The reflexive sendiri “self” occurs with nouns and pronouns to make clear who or what is being referred to:

Examples:

• Saya berenang sendiri.               I swam by myself.
• Suami saya berangkat ke Jakarta sendiri. My husband left for Jakarta himself.

Sendiri can be used before or after the verb or after the object of the verb.

Examples:

• Saya sendiri / Saya datang sendiri.

          I came myself.

• Kami sendiri membeli apartemen ini. /Kami membeli apartemen ini sendiri.

          We bought this apartment ourselves.
Colloquially sendiri is often used after the verb instead of sendirian, seorang diri “alone, by oneself”.

Examples:

• Dia datang sendirian/ seorang diri/sendiri.

           He came by himself/alone.

The reduplicated form sendiri- sendiri means ”apart, separately”.

Examples:

• Mereka pulang ke rumah sendiri-sendiri.

          They went home separately.
Both sendiri and the phrase dengan sendirinya means ”automatically, by itself, of its own accord” when referring to action by an inanimate subject.

Examples:

• Pintu itu terbuka sendiri.         

         That door opened by itself.

• Mobil itu bergerak dengan sendirinya.

         That car moved automatically.

Following a possessive noun or pronoun, sendiri translates “own”.

Examples:

• Meja dan kursi itu dari rumah saya sendiri.

         Those table and chair are from my own house.

• Ini rumah saya sendiri.

         This is my own house.

 Reflexive Phrases

A reflexive phrase consists of minimally of reflexive pronoun diri”self”. A minimal reflexive phrase usually occurs as the object of a verb and indicates that the object is the same person as the subject of the verb.

Examples:

• Mereka menjaga diri baik-baik.

         They look after themselves properly.

• Tuan rumah memperkenalkan diri kepada tamu.

         The host introduced himself to the guest.

Sometimes a transitive verb followed by diri occurs where English uses an intransitive verb.

Examples:

• Orang itu melarikan diri.

         That man fled.

• Perdana menteri mengundurkan diri.

         The prime minister resigned.

• minta/mohon diri               beg to leave  or to depart
• menarik diri               withdraw
• mencalonkan diri               stand (for office)
• mengkhususkan diri               specialize (in a certain field)
• menyerahkan diri               surrender
• (mem)bunuh diri               commit suicide

The full reflexive phrase is diri+ possessive pronoun+sendiri

Third person “–nya” corresponds to a plural as well as a singular third person subject.

Examples:

• dirinya sendiri               himself/herself/themselves
• Dia suka (terhadap) dirinya sendiri.               He likes himself.

A reflexive phrase can follow a preposition.

Examples:

• Dia jengkel terhadap dirinya sendiri. He is annoyed at himself.

A phrase consisting of diri followed by a noun, meaning something like “the person of (noun)”, can occur in a non- reflexive context.

Examples:

• Saya akan menulis buku tentang diri Presiden.

          I am going to write a book about the President.

• Ada cinta dalam diri manusia.

           There is love within humans.