How to Say Where Have You Been in Indonesian

Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi dengan saya, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I want to talk to you about how to say [Where have you been?] in Indonesian. As always, we will watch example scenes from movies and whatnot where the phrase is spoken by Indonesians.

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, without further ado, let's dive in now.

Where Have You Been in Indonesian

Let's learn how to say [Where have you been?] in Indonesian, from the very formal to the conversational style Indonesian people use.

The first one is the formal one. 

Anda dari mana saja?

And here is how you pronounce it.

You can also switch the order of the words.

Dari mana saja Anda?

And here is how you pronounce it.

The second one is less formal than the first one. You change [Anda] itu [kamu].

Kamu dari mana aja?

We drop the letter [s] and say [aja] instead of [saja]. You can use this version in a more informal setting and in conversational Indonesian. And here is how you pronounce it.

You can also switch the order of the words.

Dari mana aja kamu?

And here is how you pronounce it.

The third one is the most informal of all. You change [kamu] into [loe], and it is usually used if you are in Jakarta and its surrounding cities like Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi. You will hear this version a lot in movies because many Indonesian movies are made in Jakarta.

Loe dari mana aja?

And here is how you pronounce it.

You can also switch the word order.

Dari mana aja loe?

And here is how you pronounce it.

In conversational Indonesian, another phrase that you can use to ask [where have you been] is.

Ke mana aja loe?

And here is how you pronounce it.

You can also switch the word order and add [sih] at the end.

Loe ke mana aja sih?

And here is how you pronounce it.

Next, let's watch examples from movie scenes where the phrases are spoken by Indonesians.

Examples From Movies

The first scene we are about to watch is from Di Bulan Suci Ini..., Season 1, Episode 1 (2023). Let's watch the clip below.

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Below is the conversation from the scene with English translations.

Santo: Ke mana aja, lu? Gila, gua repot nih sendirian. (Where have you been? I couldn't handle it by myself.)

Caroline: Ya salah elu lah! Lagian karyawan hari gini udah lu suruh mudik. Ah! (That's your fault! Why do you let your employees return to their hometowns at a busy time like this? Oh!)

In this scene, Santo has a noodle shop, and on that day, many people are buying his noodles, and his wife has just come from delivering the noodles to one of their customers.

He says to his wife, "Ke mana aja lu?" because he really needs a hand to help him in the noodle shop. So, as you can see, "Ke mana aja, lu?" is one of the phrases you can use, especially in conversational Indonesian.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Lu] = [elu] is informal for [Anda] = you. For more about this, you can read my article here, Loe in Indonesian.

[Gua] is informal for [saya] = I. For more about this, you can read my article here, Gua in Indonesian.

[Gila] = crazy, but in this context, [gila] expresses his frustration dealing with a lot of noodles order by himself. For more about this, you can read my article here, Gila in Indonesian.

[Repot] = hassle, overwhelmed.

[Sendirian] = alone.

[Salah] = wrong.

[Hari gini] = these days.

[Udah] is short for [sudah] = already.

[Mudik] is when you are going back to your hometown. Cultural insight: In Indonesia, every year, especially before Eid Mubarak day, many people go to their hometowns to meet their families. This tradition is called [mudik]. This movie's setting is in the month of Ramadhan, so it is close to the Eid al-Fitr holiday, where people are doing [mudik] to their hometowns.

     Read also: How to Say What Is This in Indonesian

So, this wraps up this article. If you have any questions, just leave them in the comment section below, and I'll be happy to answer them. Also, if I find another example, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. 

Thank you so much for reading my article, and I'll see you soon. Bye now.