Sentences Without 'To Be'

Level: Beginner. English needs am, is or are in almost every sentence. Indonesian usually needs nothing: you put the noun or adjective straight after the subject. Once you stop looking for a missing verb, these sentences become the easiest in the language.

The rule

A copula is a linking verb like English be that joins a subject to what you say about it. Indonesian mostly does without one. The subject is followed directly by a predicate — the information about the subject — which can be a noun, an adjective, or a place phrase:

• Subject + noun (identity or job): Saya guru. — “I am a teacher.”
• Subject + adjective (quality or state): Dia lapar. — “He/She is hungry.”
• Subject + place (location): Mereka di rumah. — “They are at home.”

Nothing has been left out. Saya guru is a full, correct sentence; there is no Indonesian word that “should” sit in the middle. The predicate also never changes for person or number — the same pattern works for I, she, and they.

The patterns at a glance

When you do use adalah

adalah is a real word, but a narrow one. It links two noun phrases in formal or written Indonesian — definitions, explanations, reports, and careful statements:

• Bali adalah sebuah pulau di Indonesia. — “Bali is an island in Indonesia.”
• Tujuan kami adalah keamanan. — “Our goal is safety.”

In everyday speech the plain pattern is normal: Saya mahasiswa sounds natural, while Saya adalah mahasiswa sounds like a stiff, formal self-description. And adalah does not go before an adjective, even in formal writing: you say Situasi ini sulit (“This situation is difficult”), never Situasi ini adalah sulit.

Saying “is not”: bukan vs tidak

To make these sentences negative, Indonesian picks the negator by what follows:

• bukan negates a noun: Dia bukan dokter. — “He/She is not a doctor.”
• tidak negates an adjective or verb: Saya tidak lapar. — “I am not hungry.”

How to say it

Indonesian spelling is consistent — each letter has one sound. A few to watch in this lesson’s words:

• c is always “ch”: cantik (“beautiful”) sounds like “chan-tik”, not “kan-tik”.
• Vowels are short and pure: the a in adalah is “ah” each time (“ah-dah-lah”).
• ng is one soft sound as in “singer”: orang (“person”) ends like the end of “song”.
• Stress is light and usually on the second-to-last syllable; nothing is drawn out.

Example sentences

1. Saya guru.
   I am a teacher.
   subject + noun
2. Dia dokter.
   He/She is a doctor.
3. Kami mahasiswa.
   We are university students.
4. Rumah ini besar.
   This house is big.
   subject + adjective
5. Makanan itu enak.
   That food is delicious.
6. Saya lapar.
   I am hungry.
7. Cuaca hari ini panas.
   The weather today is hot.
8. Mereka di rumah.
   They are at home.
   subject + place
9. Ini kopi.
   This is coffee.
   ini + noun
10. Itu buku saya.
    That is my book.
11. Ayah saya petani.
    My father is a farmer.
12. Kota ini indah.
    This city is beautiful.
13. Bahasa Indonesia mudah.
    Indonesian is easy.
14. Mereka teman saya.
    They are my friends.
15. Bali adalah sebuah pulau.
    Bali is an island.
    formal: adalah + noun
16. Paus adalah mamalia.
    A whale is a mammal.
    definition
17. Tujuan kami adalah keamanan.
    Our goal is safety.
    formal
18. Dia bukan dokter.
    He/She is not a doctor.
    bukan negates a noun
19. Saya tidak lapar.
    I am not hungry.
    tidak negates an adjective
20. Dia sakit hari ini.
    He/She is sick today.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Saya adalah guru. (casual) → ✅ Saya guru. The plain pattern is normal; adalah sounds overly formal here.
• ❌ Dia adalah cantik. → ✅ Dia cantik. adalah never goes before an adjective.
• ❌ Saya am guru. / Dia is dokter. → ✅ Saya guru. / Dia dokter. There is no English be to import.
• ❌ Dia tidak guru. → ✅ Dia bukan guru. A noun is negated with bukan, not tidak.
• ❌ Dia adalah di rumah. → ✅ Dia ada di rumah. / Dia di rumah. Location uses ada or nothing, not adalah.

A short conversation

Perkenalan (introductions): — Selamat pagi. Saya Budi. Saya mahasiswa. — Halo, Budi. Saya Sari. Saya bukan mahasiswa; saya guru. — Oh, bagus! Sekolah itu dekat? — Ya, sekolahnya dekat.

Usage notes

• Word order is subject–predicate. With no linking verb to anchor the sentence, the order itself carries the meaning: Rumah besar (“The house is big”) vs rumah besar as just a phrase (“a big house”) depends on context and intonation.
• ini / itu (“this / that”) often open an identifying sentence: Ini teh, Itu mobil saya.
• merupakan is a more formal cousin of adalah in writing (“constitutes / is”), but at beginner level adalah or nothing is all you need.
• Formal does not mean always insert adalah. Even a report says Situasi ini sulit, not … adalah sulit.

Compared with…

• Word order carries the load when there is no verb, so a solid grasp of subject-before-predicate helps. See Basic Word Order in Indonesian. To review who the subjects are, see Indonesian Personal Pronouns.

Quick recap before the quiz.

Practice

Practice

No to be practice

Try each one, then press Check. No sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere — it all runs in your browser.

1 How do you say 'I am a teacher'?

Saya adalah guru. Saya guru. Saya am guru. Saya ada guru.

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Saya guru. — The neutral sentence is just subject + noun: Saya guru.

2 Negate a noun: 'He is not a doctor' = Dia ____ dokter.

Check

Hint: the negator for nouns

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bukan — A noun is negated with bukan: Dia bukan dokter.

3 Negate an adjective: 'I am not hungry' = Saya ____ lapar.

Check

Hint: the negator for adjectives

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tidak — An adjective is negated with tidak: Saya tidak lapar.

4 Order the words: 'This house is big.'

besariniRumah

CheckReset

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Rumah ini besar — Subject (Rumah ini) + adjective (besar), no linking verb.

5 Match each word to its job.

• adalah Match for adalah — choose — links two nouns (formal)negates a nounnegates an adjectivethere is / located at
• ada Match for ada — choose — links two nouns (formal)negates a nounnegates an adjectivethere is / located at
• bukan Match for bukan — choose — links two nouns (formal)negates a nounnegates an adjectivethere is / located at
• tidak Match for tidak — choose — links two nouns (formal)negates a nounnegates an adjectivethere is / located at

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• adalah → links two nouns (formal)
• ada → there is / located at
• bukan → negates a noun
• tidak → negates an adjective

adalah links nouns; ada marks existence/location; bukan and tidak are the two negators.

Quiz

Check yourself

Indonesian sentences without to be

12 questions · pick an answer and you'll see straight away if it's right.

0/12 0 answered

1. 1'She is hungry' in natural Indonesian is…

   A Dia adalah lapar. B Dia lapar. C Dia is lapar. D Dia ada lapar.
   Show answer

   Dia lapar. — An adjective follows the subject directly: Dia lapar.

2. 2When is adalah correct?

   A before any adjective B linking two nouns in formal writing C to show location D in every sentence with 'is'
   Show answer

   linking two nouns in formal writing — adalah links two noun phrases, mainly in formal or written Indonesian.

3. 3'He is not a doctor' = Dia ___ dokter.

   A tidak B bukan C adalah D ada
   Show answer

   bukan — A noun is negated with bukan.

4. 4'I am not tired' = Saya ___ lelah.

   A bukan B tidak C adalah D ada
   Show answer

   tidak — An adjective (lelah) is negated with tidak.

5. 5Which sentence is wrong?

   A Saya guru. B Dia adalah cantik. C Ini kopi. D Mereka teman saya.
   Show answer

   Dia adalah cantik. — adalah must not come before an adjective; say Dia cantik.

6. 6'This is coffee' = ___ kopi.

   A Ada B Ini C Adalah D Bukan
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   Ini — ini ('this') + noun: Ini kopi.

7. 7The word that means 'there is / located at' is…

   A adalah B ada C bukan D ialah
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   ada — ada marks existence or location; adalah links nouns.

8. 8'They are at home' = Mereka ___ rumah.

   A adalah di B di C bukan D tidak
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   di — Location uses di (or ada di), never adalah: Mereka di rumah.

9. 9Why is nothing 'missing' in 'Saya mahasiswa'?

   A the verb was dropped by accident B Indonesian allows a noun predicate with no copula C it is slang only D it is incomplete
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   Indonesian allows a noun predicate with no copula — A noun can be the predicate directly; no linking verb is needed.

10. 10Choose the correct formal definition.

    A Bali cantik adalah. B Bali adalah sebuah pulau. C Bali ada pulau. D Bali bukan adalah pulau.
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    Bali adalah sebuah pulau. — adalah links the two nouns Bali and sebuah pulau in a formal statement.

11. 11'That food is delicious' = Makanan itu ____.
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    enak — Subject (Makanan itu) + adjective (enak), with no linking verb.

12. 12Which negator goes with a noun?

    A tidak B bukan C belum D jangan
    Show answer

    bukan — bukan negates nouns; tidak negates adjectives and verbs.

Recap cheat-sheet

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