
- Dia belajar psikologi. – He/she studies psychology.
- Jurusan saya psikologi. – My major is psychology.

So:

Use psikolog for the person.
Use psikologi for the science/study.

Does “dia” mean he or she? How do you know the gender?

Dia is gender-neutral. It can mean either he or she.

dia suka mengenal pikiran orang
→ could be “he likes to get to know people’s thoughts” or
→ “she likes to get to know people’s thoughts”.

Indonesian does not mark gender in third-person singular pronouns:

dia / ia = he / she
mereka = they (no gender distinction)

To know the gender, you need context or explicit information:

Mention the person’s name: Teman saya, Siti, mau menjadi psikolog… → probably female.
Add a word like laki-laki (male) or perempuan (female) elsewhere in the conversation.

Without context, it’s simply unspecified.

Can I drop “dia” and say “karena suka mengenal pikiran orang”?

Yes, you can drop “dia” in casual speech, and the sentence will still be understandable:

Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog karena suka mengenal pikiran orang.

Indonesian often drops pronouns when the subject is clear from context. Here, “dia” clearly refers to “teman saya”, so dia is not strictly necessary.

However:

With dia: “karena dia suka…” sounds slightly more complete and a bit more standard.
Without dia: feels a bit more informal/colloquial, common in conversation.

Both are acceptable in everyday use.

Why is the verb “mengenal” used here? How is it different from “mengetahui” or “memahami”?

All three relate to knowing or understanding, but they have different nuances:

mengenal (from kenal)
- Basic meaning: to know, to be familiar with, to get to know (often about people).
- mengenal pikiran orang suggests:
  - getting to know
  - becoming familiar with
  - exploring / understanding in a personal way
    So it’s like “getting to know people’s minds/thoughts,” a bit more personal and relational.
mengetahui (from tahu)
- Basic meaning: to know (facts), to find out, to be aware of.
- mengetahui pikiran orang sounds like:
  - knowing what people think, having that information.
    It’s more factual, less about a personal, ongoing process.
memahami (from paham)
- Basic meaning: to understand, to comprehend deeply.
- memahami pikiran orang = to deeply understand people’s thoughts.
  This suggests deeper comprehension.

So:

mengenal pikiran orang → getting to know / becoming familiar with people’s thoughts.
mengetahui pikiran orang → knowing what people think (more informational).
memahami pikiran orang → understanding people’s thoughts deeply.

In this sentence, mengenal fits well, because a psychologist often gets to know and becomes familiar with how people think.

Why is it “pikiran orang” and not “pikiran orang-orang”? Is it singular or plural?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural the way English does. By default, a noun can be singular or plural, depending on context.

pikiran orang literally: thoughts of person/people.
In natural English, we interpret it as: “people’s thoughts”.

About orang-orang:

orang = person / people
orang-orang = people (emphatic plural)

You can say:

pikiran orang-orang – people’s thoughts (with stronger emphasis on “many people”)

But you don’t have to. In most cases:

orang is enough to mean people in general, especially in a phrase like “pikiran orang”, which is understood as “people’s thoughts”.

So in everyday Indonesian:

pikiran orang is natural and not “less correct” than pikiran orang-orang.

Could I say “pikiran orang lain” instead of “pikiran orang”? Does it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say “pikiran orang lain”, and it slightly changes the nuance:

pikiran orang – people’s thoughts (people in general).
pikiran orang lain – other people’s thoughts (explicitly “other people,” not oneself).

So:

…karena dia suka mengenal pikiran orang.
→ Because he/she likes to get to know people’s thoughts (people generally).
…karena dia suka mengenal pikiran orang lain.
→ Because he/she likes to get to know other people’s thoughts (clearly contrasting with his/her own thoughts).

Both are correct; orang lain is just more explicit about “others.”

Does the word order “karena dia suka mengenal pikiran orang” ever change, like putting karena at the beginning?

Yes, you can change the clause order without changing the meaning:

Original order (as given):
- Teman saya mau menjadi psikolog karena dia suka mengenal pikiran orang.
  → Main clause first, reason second.
Reason-first order:
- Karena dia suka mengenal pikiran orang, teman saya mau menjadi psikolog.
  → “Because he/she likes to get to know people’s thoughts, my friend wants to become a psychologist.”

Both are correct. The difference is focus:

Original: focuses first on what your friend wants to do.
Reason-first: emphasizes the reason more strongly.

In speech, Indonesian speakers very often use the original order, but both structures are natural.

There is no tense marking in “mau menjadi”. How do we know if this is present, future, or something like “is going to be”?

Indonesian doesn’t have verb tenses like English (no -ed, -s, -will built into the verb). Time is shown by:

Context
Time words (e.g. kemarin yesterday, nanti later)
Modals like mau, akan, etc.

In this sentence:

mau menjadi tells us:
- There is a desire/intention now.
- The action of becoming a psychologist is in the future.

You could translate it in several natural ways in English:

My friend wants to become a psychologist…
My friend would like to become a psychologist…
My friend wants to be a psychologist…

All of these are possible; the Indonesian phrase itself doesn’t force one specific English tense. The idea is: current desire about a future state.