Kita and kami both mean “we” in English. Kita is inclusive (including the person you talk to) and kami is exclusive. Let’s say you and your friend Ayu are talking to Budi. If you want to invite Budi to go to the beach, you would say Ayo kita ke pantai (Let us go to the beach). If you wish to exclude him, you would say Kami mau ke pantai (we want to go to the beach). We hope that makes sense!
Now let’s look at some more examples below:
Sentences with Kita
- Besok kita mancing, yuk! (Let us go fishing tomorrow!)
- Sabtu kan kelas kita ada study tour. (Our class will have a study tour on Saturday)
- Mobil ini bukan milik kita. (This car is not ours)
- Mulai sekarang kita harus akur. (From now on, we must get along)
- Kita mau jalan ke mana sekarang? (Where do we want to go now?)
Examples with Kami
- Maaf Bu, kami telat. (Sorry we’re late, ma’am)
- Terima kasih, Bapak selalu baik ke kami. (Thank you, you’re always kind to us)
- Kami suka sekali kelas Bapak. (We really like your class)
- Keluarga kami miskin, nggak seperti keluargamu. (Our family is poor, unlike yours)
- Besok kami mau jalan-jalan ke pantai. Kamu mau ikut? (We will hang out at the beach tomorrow. Do you want to join?)
How to say Us and Our
Good news! In Indonesian, we have the same two words for “us” and “ours” (kita and kami). Obviously, you need to decide whether they are inclusive or exclusive and use the right pronoun. Some examples have been given in the previous sentences. Here are a few more:
Kita
- Dia tidak mau belajar dengan kita. (He doesn’t want to study with us.)
- Ibu marah dengan kita (Mother is angry with us)
- Sekolah kita ada di Jakarta (Our school is in Jakarta)
- Kantor Andi dekat dengan toko kita (Andi’s office is close to our shop)
Kami
- Mau jalan-jalan bersama kami? (Want to travel with us?)
- Mereka tidak suka dengan kami (They don’t like us)
- Bendara kami merah putih (Our flag is red and white)
- Itu bukan buku kami (That is not our book)
Ours in Indonesian
We don’t have one specific word for “ours”, so we say “milik kita/kami” or “punya kita/kami” which literally means “belong to us”. Check out some sentences below:
- Rumah itu bukan milik kita (That house is not ours)
- Punya kita yang warna merah (Ours is the red one)
- Tanah itu milik kami (That land is ours)
- Sepeda itu punya kami. (That bike is ours)
Do Indonesians know the difference?
Funnily enough, not all of them do. Most locals use “kita” for both. So if you forget the difference between the two pronouns, just go with “kita”.
So that’s how we use kita and kami in Indonesian. Keep learning and try to apply it in real-life conversations. If you need a professional teacher to help you with your Indonesian, consider taking our Indonesian classes.
Semoga berhasil! (Wish you luck!)
