This is the 62nd most frequent Indonesian word.
pertama
"Pertama" means "first" in English.
The word 'pertama' is used as an ordinal numeral meaning 'first' to indicate the order of birth.
Saya lahir pertama kali di keluarga ini.
I was born the first time in this family.
Here, 'pertama' is used as a discourse marker meaning 'firstly' when describing sequence in explanation.
Pertama, kita harus membaca instruksi dengan cermat.
Firstly, we must read the instructions carefully.
In this sentence, 'pertama kali' is used to express the first occurrence of an event.