Ini, Ni, and Nih In Indonesian

Halo semuanya. Apa kabar? Ketemu lagi sama saya, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I want to talk to you about the meaning of [ini], [ni] and [nih] in Indonesian. As always, we will watch cut scenes from movies and whatnot where those words are spoken by Indonesians to better understand 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.

So, without further ado, let's dive in!

Nih in Bahasa Indonesia

[Ini] literally means [this]. [Ni] and [nih] are informal for [ini]. The meanings of [ini], [ni] and [ini] are the same.

Here are the meanings and usage of [ini], [ni] and [nih] in Bahasa Indonesia.

1. To point to a thing or person that is close to the speaker.

Example sentence:

1. Tas ini punya siapa? (Whose bag is this?)

2. Ni dia orangnya! Loe tadi katanya nyariin dia? (Here he is! Here he is! You said you've been looking for him?)

3. A: Eh, tadi pulpen gue di mana ya? (Hey, do you know where my pen was?)

    B: Nih! Ada di sini. (Here! Right here.)

2. to refer to a specific thing or situation just mentioned. 

Example sentence:

1. A: Masalah ini sudah kamu beritahukan kepadanya? (Have you told her about this problem?)

    B: Sudah, tadi pagi. (Yes, I have told her this morning.)

3. To emphasize something, and it is usually used in conversational Indonesian.

Example sentence:

1. Ini nih makanan yang gue bilang kemarin sama loe. (This is the food that I told you yesterday). <-- [Ini] here to point to the food, and [nih] is used to emphasize. If you omit [nih] in this sentence, the sentence's meaning doesn't change, but the emphasis is gone.

2. A: Eh, loe udah selesai ngerjain soal nomor 1 belum? (Have you done question number 1?)

    B: Udah ni. (Yes, I have.)

3. A: Eh, ngga bisa ini! Loe tadi bilang katanya bisa? (Hey, it's not working! You just said to me that this is going to work.) <--- [Ini] is here just to emphasize; if you omit it, the meaning doesn't change.

    B: Masa sih? Tadi sih gue bisa. (Seriously? I tried that, and it was working just fine.)

4. To describe the subject or add more detail to the subject. It's like linking verbs in English.

Example sentence:

1. Dia ini anak orang kaya di daerah sini. (He is the son of the richest man in this area.)

2. Dia ni suka banget makan es krim. (She likes ice cream so much.)

5. When you give or hand something over to someone.

Example sentence:

1. Nih! Buat loe! Makanan kesukaan loe tuh. (Here! For you! Your favorite food.)

2. Ini! Mohon diterima kadonya. Semoga suka ya. (Here! Please accept the gift. I hope you like it.)

How to Pronounce Nih 

Here is how you pronounce [ini] in Bahasa Indonesia.

And here is how you pronounce [ni] in Bahasa Indonesia.

And here is how you pronounce [nih] in Bahasa Indonesia.

Now, let's look at examples from movies and other things where this is used by Indonesians.

Example of Nih in Use

The first scene we are about to watch is from Di Bulan Suci Ini..., Season 1, Episode 1 (2023). Let's watch the clip below.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pak Guru Iman (@pakguruiman)

Below is the conversation from the scene with English translations.

Bu Cil: Jeng! Ibumu mo ngomong. (Jeng! Your mom wants to talk to you.)

Ajeng: Nih! (Here!)

Bu Cil: Loh? (What?)

Ajeng: Aku belum siap ngomong sama ibu, Bu Cil. (I'm still not yet ready to talk to Mom, Bu Cil.)

In this scene, Bu Cil is talking to Ajeng's mom, and she wants to speak to Ajeng, her daughter, but Ajeng refuses because she is still not ready to talk to her own mom. 

As you can see, when Ajeng wants to return the phone to Bu Cil, she says [nih!].

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Ibu] = mother.

[Ibumu] = [ibu kamu] = your mother.

[Mo] is informal for [mau] = want.

[Ngomong] is the colloquial word for [berbicara] = to speak.

[Loh] or [lho] is a word you use when surprised by something.

[Aku] is informal for [saya] = I. For more about this, you can read my article here, Aku in Indonesian.

[Belum siap] = not yet ready.

The second example is from a comic made by @sampahisasi on Instagram. Let's take a look at the picture below.

What he says in the comic above with English translations is as follows.

A: Wah bagus kayaknya nih film.. Tapi nontonnya dimana? (*ketik ketik* *Enter*) Oh di Netplix ada.. (I guess this is a good movie. But where can I watch it? (*type type* *Enter*) Oh, it is on Netflix.)

In this sentence:

Wah, bagus kayaknya nih film..

You can change [nih] with [ini].

Wah, bagus kayaknya ini film.. (I guess this is a good movie.)

So, as you can see, [nih] is usually used in conversational or informal Indonesian. You can follow Sampahisasi on Instagram to read their comics, and I think comics are a good source for you to learn Bahasa Indonesia, which is used by Indonesians in real life.

The third example is from a comic made by @sibelang_ on Instagram. Let's take a look at the picture below.

And here is the conversation above with English translations.

A: Halo sapa nich? (Hello. Who is this?)

B: Ini bapak yang punya kosan deket simpang 4 ya? (Are you the person who owns the house that can be rented in Simpang 4?)

The style of this writing is informal. Let me explain the words that are used in this picture.

Vocabulary From the Picture

[Halo] = hello.

[Sapa] is informal for [siapa] = who. You will see this kind of writing in informal writing style, for example, in the comics or in texting.

[Nich] is another writing style variation for [nih]. You can change [nich] itu [ini] here. So, if I want to change [halo sapa nich?] into a more formal style, it would be [Halo. Siapa ini?] So, [nich] here has the same meaning as [ini] = this.

[Bapak] = mister.

[Ini bapak yang punya kosan deket simpang 4 ya?] <--- [Ini] in this sentence refers to [bapak]. The literal translation for this sentence is [Is this mister who owns the house that can be rented in Simpang 4, right?].

[Kosan] is a house consisting of a few rooms, and the rooms in that house can be rented to people. People can pay for a month, 6 months, or a year.

[Deket] is informal for [dekat] = near.

[Simpang 4] is the name of a place.

     Read also: Ngegas In Bahasa Indonesia

So, that's all for now. If I find another example where the word [nih] is used, Insha Allah, I will update this article again. If you have any questions, leave them in the comment section below, and I'll happily answer them.

Thank you for reading my article, and I'll talk to you soon. Bye now.