Colloquial active roots

In formal Indonesian, active verbs often use the meN- prefix. However, in colloquial speech, this prefix is often shortened or altered, and this colloquial nasalization is also heavily used for intransitive verbs, sometimes replacing the formal ber- basic activity prefix (e.g., berkumpul → ngumpul, mengobrol → ngobrol). Depending on the root word, speakers might use a nasalized version, add a nge- prefix, or just use the bare root:

• p, t, s, k, and c roots: The first letter is replaced by a nasal sound (m, n, ny, ng). Note that 'c' acts like 's' and becomes 'ny-' (e.g., cuci → nyuci). While the bare root is possible, the nasalized form (e.g., nulis) is strongly preferred in active statements to distinguish them from a bare imperative (e.g., tulis!).
• Vowel roots: Add ng- to the start. Example: ambil → ngambil.
• h roots: It is equally standard to either drop the 'h' and use the ng- prefix (e.g., hitung → ngitung) or keep the 'h' and use the nge- prefix (e.g., hapus → ngehapus or ngapus).
• Nasal roots (m, n, ny, ng): The formal prefix is simply dropped, and the bare root is used as the active verb. Examples: memasak → masak, menangis → nangis.
• One-syllable roots: Use the nge- prefix. Example: cat → ngecat.
• Voiced stops (b, d, g, j): In colloquial Jakarta Indonesian, nge- is a common active-verb form (e.g., baca → ngebaca), although bare forms also occur. In Javanese-influenced Indonesian, speakers may instead use homorganic nasal onsets such as mbaca, ndenger, njual, and nggambar.
• Liquids and glides (l, r, w, y): Colloquial Jakarta Indonesian likewise commonly uses nge- (e.g., lihat → ngelihat), alongside bare variants such as liat.
• Nouns used as colloquial verbs: The same pattern can turn nouns into activities, as in kopi → ngopi ('have coffee') and ojek → ngojek ('work or travel by motorcycle taxi').
• Foreign loanwords: The nge- prefix is highly productive for turning English or other foreign loanwords into active verbs. Examples: nge-print, nge-post, nge-game.

Active vs. Passive: Colloquial nasalization and prefix dropping describe active forms. A passive keeps di-: compare active ngebeli with passive dibeli.

Suffix Replacement: When you alter or drop the formal prefix, speakers often replace the formal suffixes -kan and -i with the -in colloquial suffix. For example, the formal membelikan becomes the colloquial ngebeliin. Additionally, the -in suffix is often added to verbs that do not take a suffix in formal Indonesian (e.g., membantu → bantuin or ngebantuin). Note that while the colloquial prefix changes based on active or passive voice, the -in suffix remains attached even when the verb is made passive with the di- passive prefix (e.g., dibeliin, dibantuin). Suffix choices vary with the verb, region, and situation. Do not treat every mixture of colloquial and standard morphology as ungrammatical.