How to Answer Terima Kasih

Halo semuanya, apa kabar? Ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. In my last article, I discussed how to say thank you in Bahasa Indonesia, and now we're going to learn how to reply to when someone is saying [terima kasih], or thank you in the Indonesian language, to you.

As always, we will watch examples from movies where Indonesians reply to someone who says [terima kasih] to them.

If you have any questions regarding the Indonesian language, you can ask me directly. You can see how to do that on my About Me page. 

If you are a beginner in the Indonesian language, you can learn step by step with My Lesson Here.

Without further ado, let's dive right in!

How to Reply If Someone Says Terima Kasih to You

The most common reply you will hear said by the Indonesian people when somebody says [terima kasih] is [sama-sama].

Sama-sama.

And here is how you pronounce [sama-sama].

If the person saying it [makasih ya], you can reply by adding the word [iya] before [sama-sama]. Because here, it actually likes saying, "Makasih, ya?" and that's why Indonesian people usually reply it first with [iya] and then say [sama-sama]. And, here it is.

Iya. Sama-sama.

And here is how you pronounce [Iya. Sama-sama].

You can also reply by saying [terima kasih kembali].

Terima kasih kembali.

And here is how you pronounce [terima kasih kembali].

And you can also reply to someone who says [terima kasih] to you by saying [kembali kasih]. But you will hear this rarely said by native Indonesian speakers. 

Kembali kasih.

And here is how you pronounce [kembali kasih].

But sometimes, you may hear Indonesian people say this phrase [kembali kasih]. So, when you hear it, you are not confused, and I think it's also better if you know about this one.

In literal meaning, [terima] means to accept and [kasih] means love. So, [terima kasih] in literal meaning means you accept the love, so when you reply with [kembali kasih], [kembali] means to return, and [kasih] means love. [Kembali kasih] literally means that you return the love to the person who first gave it to you. 

Examples of How Indonesians reply to Terima Kasih

In this section, you will watch examples, mostly from movies, where Indonesian people are replying to the phrase [terima kasih] said to them.

The first example we are about to watch is taken from a TV serial called Mimpi Metropolitan, Episode 1 (2019). Let's watch the clip below.

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For the conversation from the above scene with English translations and vocabulary explanations, you can read my article, How to Say Thank You In Indonesian.

You can see that the woman says this,

Iya, sama-sama.

That's because Bambang says, "Makasih ya," with the added word [ya] at the end of the word [makasih]. So, the woman first replies with [iya], then says [sama-sama].

The second example we are about to watch is still from the same movie, Mimpi Metropolitan, Episode 1 (2019). Let's watch the scene below.

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For the conversation from the above scene with English translations and vocabulary explanations, you can read my article, How to Say Thank You In Indonesian.

In this scene, Bambang also says [makasih ya], and the waiter first responds with the word [oke], followed by [sama-sama].

Oke, sama-sama.

[Oke] comes from the English word [okay]. Again, it's just showing that the waiter is receiving that you thank him.

The third example is from a TV series called Tetangga Masa Gitu, Episode 1 (2014). Let's watch the clip below.

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Below is the conversation in that scene with English translations.

Adi: Tuh, siapa tuh? (Who is that?) 

Bintang: Hai. (Hi.) 

Adi: Huh, males! (Huh, I don’t like this!) 

Bintang: Ini tadi aku bikin puding buah, buat mba Angel dan mas Adi. Mari dicoba. (I made fruit pudding, for you Angel and Adi. Please try it.) 

Angel: Tuh! Makasih ya. (See? Thank you.)

Bintang: Iya. Sama-sama. (You’re welcome.) 

Angel: Masukin kulkas dulu ya. (I’ll put this in the refrigerator first.) 

Bintang: Iya. (Okay.)

In this scene, Angel says,

Makasih ya.

And then Bintang replies by saying [iya] first and then followed by [sama-sama].

Iya. Sama-sama.

So, if someone says [makasih] or [terima kasih] with the added word [ya] at the end, then it is better if you first reply with [iya] and then follow with [sama-sama].

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Siapa] = who.

[Tuh] is usually used to point at something or when you want to show something to your friends. [Tuh] = [itu] = that. For more about this, you can read my article here: Itu, Tu, and Tuh in Indonesian.

[Males] in this context is said by Adi, which means that when he knows who comes to his house, he doesn't feel comfortable because he doesn't like his new neighbor. For more about this, you can read my article, Males Meaning In Bahasa.

[Tadi] = just now.

[Bikin] is the colloquial way of saying [membuat] = to make something.

[Buat] = [untuk] = for.

[Mari dicoba] = [silakan dicoba] = please try it.

[Masukin] is the colloquial way of saying [masukkan] = to put something in.

[Kulkas] = fridge.

The fourth scene is taken from a TV serial called Suami-suami Masa Kini, Episode 2 (2022). Let's watch the clip below.

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Below is the conversation from the scene above with the English translations.

Tania: Bye. (Bye.)

Everyone: Bye. (Bye.)

Tania: Ndri, Rumi. Makasih ya. (Ndri, Rumi. Thank you.)

Rumi: Iya, mba. Sama-sama. (Yeah. You’re welcome.)

Tania: Ti-ati. (You take care.)

Ical: Dah semua. Bye. (Bye you all. Bye.)

Indri: Yok. (Let’s go.)

Tobi: Bye, guys. See ya. (Bye, guys. See ya.)

In this scene, Tania says [makasih] followed by the word [ya], and then, as you can see, Rumi first replies with [iya], and then she says [sama-sama].

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Mba] is an honorific title used to address a female older than you. In this scene, Tania is older than Rumi, and that's why Rumi uses [mba] when addressing Tania. For more about this, you can read my article, Mba Meaning In Bahasa.

[Ti-ati] is a common reduction for [hati-hati]. You say this phrase when you say goodbye to your friends. [Hati-hati] here means take care.

     Read also: Ngga Habis Pikir In Bahasa

I think that's all for now and if you have any questions about this, you can just comment below, and I'll be happy to answer your questions. Thank you so much, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye.