Indonesian Verb Tenses

Need more Indonesian? Try the audio and video lessons at IndonesianPod101.com

---

Present, Past and Future Tenses in Indonesian

Verbs are quite simple in Indonesian. There are no endings to add to verbs like in other languages. You simply add a certain word depending on which tense you want to use.

1. present, continuous, etc.

tengah (formal)

sedang (informal)

2. past, present perfect, etc.

telah (formal)

sudah (informal)

3. future

akan

Sample sentences:

Saya merokok - I smoke

Saya sedang merokok - I am smoking

Saya sudah merokok - I smoked, I have smoked, I had smoked, I have been smoking, I had been smoking

Saya akan merokok - I will smoke, I will be smoking, I will have smoked

The subject, the verb, the nouns, the adjectives, and the adverbs do not change their forms.