Yes, no and the essentials in Indonesian
The small words that carry half of every conversation, and the ones that rescue it. Play the ten Indonesian words against the clock, with a note on how locals really use each one after every answer. All ten are written out below.
All 10 Indonesian phrases in this lesson
- Yayah
- Yes
- Tidaktee-DAHK
- No
- Baikbah-IK
- Okay
- Saya tidak mengertisah-YAH tee-DAHK men-GER-tee
- I don't understand
- Apakah Anda berbicara bahasa Inggris?ah-PAH-kah AHN-dah ber-BEE-cha-rah bah-HAH-sa ING-gris
- Do you speak English?
- Bisa diulang?BEE-sah dee-OO-lahng
- Can you repeat that?
- Pelan-pelan, yapeh-LAHN peh-LAHN, yah
- Slowly, please
- Ini apa?EE-nee AH-pah
- What is this?
- Saya perlu...SAH-yah per-LOO
- I need...
- Bisa bantu saya?BEE-sah BAHN-too SAH-yah
- Can you help me?
The common yes. Also iya (same thing) and yang more formal ya, benar (yes, correct). Nod with a slight ya is the universal affirmation.
The straightforward no. In casual speech it shortens to tak or nggak (which is how it actually sounds in speech). Tidak, thank you: tidak terima kasih.
The standard okay/fine. Also see baik-baik (fine, fine, emphatic agreement) and tidak apa-apa (never mind, it is okay).
Your escape hatch. In Indonesia this usually switches the conversation to English or slower Indonesian. Mengerti means to understand.
The formal version using Anda (you, formal). The informal version with kamu is shorter but might offend strangers. Younger people generally speak English.
Doubling a word softens it: slowly, slowly.