How to Say What Should I Do Next In Indonesian

Halo semuanya. Apa kabar? This time, I want to talk to you about how to say [what should I do next] in the Indonesian language. As always, we will watch examples from movies where this phrase is spoken in Indonesian.

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 now, let's dive right in.

What Should I Do Next In the Indonesian Language

We will learn how to say this phrase [what should I do next] in the Indonesian language from the formal version to the informal version so you will understand the two of them.

Formally, we will say this.

Apa yang harus saya lakukan selanjutnya?

And below is how you pronounce it.

Informally or in daily conversations, there are ways to say this phrase. The first one is this.

Aku mesti ngapain lagi?

And below is how you pronounce it.

Sometimes, Indonesian people add the word [nih] to the end of this phrase, and it becomes this.

Aku mesti ngapain lagi nih?

Adding [nih] gives more emphasis to what you are asking. And below is how you pronounce it.

People in Jakarta and its city surroundings usually use [gue] instead of [aku]. And it becomes this one.

Gue mesti ngapain lagi?

And below is how you pronounce it.

And this one.

Gue mesti ngapain lagi nih?

Below is how you pronounce it.

Sometimes you will hear Indonesian people drop the word [mesti], which becomes this.

Gue ngapain lagi?

[Mesti] means [must] in English, and below is how you pronounce it.

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And if you add [nih] to the phrase, it becomes this.

Gue ngapain lagi nih?

And below is how you pronounce it.

For the word [mesti] you can change it with [harus] or [kudu] or [perlu]. It all means the same, and you just replace the word [mesti] with them, and you are good to go.

Examples of The Phrase In Use

In this section, we will watch scenes from movies where these phrases are used.

The first scene we are about to watch is from a TV serial, Live With My Ketos, Season 1, Episode 1 (2021). Let's watch the clip below.

Below is the conversation from the scene with English translations.

Gabriella: Untung aja, kita bertiga anti cinta. (Fortunately, the three of us are against love.)

Mila: El, gue ngapain lagi nih? (El, what should I do next?)

Gabriella: Em, petikkin itunya aja, garnishnya. (Just pick the garnish.)

Mila: Oke. (Okay.)

In this scene, Mila asked Gabriella what she should do next in the Indonesian language, and she said,

Gue ngapain lagi nih?

As I have explained earlier, this phrase you would use in daily conversation with your friends.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Untung aja] <--- this phrase is usually said when you are grateful for something.

[Kita] = we.

[Kita bertiga] = the three os us.

[Cinta] = love.

[Ngapain] is the colloquial way of saying [melakukan apa], for example, "Mau ngapain ke sana? (What are you going to do there?)" is the informal version of "Mau melakukan apa ke sana? (What are you going to do there?)."

[Lagi] = again.

[Nih] = [ini] = this. [Nih] can also be used when you handing something to someone. For this context, it's like saying [here you go] in English.

[Petikkin] is the colloquial way of saying [petikkan] = when you ask someone to pick something for you.

[Aja] is the casual way of saying [saja] = just.

     Read also: How to Offer Help In Bahasa

So, I guess this wraps up today's article, and if I find another example, Insha Allah, I will update this article again.

Thank you for reading this article, and I'll see you soon. Bye now.