Loe In Indonesian

An Informal Indonesian Word

Halo semuanya, apa kabar? Ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I want to talk about the meaning of the word [loe] in bahasa Indonesia. Not only talk about the meaning of the word, but I will also show you some examples from movies and other real-life situations where Indonesians use this word.

Okay guys, now let’s talk about [loe].

Loe In Indonesian

So, [loe] basically means [you], but in an informal way. It’s super casual. You might see it spelled in different ways, like loe, lo, elo, lu, eloe, or even luh. Don’t get confused — they all mean the same thing. Just different spellings, same meaning, same casual vibe.

And usually, [loe] goes together with [gue].

So, it’s like:

• Gue = I

• Loe = you

It’s kind of like a package deal.

Now, where do people use it? Mostly in Jakarta and nearby cities like Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi. People often call this area JaBoDeTaBek.

But nowadays, because a lot of Indonesian movies and shows are produced in Jakarta, words like [gue] and [loe] have spread to other cities too. So, even if someone’s not from Jakarta, you might still hear them using these words.

How to Pronounce Loe

Some Indonesians pronounce this word as [lo]; I’ll show in the video below.

And some Indonesians pronounce this as [lu]; I will also show you in the video below.

[Lu] and [loe] have the same pronunciation.

Let’s hear it in a sentence using [lu] or [loe].

• Loe dari mana? (Where have you been?)

And now let’s hear it in a sentence using [lo].

• Lo dari mana? (Where have you been?)

Can you hear the difference?

So, you can choose to pronounce it as the first (lu or loe) or the latter (lo). Don’t worry, both are correct.

Examples of Loe In Use

Let’s look at the picture below. It is written as [lu].

It says:

Lu gila kali ya? (Are you out of your mind?)

And let’s look at another example. This is from an ad that I saw on the street, so I stopped for a while and then took a picture of it.

It says:

Lo yang salah, lo yang galak. (You’re the one at fault, and you’re acting angry?)

Now, let’s look at other examples. This time, we’ll look at examples from movies.

The first example from movies is from a TV Serial called Tetangga Masa Gitu (2014). Let’s watch the clip below.

Here is the conversation from the clip with English translations.

Angel: Sini, sini, dengerin! Album barunya. Keren deh! (Hey, come here, come here! Listen to this! It’s his new album. It’s awesome!)

Adi: Engga, ini si.. Panda, loe ngapain pagi-pagi di sini? (No, wait — Panda, what are you doing here this early?)

Panda: Loh? Kata loe kan, gue disuruh jemput pagi-pagi ke sini? Kan kita mau ketemu anak-anak di mall? Lupa ya? (Huh? You told me to come pick you up early, remember? We’re meeting the guys at the mall. Don’t tell me you forgot?)

Adi: Amnesia! (Guess I’ve got amnesia!)

This is a conversation between friends, and as you can see, they use [gue] and [loe].

Let’s hear again the part where Adi says the word loe.

Adi: Panda, loe ngapain pagi-pagi di sini? (Panda, what are you doing here this early?)

Vocabulary From the Clip

[Sini] is used when you invite someone to come near you.

[Dengerin] is used to ask someone to listen to something.

[Keren] = awesome.

[Engga] = [ngga] = [tidak] = no.

[Ngapain] = [melakukan apa?] is a question word when you want to ask what somebody is doing.

[Pagi-pagi] = early morning.

[Anak-anak] is usually translated into [children], but in this context, it refers to guys, or their friends who are waiting at the mall.

[Lupa] = forget.

The second example from movies is from a TV Series called The East (2015). Let’s watch the clip below.

Here is the conversation from the clip with English translations.

Gista: Rin! Sini. Tadi loe nanya, kan? Kapan gue tahu kalau gue jatuh cinta sama suami gue? Jadi mo denger ga? (Rin! Come here. You asked me earlier, right? When did I know I was falling in love with my husband? So... you wanna hear it?)

Karin: Oh ya, kalo loe mau cerita, cerita aja. Gue cuman lagi riset doang kok buat Ini Talk Show. (Oh yeah? If you wanna tell me, just tell me. I’m just doing some research for Ini Talk Show anyway.)

Gista: Oke. Eh, sini, sini, sini, sini! Gue ceritain ya. (Okay, come here. Seriously, get over here! Alright, I’ll tell you.)

Gista and Karin work at the same office. They are coworkers. They use informal Indonesian when talking to each other. As you can see, they use [gue] and [loe] when talking.

Let’s hear again the part where Gista says the word loe.

Gista: Tadi loe nanya, kan? (You asked me earlier, right?)