Today, we will cover some of the ways on how to say thank you in Indonesian. In almost every language on our planet, ‘thank you’ is one of the most commonly said words / phrases.
It’s the words / phrase we use to express our gratitude to another person for something pleasant they have done or said to us. The Indonesian phrase of ‘thank you’ ranks high up in the chart of most-learned and most-used words, together with ‘Hello in Indonesian’ and ‘How are you in Indonesian’.
Terima Kasih ~ Thank you
You will hear this phrase often when you are speaking to an Indonesian, in or out of Indonesia. Terima kasih is the English equivalent of ‘Thank you’. Say it as often as you deem fit, it reflects positively on you as a polite and friendly person.
Terima Kasih Banyak ~ Thank you very much
‘Banyak’ is ‘many / much’ in Bahasa Indonesia. By saying ‘Terima Kasih Banyak’, it almost translates literally to ‘Thank you much’. It’s essentially varying the degree by which you are expressing your gratitude.
Makasih ~ Thank you (informal, slang)
As you can guess, this is a shortened (and combined) version of ‘Terima Kasih’. As Indonesian words have generally longer syllables, the locals tend to shorten it whenever possible. You will hear the locals often say this in place of ‘Terima kasih’.
Makasih Banget ~ Thank you very much (informal, slang)
‘Banget’ is the colloquial way of saying ‘very’. In this context, it translates to ‘Very Thank You’, which is similar to ‘Thank you very much / Thanks a lot’. Again, you might hear the locals saying it to one another.
Now that you know how to say Thank You in Indonesian, it’s time to learn how to respond appropriately. After someone says one of the above versions of ‘Thank you’ to you, you can respond through one of these lines:
Kembali ~ You’re welcome
‘Kembali’ translates to ‘return’ / ‘back’. So, if we say ‘Kembali’ right after someone says ‘Terima Kasih’ to us, it means that we are ‘returning’ the thanks to them.
Sama-sama ~ You’re welcome
‘Sama’ means ‘same’ in Bahasa Indonesia. So in this situation, ‘Sama-sama’ can be interpreted as ‘the same’ or the speaker is also equally thankful.
To say other Indonesian Greetings, check out our other articles such as saying ‘Good morning in Indonesian’, ‘Good afternoon in Indonesian’ and ‘Good night in Indonesian’.