Gue Meaning In Indonesian

Halo semuanya. Apa kabar? Hello everyone. How are you? This time I wanna talk about the meaning of gue in Bahasa Indonesia. We will also be going to be watching scenes from Indonesian movies 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 get started!

Gue Meaning In Bahasa Indonesia

[Gue] means I. There are many writing variations for this word. You will see it written as [gue] or [gua] or [gw] or [g]. They are all the same.

[Gue] are mostly spoken in Jakarta and its surrounding cities like Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi. [Gue] is in pairs with [loe]. [Loe] means [you].

So, if you are in Jakarta or in those cities, you can use this word. But if you are not in those cities, for example, you are in Jogjakarta, don't use [gue]. They use [aku] instead.

You can use [gue] to your close friend or to your friend of the same age, but you better not use [gue] when you're talking to your boss, your parents, your teachers, or to anyone older than you unless you really have a close relationship with them and it's okay for them if you use [gue] when talking to them.

Below is a scene from a movie called Devil On Top (2021). In this scene, we can see a conversation between a woman and a man. They are a boss and a subordinate. Let's watch it below.

Conversation from the scene above with English translations is as follows.

Sarah: Istirahat dulu, yuk? (Let's rest for a while?)

Angga: Ah, iya. (Oh, okay.)

Sarah: Kita ngapain sekarang? (What are we doing now?)

Angga: Hmm, saya ada permainan sih, mba. (Um, I have a game, miss.)

Sarah: Sarah. Kan ini di luar jam kantor. (Just call me Sarah. This is not in-office hours.)

Angga: Iya. Sarah, gue ada permainan. "Gue Loe" aman kan, ya? (Okay. Sarah, I have a game. Is it okay if I'm using 'gue loe' when I speak to you?)

Sarah: He'eh. (It’s okay.)

Angga: Oke. (Okay then.)

In this scene, as you can see, at first, Angga uses formal language. He used [saya] instead of [gue], and he called his boss with an honorific title [mba]. And then his boss said to him to just call her Sarah without using the honorific title [mba] because it was not in-office hours.

Then Angga asked her if it was okay to use [gue loe] instead of the more formal form 'saya kamu,' and then Sarah agreed.

So, as you can see, it is not common to use [gue loe] in the office or in a formal context, but if you are close enough to that person and you usually use [gue loe] when talking to them, then it is okay. You can also be like Angga, ask them whether it is okay to use [gue loe] or not with them.

Examples of Gue In Use

In this section, you will watch examples from movies, youtube videos, comics, and whatnot where [gue] is spoken.

The first scene is taken from a movie called Ada Apa Dengan Cinta 1 (2002). This was a popular movie in Indonesia.

Conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Cinta: Eh iya, udah denger puisi yang mau gue kirimin ke lomba? (By the way, have you heard the poetry that I’m going to send to the contest?) 

Maura: Mana, mana, mana? (No, no, no.) 

Cinta: Gitar, gitar, gitar, gitar. (Guitar, please.) 

Karmen: Puisi loe yang baru? (Your new poetry?) 

Cinta: Iya. (Yup.) 

Milly: Nih. (Here you go.)

As you can see, Cinta is talking to her friends, so she is using [gue] to them.

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The second scene is taken from a movie titled Perahu Kertas 1 (2012).

Conversation in this scene with English translation is as follows.

Eko: (Ada yang) perlu gue bantu ngga? (Do you need any help?) (*Eko said it very fast so you can't hardly hear (ada yang) in this sentence.)

Keenan: Ngga usah. (Nope.) 

Eko: Nah. Tu kamar loe situ tuh! Depan WC. (That is your room! In front of the toilet.) 

Keenan: Iya. (Okay.) 

Eko: Bentar ya. (Just a sec.)

Here is a conversation between the brothers. They are close to each other, so they use [gue] and [loe] when talking to each other.

     Read also: Bawel Meaning In Bahasa Indonesia

The third scene is also from Perahu Kertas 1 (2012). Let's watch it.

Conversation in this scene with English translation is as follows.

Noni: Muah. Yeah, teman gue pintar! (Muah. Yeah, my friend’s so smart!) 

Kugy: Eh.. dan, dan, dan.. Bentar! Dan siang ini juga, gue mau merayakan kebersamaan kita sebagai.. drum roll.. Pura-Pura Ninja. (And you know what.. Just a sec! This afternoon, I want to celebrate our friendship as.. drum roll, please.. pretending to be a ninja.)

In this scene, what you just saw is a conversation between friends. They are close friends. In this scene, I want to explain a little bit about this phrase [pura-pura ninja] spoken in the scene.

[Pura-pura ninja] comes from the phrase [kura-kura ninja], which means Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This movie is famous in Indonesia, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles translated in Indonesian as [Kura-Kura Ninja]. [Kura-kura] is a turtle.

Here, Kugy changes [kura-kura] into [pura-pura], and changing the letter also changes the meaning. [Pura-pura] in Bahasa Indonesia means pretending. So, [pura-pura ninja] means pretending to be a ninja.

     Read also: Jangan Macam-macam In Bahasa Indonesia

The fourth scene is taken from a youtube Web Series titled Usia Panik. Let's watch it down below.

Conversation in this scene with English translation is as follows.

Tiara: Gin, loe fokus sama kerjaan itu boleh. Loe tapi jangan lupa fokus sama soal percintaan. (Gin, it’s okay if you focus on your work. But, please do not forget your love life.) 

Gina: Aduh! Apa sih? Cinta-cintaan mulu. Udah ah, udah ngga jaman ah. Gue tuh mendingan fokus ke bisnis gue deh. Udah. Nih, bisnis gue nih masih perlu sesuatu yang lebih wah lagi. (Oh my! What are you talking about? You always talk about love life. It’s not my thing. I better focus on my business. See this? My business still needs a lot because I want to make it bigger.)

Here is a conversation between a close friend, Gina, and Tiara. As you can see, they are using [gue] and [loe] when they talk to each other. This is very common if you are in Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi.

But not very common if you are not in those cities. So, you need to see where you are if you want to use this [gue] and [loe] thing.

     Read also: Gampang In the Indonesian Language

The fifth scene is taken from a TV Serial called The East. Let's watch the scene down below.

Conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Clarissa: Yaah! Tapi kalau misalnya gue taro di meja gue nanti gue batal lagi puasanya! Taro sini aja dulu deh! (Yaaah! But if I put this on my table, I will break my fast! I better put it right here then.)

Here, Clarissa is talking to herself. She works in a TV station in Jakarta, and she is also living in Jakarta. So, it's very common to hear [gue] and [loe] being spoken in Jakarta, even if you talk to yourself like Clarissa did in this movie scene.

I think that's all for now. Thanks for reading this article, and bye now.