Nih Meaning In Indonesian

Halo semuanya. Apa kabar? Ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I want to talk to you about the meaning of the word [nih] in Indonesian. As always, we will watch cut scenes from movies and whatnot where the word [nih] is spoken by Indonesians to better understand it.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly, or you can join my group. You can see it on my About Me page.

So, without further ado, let's dive in!

Nih in Bahasa Indonesia

[Nih] is an informal for [ini] with emphasis, according to Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia. It is usually used in conversational Indonesian.

You can use [nih] for example:

Example 1.

A: Nih! Buat loe. (Here! For you.) 

B: Apaan nih? Tapi, makasih ya. (What's this? But, thank you anyway.)

In this situation, your friend gives you something, and when he or she gives you something, they say [nih!] Actually, you can change [nih] and use [ini] instead.

A: Ini! Buat loe.

The meaning is the same if you change [nih] into [ini], but usually, in daily conversation, we use [nih] instead of [ini]. 

So, you can say [nih] when you are handing something over to someone or doing a favor to them.

In [apaan nih?], you also can change [nih] into [ini], and if you change it into a more formal style, you will say this.

B: Apa ini? Tapi, terima kasih ya.

Now, let's look at another example sentence using [nih].

Example 2.

A: Eh, jadi berangkat ngga? (Are we going to leave or not?) 

B: Males ah! Gue mau tidur aja. (I don't feel like going. I just want to go to sleep.) 

A: Yang kek gini ini nih, yang gue ngga suka dari loe. Bilang berangkat tapi taunya ngga jadi. (What the hell, man? This, this that I don't like from you. You said we were going to leave, but now you cancel it.)

[Nih] in the sentence above is used to emphasize. Actually, you can omit [nih] in the sentence above, [yang kek gini ini, yang gue ngga suka dari loe], and the meaning doesn't change, but the emotion and the emphasis are gone.

How to Pronounce Nih 

Here is how you pronounce [nih] in Bahasa Indonesia

Now, let's look at examples from movies and other things where this is used by Indonesians.

Example of Nih in Use

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.

Below is the conversation from the scene with English translations.

Bu Cil: Jeng! Ibumu mo ngomong. (Jeng! Your mom wants to talk to you.)

Ajeng: Nih! (Here!)

Bu Cil: Loh? (What?)

Ajeng: Aku belum siap ngomong sama ibu, Bu Cil. (I'm still not yet ready to talk to Mom, Bu Cil.)

In this scene, Bu Cil is talking to Ajeng's mom, and she wants to speak to Ajeng, her daughter, but Ajeng refuses because she is still not ready to talk to her own mom. 

As you can see, when Ajeng wants to return the phone to Bu Cil, she says [nih!].

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Ibu] = mother.

[Ibumu] = [ibu kamu] = your mother.

[Mo] is informal for [mau] = want.

[Ngomong] is the colloquial word for [berbicara] = to speak.

[Loh] or [lho] is a word you use when surprised by something.

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

[Belum siap] = not yet ready.

The second example is from a comic made by @sampahisasi on Instagram. Let's take a look at the picture below.

What he says in the comic above with English translations is as follows.

A: Wah bagus kayaknya nih film.. Tapi nontonnya dimana? (*ketik ketik* *Enter*) Oh di Netplix ada.. (I guess this is a good movie. But where can I watch it? (*type type* *Enter*) Oh, it is on Netflix.)

In this sentence:

Wah, bagus kayaknya nih film..

You can change [nih] with [ini].

Wah, bagus kayaknya ini film.. (I guess this is a good movie.)

So, as you can see, [nih] is usually used in conversational or informal Indonesian. You can follow Sampahisasi on Instagram to read their comics, and I think comics are a good source for you to learn Bahasa Indonesia, which is used by Indonesians in real life.

The third example is from a comic made by @sibelang_ on Instagram. Let's take a look at the picture below.

And here is the conversation above with English translations.

A: Halo sapa nich? (Hello. Who is this?)

B: Ini bapak yang punya kosan deket simpang 4 ya? (Are you the person who owns the house that can be rented in Simpang 4?)

The style of this writing is informal. Let me explain the words that are used in this picture.

Vocabulary From the Picture

[Halo] = hello.

[Sapa] is informal for [siapa] = who. In informal writing style, for example, like in the comics or in texting, you will see this kind of writing.

[Nich] is another writing style variation for [nih]. You can change [nich] itu [ini] here. So, if I want to change [halo sapa nich?] into a more formal style, it would be [Halo. Siapa ini?] So, [nich] here has the same meaning as [ini] = this.

[Bapak] = mister.

[Ini bapak yang punya kosan deket simpang 4 ya?] <--- [Ini] in this sentence refers to [bapak]. The literal translation for this sentence is [Is this mister who owns the house that can be rented in Simpang 4, right?].

[Kosan] is a house consisting of a few rooms, and the rooms in that house can be rented to people. People can pay for a month, 6 months, or for a year.

[Deket] is informal for [dekat] = near.

[Simpang 4] is the name of a place.

     Read also: Ngegas In Bahasa Indonesia

So, that's all for now. If I find another example where the word [nih] is used, Insha Allah, I will update this article again, and if you have any questions, leave them in the comment section below, and I'll be happy to answer them for you.

Thank you for reading my article, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye now.