Kakak Meaning In Bahasa Indonesia

Halo semuanya, apa kabar? This time, I'm gonna talk about the meaning of [kakak] in Bahasa Indonesia. We're going to also watch a scene from an Indonesian movie where this word is spoken.

If you want to ask me about a specific topic or have difficulties with something in the Indonesian language, you can just ask me. You can check it out on the About Me page how you can ask me.

So, let's jump right in.

Kakak in Bahasa Indonesia

Kakak is used when we address a person that is older than we are. Unlike [mba] and [mas] that has a specific gender, for example, [mas] is for older men and [mba] is for older women. For [kakak], you can use to women and men that are older than you are.

     Related Article: Mba In Bahasa Indonesia.

So, if a person who is older than you is a woman, you can say kakak, or you can say kak. Kak is short for kakak.

     Related Article: Mas In Bahasa Indonesia.

If that person who is older than you is a man, you can also use kakak, or you short it out into kak and say that before his name. For example, if his name is Iman, then you can say kak Iman.

How to Pronounce Kakak

We don't pronounce the last letter "k" in the word kakak. Let's listen how to pronounce kakak down below.


Often time you will hear Indonesian people shorten kakak into just kak. Let's hear down below how to pronounce kak. Just like kakak, you don't pronounce the last letter "k" there. Let's hear it down below.


Now, let's watch a scene that I took from an Indonesian movie, Radio Galau.

Kakak In a Movie Scene

Let's watch the scene down below.

The conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Girl: Kak Bara, kak Bara. Kak Bara, kan? Yang sering nulis cerita di Mading? (Bara, Bara. You are Bara, right? The one who often writes on the Wall Magazine?) 

Boy: Iya. (Yeah, that's me.) 

Girl: Halo kak, namaku Tata. (Hello, my name is Tata.) 

Boy: Halo. (Hello.) 

Girl: Hmm.. oh iya, kak. Teman aku ada yang mau kenalan lho, sama kakak. Kakak tunggu di sini sebentar, ya? Kak, ini teman aku yang mau kenalan sama kakak. Kak, aku duluan ya. Fel, good luck ya. (I've got a friend who wants to get to know you. Just wait here a minute. This is my friend, who wants to get to know you. I'm off now. Fel, good luck.)

The girl in that scene is younger than the boy, so she called his name with kakak or kak in front of his name. She called him "kak Bara".

I think I don't need to give you example sentences using this word kakak because I think it's just some kind of honorific title that you just add before someone's name when you address him or her.

You can use it for male or female, as long as they are older than you are. So, I think this is a wrap and if you have any questions, just write down in the comment section. Thank you and I'll talk to you soon. Bye now.