Ngga Becus Meaning In Indonesian

Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I want to talk about the meaning of the phrase [ngga becus] in Indonesian. As always, we are also going to be watching examples from movies and others where the phrase [ngga becus] is used by Indonesians.

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So, let's talk about this phrase.

Ngga Becus In Indonesian

Let's translate word for word for this phrase first. [Ngga] is informal for [tidak], which means no. [Becus] means able to do something well.

From Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, we can see the meaning of the word [becus] below.

[Becus] means:

Cakap, mampu.

When translated into English, it means:

Able to do something, have the ability to do something.

So, if we add the word [ngga] in front, the meaning would be,

Unable to do something well.

Because the word [tidak] means no.

You can use just the word [becus], but we usually in Indonesia use this as one phrase. For example, because [becus] means able to do something well, you can say something like this.

Dia becus di dalam pekerjaannya.

When translated into English, the translation would be.

He can do his job well.

But we rarely use the word [becus] like in this example, although it is possible and grammatically correct. In daily conversation, we usually say,

Dia bagus di dalam pekerjaannya.

So you will hear [becus] collocates with [ngga] a lot. Although, as I just said, it's possible to use it all alone and grammatically correct.

Example sentence:

1. Loe ngerjain kaya gini aja ngga becus! Payah! (It's a shame for you that for this kind of an easy job like this, you couldn't do it well.)
2. Anda tidak becus mengurusi permasalahan ini. (You're not able to handle this problem well.)

3. Menuntut anak macam-macam, padahal jadi orang tua aja ngga becus. (Demanding the children to be able to do a lot of things. In fact, as parents, they couldn't do their job well.)

For example sentence number 2, I change [ngga becus] into [tidak becus] because I'm using the word [Anda], which means you. [Anda] is very formal, so I changed [ngga] into [tidak] to make it more formal. 

How to Pronounce Ngga Becus

Here is how you pronounce [ngga becus] in bahasa Indonesia.

Next, let's watch examples where Indonesians use the phrase [ngga becus].

Examples of Ngga Becus In Use

The first example is taken from a movie called Lamaran (2015). Let's watch the clip below.

The conversation from the scene with English translation is as follows.

A: Kamu kerjanya ngga becus. Itu kenapa pengacara bau kencur muncul terus di TV? Bawa-bawa nama saya lagi! He? Kamu tahu ngga kesalahan kamu apa? (You didn’t do your job well. Why is that young and inexperienced lawyer always shows up on the TV? She also mentioned my name! He? Do you know what your mistake is?) 

B: Ngga tahu, papih. (No, I don’t, dad.) 

A: Karena kamu ngga becus. Mulai sekarang, kamu ikutin dia. Kalau perlu kamu teror. (That’s because you’re incapable of doing the job well. From now on, you follow her. If you need to, terror her.) 

B: Baik, papih. (Okay, dad.) 

A: Kali ini yang benar! (This time do it right!) 

B: Siap, papih! (Yes, dad!) 

A: Terus ngapain masih di sini? (Then, why are you still here?) 

B: Udah boleh pergi, pih? (I can go now?) 

A: Enyah. (Get lost.) 

B: Baik papih, permisi. (Okay dad, excuse me.) 

A: Dan kalau kamu ngga berhasil, jangan panggil saya papih lagi! (And if you fail, don’t call me dad again!)

Let's take a look at this sentence here.

Kamu kerjanya ngga becus.

Kerja means work. Kamu means you. So, the literal meaning of this sentence actually is,

Your work is bad.

Or,

You are unable to do the work well.

The boss asked him to do something, and he failed to do the job. That's why the boss is angry and said,

Kamu ngga becus.

The literal translation would be,

You are no good.

Let's learn the vocabulary used in this short clip.

Vocabulary From the Clip

[Kamu] = you.

[Pengacara] = lawyer.

[Itu] = that.

[Bau kencur] means someone who is young and inexperienced. 

[Papih] = daddy.

[Ngapain] = [mengapa] = why.

     Read also: Gokil In Indonesian

So, this wraps up today's article. If I find another example, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. Thank you, and I'll see you soon. Buh-bye.