How to speak Bahasa Indonesia: Personal Pronouns

This is a boring post, made by boring person in a boring mood :/

Anyway, people used to say "Bahasa" to define a language used in Indonesia. While "Bahasa" means "language", so for me it doesn't make sense. I love to use "Bahasa Indonesia" instead. And in this post, I will share about Personal Pronouns not in expert way :p

I

in Indonesia, we have several ways to say "I". The formal one is "saya" and the informal is "aku". We use "saya", if we are talking to a stranger, to the elderly,  to person who you respect, to your boss, and to the president and all his staffs. We use "saya" in formal event, like during a class, a seminar, a meeting.

"Aku" is used in daily life, to siblings, to relatives, to parents, to friends. The closer you are to a person, the more OK to use "aku". Even though some local wisdom in some regions may be different, to keep you safe, just use "saya".

In a poetic way, we have "daku", and "hamba", but "hamba" is only used if you are talking to your God. You can find "hamba" in a fairytale or folklore when the proletariats pleaded to their king or queen.

"Ampuni hamba, Tuan.." means, "Please forgive me, O Your Majesty"

*I don't even know how to use "your majesty" :/ 

You

The formal way is "anda". When you use "saya" to call yourself, then you have to pair it with "anda" when you call your partners. If you are the boss, you can call yourself "saya", but "kamu" to your staffs. However, to pair "saya" with "anda" is better.

In a poetic way, you can use "kau", "engkau", and "dikau". When you are talking to your God, you call Him "Kau" or "Engkau", with K or E in capital letter. "Dikau" is used in cheesy poem or pick-up line, and I suggest you not to use it :/

Anda, kamu, kau, engkau, and dikau are used to call the second-person singular.

For second-person plural, we use "kalian". No other variant.

We

"kami" or "kita", and a it's a little bit tricky.

"Kami" means "we" but the one to whom you are talking to is not included, and "kita" means "we" when everybody is included.

They

"mereka".

He, She, It

"dia" or "ia" for every gender. "Ia" is more poetic though. And you use "beliau" to people who you respect.


I think that's all :D