Conjunctions (kata penghubung or konjungsi) are the words that connect ideas in Indonesian so your writing flows logically instead of reading like a list. Using the right one — and punctuating it correctly — is what makes Indonesian prose feel smooth and coherent. Here’s a practical guide to the main types.
1. Coordinating conjunctions (konjungsi koordinatif)
These join two equal clauses:
- dan (and), atau (or), tetapi (but), melainkan (but rather), sedangkan (whereas), lalu / kemudian (then).
Note: put a comma before tetapi, melainkan, and sedangkan: “Dia rajin, tetapi sering terlambat.”
2. Subordinating conjunctions (konjungsi subordinatif)
These link a dependent clause to a main clause, showing a relationship:
- Cause: karena, sebab, oleh karena itu
- Result: sehingga, maka
- Condition: jika, kalau, apabila, seandainya
- Concession: walaupun, meskipun, biarpun
- Time: ketika, saat, sebelum, sesudah, setelah
- Purpose: agar, supaya
Example: “Karena hujan deras, acara ditunda.”
3. Inter-sentence conjunctions (konjungsi antarkalimat)
These start a new sentence and link it to the previous one — followed by a comma:
- Oleh karena itu, (therefore) · Namun, (however) · Selain itu, (besides) · Dengan demikian, (thus) · Sebaliknya, (on the contrary)
Example: “Biayanya tinggi. Namun, hasilnya sepadan.”
Common mistakes
- Doubling up: “Walaupun hujan, tetapi acara tetap berlangsung” is wrong — use one or the other, not both. Write “Walaupun hujan, acara tetap berlangsung.”
- Wrong comma: forgetting the comma before tetapi or after an inter-sentence conjunction.
- Overusing them: not every sentence needs a connector — see how this works in English too in our transition words guide.
How the tools help
Conjunction and comma errors are exactly what a context-aware checker catches. Run your Indonesian text through the grammar checker (it works fully in Bahasa Indonesia), and if a sentence feels overloaded with connectors, the readability checker flags it and the paraphraser can smooth it.
Pick the conjunction that names the real relationship, punctuate it correctly, and don’t double up — that’s most of what makes Indonesian writing read coherently.
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