# Indonesian: It



## sufler

Hello!
How do you say "it" in Indonesian?
For example when I want to say: 
"I'm learning Indonesian, although *it* isn't very popular."

"Aku belajar bahasa Indonesia meskipun *dia* tak sangat laris."
or
"Aku belajar bahasa Indonesia meskipun *itu* tak sangat laris."
or just
"Aku belajar bahasa Indonesia meskipun tak sangat laris."
Which version is correct?

If I made any other mistakes in the sentences (word order and use of tak and sangat), correct me please. I'm also not sure if "laris" is correct word for "popular".


----------



## Mauricet

My non-native's bet is 





> Aku belajar bahasa Indonesia meskipun tak sangat laris


Translating _it_ is totally superfluous, I believe.


----------



## niddy2040

You can say:
Aku belajar bahasa Indonesia meskipun bahasa Indonesia tak terlalu populer.
or
Aku belajar bahasa Indonesia meskipun bahasa_nya_ tak terlalu populer.

*dia* is used for a person, not a thing, like language
*laris* is used when you talked about selling something that is in demand


----------



## spb90

Mauricet said:


> My non-native's bet is *Aku belajar bahasa Indonesia meskipun tak sangat laris.
> 
> *Translating _it_ is totally superfluous, I believe.



I would say: *Aku belajar Bahasa Indonesia, meskipun tidak terlalu populer.*

The reasoning behind it:


I agree with _it_ being superfluous. In addition, the removal makes it sound less rigid of a sentence to me.
I would personally go with _tidak_, rather than _tak_, because when I went to school (born 1984), _tak_ was considered a literary/poetic form of _tidak_. (And _nggak_ would be the non-formal form.)
I think "_tidak terlalu_ ___" is closer to saying "*not too ___*", whereas _"tidak sangat ___" _is closer to saying "*not very ___*".
I agree with the previous poster that _laris_ is usually reserved for merchandise, and translates closer to *best-selling* than to *popular*.
Furthermore—feel free to ignore if you want—in case you're interested in the writing:


Since the proper name of the language is usually considered _Bahasa Indonesia _(lit. *Indonesian language*), you should capitalize both B and I. The same goes with any other language name, such as _Bahasa Inggris_ (lit. *English* *language*).
I'm not entirely sure whether you need a comma before _meskipun_, but I think it's a separate clause, which needs a comma.


----------



## sufler

But _tidak sangat_ is also correct sounding? 
Because I even meant to say "not very" more than "not too".


----------



## spb90

sufler said:


> But _tidak sangat_ is also correct sounding?
> Because I even meant to say "not very" more than "not too".



Yup, I think _tidak sangat_ is still correct for the meaning you're looking.


----------



## adrnstyd

sufler said:


> But _tidak sangat_ is also correct sounding?
> Because I even meant to say "not very" more than "not too".



I've never heard of _tidak sangat_. Maybe it is used in some ethnics language but in Bahasa Indonesia the correct words are _tidak terlalu_ whether if you mean "not very" or "not too".


----------



## kawaii neko

"Aku belajar bahasa Indonesia meskipun tak sangat laris."

You can also use this alternative sentence :
"Aku belajar Bahasa Indonesia meskipun tidak begitu populer" 

maybe it's better if you change "tidak/tak sangat" with "sangat tidak"...but it is actually Indonesian informal spoken usually used by Indonesian people in daily conversation.


----------



## dhan

The proper and effective translation is

"Aku belajar Bahasa Indonesia meskipun tidak terlalu populer".

Or if you insist to translate "it" as it refers to "Bahasa Indonesia", you can say;

"Aku belajar Bahasa Indonesia meskipun bahasa tersebut/itu/nya tidak terlalu populer".

"Laris" is rarely used other than for selling purpose.


----------



## hpawe

sufler said:


> But _tidak sangat_ is also correct sounding?
> Because I even meant to say "not very" more than "not too".



not very =  tidak terlalu

ex: - not very bad = tidak terlalu buruk
     - not too often = tidak terlalu sering


----------



## Ridwan Nurhayat

"tidak terlalu" sounds much more natural than "tidak sangat" although both are correct


----------

