UniLang

This is my Indonesian/Malay thread. I'll share my progress here. I can form basic sentences, but I need to improve.

Some sentences:
Aku sedang menulis sebuah buku. - I'm writing a book.

And a question: Which is correct?
Saya punya
or
Saya mempunyai
?

Thanks!

Caitlín wrote:And a question: Which is correct?
Saya punya
or
Saya mempunyai
?

What are you trying to say?

Both verbs mean "have, own", but punya is more colloquial whereas mempunyai is more formal. (Originally, punya was a noun and mempunyai was a verb derived from it. But since then, punya has come to be used as a verb as well. Cf. milik "property" > memilik "own (v.)".)

Caitlín wrote:And a question: Which is correct?
Saya punya
or
Saya mempunyai
?

Thanks!

If you're talking to you friend(s), use "Saya punya", but if you're in a formal situation (e.g. making some kind of ID card for a company), it is more recommended to use "Saya mempunyai", though there's actually nothing wrong with using "Saya punya".