Gih Meaning In Indonesian

Halo semuanya, ketemu lagi dengan saya, Iman Prabawa. In this article, I want to talk to you about the meaning of the word [gih] in Indonesian. As always, we are also going to be watching examples from movies, YouTube videos, comics, and whatnot where Indonesians use the word. 

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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 in!

Gih In Indonesian

[Gih] is a word in bahasa Indonesia that is used to emphasize when you encourage someone to do something, and you add the word [gih] at the end.

Example sentence:

1. Tidur, gih! Udah malem. (Why don't you go to sleep? It's late at night.)
2. Makan, gih. Nanti kamu sakit lho kalau ngga makan. (Why don't you eat now? You'll get sick if you don't eat.)
3. Duluan aja, gih. Nanti aku nyusul kalian setelah aku menyelesaikan ini. (You guys can go now. I will catch up with you later after I finish this.)

In the first sentence, you encourage someone to go to sleep. [Tidur] means sleep. So, [gih] there doesn't add any meanings. It is just to emphasize.

In the second sentence, you encourage someone to eat. You emphasize it because if he doesn't eat, he can get sick.)

In the third sentence, you are suggesting that they go ahead of you because you still have something that you first need to finish.

How to Pronounce Gih

Here is how you pronounce [gih] in bahasa Indonesia.

Moving on, let's look at examples where Indonesians use the word [gih].

Example of Gih In Use

The first example is taken from a movie called Cek Toko Sebelah 2 (2022). Let's watch the clip below.

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A post shared by Pak Guru Iman (@pakguruiman)

Here is the conversation from the clip above with English translations.

Natalie: Ada keinginan tapi belum dapet. (I have an intention but still don't get one.)

Erwin: Ha? (What?)

Natalie: Ada keinginan tapi belum dapet. (I have an intention but still don't get one.)

Erwin: Ngomong apa sih? (What are you talking about?)

Natalie: Ada keinginan tapi belum dapet. (I have an intention but still don't get one.)

Erwin: Oooh. Maksudnya gimana, ya? (I see. Wait, what do you mean by that?)

Natalie: Makan sayur, gih! (I think you need to eat vegetables!)

Erwin: Rumput sayur, kan? Rumput.. rumput sayur lah, ya? Sayur lah! Kan ijo, daun. Gitu, kan? (Grass is vegetables, right? Grass... Grass is vegetables, am I right? Yes, it is vegetables. Its color is also green, like vegetables, right?)

In this clip, Erwin asks Natalie whether she has a boyfriend or not because he likes Natalie and wants to know whether she has a boyfriend or not. Natalie replies with [ada], which translates to English as [I have], and then she goes silent.

Natalie is actually doesn't have a boyfriend at the moment, but she answers [ada] and then silent because she wants to know Erwin's reaction. And then she continues explaining with words that mean she actually doesn't have a boyfriend right now.

By saying, "Ada keinginan tapi belum dapet," means that Natalie has the intention to have a boyfriend but at the moment, she still doesn't have one. So, it means that she is still single.

And when Erwin heard it clearly, he said, "Oooh," which means he understood it, but then he asked again, "Maksudnya gimana, ya? (Wait, what do you mean by that?)

Natalie suggests Erwin eat vegetables because when they go out and have dinner, he orders Indomie noodles with no vegetables in them because Erwin doesn't like vegetables.

By saying, "Makan sayur, gih!" Natalie encourages Erwin to start eating vegetables because vegetables can make him smart and easily understand what she has just said.

Vocabulary From the Scene

[Ada] means there is. For more about this, you can read my article here: Ada In Indonesian.

[Keinginan] comes from the base word [ingin] with an added affix [ke-an]. [Keinginan] = wishes, intention, hopes.

[Tapi] = but.

[Belum] = not yet.

[Dapet] is informal for [dapat] = able, get.

[Ngomong] = [berbicara] = to speak.

[Oooh] is a word that you use when you start to understand something that has just been explained to you.

[Maksudnya gimana, ya?] is a sentence you say when you don't understand someone's explanation.

[Makan] = eat.

[Sayur] = vegetables.

[Kan] is used when you are sure about something. For more about this, you can read my article here: Kan In Indonesian.

[Ijo] is the colloquial way of saying [hijau] = green.

The second example is taken from a Twitter post by Fiersa Besari. Let's look at the picture below.

What he says in his Twitter post with the word [gih] in it with English translations is as follows.

"Tidur, gih, udah malam. Nanti sakit," ucap seseorang yang belum tidur. ("Why don't you just go to sleep? It's already late. You can get sick if you don't sleep," says someone who is still awake.)

So, as we can see from the sentence above, the word [gih] is used when someone encourages someone to do something. In this case, he encourages someone to go to sleep.

     Read also: Lho In Indonesian

That wraps up today's article, and if I find another example, Insha Allah, I will update this article. Thank you for reading my article, and I'll see you soon. Bye now.