adalah

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Indonesian

Etymology

From Malay adalah, from Classical Malay اداله (adalah). Equivalent to ada +‎ -lah.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈadalah/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: a‧da‧lah
  • Rhymes: -alah, -lah, -ah

Verb

adalah

  1. to be identical to
    Pancasila adalah falsafah bangsa Indonesia.
    Pancasila is the philosophy of the Indonesian nation.
    Kata adalah bagian terkecil dari bahasa.
    Word is the smallest part of language.
    Menteri adalah menteri yang menyelenggarakan....
    Minister means a minister administering....
  2. to have the same meaning as
    Desember adalah bulan kedua belas.
    December is the twelfth month.
  3. to be included in a group
    Saya adalah pengagum Dipa.
    I am an admirer of Dipa.
    Dia adalah seorang mahasiswa.
    He/she is a university student.

Synonyms

Particle

adalah

  1. a connector between two pieces of sentence that confirms the details or explanation of the first part
    Yang perlu dikerjakan sekarang adalah membawa korban ke rumah sakit.
    What needs to be done now is to take the victims to the hospital.
    Kerjanya adalah menarik mahasiswa.
    His/her job is to attract university students.

Usage notes

In Indonesian, "to be" can be expressed by juxtaposing words, but "adalah" is used to clarify or emphasize the meaning.

Examples:

Synonyms

Antonyms

Further reading

Malay

Etymology

Affixation of ada +‎ -lah.

Pronunciation

Particle

adalah (Jawi spelling اداله)

  1. (formal, predicate marker) To be.
    Ini adalah benar.
    This is true.
  2. (obsolete) In fact.
    Synonym: sesungguhnya

Usage notes

  • As a predicate marker, adalah is an optional connector word which is often used like the English verb “to be”.
  • In their Tatabahasa Dewan, the DBP prescribe that it can be used only before prepositions, postpositions and adjectives in contrast to ialah, which has the same meaning but is prescribed to only be used before nouns and verbs.
Example:
  • Ini benar ― This is true.
  • Ini adalah benar ― This is true.
  • Despite the DBP's prescriptions, it is still very common for speakers to use adalah before nouns and verbs, as below:
    • 2016, Faizal Tahir (lyrics and music), “Adam”, in 25 Rasul:
      Adam adalah bapa kita semua
      Adam is everyone's father
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