# Indonesian: betul/benar



## mimosa59

Hi!

Is there any difference between "betul" and "benar" in Indonesian?

Thanks!


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## Mauricet

My Indonesian-French dictionary gives "vraiment" for both _benar/betul_ when used as adverbs ("auxiliaire verbal"). When used as "verbe d'état" (= adjective), _benar_ means "sincère, droit" (sincere, straight) for persons, "juste, vrai" (right, true) for things; while _betul_ means "vrai, exact" (true, exact).

The affixed transitive verb _membenarkan_ means "confirmer, garantir" (to confirm, to guarantee) while _membetulkan_ means "réparer, redresser, corriger" (to fix, to straighten, to correct).

Correspondingly, the nouns _pembenaran_ and _pembetulan_ are slightly different: "confirmation" vs "correction".


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## mimosa59

Merci beaucoup !


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## stupoh

Mauricet said:


> My Indonesian-French dictionary gives "vraiment" for both _benar/betul_ when used as adverbs ("auxiliaire verbal"). When used as "verbe d'état" (= adjective), _benar_ means "sincère, droit" (sincere, straight) for persons, "juste, vrai" (right, true) for things; while _betul_ means "vrai, exact" (true, exact).
> 
> The affixed transitive verb _membenarkan_ means "confirmer, garantir" (to confirm, to guarantee) while _membetulkan_ means "réparer, redresser, corriger" (to fix, to straighten, to correct).
> 
> Correspondingly, the nouns _pembenaran_ and _pembetulan_ are slightly different: "confirmation" vs "correction".



Just want to add a little quirk: _ke-benar-an_ means "justice" or "truth", while _ke-betul-an_ means "by chance" or "accidentally". I have no idea / can not explain why it's like that.

Pahlawan Kebenaran = Hero of Justice
Pahlawan Kebetulan = Hero by chance (one wouldn't really say this except as a pun)


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## 南島君

stupoh said:


> Just want to add a little quirk: _ke-benar-an_ means "justice" or "truth", while _ke-betul-an_ means "by chance" or "accidentally". I have no idea / can not explain why it's like that.
> 
> Pahlawan Kebenaran = Hero of Justice
> Pahlawan Kebetulan = Hero by chance (one wouldn't really say this except as a pun)



Hi stupoh,

Since  "betul" and "benar" are two words with close semantic features yet  distinct meaning, the derivation forms perform a good example of their  difference with the "benar" having the core meaning of "is *true/logical*" and the "betul" "is *exact*", as in "kebetulan", "right/exact on (the moment)".


lc


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## mataripis

When i read these two words, i remember the words in Tagalog 1.) banal(holy) and 2.) Bato (rock/stone) and in Dumaget 1.) benal and 2.) Betu  although the meanings are different from Indonesian texts, the Indonesian words benar sounds it has the meaning pure or no alterations and the word Betul sounds it is solid and exact. like banal/benal which is holy or pure  / the bato/betu which is solid and exact.


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## 南島君

Hi mataripis,

You are probably right about Tagalog banal is of the same origin with Indonesian benar. 
However, i think Tagalog bato(stone), Dumaget betu(stone) is correlated with Indonesian batu(stone), but not betul(exact), as they are with Proto-Austronesian *batu(stone). Please check with ANU Austronesian Basic Vocabulary website. 


lc


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