Thank You : Yes or No?

Well, Bahasa Indonesia a little bit complicated isn’t it? 

Espesialy when it’s talk about the culture! Well, anyway, Today, you gonna read something you shoulda knew about Indonesian cultures ,that is  “Thank You!”

What should I do to respon Indonesian “Thank You!” OR “Terima Kasih!”

In English, When someone say “thank you” , There will be choices about what should you respons in return. First, you may keep quite, take it as it was OR second, respons it with the similar sentences like “it’s okay” , “that’s alright”, “forget it”, “nevermind”. Right? But Indonesian has different culture.

But first, Lemme give you the word of 'Thank You in Bahasa Indonesia :

Terima Kasih (it’s formal way)

Makasih

Makasih ya (add ya, just for make it more friendly)

Hatur nuhun (it’s sundanese, you can use it when in Bandung)

Usually, when someone say : “Terima kasih” in return you’ll say “Sama-sama”

Other thing you shoulda know about Terima Kasih. Terima kasih can be translated both “Yes thank you” and “No thank you” depending on the context. A shake of the head accompanied by Terima kasih means “No thank you” and conversely a nod plus Terima kasih means “Yes thank you”. That is why Terima kasih is appropriate in all the answers you give below if you want to be polite.

You should avoid using tidak mau/nggak mau in an answer, because tidak mau/nggak mau is too blunt and abrupt for Indonesian. Instead of tidak mau/nggak mau you should use tidak bisa/nggak bisa or tidak dapat. Look at these examples first, before you begin the exercise.

Apa kamu bisa makan durian dengan saya nanti malam?

Bisa. Terima kasih.  OR Maaf, tidak bisa.  OR Terima kasih, saya tidak bisa.

That’s the formal version of bahasa Indonesia in the TEXT BOOK. Let’s see the normal way.

Nanti malem, mau makan duren bareng saya nggak? (do you want to eat durian together with me tonight?)

Mau. Makasih tawarannya. (thanks for the offer anyway.)

Incase you want to reject it. “Makasih , tapi saya nggak bisa makan duren. Suka sakit perut” (Thanks but I can’t eat durian. I always got problem with my stomach if I ate em’)

When we reject something by using Thank You term (in Indonesia culture), we often give the reason why we reject it. Because it’ll be consider we are rude if we just reject it without give em’ the reason why we can’t accept it. That’s Indonesian culture. Indonesian culture. Only in Indonesia :D

So, at the end, I just want to make sure that some Indonesian give you some offer or invitation. If you answer in the negative, it is polite to preface your answer with Maaf, or Terima kasih.

I’m Victoria Fitria. Nice to meet you guys :)