Questions & Answers about Kasus ini belum selesai.
Word by word:
- kasus = case
- ini = this
- belum = not yet
- selesai = finished / complete / over
So the structure is:
- Kasus ini = this case (literally case this; in Indonesian the noun comes before ini)
- belum selesai = not yet finished
Put together: Kasus ini belum selesai = This case is not finished yet / This case isn’t over yet.
Indonesian usually omits a verb like is/are/am when linking a subject to an adjective or a noun.
- English: This case is not finished yet.
- Indonesian: Kasus ini belum selesai. (literally This case not yet finished.)
The “is” is simply understood.
Whenever you have:
- noun + (belum/tidak) + adjective,
you normally don’t add a separate to be verb.
Belum means not yet and it usually implies an expectation that the thing will or should happen in the future.
- Kasus ini belum selesai.
= This case is not finished yet.
(It suggests the case is still ongoing and is expected to be finished later.)
Tidak is a general not used to negate verbs and adjectives, without the “yet” idea.
Compare:
Kasus ini belum selesai.
→ It’s still in progress; at some point we expect it to be finished.Kasus ini tidak selesai.
→ “This case is not finished / did not get finished.”
This sounds more like a description of failure or an outcome, not an ongoing process. In many contexts it feels unusual or even wrong; for a still-active case, belum is strongly preferred.
So for “not yet” or “hasn’t … yet”, use belum, not tidak.
Yes. All of these are natural translations, depending on context:
- This case is not finished yet.
- This case isn’t over yet.
- This case hasn’t been resolved yet.
- This case is still ongoing. (a bit freer)
Indonesian is less specific about aspect and voice here. Belum selesai just says the case has not reached its end or completion. English speakers often choose the best-sounding paraphrase for the situation:
- legal context → hasn’t been resolved / hasn’t been closed yet
- general context → isn’t over yet / isn’t finished yet
Ini is a demonstrative meaning this. In Indonesian, when ini is used like this in this case, it normally comes after the noun:
- kasus ini = this case
- buku ini = this book
- masalah ini = this problem
So the pattern is:
- English: this + noun
- Indonesian: noun + ini
That’s why it’s kasus ini, not ini kasus, when you mean this case as a noun phrase.
These have different meanings or feel unnatural:
Ini kasus belum selesai.
- This is not a natural way to say This case is not finished yet.
- You might hear something like Ini kasus yang belum selesai = This is a case that is not finished yet, but that’s a different structure.
Ini belum selesai.
- This means This is not finished yet.
- It’s correct, but more vague; the listener must know from context what ini (“this”) refers to.
If you want to clearly say This case is not finished yet, Kasus ini belum selesai is the normal, clear sentence.
Kasus is a loanword (from Dutch/English case) and its meaning is close to English case, especially in:
legal/criminal sense:
- kasus korupsi = corruption case
- kasus pembunuhan = murder case
medical or academic sense:
- kasus COVID = COVID case
- studi kasus = case study
It is not used for all meanings of English case, like:
- a suitcase, box, phone case, etc. → in Indonesian you’d use other words like tas, kotak, casing, etc.
- in the grammatical sense (case in grammar) → kasus can be used, but that’s a specialized context.
In Kasus ini belum selesai, kasus is most likely a legal, administrative, or problem-type “case”.
In Kasus ini belum selesai, selesai functions like an adjective: finished / completed.
But in Indonesian, many words freely act as:
- adjectives: Pekerjaan ini sudah selesai. = This work is already finished.
- stative verbs: Pekerjaan ini selesai jam lima. = This work finished at five o’clock.
Selesai basically means to be in a finished state, and Indonesian doesn’t strictly separate adjectives and stative verbs the way English does.
For to finish something as an action, you usually use menyelesaikan:
- Kami sudah menyelesaikan kasus ini. = We have already finished/solved this case.
Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. Kasus ini belum selesai on its own is tenseless and can be interpreted according to context:
- present: The case is not finished yet (now).
- past reference: At that time, the case was not finished yet.
- future-oriented context: By next week, this case might still not be finished.
If you want to be explicit, you add time expressions:
Tadi pagi kasus ini belum selesai.
= This morning, this case wasn’t finished yet.Sampai sekarang kasus ini belum selesai.
= Up until now, this case is still not finished.
But the sentence itself does not mark tense.
It’s neutral and can be used in both spoken and written Indonesian:
- everyday conversation: natural
- office / news report / official context: also natural
If you want a slightly more formal or technical tone, you might see:
- Kasus ini belum tuntas. (tuntas = fully resolved)
- Kasus ini belum diselesaikan. (passive: has not been resolved/finished)
But Kasus ini belum selesai is perfectly acceptable almost everywhere.
You can make kasus plural in a few common ways:
Kasus-kasus ini belum selesai.
- literally: These cases are not finished yet.
- reduplication (kasus-kasus) marks plurality.
Semua kasus ini belum selesai.
- All these cases are not finished yet.
Often, simple kasus ini can already mean these cases if the context clearly involves more than one case, because Indonesian doesn’t always mark plural. But to be explicit, use kasus-kasus or semua kasus.
Yes, you can add masih (still) for extra emphasis:
- Kasus ini masih belum selesai.
= This case is still not finished yet.
You might also hear:
- Kasus ini masih berjalan.
= This case is still ongoing.
However, note that belum by itself already carries a “not yet” sense, so Kasus ini belum selesai naturally implies it’s still ongoing. Masih just adds emphasis.