This is a list of Indonesian-Malay false friends, that is, word pairs similar in appearance but different in meaning. Diacritics are shown for clarity in this table (while they are not usually written). Translations may be approximated; see linked entries for details.
| Indonesian | Standard Malay | Translation, Indonesian only |
Translation, Both |
Translation, Standard Malay only |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| elektronik | elektronik | - | electronics (devices) | electronics (study) | |
| enamel | - | electronic mail | The term enamel is understood in both Indonesian and Standard Malay. | ||
| fabrik | fabrik | fabric (spatial and geometric configuration of rock) | - | fabric (material of fibers, a textile or cloth) | |
| faèdah | faédah | profit | use, benefit | interest (finance) | |
| farmasi | farmasi | * | pharmacy (science of medicinal substances) | pharmacy (a place where prescription drugs are dispensed) | The sense of a place where prescription drugs are dispensed is colloquial in Indonesian. |
| gabungan | gabungan | alliance, federation; union (the set containing all of the elements of two or more sets.) | confederation, union | combination (elements selected from a set without regard to the order of selection), | |
| gampang | gampang | easy | bastard | The sense of bastard come from anak gampang (“bastard”, literally “easy child”). | |
| gêtah | getah | humoural fluid, juice | latex; plant sap | rubber | |
| gimnasium | gimnasium | gymnasium (education institution) | gymnasium (sports) | ||
| graf | graf | graph (linguistic, typography senses) | graph (applied mathematics, statistics) | ||
| grafik | grafik | graph (applied mathematics, statistics) | - | graphic (adj); graphics (noun) | |
| gondol | gondol | to carry in the mouth; to pilfer, to steal, to swipe | bald | ||
| guru bêsar | guru besar | professor, senior lecturer or senior researcher (of a higher education institution) | principal, headteacher (of a school) | ||
| hèmat | hémat | to save (money or something e.g. electricity, gas or water usage) | frugal, pennywise | moral excellence; prudent | The frugal sense is rare in Standard Malay. |
| hos | hos | host (computer attached to a network) | hose (flexible tube); host (person who receives or entertains a guest, person or organisation responsible for running an event) | ||
| ibu nêgara | ibu negara | First Lady | capital city (of a country) | ||
| ibu pejabat | ibu pejabat | wife of an official | headquarters | ||
| ilmu alam | ilmu alam | natural science; physics (obsolete) | geography | ||
| ilmu saraf | ilmu saraf | neurology; neuroscience | morphology | ||
| imbuhan | imbuhan | affix (linguistics), augmentation | remuneration |