The inseparable affix -i also denotes the transitive sense; as kras-i, to oppress (from kras, hard); halus-i, to treat carefully (from halus, fine, close).
The inseparable prefix ber- (bel-, be-) is the mark of a verb which expresses a state or condition of being; as ber-jalan, to walk, or to be in the act of walking; ber-wang, to have money; ber-misei, to wear moustaches; ber-pukul, to strike, i.e., to be in the act or condition of striking (not to strike another, transitive, which would be expressed by pukul- or me-mukul-kan).
The inseparable prefix me- (in all its various forms, mem, meng, men, and meny) is the mark of a verb which expresses an action; as men-jalan-kan, to cause to walk, mem-buat, to make; menyakit-kan, to afflict (from sakit); meng-ambil, to take.
According as the primitive verb has a transitive or intransitive sense, the derivative verbs formed from it will take ber- or me- as the case may be. Thus from adu, to sleep, is formed ber-adu, not meng-adu; while from adu, to complain, is formed meng-adu, not ber-adu.
Often both particles may be used, and both transitive and intransitive derivative verbs may be formed from the same primitive. Thus from taroh, to put, are formed menaroh, to put (the act of a person who puts), and ber-taroh, to bet (the condition of a person who stakes). From tidor, to sleep, are formed menidor-kan, to put to sleep, and ber-tidor, to be sleeping or lying down; and from ajar, instruct, meng-ajar, to teach (impart instruction), and bel-ajar, to learn (get instruction).
Mem-bawa, to bring, mem-bunoh, to kill, and me-makan, to eat, are formed from bawa, bunoh, and makan respectively, which, as they express actions, not states, do not take the prefix ber-. Ber-gantong is to hang (intransitive), that is, to be in a state or condition of hanging; meng-gantong-kan is to hang (transitive), that is, to perform the action of hanging something.
The particle per- (Sansk. pra), a prefix used with transitive verbs, does not seem always to effect a change in the sense. It is used more generally in literature than in the colloquial dialects, and seems to be introduced frequently for the sake of euphony only. The difference, for instance, between meng-himpun-kan, to assemble, to collect persons together, and mem-per-himpun-kan, to cause persons to collect together, is not very marked. No general rule applicable to all transitive verbs can be laid down for the use of this form with mem-per-; practice and experience must form the only guide.
Auxiliaries.
The auxiliary verbs and adverbs are—
Ada, is, was, are, were.