Welcome to the 8th lesson about Javanese grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.
We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Javanese and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Javanese and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Javanese.
| Prepositions - Javanese |
|---|
| and lan |
| above ing ndhuwur |
| under ing ngisor |
| before sak durunge |
| after sak uwise |
| in front of ing ngarepe |
| behind ing sisihe |
| far from adoh saka |
| near cedhek |
| in ing |
| inside ing jerone |
| outside ing jabane |
| with kanthi |
| without tanpa |
| about babagan |
| between antarane |
| but ananging |
| for kanggo |
| from saka |
| to menyang |
The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Prepositions + Rules - Javanese |
|---|
| I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] aku mangan tanpa lading |
| she lives near the church [verb + preposition] dheweke manggen cedhek greja |
| he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] dheweke luwih dhuwur tinimbang sing kae |
| he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] dheweke teka karo kirik cilik |
| can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] bisa teka karo aku? |
Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.
| Negation + Rules - Javanese |
|---|
| I understand you [affirmative form] aku mangerteni kowe |
| I don't understand you [negation + verb] aku ora mangerteni kowe |
| this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] iki dudu jawaban sing bener |
| don't leave me [imperative negation] aja tinggalne aku |
| no problem [negation + noun] ora masalah |
| Negative Sentences - Javanese |
|---|
| I don't speak French [negation + present tense] aku ora bisa cara Prancis |
| she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] dheweke ora ngunjungi Jerman |
| he cannot see us [negative modal verb] dheweke ora bisa ndeleng kita |
| can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] apa dheweke ora bisa main catur? |
| we will not come late [negation + future tense] aku ora bakal teka telat |
Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:
| English - Javanese |
|---|
| how? piye? |
| what? apa? |
| who? sapa? |
| why? kenapa? |
| where? ing ngendi? |
More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:
| Questions + Rules - Javanese |
|---|
| where do you live? [interrogative + verb] kowe tinggal ana ngendi? |
| does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] apa dheweke bisa ngomong cara Cina? |
| how much is this? [interrogative preposition] pira akehe iki? |
| can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] aku bisa mbantu kowe? |
| what is your name? [interrogative preposition] sapa jenengmu? |
It's time to learn the adverbs in Javanese. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Adverbs - Javanese |
|---|
| now saiki |
| yesterday wingi |
| today dina ini |
| tonight mbengi iki |
| tomorrow sesuk |
| soon sak cepete |
| quickly cepet |
| slowly alon |
| together bareng-bareng |
| very banget |
| almost meh |
| always mesti |
| usually biasane |
| sometimes kadang-kadang |
| rarely jarang |
| never ora tau/ora pernah |
The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.
| Adverbs + Rules - Javanese |
|---|
| do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] paham apa sing tak omongne? |
| I need help immediately [noun + adverb] aku butuh bantuan sak cepete |
| she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] dheweke pinter banget |
| I will always love you [verb + adverb] aku bakal tansah tresna sliramu |
| can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] apa awake dewe isa sinau basa Jerman bebarengan? |
We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Javanese. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:
| Personal Pronouns - Javanese |
|---|
| I aku |
| you kowe/awakmu |
| he dheweke |
| she dheweke |
| we kita |
| they dheweke |
| Object Pronouns - Javanese |
|---|
| me aku |
| you kowe |
| him dheweke |
| her dheweke |
| us kita |
| them dheweke |
| Possessive Pronouns - Javanese |
|---|
| my ku (mobilku) |
| your mu |
| his gone dheweke |
| her gone dheweke |
| our gone dewe |
| their gone dheweke |
I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.
| Personal Pronouns - Javanese |
|---|
| I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] aku kancamu |
| you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] omonganmu kecepeten |
| he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] dheweke duwe asu cacah telu |
| she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] dheweke bisa ngomong cara Jerman |
| we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] kita ora bakal teka telat |
| they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] dheweke tuku susu lan roti |
The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:
| Object Pronouns - Javanese |
|---|
| can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] aku bisa weruh sapa jenengmu? |
| I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] aku bakal menehi sampeyan duwit |
| she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] dheweke nulis surat |
| they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] dheweke dikunjungi wingi |
| can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] apa dheweke bisa ngewangi kita? |
| he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] dheweke menehi roti |
| Possessive Pronouns - Javanese |
|---|
| my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] jenengku Maya |
| your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] sedhulur kakungmu tinggal ana kene |
| her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] ibune masak kanggo kita |
| his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] hobine maca buku |
| our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] cita-citaku ngunjungi Paris |
| their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] omahe dheweke ora adoh |
One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.
| Demonstrative Pronouns - Javanese |
|---|
| this is my house iki omahku |
| that restaurant is far restoran iku adoh |
| these apples are delicious apel iki nyamleng rasane |
| those stars are shiny lintang kae cemlorot |
I hope you learned a lot about the Javanese grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!
Inspirational Quote: First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. Epictetus |