Meaning of Duluan Ya In Bahasa Indonesia

Halo semuanya, apa kabar? This time, I want to talk to you about the meaning of [duluan ya] in Bahasa Indonesia. This phrase is used a lot in conversational Indonesia and we're gonna watch a scene that I took from an Indonesian movie called Strawberry Surprise.

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

So, let's talk about this.

Duluan Ya In Bahasa Indonesia

The basic word for [duluan] is [dulu], which means a long time ago. But when you add the suffix [an] to this word, it becomes [duluan] and the meaning changes. Duluan means "to go first".

This phrase if in a full sentence, that is,

Saya duluan ya.

Or,

Aku duluan ya.

Or,

Gue duluan ya.

And if I translated into English would be,

I'll go first.

And usually, we say this when we're going to leave from someplace. Like if you are saying,

I have to head off soon.

You will see from the movie scene that the one who is saying this phrase is then left.

But you can also say this phrase if you are asking permission to go first.

How to Pronounce Duluan Ya

First, let's pronounce it in full sentence, that is [Saya duluan ya]. Let's hear it down below.


Next, let's hear how to pronounce [Aku duluan ya] below.


Next, let's hear how to pronounce [Gue duluan ya] below.


And the last one, let's hear how to pronounce [duluan ya] below.


And next, let's watch the scene from a movie where this phrase [duluan ya] and also [gue duluan ya] are being spoken.

Duluan Ya In a Movie Scene

Now, let's watch a scene from an Indonesian movie called Strawberry Surprise where [duluan ya] and [gue duluan ya] are being spoken.

Below is the transcript from the movie above with English translation.

Timur: Oke, gue duluan ya. (Okay, I’m going home.) 

Peter: Oke. (Okay.) 

Timur: Tita mau bareng ama gue ngga, tuh? (Does Tita want to go home with me?) 

Peter: Dia bareng gue aja. (She’s with me.) 

Timur: Bye. Yuk. Duluan ya. (Okay then, bye. I’m going home.) 

Peter: Inda aja, deket tuh. (Inda’s home is near, why don’t go home with her?) 

Timur: Mau bareng? (Do you want to go home with me?) 

Inda: Ngga papa deh. Aku gampang. (No, it’s okay. I can manage.) 

Timur: Oke, bye. (Okay, bye.)

Next, I will give you 3 example sentences.

Example Sentences

In here I think I want to give you example sentences based on the word [duluan] because the phrase [duluan ya] usually used to say to the other persons that ones are leaving.

First example.

Boleh saya duluan?

The English translation would be.

May I go first?

Second example.

Silakan duluan saja, kami belakangan.

The English translation would be.

Please, you go first, we will go later.

Third example.

Kalau kalian mau duluan, silakan saja. Nanti kami menyusul.

The English translation would be.

If you would like to go first, please go ahead. We'll catch you later.

I think that's a wrap. I hope you understand what I just explained here and if you don't, you can ask me. Just comment down below. Thank you very much and I'll talk to you later.


Update #1 (September 14, 2019)
I just found a scene from another Indonesian movie where this phrase is spoken. Let's watch the scene down below.

The conversation in that scene with English translation is as follows.

Girl: Kak Bara, kak Bara. Kak Bara, kan? Yang sering nulis cerita di Mading? (Bara, Bara. You are Bara, right? The one who often writes on the Wall Magazine?) 

Boy: Iya. (Yeah, that's me.) 

Girl: Halo kak, namaku Tata. (Hello, my name is Tata.) 

Boy: Halo. (Hello.) 

Girl: Hmm.. oh iya, kak. Teman aku ada yang mo kenalan lho, sama kakak. Kakak tunggu di sini sebentar, ya? Kak, ini teman aku yang mo kenalan sama kakak. Kak, aku duluan ya. Fel, good luck ya. (I've got a friend who wants to get to know you. Just wait here a minute. This is my friend, who wants to get to know you. I'm off now. Fel, good luck.)

As you can see, when the girl wanted to leave, she said,

Kak, aku duluan ya.

She asked permission because she wanted to leave first. You will hear this phrase is spoken a lot in Indonesia when a person wants to leave early.

I think that's all for now for the update. If I find another scene where this phrase is spoken, I will update this article again. Thank you and bubye.


Update #2 (September 15, 2019)

I found another scene from another Indonesian movie, Komedi Modern Gokil. In this scene, the man let the woman go first. Let's watch here down below.

The conversation in the scene with English translation is as follows.

Man: Udah, kamu duluan aja. Ntar aku nyusul. (You can go first. I will catch you soon.) 

Woman: Oh, gitu? (Is that okay?) 

Man: He'eh. (Yes.) 

Woman: Ya udah. Tuh, air minumnya di situ ya. (Okay, then. The water is over there.) 

Man: Oke. (Okay.)

Let's see the sentence that the man said to the woman.

Kamu duluan aja.

Aja here is short for saja. With this sentence, the man says that she could go without waiting for him. Because he wanted to drink first.

Okay, that's all for the update this time. If I find another scene, I will update it again. Thanks and I'll talk to you soon.


Update #3 (September 18, 2019)
I just found another scene from another movie where this phrase [duluan ya] is spoken. This is from Dilan 1991, a famous movie in Indonesia. Let's watch the scene down below.

The conversation in the scene with English translation is as follows.

Dilan: Ya udah. Aku duluan ya? Assalamu'alaikum. (Okay, can I leave now? May peace be upon you.) 

Milea: Wa'alaikum salam. (And peace be upon you too.)

As you can see, the boy said to his girl,

Aku duluan ya.

He asked permission to his girl that he wanted to leave and then the girl nodded. Then he left the house.

Another scene also from the movie Dilan 1990, but this is the first movie. The first movie is Dilan 1990 and then the sequel is Dilan 1991. Let's watch the scene where [duluan] is spoken. Right now, it's just [duluan] without [ya], so it's not [duluan ya].

The conversation in the scene with English translation is as follows.

Boy: Wati mana? (Where is Wati) 

Girl: Udah duluan ke kantin. (She had already left for cafeteria before us.) 

Boy: Hmm, ya udah deh. Aku pamit dulu ya. (Oh. Okay then. I’ll take my leave now.)

She said this sentence,

Udah duluan ke kantin.

Duluan here means had already left. She and her friend wanted to go to the cafeteria also but one of their friends had already left for cafeteria before them. If I translate this sentence literally, it would be.

She had gone first to the cafeteria.

Meant that she is the first to go to the cafeteria then her other friends that still in the class.

I think that's all for the update. Bubye for now.


Update #4 (September 23, 2019)
I found another one where this phrase [duluan ya] is spoken. It is from a popular Indonesian movie, Dillan 1990. Let's watch the scene down below.

The conversation in this scene with English translation is as follows.

Dillan: Selamat pagi. (Good morning.) 

Milea: Pagi. (Morning.) 

Dillan: Kamu Milea, ya? (You are Milea, aren’t you?) 

Milea: Iya. (Yes.) 

Dillan: Boleh aku ramal? (May I predict the future for you?) 

Milea: Ramal? (Predict the future?) 

Dillan: Iya. Aku ramal nanti siang kita akan bertemu di kantin. Mau ikut? (Yes. I predict that we will meet this afternoon in the cafeteria. Do you want to ride with me?) 

Milea: Ngga, makasih. (No, thank you.) 

Dillan: Tapi suatu hari nanti kamu pasti akan naik motorku. Percayalah. Duluan ya. (But one day I bet you will ride my bike. Believe me. I'm taking a leave now.)

As you can see before Dillan left Milea, he said,

Duluan ya.

He wanted to let her know that he would be leaving. So, you will hear this phrase being spoken a lot in daily conversation in Indonesia.

I think that's all for the update. I'll talk to you soon. Bye now.