Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.

I believe you can keep my secret.

Breakdown of Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.

• saya: I
• kamu: you
• bisa: can
• saya: my
• percaya: to believe
• rahasia: the secret
• menjaga: to keep

Questions & Answers about Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.

Why is it rahasia saya and not saya rahasia for my secret?

In Indonesian, possessives usually go noun + possessor, the opposite of English.

• rahasia = secret
• saya = I / me / my

So:

• rahasia saya = my secret
• rumah saya = my house
• teman saya = my friend

You don’t say saya rahasia for my secret; that would sound like I am a secret or just be wrong.

Can I say rahasiaku instead of rahasia saya? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can:

• rahasia saya – neutral, polite, standard
• rahasiaku – more informal, a bit more emotional or personal

-ku is a suffix meaning my, attached directly to the noun:

• buku saya = bukuku = my book
• rahasia saya = rahasiaku = my secret

In normal polite speech/writing, rahasia saya sounds safer and more neutral.
rahasiaku is common in song lyrics, texting, close relationships, or literary style.

What’s the difference between kamu and Anda here?

Both mean you, but they differ in formality:

• kamu – informal, used with friends, peers, people your age or younger
• Anda – polite/formal, used with customers, strangers, or in formal writing

So:

• Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
  → natural to a friend or someone close.

• Saya percaya Anda bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
  → more polite, suitable in a professional or formal context.

To be polite to someone older, Indonesians also often use titles:

• Saya percaya Bapak/Ibu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
  (Bapak = sir / Mr., Ibu = ma’am / Ms./Mrs., roughly)

Does kamu show gender, like he/she or male/female?

No. kamu is gender-neutral.

Indonesian pronouns don’t mark gender:

• dia = he / she
• kamu = you (singular)
• mereka = they

So Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya can be said to a man or a woman with no change.

Is Saya necessary, or can I drop the subject and just say Percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya?

In this sentence, Saya is natural and should be kept.
Percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya sounds incomplete or odd in standard Indonesian.

However, in conversation you can sometimes drop pronouns if context is super clear, but usually not the subject at the very start like this. More natural omissions are things like:

• Saya percaya (kamu) bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
  If it’s absolutely clear who kamu is, some speakers might drop kamu and say Saya percaya bisa menjaga rahasia ini, but the meaning changes slightly (more general: “I believe (I/we/people) can keep this secret”).

For learners, keep both Saya and kamu; it will usually sound more correct.

What’s the nuance of percaya here? Is it like “I trust you” or “I think you can”?

percaya literally means to believe, and often includes a sense of trust.

• Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
  → I believe / I trust that you can keep my secret.

Compared with:

• Saya pikir kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
  (pikir = to think)
  → more like an opinion: I think you can keep my secret (less about trust, more about judgment).

So percaya is closer to believe / trust (in someone).

Why is there bisa? What’s the role of bisa in this sentence?

bisa expresses ability or possibility: can / be able to.

• bisa menjaga = can keep / be able to keep

Without bisa, the sentence changes:

• Saya percaya kamu menjaga rahasia saya.
  This can sound like a statement about what is happening (or a habitual action), not about ability:
  I believe you keep my secret (odd in English and in Indonesian).

With bisa, it’s clearly:

• Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
  → I believe you can keep my secret (you are capable and can be trusted to do it).

What is the difference between bisa and dapat here?

In this sentence, bisa and dapat are almost interchangeable:

• Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
• Saya percaya kamu dapat menjaga rahasia saya.

Both mean I believe you can keep my secret.

Nuance:

• bisa – more common in everyday spoken Indonesian.
• dapat – slightly more formal or literary, also means to get / to obtain in other contexts.

For everyday speech, bisa is usually the default.

What does menjaga literally mean? Why use it with rahasia?

menjaga comes from the root jaga and literally means to guard, to watch over, to look after.

• menjaga rumah = to guard/look after the house
• menjaga anak = to look after a child
• menjaga rahasia = to guard a secret → to keep a secret

So menjaga rahasia is a common collocation meaning to keep (someone’s) secret, with the metaphor of guarding or protecting it.

Could I say menyimpan rahasia or merahasiakan instead of menjaga rahasia?

Yes, both exist, but with slightly different nuances:

1. menyimpan rahasia

   • menyimpan = to store/keep (physically or mentally)
   • menyimpan rahasia = to keep a secret (more like “keep it with you”)

2. merahasiakan

   • from rahasia
     • me- -kan, meaning to make something secret / to keep something secret / to keep something secret from someone
   • Often used with an object that is being kept secret:
     
     • Dia merahasiakan masalah itu dari orang tuanya.
       = He/She kept that problem secret from his/her parents.

3. menjaga rahasia

   • emphasizes guarding/protecting the secret, often in the sense of being trustworthy.

Your sentence:

• Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
  focuses on trustworthiness: I believe you can guard/protect my secret.

You could also say:

• Saya percaya kamu bisa menyimpan rahasia saya.
• Saya percaya kamu bisa merahasiakan hal ini.

All are understandable; menjaga rahasia is very natural.

Indonesian doesn’t mark tense. How would I say I believed or I will believe you can keep my secret?

You add time expressions or auxiliary words; the verb percaya itself doesn’t change.

• I believed you could keep my secret.
  → Dulu saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
  (dulu = in the past)

• I will believe you can keep my secret.
  → Saya akan percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
  (akan = will)

The core pattern Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya stays the same; time is shown by words like dulu, tadi, tadi malam, besok, nanti, akan, etc.

Why is there no word like that (as in “I believe that you can keep my secret”)?

Indonesian can use bahwa for that in this kind of clause, but it’s optional and often omitted in everyday speech.

• With bahwa:
  Saya percaya bahwa kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.
• Without bahwa:
  Saya percaya kamu bisa menjaga rahasia saya.

Both are correct. The version without bahwa is very common and natural in spoken Indonesian. Adding bahwa can sound slightly more formal or explicit, especially in writing.