Ada Deh In the Indonesian Language

Halo semuanya, apa kabar? Ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. This time, I'm going to talk about the phrase [ada deh] in the Indonesian language. As always, we are also going to be watching clips from movies, YouTube videos, and others where Indonesians use the phrase [ada deh].

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.

So, without further ado, let's talk about this.

Meaning of Ada Deh In the Indonesian Language

[Ada deh] is a phrase that we use when we don't want to answer a question. In English, it's like, "It's a secret!"

If you don't want to answer a question that is being asked to you or feel that you don't want the person who is asking you to know about it, you can say this phrase [ada deh].

How to Pronounce Ada Deh

This is how to pronounce [ada deh] in bahasa Indonesia.

Next, we will watch clips from movies, reality shows, or whatever this phrase is being spoken.

Ada Deh In Movie Scenes

The first clip is taken from a talk show, Tonight Show Net. Let's watch the clip down below.

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

Vincent: Pris, ee.. film terakhir kapan? (When was the last time you did a movie shoot?

Prisia: Film terakhir.. (My last movie shoot…)

Vincent: Syuting? (A movie shoot?)

Prisia: Syuting dua ribu se.. Dua ribu dua puluh awal ya? Sebelum pandemi. (My last movie shoot, I think in two thousand... Early 2020, I guess? Before the pandemic.)

Vincent: Oh, udah hampir.. (Oh, it almost about…)

Prisia: Persis sebelum pandemi. (Right before the pandemic.)

Vincent: Ya, ya, ya, sebelum.. Berarti udah hampir setahun. (Yeah, yeah, yeah, before.. It's been almost a year.)

Desta: Film apaan, Pris? (What movie, Pris?)

Prisia: Ada deh! (It's a secret!)

Desta: Belum keluar? (The movie hasn't released yet?)

Prisia: Udah, udah. (No, it's already been released.)

Desta: Ya kok ada deh? Ya kan tinggal ngomong doang kalau udah keluar mah. (Why, it's a secret then? You can just tell me if the movie has been released.)

Prisia: Produksi TV sebelah. Ngga papa? (This movie is released by the other TV channel. Is it okay if I say it here?)

Vincent: Ooo. (I see.)

Desta: Ya filmnya aja. (You can just tell me the title of the movie then.)

Prisia: Filmnya Kondangan waktu itu. (The title of the movie is Kondangan.)

Desta: Oo, gue nonton lagi! Gue nonton. Yang ama Gading ya? (Ow! I watched that movie! I did watch that movie. You with Gading in that movie, right?)

Prisia: He'eh. (Yup.)

In the clip, Desta asked Prisia the movie title, but Prisia didn't want to say it. That's why she said,

Ada deh!

It means, for some reason, she didn't want to tell Desta about it. Then Desta was trying to guess that maybe she would not tell him because the movie hadn't come out yet. But the movie had come out, said Prisia, and then Desta asked,

Ya kok ada deh?

He wanted to know if the movie had come out, why would it be a secret then? And then Prisia answered him.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[ee..] = this is just a filler word. It has no meaning.

[Terakhir] = last.

[Kapan] = when.

[Udah] is the colloquial form of [sudah]. In daily conversation usually, Indonesian people drop letters and words when they speak.

[Berarti] = [mempunyai arti] = it means.

[Apaan] is the colloquial way of saying [apa] = what.

[Doang] and [mah] has no meaning. It is just phatic expressions. It has no meaning, usually used just to emphasize the word that is spoken before.

[TV sebelah] <--- [sebelah] in this phrase is usually said when we want to refer to our competitor, but it can also have the literal meaning that is [next door]. For example, Cek toko sebelah can mean you need to check the store right next to your store, or it can mean you need to check other stores that are competitors to that store. In this clip, it means referring to NET TV's competitor.

[Ama] is the colloquial way of saying [sama]. It means with.

[He'eh] = yes. For more about this, you can read this article, He'eh Meaning In the Indonesian Language.

The second clip is taken from a movie called Susi Susanti (2019). Let's watch the clip down below.

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

Alan: Eh, jalan-jalan yuk? (Hey, how about if we take a walk?)

Susi: Ke mana? (Where to?)

Alan: Ada deh! Mo tahu aja! Ayo? (It’s a secret! Be patient. You’ll see! Let’s go?)

Susi: Bentar ah. (Just a sec.)

Alan: Udah, ngga usah diabisin. Ayo! Ko, ini uangnya pas ya. Makasih ya ko ya. Ayo! (You don’t need to finish your plate. Come on! Sir, this is the exact change. Thank you, sir. Come on! Let’s go!)

In this scene, Alan wants to take Susi to an interesting place, and then Susi asks where Alan wants to take her? And Alan wanted to make it a surprise for Susi. That's why he said,

Ada deh! Mo tahu aja!

Usually, but not always, when people say [ada deh], it will be followed by [mau tahu aja]. [Mo] and [mau] are the same, [mo] is just the colloquial way of saying [mau], or when you pronounce it fast enough, you will hear it [mo] rather than [mau].

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Eh] is usually used when you want to begin to say something or attract someone to listen to you. For more about this, you can read this article, Eh In the Indonesian Language.

[Jalan-jalan] = take a walk.

[Yuk] and [ayo] are used when you want to request or suggest to depart.

[Bentar] is short for [sebentar]. The literal translation for this word is a little while or a short amount of time. But in this context, it means [just a sec] because Susi wanted to finish her plate first before she followed Alan.

[Udah] is the colloquial form of [sudah] = already. But in this context, [udah] has no meaning. It is used just to emphasize. [Udah, ngga usah diabisin] has the same meaning as [ngga usah diabisin] but [udah, ngga usah diabisin] emphasize that you do not need to finish the plate.

[Diabisin] is the colloquial form of [dihabiskan]. [Udah, ngga usah diabisin] if I make this into formal sentence, it will become [sudah, tidak perlu dihabiskan].

[Uangnya pas] means that Alan paid with exact change.

[Ko] is short for [koko]. Koko is an honorific title used to address older brother. For older sister, you say [cici] or [ci] for short. [Koko] and [cici] are usually used to address Chinese Indonesians.

[Makasih] is the colloquial form of [terima kasih]. In daily conversation, we usually say [makasih] instead of [terima kasih].

     Read also: Janda Kembang In the Indonesian Language

So, I think that's all for now. If you have any questions, just leave them in the comment section, and I'll be happy to answer them. If I find another scene where this phrase ada deh is spoken, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. Bye now.