Building Names in Bahasa Indonesia

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it~

Today, I’m going to write about the names of buildings in Bahasa Indonesia.

Some of you might already know these things, and some of my previous posts had also mention a few. This post can be regarded as a compilation of sorts, so you can more easily locate the…location you want.

Okay, I’ll start with the names of literal buildings and agriculture places!

Barn = lumbung (usually more for rice rather than cows or the likes)

Building = bangunan or gedung

Farm (plantation) = perkebunan

Farm (ranch) = peternakan

Garden = kebun

Greenhouse = rumah kaca

House / home = rumah

(Open) field = lapangan

Paddy field = sawah

Palace = istana

Next, we’ll look at public infrastructures

Airport = bandar udara or bandara

Apartment = apartemen

Bank = bank

Boarding house = asrama (usually funded or owned and managed by the school or office) or kos (usually owned by individuals and located near public places like schools/universities, offices, or hospitals)

Bus station = terminal bus

Bus stop = halte bus

Courthouse = gedung pengadilan

Fire station = pos pemadam kebakaran

Flat = rumah susun (literally ‘stack house’)

Hall = aula or balai (e.g. city hall is ‘balai kota’)

Harbour = pelabuhan

Health center = Pusat Kesehatan Masyarakat (Puskesmas)

Hospital = rumah sakit (literally ‘ill house’)

Hotel = hotel

Library = perpustakaan

Museum = museum

Observatory = observatorium

Office = kantor

Police station = kantor polisi

Post office = kantor pos

Prison / jail = penjara or Rumah Tahanan Negara (Rutan)

School = sekolah

Slaughterhouse / butchery = penjagalan or rumah jagal

Swimming pool = kolam renang

Train station = stasiun kereta api

University = universitas

Well = sumur

A Puskesmas

 Next comes the commercial and entertainment buildings

Amusement park = taman hiburan or taman bermain

Aquarium = akuarium

Bookstore / bookshop = toko buku

Boutique = butik

Cinema = bioskop

Clinic = klinik (either: (1) A doctor or a group of doctors’ personal clinic away from the hospital; or (2) A beauty clinic)

Coffee shop = warung kopi (warkop)

Convenience store = minimarket

Department store = mall

Food court = sentra kuliner (though people are more familiar with the term ‘food court’)

Hair salon / barber = salon (rambut) or tukang cukur (rambut) or tukang pangkas (rambut)

Market = pasar

Pet shop = toko hewan peliharaan

Pharmacy / drug store = apotek

Restaurant = restoran or rumah makan (literally ‘eat house’)

Stationery shop = toko alat tulis

Store / shop = toko

Supermarket = supermarket

Traditional market = pasar tradisional

Workshop (for vehicle) = bengkel

Zoo = kebun binatang

We also have small-scale stores that have almost everything the surrounding people needs and are usually operated by a family called toko kelontong or warung, though warung itself can also refer to a small-scale F&B establishment. Talking about warung, another term for small-scale F&B business is depot. So in Indonesia, ‘depot’ is not a storehouse or warehouse, but rather a local and small place that sells food.

A Toko Kelontong / Warung

You might also notice that the name of some places in Bahasa Indonesia follows the format of ‘toko’ + ‘the ware they sell’, such as toko buku that sells books or toko hewan peliharaa that sells pet supplies. This can be applied to many other stores, such as how a store that sells building materials is called toko bahan bangunan or how stores that sell breads is called toko roti (roti means bread). We also like to shorten the names, such as how a dealer in Bahasa Indonesia refers to car dealer more often than not.

Some places also have the same name whether it’s in English or Bahasa Indonesia, with some only differ in writing but has the same sound (of course with Indonesian accent), such as bank or clinic. It is also common to directly say the name of the brand instead of the place name, like the name of supermarket chain or mall.

A mall in Surabaya, Indonesia, called Tunjungan Plaza

 Here’s also a list of religious places, which I’ve mentioned in my post about Religions in Indonesia.

Buddhist monastery = Vihara

Church = Gereja

Monastery = Biara

Mosque = Masjid

Shrine / Temple = Kuil or Pura or Klenteng (depends on which religion it belongs to)

They’re usually followed by the name of the place, like how The Church of Virgin Mary is called Gereja Santa Maria Tak Bercela.

Gedung Sate, a monumental building located in Bandung, West Java

The rooms inside each building also have various names, as well as the people in them and appliances used by them, so I’ll write about it next time.

That’s all for today’s post, see you next time~