Meaning & use
pondok
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small, simple house or shelter, especially one built of wood, bamboo, or palm leaves in Southeast Asia.
Grammar: Countable, but the plural is rare in English; use it with a determiner: a pondok, the pondok.
Patterns
- a pondok in something
- build a pondok
They built a pondok at the edge of the rice field.
We slept in a pondok made of bamboo and thatch.
The old pondok near the river had no electricity.
nouncountable
A simple lodging house or rented room, often used by students or travelers in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Grammar: Often appears in names of businesses, so it can look like a proper noun: Pondok Anwar.
Patterns
- stay at a pondok
- rent a pondok
He stayed at a cheap pondok while studying in the city.
Many students share a pondok near the campus.
The pondok charges very little for a single room.
nouncountableregional
A traditional Islamic boarding school in Southeast Asia, where students live and study religious subjects.
Grammar: Used in this sense mainly in writing about Indonesia and Malaysia; often followed by a place name.
Patterns
- study at a pondok
- a pondok school
He spent six years at a pondok in East Java.
The pondok teaches Arabic, law, and religious texts.
Her grandfather founded a small pondok in the village.
Common combinations
- a bamboo pondok
- They put up a bamboo pondok for the workers.
- stay at a pondok
- We stayed at a pondok during the trek.
- a pondok school
- The pondok school has about two hundred students.
- build a pondok
- The family built a pondok beside the field.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hut
- The general English word for a small simple shelter; pondok is more specific to Southeast Asia and can also mean a lodging house or religious school.
- lodge
- A place to stay, often in the countryside; a pondok is usually simpler and smaller.
- dormitory
- A building with many beds for students or workers; a pondok can be similar but is usually smaller and more traditional.
Commonly confused: pondok or pondokkie?
pondok vs pondokkie
A rare South African word for a rough shelter; it looks similar but is a different regional term.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'pondok' in its most common English sense?
Choose one answer.
'Pondok' is a noun for a small simple shelter, so 'built a small pondok' fits. The other options either use it as a verb (it is not a verb) or treat it as something abstract.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pondok”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.