Aku traktir martabak; kamu traktir siomay.

I'll cover the martabak; you cover the siomay.

Breakdown of Aku traktir martabak; kamu traktir siomay.

• kamu: you
• aku: I
• traktir: to treat; pay for someone
• martabak: martabak (Indonesian street food)

Questions & Answers about Aku traktir martabak; kamu traktir siomay.

What does traktir mean in this sentence?

Here traktir means to treat someone / pay for someone else's food or drink.

So Aku traktir martabak; kamu traktir siomay means something like:

• I’ll pay for the martabak; you’ll pay for the siomay.

In everyday Indonesian, traktir often focuses on the idea of covering the cost.

Shouldn't it be mentraktir instead of traktir?

In more standard or careful Indonesian, yes, you may see mentraktir as the full verb form.

But in casual spoken Indonesian, using the bare form traktir as a verb is very common. So this sentence sounds:

• natural
• informal
• conversational

A learner should recognize both:

• Aku traktir martabak — casual, common in speech
• Aku mentraktir martabak — more formal/standard-sounding

Why does the sentence use aku and kamu?