Basic

Word Order/Syntax

The basic word order in Indonesian is Subject-Verb-Object.

For example:

Saya	membaca	buku
Subject	Verb	Object

Articles

Definite or indefinite articles (a, the) in Indonesian are not known. If you say ‘Gedung’(building) can mean ‘a building’ or ‘the building’. It’s very important to understand it within the context to know what it really means.

Gender

Indonesian has no gender. ‘Anak’ (child) is used to refer to a girl or a boy. To specify gender, you can say ‘anak laki’ (male child/son) or ‘anak perempuan’ (female child/daughter).

Plural

To indicate a plural noun we can double the noun, use number or put the word ‘banyak’(many/much/ a lot) or ‘sedikit’(few/little/some/several) before the noun.

Singular	Plural	Meaning
rumah	rumah-rumah	houses
	lima rumah	five houses
	banyak rumah	many houses
minyak	sedikit minyak	little oil
orang	beberapa orang	few people
uang	banyak uang	a lot of money

Negative

’Tidak’ and ‘Bukan’ are used to indicate negation such as ‘no’ and ‘not’. ‘Tidak’ is positioned before the adjective, verb or preposition. ‘Bukan’ is used to refer a noun.

Tidak	Saya tidak takut	I am not affraid
Bukan	Dia bukan teman saya	He is not my friend

Reference: http://www.bahasakita.com/grammar/formal/basic/