Language and Useful Phrases in Bali
Part of the Bali travel guide — see every topic in All Bali Guides.
Two languages operate on Bali. Indonesian — Bahasa Indonesia — is the national language, spoken by everyone, and is genuinely one of the easiest major languages for an English speaker to begin: no tones, no verb conjugation, no grammatical gender, no plurals to learn, and a Latin alphabet that is pronounced consistently. Balinese is a separate Austronesian language spoken at home, with three distinct registers of politeness depending on who you are addressing. Learning twenty words of Indonesian will materially change your trip.
The essential twenty
Selamat pagi good morning, selamat siang good day, selamat sore good afternoon, selamat malam good evening. Terima kasih thank you, answered with sama-sama. Permisi excuse me. Maaf sorry. Ya yes, tidak no. Berapa? how much? Mahal expensive. Enak delicious. Air putih plain water. Di mana...? where is...? Bisa can, tidak bisa cannot. Sedikit a little. Bagus good. Satu, dua, tiga one, two, three. Nama saya... my name is.
Why it is easy
Indonesian verbs do not change for person or tense — you add a time word instead: saya makan is I eat, saya sudah makan is I have eaten, saya akan makan is I will eat. Plurals are made by repeating the noun or by context. There is no verb "to be" in most sentences. Pronunciation is regular: c is "ch", every vowel has one sound, and stress is even. The result is that a fortnight of casual effort gets you further in Indonesian than it would in almost any other language you might meet on a holiday.
Balinese and register
Balinese is not a dialect of Indonesian but a distinct language, and it has three levels — low, middle and high — used according to the caste and relationship of the people speaking. Visitors are not expected to use it and nobody will mind if you do not. A few words go a long way: suksma (thank you), matur suksma (thank you, more formal), rahajeng semeng (good morning), om swastiastu as a greeting. Using suksma instead of terima kasih in a village reliably produces a delighted response.
Practical language notes
Indonesians address strangers by relationship: pak (sir, older man), bu (madam, older woman), mas and mbak for younger men and women in Javanese usage. Using one before a request is normal politeness. Direct refusal is avoided, so a hesitant "maybe" or "it is possible" frequently means no — do not push. Raised voices are a serious loss of face and will not get you what you want. And English is widely spoken in tourist areas and thinly outside them, which is precisely where the twenty words earn their keep.
Language and Useful Phrases at a glance
| National language | Bahasa Indonesia — no tones, tenses or genders |
|---|---|
| Thank you | Terima kasih (Indonesian); suksma (Balinese) |
| How much? | Berapa? |
| Balinese | A separate language with three politeness registers |
| Address strangers | Pak (sir), Bu (madam) before a request |
| Cultural note | Direct refusal is avoided — "maybe" often means no |