seseorang

Seseorang is an indefinite pronoun used in Indonesian and Malay to refer to an unspecified person, equivalent to "someone" or "a person" in English. It denotes a single, unnamed individual and is commonly employed when the identity of the person is unknown or not disclosed.

In usage, sese­orang functions as a subject or object within a sentence and can be combined with adjectives or relative clauses. It often carries a more formal or polite tone than the plain noun orang. Examples: Seseorang menelepon tadi malam. Ada seseorang di pintu. Seseorang yang berani bisa menghadapi tantangan itu. Relative constructions are common: sese­orang yang melakukan kesalahan, sese­orang yang dibicarakan semua orang.

Grammatically, sese­orang is a pronoun that can take a descriptive modifier or a relative clause introduced by yang. It can stand alone as the subject of a verb or be the object of a verb or preposition, depending on the sentence. It is typically singular and used when the speaker intends to keep the person unidentified; for plural references, phrases like beberapa orang or orang-orang are usually preferred.

Etymology and nuance: the word is built within the standard Indonesian-Malay indefinite-pronoun system, with the prefix se- signaling indefiniteness and orang meaning "person." Seseorang tends to be more formal or neutral than alternatives like orang, which is broader and less restricted to indefiniteness. In Malay and Indonesian, the meaning and usage are largely parallel.

See also: orang, sesudah, yang.