sangat + Adjective

In Indonesian, sangat is a standard way to express a high degree of a quality in neutral and formal contexts. A direct synonym is amat. In formal contexts, it precedes the adjective just like sangat, but in informal speech, amat can also follow the adjective (e.g., mahal amat!). In standard Indonesian, sangat cannot follow the adjective, though you may hear it at the end of phrases in Malay-influenced regional dialects. For even greater emphasis, the two are sometimes combined as amat sangat, which is used in formal writing as well as in spoken Indonesian for dramatic or emotional emphasis (e.g., Saya amat sangat bersyukur).

Key rules for usage:

• Placement: It must always come before the adjective (e.g., sangat besar) or adverb (e.g., sangat cepat).
• Modifying Nouns: If you want to use sangat + adjective to modify a noun directly (attributively), you must use the relativizer yang (e.g., rumah yang sangat besar). Without yang, it becomes a full sentence (Rumah sangat besar - The house is very big).
• Register: It is appropriate for formal writing and polite conversation. Both sangat and sekali are standard and neutral-to-formal, but note that sekali must always follow the adjective (e.g., besar sekali), contrasting with sangat which precedes it. In strictly informal or slang contexts, speakers often use banget.
• Function: It modifies adjectives and adverbs. It cannot modify nouns (e.g., do not say sangat teman for "very much a friend"). While it cannot modify most action verbs, it can modify 'stative' or emotion-based verbs (e.g., sangat mencintai - to love very much), as well as passive verbs describing states, perception, or emotion (e.g., sangat dihormati - highly respected).
• Negation: To express "very un-" or "strongly not," place sangat before tidak (e.g., sangat tidak setuju - strongly disagree).
• Superlatives: Do not use sangat with superlative adjectives (words starting with the prefix ter-, like terbesar meaning "biggest"). Saying sangat terbesar is grammatically incorrect because the adjective is already at its maximum degree.
• Emphasis: To express "very, very," you can reduplicate the word as sangat-sangat (e.g., sangat-sangat penting). For extreme emphasis in speech, Indonesians also sometimes 'sandwich' the adjective using both sangat and sekali together (e.g., sangat indah sekali). However, avoid this sandwiching in formal writing as it is considered redundant.