How To Use : YANG

Somebody help me! What's it YANG in bahasa Indonesia?

Trying to master ‘YANG’ usage? Congratulation! Finally, you found me!

Another difficult thing about many South East Asian languages is that there are words that don’t have any direct translation to English. One in Indonesian being, “yang.” I knew you guys have difficulties with ‘YANG’ , but I’ll make sure you understood how to use it after you finished my articles.  

There are several words in Indonesian that don’t have any equivalent in English and “yang” is one of those. “Yang” can mean “that is”, “who is” or “which is” and it can be used in several ways. Let’s have a look at “yang” a bit more closely.

Sepatu ini mahal. Yang hitam lebih murah. These shoes are expensive. The black shoes are cheaper.

Okay. Look at the sentences aboce.  “Yang hitam” means “Sepatu yang hitam.”  It was obvious we meant “sepatu”, so we dropped that word, and used just “yang” to mean “SEPATU yang”.

Another example:

(after trying on a t-shirt): Ada yang lebih besar? [= “KAOS yang lebih besar” ]
When “yang” stands for something it often translates as “one”.


Example:

(in a shop) A: “Saya mau topi itu Pak.” I’d like that hat, Pak.
B: “Yang mana?” Which one? [= “TOPI yang mana?”]
A: “Yang di situ. Yang merah.” The one there. The red one.

And often it translates as “What”. Examples:

Yang jelas dia bohong. What is clear is that he lied [= “APA yang jelas…”]
Yang penting bukan uang. What is important isn’t money. [= “APA yang penting…”]

“Yang” to stand for something can add emphasis. For instance, compare:

Saya mencuci piring. I wash the dishes.

This is just a neutral statement. You might use it if someone asked you what you do after dinner. “Saya mencuci piring.” No particular emphasis on any piece of information.

But now: Saya yang mencuci piring. [= Saya ORANG yang mencuci piring”]

This statement is emphatic. You might use it if someone asked you who does which household chores. “Saya yang mencuci piring.” I’m the one who does that.

Or you can switch the word order around, and say:

Yang mencuci piring saya. [= ORANG yang mencuci piring, saya.]

This is emphatic once again.

Look again at this difference between neutral and emphatic statements:
SBY menjadi Presiden. = neutral (SBY became President.)
SBY yang menjadi Presiden. = emphatic (It’s SBY who…)
Yang menjadi President, SBY. = emphatic (The one who became … is SBY.)


You got it guys?
 Don’t think to much.
 Let’s say YANG is kind of replacement of the word ‘which’, ‘when’ , ‘where’, ‘whose’ or ‘who.

Take it easy. It’s not difficult right! :)

You want ask me something? Please feel free to ask by comment bellow :D