“Merubah” or “Mengubah?”

“Hidup di Indonesia sudah merubah diri saya.”

“Hidup di Indonesia sudah mengubah diri saya.”

Which one of these two sentences are correct? Before we’re discussing it in our Indonesian language lesson any further, pick your answer and keep it.

The word class

“merubah” and “mengubah” both begins with prefix “me-“. Do you remember the function of this prefix? Yes, it is to form active verbs and it could be either transitive or intransitive depending on the definition of its based word.

The base word

Now, let’s take a look on what’s the base words of these two verbs!

merubah = me- + rubah (fox)
etymologically, “merubah” could mean “to turn into a fox”
Well, actually we don’t use this kind of words that much in Indonesian text or conversation. So let’s say that the word “merubah” is following the word forming rules but not actively used. Another way to say it is: “menjadi rubah“, which is more a common expression. Sentence sample: “Penyihir itu menjadi rubah.”

mengubah = me- (ng) + ubah (to change/convert)
So, the verb “mengubah” means to change or alter something (could be a thing or a situation) into another thing (could be anything). Sentence sample: “Mesin itu mengubah air menjadi es.”—“The machine turns water into ice.”

Possible Mix Up

What makes this word mistake happen and it has become so commonly used? We thought about these reasons behind it.

mengubah vs berubah. Perhaps, Indonesian people in the past has confused these two verbs in their usage and the mistake has become habitual and widely spread. In Balinese speaking people, there’s even a variation of using “o” instead of “u”, so they will “berobah” and “merobah”, while the base word will be “robah”. That is completely wrong and is very common among elderly Indonesian speakers.

The sentence

The meaning of the sentence in the beginning of this article is: “Life in Indonesia has changed myself.” Therefore, the correct verb form to choose for the sentence is:

“Hidup di Indonesia sudah mengubah diri saya.”

Now it’s your turn to create your own Indonesian sentence using the verb “mengubah“! Leave it on the comment section below and we’ll see if you can get our today’s Indonesian lesson right. (dian)