Interrogative Words

In your daily life, you meet people, talk to and communicate with them. If you or they do not understand, you or they will ask them. So, question words, or interrogative words, will play very important role in your interactions with people.
For journalists, there are at least five question words starting with W and H they have to ask to measure the strength of their news: What, Who, When, Where, Why, and How. Other question words that also are important are Which, Whose, and Whom.
As far as the human communication concerns, question words will always be needed.

The following are some interrogative words used by Indonesian to ask questions.

Siapa (who)
Apa (what)
Mana (where)
Kapan (when)
Kenapa (why)
Bagaimana (How)
Berapa (How much/many)

Sometimes, these question words have to be combined with other word/phrase to result in other question words, for example:
Yang + mana (Which one)
Noun + siapa (Whose)
Preposition + siapa (Whom)

(Still find difficult to read these words? Please go back to the previous posts.)

Here are some examples of general sentences using questions words.

1. Siapa nama anda
Who is your name? (In English, you have to say What is your name?)
2. Apa artinya dalam bahasa Indonesia?
What does this mean in Indonesian?
3. Mana rumahnya?
Where is the house?
4. Kapan anda belajar bahasa Indonesia?
When did you learn Indonesian language?
5. Kenapa anda berhenti belajarnya?
Why did you stop studying it?
6. Bagaimana caranya?
How does it work?
7. Berapa banyak mobilnya?
How many cars has he got? (This can also mean How many cars are there?)
8. Berapa banyak anda perlu uang?
How much money do you need?
9. Yang mana anda mau?
Which one do you want?
10. Rumah siapa itu?
Whose house is that?
11. Kepada siapa mereka bicara?
Whom did they talk to? (Or To whom did they talk?)
12. Dengan siapa anda pergi ke kota?
With whom did you go to the city?

I have given you quite many new words by now. I hope you will enjoy the lesson, but if you have any comment or question, please do not hesitate to write to me.

Regards,

Ika