Kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan.

My older sister will get married next month.

Breakdown of Kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan.

• akan: will
• saya: my
• kakak perempuan: the older sister
• bulan depan: next month
• menikah: to get married

Questions & Answers about Kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan.

What exactly does kakak perempuan mean, and why are there two words instead of just one for older sister?

Indonesian usually builds family terms from a basic word plus a gender word.

• kakak = older sibling (gender‑neutral)
• perempuan = female, woman

So kakak perempuan literally means older sibling (who is) female, which corresponds to older sister.

Some related words:

• kakak laki-laki = older brother
• adik perempuan = younger sister
• adik laki-laki = younger brother

You can say just kakak if the gender is clear from context, but kakak perempuan makes it explicit that it is an older sister.

Why is saya at the end? Why not say saya kakak perempuan for my older sister?

In Indonesian, the possessed thing comes first, and the possessor comes after it.

• kakak perempuan saya
  literally: older sibling female I
  meaning: my older sister

So the normal pattern is:

[thing] + [possessor]
kakak perempuan + saya = my older sister

If you say saya kakak perempuan, that means I am an older sister, not my older sister.

Other ways to show possession:

• kakak perempuan saya – neutral / formal
• kakak perempuan aku – more informal
• kakak perempuanku – informal; -ku is a clitic for my

Do I always need perempuan? Can I just say kakak saya?

You do not always need perempuan.

• kakak saya = my older sibling (gender not specified)
• kakak perempuan saya = my older sister (explicitly female)

In real conversation, people often say only kakak saya if everyone already knows whether that sibling is male or female. You add perempuan when:

• you want to make clear it is a sister, not a brother, or
• you are introducing this person for the first time and want to be precise.

What does akan mean here? Is it exactly the same as English will?

akan is a marker that usually points to the future. In many cases it corresponds to will or going to, but Indonesian works differently from English:

• Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense.
• Time is usually shown by time words like kemarin (yesterday), besok (tomorrow), bulan depan (next month), etc.
• akan makes the future more explicit or slightly more formal / planned.

Compare:

• Kakak perempuan saya menikah bulan depan.
  My older sister gets / is getting married next month. (Future is already clear from bulan depan.)
• Kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan.
  My older sister will get married next month. (Future is emphasized a bit more.)

So akan is not strictly required when there is a time expression like bulan depan, but it is very common and completely natural.

Could this sentence be said without akan? Would the meaning change?

Yes, you can omit akan:

• Kakak perempuan saya menikah bulan depan.

This is still understood as future because of bulan depan (next month). The difference in nuance is small:

• With akan: feels a bit more like a clear plan or statement about the future.
• Without akan: a little more neutral, more like simply stating a scheduled event.

Both are correct and natural. In everyday speech, many people would omit akan in this context.

What exactly does menikah mean, and is it different from other Indonesian words for marry?

menikah means to get married / to marry and is:

• intransitive (it usually does not take a direct object)
• neutral and polite, used in both spoken and written Indonesian

Commonly you see:

• menikah on its own:
  Kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan.
  My older sister will get married next month.
• menikah dengan [someone]:
  Dia menikah dengan pacarnya. – He / she married their boyfriend / girlfriend.

Other related forms:

• menikahi [someone] – transitive, roughly to marry (someone)
  Dia menikahi pacarnya. – He married his girlfriend.
• kawin – more casual; often used for animals, or informally for people (can sound crude in some contexts).

For polite, neutral speech about people, menikah (optionally followed by dengan [name]) is the safest choice.

Can I put bulan depan at the beginning of the sentence, like in English Next month my older sister will get married?

Yes, you can move time expressions around quite freely in Indonesian. All of these are correct:

• Kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan.
• Bulan depan kakak perempuan saya akan menikah.

The meaning is the same. Putting bulan depan first just emphasizes the time a bit more, like topicalizing it:

• Bulan depan, kakak perempuan saya akan menikah.
  Next month, my older sister will get married.

Both word orders sound natural.

How does bulan depan work? Why is there no word for in, like in next month?

bulan depan is a fixed phrase:

• bulan = month
• depan = front / ahead → in time expressions, next

So bulan depan literally is month ahead, which corresponds to next month in English.

In Indonesian you usually do not add a preposition like in before time expressions of this type:

• bulan depan – next month
• minggu depan – next week
• tahun depan – next year

Saying pada bulan depan (literally on / at next month) is grammatically possible, but in everyday speech it usually sounds unnecessarily long or a bit stiff. People almost always just say bulan depan.

Can menikah be followed by dengan in this sentence, like menikah dengan someone?

Yes. When you want to mention the person they will marry, you typically use menikah dengan:

• Kakak perempuan saya akan menikah dengan pacarnya bulan depan.
  My older sister will marry her boyfriend next month.

Patterns:

• menikah – get married (no partner mentioned)
• menikah dengan [orang] – get married to / marry [person]
• menikahi [orang] – marry [person] (using a direct object instead of dengan)

Without the partner mentioned, menikah alone is perfectly natural, as in your original sentence.

How would I say my older sisters will get married next month? Does this sentence show plural or singular?

The original sentence is understood as singular in most contexts:

• Kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan.
  → normally: My older sister (one) will get married next month.

Indonesian often does not mark plural unless needed. If you want to make it clearly plural:

1. Repeat the noun:

   • Kakak-kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan.
     My older sisters will get married next month.

2. Add a number or quantifier:

   • Dua kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan.
     Two of my older sisters will get married next month.

So yes, you need extra words to show clearly that it is plural.

What is the difference between saya and aku here? Could I say kakak perempuan aku?

saya and aku both mean I / me, but they differ in register:

• saya – more formal / polite / neutral
• aku – informal, used with friends, family, or people of similar age

In this sentence you can say:

• Kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan. – neutral / polite
• Kakak perempuan aku akan menikah bulan depan. – informal, sounds more personal

You can also attach -ku to the noun:

• Kakak perempuanku akan menikah bulan depan. – informal, very common in writing and speech.

Avoid mixing formal and informal styles in the same short sentence (for example, kakak perempuan saya with very slangy words elsewhere) unless you know the nuance well.

Does Indonesian distinguish between will get married and is going to get married like English does?

No, Indonesian does not make that distinction in the verb form.

Both English sentences:

• My older sister will get married next month.
• My older sister is going to get married next month.

can be translated by the same Indonesian sentence:

• Kakak perempuan saya akan menikah bulan depan.
• or simply: Kakak perempuan saya menikah bulan depan.

If you want to emphasize the idea of a plan or something already decided, you can add words like:

• sudah berencana (has already planned)
• rencananya (the plan is)

but there is no built-in will vs going to distinction in the verb itself.