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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| tabib | tabib | shaman (traditional healer) | * | doctor, physician | All senses are listed in both reference dictionary. The differences of senses are based in prevailing senses. |
| taburan | taburan | - | sprinkle | distribution | |
| tambang | tambang | tether (rope, cable) | mine (excavation from which ore is extracted) | fare, freight; ferry; load | The sense of mine (excavation) is rare in Standard Malay. |
| tandas | tandas | to explain; to finish | - | toilet, lavatory | |
| tèknik | téknik | technique (practical aspects), engineering | technique (method) | technical | |
| tèwas | téwas | dead | - | defeated | |
| tisu | tisu | tissue (woven fabric) | tissue (sheet of absorbent paper) | tissue (aggregation of cells) | |
| tolak | tolak | - | push*, reject | substract | The sense of to push is fossilized in Indonesian. |
| trèn | trén | trend | - | train | |
| turis | turis | tourist | - | to engrave, to scribe; burin (engraving tool) |