← Back

Prepositions, Conjunctions & Complex Sentences

Prepositions, conjunctions, the relative particle yang and subordinate clause structure
di atas, di bawah, di dalam, di luar
on, under, inside, outside
-
Compound location phrases built from di + a location word
sebelum, sesudah/setelah
before, after (time/place)
-
Used for both temporal and spatial "before/after"
karena, kalau, meskipun, ketika
because, if, although, when
-
Core subordinating conjunctions
meskipun...tetapi/namun
although...(but/however)
-
Indonesian often keeps "tetapi" even after "meskipun"
bahwa dalam ujaran tak langsung
reported speech with bahwa
-
No tense-mood shift needed, unlike some European languages
Urutan kata di klausa bawahan sama dengan klausa utama
Word order in subordinate clauses matches main clauses
-
No verb-final rule, unlike German subordinate clauses
yang
relative clause marker (that/which/who)
yahng
Introduces a clause describing a preceding noun
Orang yang saya temui
the person that I met
-
yang links the relative clause back to "orang"
supaya/agar
so that/in order that (purpose clause)
soo-PAH-ya / AH-gar
Introduces the goal of the main clause's action
sehingga
so that/resulting in (result clause)
suh-HEENG-ga
Introduces the consequence of the main clause