How Old Are You In Indonesian

Halo semuanya. Apa kabar? Ketemu lagi dengan saya, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I want to talk to you about how to say [how old are you] in the Indonesian language. As always, we will watch examples from movies where this phrase is spoken by the Indonesian people.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly. You can see how to do that on my About Me page. 

If you are a beginner in the Indonesian language, you can learn step by step with My Lesson Here.

So, let's get cracking!

How to Say How Old Are You In the Indonesian Language

In a formal setting, you can say this.

Anda usianya berapa?

And this is how you pronounce it.

If the person you are talking to is an older male, you can change [Anda] into [bapak] to make it more polite.

Bapak usianya berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

For daily conversations, you can change [usianya] into [umur], and then it becomes this.

Bapak umur berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

And if the person you are talking to is an older female, you can change [Anda] into [ibu] to make it more polite.

Ibu usianya berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

For daily conversations, you can change [usianya] into [umur], and then it becomes this.

Ibu umur berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

[Anda usianya berapa?] is very formal. For daily conversations, you can change [Anda] into [kamu] and [usianya] into [umur], and then it becomes this.

Kamu umur berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

Sometimes, Indonesian people will add [nya] after the word [umur], so it becomes.

Kamu umurnya berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

You can also switch between [kamu] and [umur], and it becomes.

Umur kamu berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

Sometimes, Indonesian people will add [nya] after the word [umur], so it becomes.

Umurnya kamu berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

If you are in Jakarta, and you are talking with friends from Jakarta and its surrounding cities like Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi, you can change [kamu] into [loe], and it becomes.

Loe umur berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

You can also add [nya] after the word [umur], and it becomes this.

Loe umurnya berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

And you can switch around between [loe] and [umur], and it becomes this.

Umur loe berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

And you can also add [nya] to the end of the word [umur]. It becomes this.

Umurnya loe berapa?

And here is how you pronounce it.

Next, let's watch examples from movies where the phrase to ask how old you are in the Indonesian language is spoken by the Indonesians.

Examples of Asking How Old Are You

The first example we are about to watch is taken from a movie called Teka Teki Tika (2021). Let's watch the clip below.

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Below is the conversation from the scene above with English translations.

Andre’s Mother: Jane.

Jane: Iya, tante. (Yes, ma’am.)

Andre’s Mother: Kelihatannya kamu masih muda banget. Kamu umur berapa? (You look so young. How old are you?)

Jane: Jane 21, tante. (I'm 21, ma'am.)

Andre’s Mother: Oh, tante kira masih SMA. (Oh, I thought you were still in high school.)

Jane: Mm, masa sih? (Oh, really?)

Andre: Aduh! (Ouch!)

Jane: Skincare mahal buat apa? Aku dibilang masih SMA. (What's the use for that expensive skincare? Your mother said I still look like a high schooler.)

Andre: Aduh, salah banget ni, mamih. (Oh my God, you're so wrong, mom.)

Jane: Mm, kalo tante, umur berapa? (What about you, ma'am? How old are you?)

Andre’s Mother: Yang pasti sih tante udah kepala 5. (I'm already over 50.)

Jane: Serius? (Seriously?)

Andre’s Mother: Iya. (Yes.)

Jane: Ngga kelihatan sama sekali, lho. Aku kira tante masih 40. (You don't look a day over 50. I thought you were 40.)

In this scene, Andre brings his girlfriend Jane to his house, and she meets Andre's parents. Andre's mother asks Jane how old she is by saying,

Kamu umur berapa?

As you can see, this form is common in daily conversations when you want to ask how old somebody is. And then, Jane asks her back how old she is, but look at how she asks Andre's mother here. She adds the word [tante].

Tante umur berapa?

If Jane were to say the same thing as Andre's mother says to her, it would sound rude. That's why she adds [tante], which in this case has the same meaning as [ma'am] in English. 

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Tante] here literally means [aunt], but usually [tante] is used to address our friend's parents, like in this scene. If Andre brings his male friends to his house, his male friend will also address his mother with the word [tante].

[Kelihatannya] is used when you analyze something before and then speak your mind. [Kelihatannya] = it seems.

[Kamu] = you.

[Masih] = still.

[Muda] = young.

[Banget] = very.

[SMA] stands for Sekolah Menengah Atas = high school.

[Masa sih?] is used when you are startled about something or don't believe in what someone's said.

[Aku dibilang..] is used when someone says something about you, and then you tell it to someone else.

[Ngga kelihatan sama sekali] can be used when someone doesn't look the way they should, or it can be used when you can't see something at all.

[Udah] is a common reduction for [sudah] = already.

[Kepala 5] means here that she is in her 50s. [Kepala 5] here refers to the first number, which is 5, and then you can just add another number to it, like 51, 52, or 57, for example. If you say that you are [kepala 3], it means you are in your 30s. If you say you are [kepala 2], it means you are in your 20s.

The second example is taken from a movie called Garis Waktu (2022). Let's watch the clip below.

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Below is the conversation from the scene with English translations.

Sanya: Kamu umurnya berapa, mas? (How old are you?)

Waiter: Umur saya 18, mba. (I’m 18, miss.)

Sanya: Masih muda, ya. (Oh, you’re still young.)

Waiter: Hmm, iya eh. Juga, pesanannya sudah ya, mba. (Yeah. Here's your order, miss.)

Sanya: Makasih ya. (Thank you.)

Waiter: Oh, iya. Sama-sama. (Yeah. You’re welcome.)

In this scene, Sanya asks the waiter how old he is by saying,

Kamu umurnya berapa?

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

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Mas] is an honorific title usually used to address older men, but in this case, the waiter is younger than Sanya, so in this case, [mas] is used to politely address a stranger. For more about this, you can read my article, Mas In the Indonesian Language.

[Umur] = [usia] = age.

[Mba] is an honorific title usually used to address older women. In this case, the waiter uses [mba] just to politely address her because she is the customer. For more about this, you can read my article, Mba In the Indonesian Language.

[Masih] = still.

[Muda] = young.

[Eh] in [hmm, iya eh] is just a filler word. It doesn't have any meaning.

[Juga] means also, but in [juga, pesanannya sudah ya, mba], [juga] here functions as a filler word. You can just omit it.

[Pesanannya sudah ya] is usually said by waiters after they have brought your order to your table. [Pesanannya sudah ya] literally means [your order has already been served].

[Sama-sama] is a phrase to reply to someone who is thanking you. For more about this, you can read my article, How to Answer Terima Kasih In Bahasa.

The third example is taken from Bang Mpin's YouTube Channel. Let's watch the clip below.

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Below is the conversation between Bang Mpin and the seller.

Bang Mpin: Udah berapa lama pak jualan Soto Bogor, pak? (How long have you been selling Soto Bogor, sir?)

Bapak Penjual Soto: Di sini? 40 tahun. (Here? 40 years.)

Bang Mpin: Ini? (This?)

Bang Mpin: Bapak umur berapa? (How old are you, sir?)

Bapak Penjual Soto: Saya 61. (I’m 61.)

Bang Mpin: Waah! Sepuh, bro! (Wow! He's an old man, dude!)

In this scene, Bang Mpin asks what is his age with the phrase,

Bapak umur berapa?

This phrase is more colloquial and, as you can see, is used in daily conversation. The difference between [bapak usianya berapa?] with [bapak umur berapa? is that [bapak usianya berapa?] sounds more formal than [bapak umur berapa?].

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Bang] is an honorific title to address strangers on the street in Jakarta. For more about this, you can read my article here, Bang In Indonesian.

[Bapak Penjual Soto] = the man who sells Soto.

[Jualan] is a common reduction for [berjualan] = to sell something. [Udah berapa lama pak jualan Soto Bogor, Pak?] if I turn this sentence into a formal sentence, it would become [Sudah berapa lama bapak berjualan Soto Bogor, Pak?]. 

[Sepuh] has the same meaning as [tua] = old.

     Read also: How to Say Have You Eaten In Bahasa

I guess this is a wrap. If I find another example, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. Thank you for reading my article, and I'll see you soon. Bye now.