Siomay itu pakai saus kacang.

that

Breakdown of Siomay itu pakai saus kacang.

• pakai: to use
• saus: the sauce
• kacang: the nut

Questions & Answers about Siomay itu pakai saus kacang.

What does itu mean here?

In this sentence, itu comes after siomay and points to a particular siomay that is already known, visible, or previously mentioned.

So Siomay itu... can feel like:

• that siomay
• the siomay
• sometimes just a topic already under discussion

Indonesian itu is often a demonstrative (that), but after a noun it can also work a bit like English the, depending on context.

Why is itu after the noun instead of before it?

Because in Indonesian, demonstratives like ini and itu usually come after the noun they describe.

So:

• siomay itu = that/the siomay
• saus itu = that/the sauce

This is different from English, where we say that siomay.

What does pakai mean in this sentence?