26 When You Compare Things (2)

It is possible that when you compare two objects or facts you find both have the same quality. Then you will say that A has the quality as that of B, or A is as good as B. In Indonesian we would say:

A sama kualitasnya dengan B

or

A sebaik B.

From these two constructions we can formulate the following general rules for comparing two objects (facts) when both have the same quality or characteristics:

[Object 1] sama + adj. +nya dengan [Object 2]

or

[Object 1] se+adj. [Object 2].

(Note that we can replace adj. with adv. in both constructions. The second construction is simpler then the other.)

Let us try digesting the rule by using some examples below.

John is clever. Tom is as clever as John.
John pintar. Tom sama pintarnya dengan John, or John sepintar Tom.

John runs rapidly. Tom runs as rapidly as John.
John lari cepat. Tom lari sama cepatnya dengan John, or Tom lari secepat John.

His house is big and expensive. Her house is as big and expensive as his (house).
Rumahnya(♂) besar dan mahal. Rumahnya(♀) sama besar dan mahalnya dengan rumahnya(♂), or Rumahnya(♀) sebesar dan semahal rumahnya(♂).


Now, it is your turn to play around with the following adjectives and adverbs.

Rajin (diligent)
Malas (lazy)
Murah (cheap)
Gelap (dark)
Terang (bright)
Bersih (clean)
Kotor (dirty)
Berharga (valuable)
Fasih (fluently)
Lambat (slowly)


Regards,

Ika

25 When You Compare Things (1)

Did you know that every second you have to decide which way you have to go? In this case, you will compare which is the worst, the normal, and the best way. But, I will not discuss further about this philosophical thing here, I concern rather on the three categories of adjectives and adverbs. More specifically, we will talk about the degrees of comparison of the adjectives and adverbs in terms of what so-called the comparative and superlative. As far as the English language concern, generally we add -er to the adjective or adverb for the comparatives and -est for the superlatives, except for words longer than two syllables. Take, for example, the adjective clever. Its comparative is cleverer and its superlative is the cleverest. There are some change of form for certain words, but I will not delve into this exception.
What we are concerned about is the case related to words having more than 2 syllables. In this case, we add more and the most for their comparative and superlative, respectively. For example, the word expensive becomes more expensive (comparative) and the most expensive (superlative). This specific case applies also in Indonesian language in that the word lebih (meaning more) is used for the comparative and paling or ter for the superlative, and this rule applies for all words ignoring the number of syllables. Let us take some examples of adjectives and adverbs with their comparatives and superlatives.

Clever     pintar
Cleverer    lebih pintar
Cleverest   paling pintar or terpintar

John is clever. Tom is cleverer than John. But Jerry is the cleverest of all.
John pintar. Tom lebih pintar daripada John. Tapi Jerry paling pintar dari semuanya.

Rapidly       cepat
More rapidly    lebih cepat
The most rapidly    paling cepat or tercepat

John runs rapidly. Tom runs more rapidly than John. But Jerry runs the most rapidly of all.
John lari cepat. Tom lari lebih cepat daripada John. Tapi Jerry lari paling cepat dari semuanya.

Can you do the following examples using the above rule? I hope so.

Rajin (diligent)
Malas (lazy)
Murah (cheap)
Gelap (dark)
Terang (bright)
Bersih (clean)
Kotor (dirty)
Berharga (valuable)
Fasih (fluently)

I also hope that this Indonesian simple rule for degree of comparison will help you increase your understanding.

Regards,

Ika

(24) Some more expressions

Here are some more expressions or phrases that may be useful when you are in Indonesia.

A taxi is usually caught at a rank outside the airport (after you pass the passport control, claiming your baggage, and go out). You can also phone for a taxi wherever you are; numbers are listed in the yellow pages or you can see on the billboard around. You can pay the taxi either based on the meters or on the agreement. If you are not sure about the distance, taxis with meters are recommended.

Where can I get a taxi? Di mana saya bisa dapat taksi?
Please get me a taxi. Tolong panggilkan saya taksi.
What’s the fare to …? Berapa ongkosnya ke …?
How far is it to …? Berapa jauhnya ke …?
Take me to … Tolong, antar saya ke …
this address   alamat ini
the airport   bandara
the railway station   stasiun kereta
the town centre   pusat kota
the … Hotel          Hotel …

Turn left/right at the next    Tolong, belok kiri/kanan
at the next corner                   di pojokan setelah ini.

Go straight ahead.   Lurus saja.
Please stop here.   Tolong berhenti di sini

I’m in a hurry.   Saya lagi (ter)buru-buru.
Could you drive more   Bisa tolong lebih pelan/cepat?
slowly/quickly?
Could you help me carry   Bisa minta tolong bawakan
my luggage?                        koper saya?

Will you wait for me, please?    Bisa tunggu saya?
I’ll be back in …    Saya kembali …
10 minutes     10 (sepuluh) menit lagi.
5 minutes        5 (lima) menit lagi.

When you reach the destination, the meter on the front panel will show you how much you have to pay (in rupiah, the Indonesian currency). Just give the amount of money it shows, but if you give the taxi driver a service tip, it will very be appreciated. Often, it is impossible to pay the fare exactly as shown by the meter. For example, if the meter shows 121150, you should pay 125000 rupiahs, as coins worth of 150 are difficult to get. Basically, 150 rupiahs pay only a candy, and 5000 rupiahs is worth of about US 50 cents. The rule of the thumb is to pay after rounding up the meter read to about 5000 rupiahs.

That would be enough for the moment. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,

Ika