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Top 50 Indonesian Phrases for Travellers

The most useful phrases for travel in Indonesia, organised by situation: greetings, transactions, food, transport, directions, emergencies. Each with a plain-English pronunciation guide.

4 min read · 2026-05-17

A working pocket vocabulary in Bahasa Indonesia goes a long way. Indonesians are warm with anyone who tries to speak the language, even badly, and the basic grammar (no tones, no conjugation, regular spelling) makes the effort unusually rewarding. Here are 50 phrases that cover roughly 80% of standard tourist situations, organised by context.

Greetings and basics

  1. Selamat pagi — Good morning (pronounced "se-LAH-mat PAH-gee", until about 10am)
  2. Selamat siang — Good day (about 10am to 3pm)
  3. Selamat sore — Good afternoon (about 3pm to dusk)
  4. Selamat malam — Good evening / good night (after dark)
  5. Halo, apa kabar? — Hi, how are you? ("AH-pah KAH-bar")
  6. Baik-baik saja, terima kasih — Fine, thank you ("BAH-eek BAH-eek SAH-jah, te-REE-mah KAH-see")
  7. Senang bertemu Anda — Pleased to meet you
  8. Sampai jumpa — See you later
  9. Selamat tinggal — Goodbye (when you're the one leaving)
  10. Selamat jalan — Goodbye (to the one leaving)

Courtesy

  1. Tolong — Please (when asking for help)
  2. Permisi — Excuse me (to pass, to interrupt)
  3. Maaf — Sorry
  4. Tidak apa-apa — No problem / it's fine
  5. Terima kasih banyak — Thank you very much
  6. Sama-sama — You're welcome
  7. Boleh saya...? — May I...?

Transactions and shopping

  1. Berapa harganya? — How much does it cost? ("be-RAH-pah har-GAH-nya")
  2. Terlalu mahal — Too expensive
  3. Boleh kurang? — Can the price come down? (the polite opener for bargaining)
  4. Diskon, dong — Hit me with a discount (casual, friendly)
  5. Saya beli ini — I'll take this
  6. Bayar dengan kartu, bisa? — Can I pay by card?
  7. Tunai / kartu — cash / card
  8. Ada kembalian? — Do you have change?

Food and drink

  1. Mau pesan... — I'd like to order... (followed by the dish name)
  2. Tidak pedas / sedikit pedas / pedas — not spicy / a little spicy / spicy
  3. Tanpa es — No ice (useful caution for street drinks)
  4. Vegetarian / tanpa daging — Vegetarian / no meat
  5. Air mineral, satu botol — One bottle of mineral water
  6. Enak sekali! — Very delicious!
  7. Bisa minta bon? — Can I have the bill?

Transport

  1. Saya mau ke... — I want to go to...
  2. Berapa ongkos ke...? — What's the fare to...?
  3. Pakai meter, ya — Use the meter, please (for taxis)
  4. Belok kanan / kiri / lurus — Turn right / left / straight
  5. Berhenti di sini — Stop here
  6. Tunggu sebentar — Wait a moment
  7. Saya tersesat — I'm lost

Asking for directions

  1. Di mana...? — Where is...?
  2. Saya cari... — I'm looking for...
  3. Berapa jauh? — How far?
  4. Dekat / jauh — Near / far
  5. Sebelah sini / sana — On this side / over there
  6. Sebelah kiri / kanan — On the left / right

Help and emergencies

  1. Tolong! — Help! (the same word as "please" but in context)
  2. Saya butuh bantuan — I need help
  3. Panggil polisi / dokter / ambulans — Call the police / a doctor / an ambulance
  4. Saya sakit — I'm sick
  5. Di mana rumah sakit terdekat? — Where is the nearest hospital?

Pronunciation reminders

  • c is always "ch" (so cinta = "chin-tah", cepat = "che-pat")
  • e is usually the schwa "uh" sound; sometimes "ay" — context tells you
  • h at end of words is lightly pronounced, not silent
  • r is rolled or tapped, not English
  • Stress is normally on the second-to-last syllable but light

Tips for using these

  • Always greet before launching into a request. Even halo + a smile changes the temperature.
  • Mas (for younger men), bang (in Sumatra and Jakarta), pak (for older or respected men), bu (for women, especially older) are the standard polite address forms before a name or instead of a name. Mas, tolong... is friendlier than just tolong.
  • A small effort at the local language is appreciated everywhere but is felt as especially generous outside the major tourist areas, where many people don't speak English at all.
  • If pronunciation is unclear, write the word down — Indonesians are highly literate and the language is regular enough that written form usually resolves ambiguity.

What you'll add next

Once these 50 are second nature, the natural next batch is numbers up to a million, days of the week, common food vocabulary, family relationships, and the prefix me- / ber- / di- verb forms — at which point you're crossing into real intermediate Indonesian.