B1 · Intermediate Chapter 33

Causative Verbs

3 Total Rules
1 min
Rules in This Chapter Quick Practice

Chapter in 30 Seconds

Master the art of making things happen by adding dynamic causative suffixes to your Indonesian verbs.

  • Identify the 'me-kan' causative pattern
  • Apply 'memper-kan' for intensive causation
  • Construct natural sentences to express indirect action
Make it happen: Command the causative.

What You'll Learn

Deep dive into 'me-kan' and 'memper-kan' structures. Explains how to express causing an action.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

  1. 1
    By the end you will be able to: Transform base verbs into causative forms to describe how you influence people or objects.

Tips & Tricks (3)

💡

The Object Rule

Always check if your verb has an object. If it does, you likely need -kan.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Me-kan Causative
💡

Check the Root

Always find the root word first to see if it makes sense with 'memper-kan'.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Memper-kan Causative
💡

Check the root

Always identify the root verb first. If it's 'jatuh', the causative is 'menjatuhkan'.
frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Causative Usage

Key Vocabulary (5)

menurunkan to lower/to drop memperbaiki to fix/to repair mendekatkan to bring closer memperjelas to clarify menghidupkan to turn on/to animate

Real-World Preview

briefcase

Office Meeting

Review Summary

  • me- + root + -kan
  • memper- + root + -kan

Common Mistakes

You cannot combine 'memper-' with a root that already indicates motion like 'turun'. Use 'me-kan' for simple causative verbs.

Wrong: Saya memper-turun buku itu.
Correct: Saya menurunkan buku itu.

While 'membuat jelas' is understandable, 'memperjelas' is the idiomatic, single-word causative form.

Wrong: Dia membuat jelas masalah itu.
Correct: Dia memperjelas masalah itu.

Not all verbs take -kan. 'Menolong' is already transitive; adding -kan makes it redundant or incorrect.

Wrong: Saya menolongkan dia.
Correct: Saya menolong dia.

Next Steps

You've conquered the causative! Keep practicing and your Indonesian will sound natural and precise.

Write 5 sentences using causative verbs found in a news article.

Continue to: Nominalization

Quick Practice (10)

Choose the correct sentence.

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Dia menjatuhkan gelas.
Active causative requires me-root-kan.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Me-kan Causative

Correct the sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Saya duduk anak itu di kursi.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Saya mendudukkan anak itu di kursi.
Need the causative 'mendudukkan'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Causative Usage

Select the correct form.

Dia ___ (jelas) instruksinya.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: memperjelas
Memperjelas is the correct causative.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Causative Usage

Complete the sentence.

Pemerintah ___ (naik) harga BBM.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: menaikkan
Menaikkan is the causative.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Causative Usage

Fill in the blank.

Dia sedang ___ (repair) kursi itu.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: memperbaiki
Memperbaiki is the correct causative for 'repair'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Memper-kan Causative

Choose the correct form.

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: memperbesar
No hyphen and no extra suffix.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Memper-kan Causative

Fill in the blank with the correct causative form.

Saya ___ (jatuh) buku itu.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: menjatuhkan
The causative of 'jatuh' is 'menjatuhkan'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Causative Usage

Choose the correct causative verb.

Dia ___ (panas) air untuk kopi.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: memanaskan
The causative of 'panas' is 'memanaskan'.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Causative Usage

Fix the error in the sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Saya tulis surat untuk dia.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Saya menuliskan surat untuk dia.
Transitive verb needs -kan.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Me-kan Causative

Fix the sentence.

Find and fix the mistake:

Dia memper-cepatkan mobilnya.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Dia mempercepat mobilnya.
Redundant suffix.

frontend.learn_grammar.from_rule: Memper-kan Causative

Score: /10

Common Questions (6)

Not every verb, but most transitive ones. It's best used when you want to emphasize the object.
It's a colloquial shortcut common in Jakarta and casual speech. Avoid it in formal writing.
No, it is restricted to specific roots. Always check a dictionary.
Yes, it is generally considered formal or neutral.
'-kan' is for moving objects or state changes. '-i' is for location or repeated action.
No, only those that can be made transitive.
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Reported Speech
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Nominalization
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