Both descend from Malay, the trading lingua franca of Southeast Asia.
Where They're Identical
Basic grammar, sentence structure, core vocabulary:
- Selamat pagi = Good morning (both)
- Terima kasih = Thank you (both)
- Satu, dua, tiga = 1, 2, 3 (both)
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Where They Differ
| English | Indonesian | Malay |
|---|---|---|
| Car | Mobil | Kereta |
| Shop | Toko | Kedai |
| Office | Kantor | Pejabat |
| Money | Uang | Wang |
| Towel | Handuk | Tuala |
Indonesian borrowed from Dutch. Malaysian borrowed from English.
Mutual Intelligibility
Learn Indonesian, be understood in Malaysia 80-90% of the time.
The Bottom Line
Learning Indonesian gives you access to 270 million people in Indonesia plus significant intelligibility across Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei. Over 300 million people reached by one language.
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