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Nouns, Plurals & Classifiers

No grammatical gender, plural formed by reduplication, and classifier words (kata penggolong)
Tidak ada gender
No gender — nouns have no masc/fem/neuter distinction
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A major simplification versus German or Greek
Tidak ada penanda jamak wajib
No obligatory plural marking
buku = book(s)
The same word covers both singular and plural
buku-buku
books (reduplication for plural)
BOO-koo BOO-koo
Repeating the noun signals plurality
rumah-rumah
houses
ROO-mah ROO-mah
Same reduplication pattern applied to another noun
orang
classifier for people
OH-rang
tiga orang guru = three teachers
ekor
classifier for animals
EH-kor
dua ekor kucing = two cats
buah
classifier for round/general objects
BOO-ah
satu buah apel = one apple
Angka tanpa kata penggolong dalam percakapan santai
Numbers can be used without classifiers casually
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dua kucing (informal) works fine alongside dua ekor kucing
ini/itu
this/that (come after the noun)
EE-nee / EE-too
Demonstratives follow, rather than precede, the noun
buku ini
this book
BOO-koo EE-nee
noun + demonstrative word order