Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.

kami = we (not including the listener) → “we” but you are not part of the group
kita = we (including the listener) → “we” and you are part of the group

In Kami memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah, kami suggests:

The people in the house (our family, housemates, etc.) use Indonesian every day
The person being talked to is probably not part of that “we”

If the speaker wanted to include the listener (for example, talking to another family member about their shared home), they could say:

Kita memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.
→ We (you and I and others in the house) use Indonesian every day at home.

Why is memakai used here instead of a verb that means “to speak”, like berbicara or berbahasa?

Literally:

memakai = to use / to wear
berbicara = to talk / to speak
berbahasa = to use a (particular) language / to be speaking (a language)

In Indonesian, it’s very natural to say “use a language” instead of “speak a language”, so:

memakai bahasa Indonesia ≈ “use the Indonesian language”
This is completely idiomatic and very common.

You could also say:

Kami berbicara bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.
Kami berbahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.

All are understandable.
Nuances:

memakai / menggunakan bahasa Indonesia sounds like “we use Indonesian (as our medium of communication)”
berbicara bahasa Indonesia sounds more like “we speak in Indonesian”
berbahasa Indonesia is a bit more formal / bookish than memakai

What does sehari-hari mean exactly, and how is it different from setiap hari?

sehari-hari literally comes from sehari (one day) repeated → day-to-day, in daily life, habitually every day
setiap hari = every day (more literal, like English)

In this sentence, both would be correct:

Kami memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.
Kami memakai bahasa Indonesia setiap hari di rumah.

Nuance:

sehari-hari emphasizes a habit / routine in everyday life.
setiap hari just states the frequency: every single day.

So sehari-hari feels slightly more like “as part of our daily routine”.

Why is there a hyphen in sehari-hari? Is it a plural?

The hyphen shows reduplication (word repetition), which is a common pattern in Indonesian.

Base word: hari = day
sehari = one day / per day
sehari-hari = day-to-day, in daily life, habitually every day

This is not a “plural” in the English sense.
Instead, reduplication often signals:

Repetition (again and again)
A general or habitual sense
Variety or distribution (depending on the word)

Here, sehari-hari means “as a daily habit” or “in everyday life.”

Why is it bahasa Indonesia, not just Indonesia? Can I say “Kami memakai Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah”?

You cannot drop bahasa here.

bahasa = language
bahasa Indonesia = the Indonesian language

If you say:

Kami memakai Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.

it sounds like “We use Indonesia every day at home,” which is ungrammatical and meaningless.

To talk about a language, Indonesian usually uses the pattern:

bahasa + [country/people name]
- bahasa Indonesia = Indonesian (language)
- bahasa Inggris = English
- bahasa Jepang = Japanese
- bahasa Prancis = French

Why is bahasa lowercase and Indonesia capitalized?

Indonesian capitalization rules:

Names of languages: capitalize the proper noun, not the common noun.
So:
- bahasa Indonesia
- bahasa Inggris
- bahasa Jepang

Here:

bahasa = common noun “language” → lowercase
Indonesia = proper name of a country → capitalized

Writing Bahasa Indonesia with capital B is very common in informal contexts, but standard formal spelling is bahasa Indonesia.

Can the word order be changed, like “Di rumah kami memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari”? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, Indonesian word order is quite flexible. All of these are grammatically correct:

Kami memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.
Kami memakai bahasa Indonesia di rumah sehari-hari.
Di rumah, kami memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari.
Sehari-hari kami memakai bahasa Indonesia di rumah.

The basic meaning stays the same: “We use Indonesian every day at home.”

Differences are mainly about focus / emphasis:

Starting with Di rumah, … highlights the place (at home).
Starting with Sehari-hari, … highlights the routine (as our daily habit).
Version (1) is very neutral, typical “subject–verb–object–adverbials” order.

How do we know this sentence is in the present tense? There is no word like “do” or a verb ending like in English.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense (past / present / future).
Time is usually shown by time words or is understood from context.

In this sentence:

sehari-hari → “every day / in daily life”
This strongly suggests a present habitual meaning: “We (usually) use Indonesian every day at home.”

If you wanted to make the time clearer, you could add:

Dulu kami memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.
→ In the past we used Indonesian every day at home.
Besok kami akan memakai bahasa Indonesia di rumah.
→ Tomorrow we will use Indonesian at home.

But the original sentence alone is naturally interpreted as present habitual.

What exactly does di rumah mean? Is it “at home” or “in the house”? Does it include the idea of “our home”?

di = “at / in / on” (general location preposition)
rumah = house / home
di rumah = at home / in the house

In practice:

di rumah usually means “at home” (not at work, not outside, etc.).
It often implies the speaker’s home, not just any random house, unless context says otherwise.

Other related forms:

ke rumah = to the house / to (someone’s) home (movement toward)
dari rumah = from the house / from home (movement away)

Can we drop kami and just say Memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah?

Normally, no—or at least it would sound odd in isolation.

Indonesian can drop subject pronouns when they are very clear from context, especially in casual speech or instructions, but:

Memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.
Without kami, this sounds:
- Incomplete
- Or like part of a list / instruction, e.g., “(You must) use Indonesian every day at home.”

For a complete, normal statement, you generally keep the subject:

Kami memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.

What is the root of memakai? What does the prefix me- do here?

The base form is:

pakai = to use, to wear

With the meN- prefix (one of the main active-voice verb prefixes), it becomes:

memakai = “to use / to wear (something)” in an active, transitive sense.

Pattern:

meN- + pakai → memakai
(The N in meN- assimilates to m before p, and the p is kept, so we get memakai.)

Grammar:

Kami (subject)
memakai (active verb)
bahasa Indonesia (object)

A possible passive form (more formal / written style) would be:

Bahasa Indonesia dipakai kami sehari-hari di rumah.
→ Indonesian is used by us every day at home.

But the active version with memakai is much more natural in speech.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Would it sound okay in a conversation?

Kami memakai bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah. is:

Neutral in tone
Perfectly natural in everyday conversation
Also acceptable in semi-formal / written contexts

Slightly more formal alternative:

Kami menggunakan bahasa Indonesia sehari-hari di rumah.
(menggunakan = a bit more formal than memakai, but both are fine.)

More casual spoken versions might shorten or change some parts, but this sentence as given is already quite standard and widely usable.

How do I say similar sentences with other languages, like “We use English every day at home”?

Use the same pattern: bahasa + language name.

Examples:

Kami memakai bahasa Inggris sehari-hari di rumah.
→ We use English every day at home.
Kami memakai bahasa Jawa sehari-hari di rumah.
→ We use Javanese every day at home.
Kami memakai bahasa Mandarin sehari-hari di rumah.
→ We use Mandarin every day at home.

Structure stays the same; only the language name changes.