How to Say I Love You In Indonesian
Useful Indonesian Phrases
Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I want to talk to you about how to say "I Love You" in Indonesian. As always, we are going to be watching examples, mostly from movie scenes where the phrases are used and spoken by Indonesians.
So, let's jump right in.
Ways to Say I Love You
Usually, there are three ways that Indonesian people use when they are saying this kind of thing.
The first sentence is:
Aku suka kamu.
You say this when you have a crush on someone and want to express it to them. If translated into English, it would be:
I have a crush on you.
The second sentence is when your love is getting bigger, and you love her or him more deeply, you can say this:
Aku cinta kamu.
If translated into English, it would be:
I love you.
The third sentence is when your love grows deeper. Your love in this state is more than your love in the previous state. You can also say this sentence to your loved one, for example, your mother, your father, or someone you really care about, even though you’re not in a relationship with them. You can say it to your brother, your sister, your mother, your father, and also your loved one.
The third sentence is:
Aku sayang kamu.
This is deeper than [aku cinta kamu]. You still translate this in English as:
I love you.
I don’t know any other translations than this because I don’t know a word in English other than love with a deeper meaning than love.
How to Pronounce
Here is how you pronounce [aku suka kamu] in bahasa Indonesia.
And this is how you pronounce [aku cinta kamu].
And this is how to pronounce [aku sayang kamu].
Next, let's watch examples from movies where the phrase is spoken by Indonesians.
Examples of Phrases From Movies
In this section, we will look at examples from movies, YouTube videos, and other sources in which Indonesians use the phrases.
The first example we are about to watch is from Dilan 1990 (2018). Let’s watch the clip.
Conversation from the clip with English translations.
Dilan: Ini tuh daerah kekuasaannya Kang Atot. Aku kenal da sama dia. Jadi kalo kamu mau teriak sekarang, boleh. (This is Atot’s territory. I know him. So, if you want to scream now, you can.)
Milea: Ngga mau! (No, I don’t want to scream!)
Dilan: Atau, kalau kamu mau bilang aku sayang kamu juga boleh. (Or, if you want to say I love you, you can do it too.)
Milea: Bilang ke siapa? (To whom?)
Dilan: Ke aku. (To me.)
Milea: Kamu duluan. (You do it first.)
Dilan: Ke siapa? (To whom?)
Milea: Ke aku lah! (To me!)
Dilan: Bilang apa? (Say what?)
Milea: Aku sayang kamu. (I love you.)
Dilan: Yah! Diduluin! (Oh my! I was gonna say that!)
In this clip, Milea uses the phrase [aku sayang kamu], but Dilan tricked her into saying it first. Let’s learn the vocabulary used in this short clip.
Vocabulary From the Clip
[Tuh] is informal for [itu] = that.
[Daerah] = area, territory.
[Daerah kekuasaan] is an area that is ruled by someone. In this clip, it says, “Daerah kekuasaannya Kang Atot,” which means that Kang Atot rules that area. Atot is a person’s name, and Kang is an honorific title when Dilan addresses him because Atot is older than Dilan.
[Kenal] = know.
[Da] in [aku kenal da sama dia] has no meaning. Its function is just to emphasize.
[Kalo] is informal for [kalau] = if.
[Teriak] = scream.
[Boleh] = can, and it is used to give permission. For example:
A: Saya mau ke kamar mandi, boleh? (I want to go to the bathroom, may I?)
B: Boleh. (Yes, you may.)
[Bilang] = say.
[Diduluin] means that someone preceded him. He was going to say it first, but turns out Milea preceded him.
The second example is still from the same movie, Dilan 1990 (2018). Let’s watch the clip.
Conversation from the clip with English translations.
Dilan: Kamu tau ngga? (You know what?)
Nandan: Apa? (What?)
Dilan: Aku suka Lia. Tapi malu euy mo bilang. (I like Lia. But I don’t have the courage to say it.)
Nandan: Itu barusan bilang. (You just said it.)
Dilan: Bilang ke kamu, bukan ke Milea. (I just said it to you, not to Milea.)
Nandan: Tapi dia bisa denger, kan? (But she can hear, right?)
Dilan: Insya Allah. Yan! (I hope so. Yan!)
So, as you can see, Dilan says, “Aku suka Lia,” instead of saying, “Aku suka kamu,” because he doesn’t say it directly to Lia in this scene. Instead, he says it in public so that everyone can hear.
If Dilan were to say directly to Lia, he would have said, “Aku suka kamu,” instead of saying, “Aku suka Lia.”
Let’s learn the vocabulary used in this short clip.
Vocabulary From the Clip
[Kamu] is informal for [Anda] = you.
[Tau] is informal for [tahu] = know.
[Mo] is informal for [mau] = want.
[Euy] in [tapi malu euy mo bilang] has no meaning. Its function is just to emphasize.
[Tapi] = but.
[Malu] = shy.
[Itu] = that.
[Barusan] = just now.
[Bilang] = say.
[Denger] is informal for [dengar] = listen.
That wraps up this article. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below. Thank you for reading my article, and I’ll see you soon.