VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Voice of Indonesia presents “Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia,” a lesson in the Indonesian language on the Radio. We introduce some Indonesian vocabulary and tips on how to use it in a conversation. This segment is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language and Book Development Agency of the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.  Today’s topic is Berapa lama saya boleh pinjam buku ini ? in English ‘How long can I borrow this book?’.

Read to this conversation about Berapa lama saya boleh pinjam buku ini ? in English ‘How long can I borrow this book?’. Kevin borrows a book at the University’s library.

Kevin         : Berapa lama saya boleh pinjam buku ini ?

Librarian    : Paling lama satu minggu.

Kevin         : Baik.

Librarian   : Ini bukunya. Jika telat mengembalikan, kena denda.

Kevin         : Baik, Pak. Terima kasih.

Librarian   : Sama-sama.

Now, I am going to introduce some vocabularies and expressions related to the topic today.

Berapa lama saya boleh pinjam buku ini ? which means         How long can I borrow this book?

Paling lama satu minggu                                         at most one week

Maksimal                                                                     maximal/maximum

Pinjam                                                                          to borrow

satu minggu                                                               one week

denda                                                                           fine

When someone borrows something, they certainly get a deadline for borrowing. If someone borrows something to you, you have to ask them berapa lama kamu mau pinjam? To answer the question berapa lama which means ‘how long’, it is usually said ….hari (days), …minggu (weeks) or ….bulan (months). But if you want to bring it back sooner, you can use the word nanti by mentioning a certain time, such as nanti malam, nanti siang.

For example:

-Maksimal pinjam buku ini dua hari in English ‘you can borrow this book maximally two days’.

-Motor ini harus kembali nanti malam in English ‘this motorcycle must be returned this evening’.

Besides using the expression -berapa lama, you can also use the word kapan. For example:

Kevin   : Kapan aku harus mengembalikan buku ini? which means  ‘When do I must return this book?’

Putri     : Satu minggu, ya  which means ‘one week, ok?’

That was “Let’s Speak Bhs Indonesia”, a lesson in Bahasa Indonesia or the Indonesian language on the radio. Hopefully, this edition will be useful for those who want to know more about Bahasa Indonesia.