Halo, Nimaa :) "paham" can be a verb or a noun. It depends on context. - "paham" as a verb. Means "understand". It is used when it shows understanding. Or.... when you want to say that you understand. e.g.: I UNDERSTAND this lesson. (Saya PAHAM pelajaran ini) - "paham" as a noun. Means "stream". It is used when it shows stream, genre. e.g.: liberalism, socialism, communism. The suffix on those three words, "-ism" can be translated as "paham" in Bahasa Indonesia. So, those three words in Bahasa Indonesia are: liberalism = PAHAM liberal; socialism = PAHAM sosialis; communism = PAHAM komunis. next is "memahami" :D "memahami" is a verb, means "understand". Word "paham" is a root/basic word of "memahami". When "paham" is added with suffix, it becomes "memahami". The difference between "paham" and "memahami" here is "paham" doesn't need an object behind, but "memahami" needs an object behind. Like Aisya explained above :) selamat belajar, Nimaa :) :) :)

well , even to a native , its quite hard to answer >_< just kidding .... paham and memahami have same meaning , so what the differences between them ??? paham = understand (noun / verb) ex : saya paham bahasa indonesia ex : saya belajar bahasa farsi memahami = me + paham + i = me-paham-i = memahami = understanding (verb + ing) me + [verb / noun] + i = in indonesian tenses , it known as suffix "me - i" in english tenses it known as verb + ing (progressive tenses) or gerund ex : saya memahami bahasa indonesia ex : saya mempelajari bahasa farsi for beginner its cofusing to learn suffix and affix >_< http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Indonesian/Conjugation btw , when talking we usually drop suffix and affix , why ? coz we are too lazy to use it ^_^ we use it only for formal situation , such as when giving a speech or writing paper / book / report / letter / newspaper , etc

paham = kata yang bisa berdiri sendiri "saya paham" memahami = biasanya masih membutuhkan objek "aku memahami bahasa indonesia" (there is an object behind the verb "memahami")

paham = u have understanded memahami = process to be understand short but i hope helpfull ^_^

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