Welcome~
Today’s post will cover the basic mathematical expressions and measurement words used in Bahasa Indonesia.
Now, relax first, for we won’t be covering mathematics, but rather the words used in equations. It is very handy to know them, as they are often used in everyday life, as well.
Edit 9/9/20: The video is up! Click here to watch^^
These are the basic mathematical expression in Bahasa Indonesia, when used in an equation:
‘+’ is read as ditambah, or simply tambah
‘-’ is read as dikurangi, or simply kurang
‘x’ is read as dikali, or simply kali
‘÷’ is read as dibagi, or simply bagi
‘=’ is read as sama dengan
‘≠’ is read as tidak sama dengan
‘<’ is read as kurang dari
‘>’ is read as lebih dari
‘≤’ is read as kurang dari (atau) sama dengan
‘≥’ is read as lebih dari (atau) sama dengan
‘√’ is read as akar; normally, this symbol only applies for square root or power of two. If you want to say that it is cube root (power of three) or anything bigger, simply read it as akar pangkat [the number of power]. For example, cube root is read as akar pangkat tiga (remember, tiga means three)
‘2’ is read as kuadrat. Again, the same principle for square roots applies for these to the power of. Simply change the ‘to the power of’ into pangkat + the number of power. For example, ‘4’ is read as pangkat empat (remember, empat means four)
Alright, that’s all I’m going to force into you regarding basic math expressions ^^
Obviously, I myself have no enough brain power to once again go through my notes of more complex math. Truthfully, unless you are studying a more advance math, these expressions are enough to get you through a supermarket spree in Indonesia.
Next, let us move on to measurement words. In English, not a lot of things have measurement words, as most of them simply use the number directly. Admittedly, there are some that exist in English, such as two loaves of bread or a sheet of paper. However, similar to other Asian countries, Indonesia has a much more variation of measurement words.
I’ll give you some measurement words that are commonly used in everyday life, along with their purpose and example.
buah is used for things in general, as long as they are non-living, particularly things that are large or don’t fit any of the criteria for the other measurements. It also means ‘fruit’. Usage example: sebuah buku (a book); enam buah kursi (six chairs); seratus buah apel (one hundred apples).
ekor is used for animals, and it also means ‘tail’. For example: seekor bebek (a duck); empat ekor kucing (four cats).
orang is used exclusively for human beings, and literally translates as ‘person’. For example: tiga orang siswa (three students); sepuluh orang wanita (ten women).
biji is used for small round objects like grains or nuts, and it is translated as ‘seed’. You can also use butir for the same things, as it is translated as ‘grain’. For example: seratus biji kadang kedelai (one hundred soy beans); lima butir telur (five eggs); sebutir mutiara (a pearl).
batang is used for long stiff objects mostly made out of wood such as tree branches, walking sticks, or pencils. It also means ‘tree trunk’. Usage example: dua batang pensil (two pencils); sebatang tongkat (a stick).
helai is used for things that are thin in layers, such as paper and hair. For example: sehelai rambut (a strand of hair); sehelai kertas (a sheet of paper).
potong is used for portions cut from a bigger chunk, and is literally translated as ‘cut’ or ‘slice’. For example: sepotong daging sapi (a cut of beef); tiga potong roti tawar (three slices of white bread).
Alright, I think that’s enough. Of course, there are still a lot of measurement words that can be used in Bahasa Indonesia, but they are not used as often as the one I mention above. Some other measurement words include bidang/petak for an area of land, bilah for things like knives and swords, pasang for things that came in pairs like shoes, and also keping for flat things like coins.
As you can see from the examples, these measurement words are written after the number and before the noun. And, luckily, the nouns are not added with –s/-es. On the contrary, in Bahasa Indonesia, when you don’t specify the number of things, the nouns are doubled and separated with a dash. For example, when you say tiga buah kamera, it means ‘three cameras’. However, when you say kamera-kamera itu, for example, it means ‘those cameras’. How any cameras were there? It doesn’t matter, but it certainly is not one.
That was actually all I intended to explain, but let’s add another thing. This is actually a part of the numbers, more precisely the ordinal number, AKA things like first, second, third, fourth, and so one. It’s very easy actually, as the only one that has a different format from the others is first.
First, or 1st, is read as pertama.
Second, or 2nd, is read as kedua.
Third, or 3rd, is read as ketiga.
Fourth, or 4th, is read as keempat.
Starting to see the pattern here?
That’s right! Other that first, all the other ordinal numbers are read simply by adding a prefix ke- in the front of the number. And when I say the only different one is 1, I say it literally. For even though ‘first’ is read as pertama, say, ‘thirty-first’ is read as ketiga puluh satu, and can be written as ke-31.
Let’s see other ordinal number.
Eight, or 8th, is read as kedelapan, and written as ke-8.
Tenth, or 10th, is read as kesepuluh, and written as ke-10.
Sixteenth, or 16th, is read as keenam belas, and written as ke-16.
Fiftieth, or 50th, is read as kelima puluh, and written as ke-50.
Seventy-fifth, or 75th, is read as ketujuh puluh lima, and written as ke-75.
One hundredth, or 100th, is read as keseratus, and written as ke-100.
It’s easy right?
Alright, this is the true end of this post. Don’t forget to keep reviewing the numbers in Bahasa Indonesia ≧◠ᴥ◠≦
The conclusion of today’s lesson, along with a bit of review from numbering part 1:
Thank you for reading. See you soon ^^
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