Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Teman perempuan saya ingin menjadi wirausaha sosial agar bisa membantu pengangguran muda. - My female friend wants to be a social entrepreneur so she can help young unemployed people.

Clear “girlfriend” word:
- pacar saya – the most standard way to say my boyfriend/girlfriend (gender‑neutral).
teman perempuan saya
- Can be understood as my female friend (non‑romantic).
- In some contexts (especially if you’re talking about life plans, meeting parents, etc.), it can be taken as “my girlfriend”, but it’s more ambiguous than pacar.
In casual speech you might also hear:
- cewek saya – colloquial, literally my girl, often clearly romantic.

So in a neutral language-learning context, it’s safest to understand teman perempuan saya as “my female friend” unless the context clearly suggests otherwise.

Why is it teman perempuan saya and not saya teman perempuan for “my female friend”?

Indonesian usually puts the possessor after the thing possessed when using pronouns like saya:

teman saya = my friend
rumah saya = my house
guru saya = my teacher

So:

teman perempuan saya
- teman = friend
- perempuan = female
- saya = my
  → my female friend

saya teman perempuan is not a normal way to say “my female friend”; it would sound like “I (am) a female friend” or just ungrammatical in most contexts.

Alternative possessive forms you might see:

teman perempuanku – using the suffix -ku (my), more informal/intimate.
teman perempuan saya – neutral, polite.

What’s the difference between perempuan, wanita, and cewek here?

All three relate to “female/woman”, but they differ in formality and tone:

perempuan
- Neutral, common in both spoken and written Indonesian.
- Works well in this sentence: teman perempuan saya.
wanita
- More formal; often used in official or formal contexts: hak-hak wanita (women’s rights).
- teman wanita saya is possible but sounds a bit more formal or stiff.
cewek
- Very informal, colloquial (like chick or girl in casual speech).
- teman cewek saya / cewek saya – sounds casual, everyday speech, usually among friends.

In your sentence, perempuan is a good, neutral choice. If you wanted very casual speech, you might say teman cewek saya instead.

What’s the difference between ingin, mau, and pengen/pingin in ingin menjadi wirausaha sosial?

All can translate as “want (to)”, but:

ingin
- Neutral, slightly more formal.
- Fits both spoken and written language.
- Good in your sentence: Teman perempuan saya ingin menjadi…
mau
- Very common, everyday neutral spoken word for want.
- Slightly more casual than ingin.
- You could say: Teman perempuan saya mau jadi wirausaha sosial…
pengen / pingin / pengin
- Colloquial / slangy, informal.
- Used mostly in relaxed conversation.
- E.g.: Teman cewek saya pengin jadi wirausaha sosial…

So:

In textbooks / neutral writing: ingin
In normal conversation: mau (or pengen if you’re being very casual).

Why is it menjadi and not just jadi in ingin menjadi wirausaha sosial?

Both jadi and menjadi can mean “to become”, but there’s a nuance:

menjadi
- More “complete” / slightly more formal verb.
- Very natural after verbs like ingin, akan, sudah:
  - ingin menjadi dokter – wants to become a doctor
  - akan menjadi guru – will become a teacher
jadi
- Can also mean to become, but is more casual and multifunctional (also means to happen / to end up / to be).
- In speech, you can say:
  - Teman perempuan saya mau jadi wirausaha sosial… – sounds perfectly normal and conversational.

In your exact sentence, ingin menjadi is the most natural neutral choice, especially in semi-formal or written contexts.

What exactly does wirausaha sosial mean? Is it the same as “social entrepreneur”?

Yes, wirausaha sosial is essentially “social entrepreneur”.

Breakdown:

wirausaha
- An entrepreneur / self-starting business person.
- Similar to pengusaha, but wirausaha often highlights the entrepreneurial, risk-taking aspect.
sosial
- Social; related to society, social impact, welfare, etc.

So wirausaha sosial refers to:

Someone who builds or runs a business to solve social problems or create social impact, not just to make profit.

You may also hear:

pengusaha sosial – similar meaning, just using pengusaha instead of wirausaha.
In professional / NGO circles, wirausaha sosial is a well-understood term for social entrepreneur.

What does agar mean here, and how is it different from supaya, biar, or untuk?

In this sentence, agar means “so that / in order that”:

…ingin menjadi wirausaha sosial agar bisa membantu pengangguran muda.
…wants to become a social entrepreneur so that (she) can help unemployed youth.

Comparison:

agar
- Slightly formal / neutral.
- Common in writing and careful speech.
supaya
- Very close in meaning to agar.
- Neutral in spoken Indonesian.
- You could replace agar with supaya with almost no change:
  - …supaya bisa membantu pengangguran muda.
biar
- Informal / colloquial equivalent.
- Common in everyday conversation:
  - …biar bisa bantu pengangguran muda.
untuk
- Means “for / to” (purpose), usually followed by a verb phrase or noun, not a full “so that S can…” clause.
- Possible rewrite:
  - …ingin menjadi wirausaha sosial untuk membantu pengangguran muda.
    → “to help unemployed youth.”
- Note bisa (“can”) disappears; the meaning is still clear but slightly less explicit about ability.

So agar bisa = “so that (she) can…”, with a mild formal/neutral tone.

Why is there no subject after agar? Shouldn’t it be agar dia bisa membantu…?

In Indonesian, if the subject of the second clause is the same as the first clause, it’s often omitted:

Full version (totally correct):
- Teman perempuan saya ingin menjadi wirausaha sosial agar dia bisa membantu pengangguran muda.
Natural shortened version:
- Teman perempuan saya ingin menjadi wirausaha sosial agar bisa membantu pengangguran muda.

Because “teman perempuan saya” is already the subject of the sentence and there’s no new subject introduced, Indonesian speakers can drop dia without causing confusion.

So:

Including dia is clearer but more explicit.
Omitting dia is more natural and less repetitive, and still understood.

What exactly does pengangguran muda refer to? Is it “unemployed young people” or “youth unemployment”?

pengangguran is a flexible word that can mean:

Unemployment (the state / phenomenon), and
The unemployed (unemployed people, collectively).

muda = young.

So pengangguran muda is typically understood as:

“young unemployed people” or “youth unemployment”, depending on context.

More explicit alternatives:

anak muda yang menganggur – young people who are unemployed.
orang-orang yang menganggur, terutama anak muda – unemployed people, especially youth.

In your sentence, membantu pengangguran muda naturally reads as “help (the) unemployed youth” / “help young unemployed people”.

How would I say “My female friends want to become social entrepreneurs so that they can help unemployed youth”?

Make both the subject and the pronoun plural:

Teman-teman perempuan saya ingin menjadi wirausaha sosial agar mereka bisa membantu pengangguran muda.

Notes:

teman-teman perempuan saya = my female friends
- Reduplication (teman-teman) marks plurality.
mereka = they
- You can omit mereka if the subject is clear:
  - Teman-teman perempuan saya ingin menjadi wirausaha sosial agar bisa membantu pengangguran muda.
    → Still understood as “so that they can help…”.

Plural on wirausaha sosial is not marked; Indonesian usually doesn’t mark plural on nouns unless needed for emphasis. Context makes it clear that each friend wants to be a social entrepreneur.

How do we know the tense of ingin menjadi? Could it mean “wanted to become” or “will want to become”?

Indonesian verbs don’t change form for tense. ingin menjadi by itself is tenseless; context decides.

Common interpretations of ingin menjadi:

Present / near-future:
- “wants to become”
- “would like to become”

To make time clearer, Indonesians add time expressions or particles:

Past:
- dulu teman perempuan saya ingin menjadi wirausaha sosial…
  → In the past, my female friend wanted to become…
- tadinya teman perempuan saya ingin menjadi…
  → At first / previously she wanted to become…
Future:
- teman perempuan saya akan ingin menjadi… (rare / awkward)
- Usually people would just say akan menjadi if future is important:
  - Teman perempuan saya akan menjadi wirausaha sosial…
    → “My female friend will become a social entrepreneur…”

In isolation, your sentence is normally read as present desire about the future:
> “My female friend wants to become a social entrepreneur (in the future) so that she can help unemployed youth.”

How could I say this more casually, like friends talking?

A casual, conversational version could be:

Teman cewek aku pengin jadi wirausaha sosial biar bisa bantu anak muda yang nganggur.

Changes made:

teman cewek instead of teman perempuan – more colloquial.
aku instead of saya – informal “I”.
pengin instead of ingin – informal “wants to”.
biar instead of agar – casual “so that”.
bantu instead of membantu – dropping the prefix is common in speech.
anak muda yang nganggur instead of pengangguran muda – more vivid, spoken-sounding phrasing.

Grammatically, the original sentence is fine in speech too; this just shows a more colloquial flavor.

How could I make this sentence sound more formal or written, like in an essay?

A more formal, written-style version might be:

Teman perempuan saya bercita-cita menjadi wirausahawan sosial agar dapat membantu mengurangi pengangguran di kalangan muda.

Key changes:

bercita-cita – “to aspire”, more formal than “ingin”.
wirausahawan sosial – alternative, slightly more formal noun for “social entrepreneur”.
dapat instead of bisa – more formal “can”.
membantu mengurangi pengangguran di kalangan muda – “help reduce unemployment among young people”, more essay-like phrasing.

Your original sentence is already reasonably neutral/formal; the above version just pushes it further toward written, academic style.