Pegang In Indonesian
An Indonesian Word
Halo, semuanya. Iman Prabawa here. This time, I want to talk about the meaning of the word [pegang] in Indonesian. And as always, we’ll look at some examples from movie scenes where you can hear Indonesian people actually using the word [pegang].
Meaning of Pegang
[Pegang] can have several different meanings depending on the context.
The first meaning of [pegang] is to hold something with your hand. This is the literal meaning of the word [pegang].
Here’s an example sentence:
Bisa tolong pegang buku saya sebentar? (Can you please hold my book for a moment?)
Below is the audio version of the sentence.
The second meaning of [pegang] is when someone is in charge of a place or has control over an area. In other words, people in that area listen to and obey that person.
Here’s an example sentence:
Dia yang megang daerah ini. (He owns this area.)
[Dia yang megang daerah ini] means that everybody in that area obeys him. He has the power in this area; this is his territory.
Below is the audio version of the sentence.
The third meaning of [pegang] is when you have control over someone.
Here’s an example sentence:
Tenang aja, dia udah kita pegang. Jadi, dia ngga akan macem-macem. (Relax! We’ve got him. So, he won’t do anything stupid.)
Below is the audio version of the sentence.
The fourth meaning of [pegang] is when you can handle or manage something, especially a task or responsibility.
For example:
A: Kira-kira untuk projek yang ini, kalau saya berikan ke kamu, bisa kepegang sama kamu? (Do you think you can handle this project if I give it to you?)
B: Insya Allah, bisa pak. (God willing, I can handle it, sir.)
Here, [kepegang] basically means “can be handled” or “can be managed.”
Here is the audio version.
Next, let’s look at some examples from movie scenes where Indonesian people use the word [pegang].
Examples of Pegang in Use
The first example is from a movie called Teka-Teki Tika (2021). Let’s watch the clip below.
Below is the transcript from the clip, along with the English translation:
Budi: Harusnya sih minggu depan kita sudah sign MoU, pah. (We should have the MoU signed by next week, Dad.)
Sherly’s Father: Harusnya? (“Should have”?)
Budi: Oh, ngga, ngga. Aman pa semuanya. Apalagi kan Bupati sudah kita pegang. (Oh, no, no. Everything’s under control, Dad. Besides, we’ve already got the Regent in our pocket.)
Sherly’s Father: Dari bank udah ada kabar? (Any news from the bank?)
Sherly: Bu Vanda janji akan ngehubungin kita besok. (Mrs. Vanda said she’d call us tomorrow.)
Vocabulary From the Scene
Here are some useful words and expressions from the clip:
[Harusnya sih] <--- This is usually used when you want to advise someone, for example, “Harusnya sih begini ngerjainnya. (You should do something like this to make this work).” But when you specify the time you are saying it, it means that something must have been finished at a specific time.
[Minggu depan] = next week.
[Pah] is short for [papa]. [Papa] means father, but Indonesian people sometimes add the letter [h] at the end, like in this example; he said [pah] instead of [pa].
[Ngga] = no.
[Aman] = safe, but in this context, [aman] means everything is under control.
[Bupati] = the Regent, government officers in charge of a regency.
[Kabar] = news.
[Udah] is short for [sudah] = already.
[Janji] = promise.
[Ngehubungin] is the colloquial way of saying [menghubungi] = to call, make contact.
[Besok] = tomorrow.
The second example is still from the same movie, Teka-Teki Tika (2021). Let’s watch the clip below.
Below is the transcript from the clip, along with the English translation:
Budi: Siap, pah! Pokoknya pasti Budi.. Ah. Lihat tuh! Lihat papamu. Hah! Kalau bukan karena kamu, udah saya maki-maki dia. (Yes, Dad! You can count on me. Ah… Look at that! Look what your dad’s doing. Hah! If it weren’t for you, I would’ve given him a piece of my mind.)
Sherly: Kalau bukan karena saya, kamu juga ngga bakalan pegang perusahaan ini. (If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even be running this company.)
The meaning of [pegang] in this scene is related to the second meaning we discussed earlier: being in charge of something.
Budi is in charge of the company because he married Sherly. After they got married, Sherly’s father gave the company to Budi, so Budi is now the one running the company.
Vocabulary From the Scene
Here are some useful words and expressions from the clip:
[Siap] is usually said when someone higher in rank than you asks you to do something, and you say [siap], which means that you agree to follow the order. Usually used in the military, it’s like [yes, sir] in English.
[Pokoknya] = the thing is.
[Lihat tuh!] is usually used when you want to show something to someone. [Lihat tuh] = You see that?
[Papa] = father.
[Papamu] = your father.
[Maki] = to yell at someone out of anger.
[Maki-maki] means yelling at someone out of anger.
[Dia] could be she or he; [dia] doesn’t have any gender-related.
[Ngga] = no.
[Bakalan] = will be.
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This wraps up today’s article. If I find another example, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you again soon. Bye for now!