Featured article photo: Candi Borobudur in Central Java, Indonesia by Marjo Groenewegen
0. Nol / Kosong
There are two ways to say zero in Indonesian: Nol and Kosong. When reading a series of numbers, such as when reading out phone numbers, Kosong is more commonly used.
e.g. Nilai ujian mereka nol. / Their exam marks are zero.
e.g. Nomor telepon saya kosong-satu-dua-... / My phone number is zero-one-two-...
1. Satu
e.g. Satu apel / One apple
2. Dua
e.g. Dua rumah / Two houses
3. Tiga
e.g. Tiga televisi / Three televisions
4. Empat
e.g. Empat orang / Four people
5. Lima
e.g. Lima jendela / Five windows
6. Enam
e.g. Enam ranjang / Six beds
7. Tujuh
e.g. Tujuh piring / Seven plates
8. Delapan
e.g. Delapan baju / Eight shirts
9. Sembilan
e.g. Sembilan meja / Nine tables
10. Sepuluh
e.g. Sepuluh lusin / Ten dozens
Ordinal Numbers
The numbers listed above are cardinal numbers. In English, they correspond to "zero, one, two, three," and so on.
Ordinal numbers, on the other hand, are used when describing or listing a sequence. Examples of ordinal numbers in English are "first, second, third, fourth, fifth," and so on.
Ordinal numbers are simpler in Indonesian compared to the ones in English. The only new word you have to remember is the ordinal number for "first":
1. Pertama
e.g. Juara pertama / The first rank
What about the rest? Easy. Just add ke- in front of all the remaining numbers to turn them into ordinal numbers.
2. Kedua
Two in Indonesian is dua, so all we have to do is add ke- in front of it for it to mean "second".
e.g. Apartemen kedua / The second apartment
3. Ketiga
Three in Indonesian is tiga, so to say "third", simply add ke- in front of it.
e.g. Usulan ketiga / The third suggestion
4. Keempat
e.g. Pintu keempat / The fourth door
5. Kelima
e.g. Terminal kelima / The fifth terminal
6. Keenam
e.g. Indra keenam / The sixth sense
7. Ketujuh
e.g. Grup ketujuh / The seventh group
8. Kedelapan
e.g. Hari kedelapan / The eighth day
9. Kesembilan
e.g. Bulan kesembilan / The ninth month
10. Kesepuluh
e.g. Tahun kesepuluh / The tenth year
Your Turn
Try writing out these series of phone numbers in Indonesian and leave them as comments below!
- 081-3191-7812
- 081-2087-5566
- 085-6781-2403
