Begini & Begitu

Vocabulary in Context

begitu or gitu (literally) ‘it’s like that’

CONTEXT 1 :

If you want to say “Oh . . . I see” : you can just say “Oh . . . begitu” or more commonly “Oh . . . gitu”.

Listen in on a telephone conversation and notice how many times the Indonesian speaker says, “Oh . . . begitu”, and/or “Oh . . . gitu”.

CONTEXT 2 :

begitu or gitu can be used to express agreement/approval or disagreement/disapproval.

Agung : Apakah kalimat saya sudah benar? (Is my sentence correct?)
 
 Rini : Ya, gitu. (Yes, like that.)

Agung : Saya lelah, tidak perlu mandi. (I’m exhausted, no need to shower.)
 
 Rini : Jangan gitu, itu tidak sehat. (Don’t be like that, it’s not good).

begini or gini (literally) ‘it’s like this’

CONTEXT 1 :

When you want to emphasise your point and get your message across :

the best way to say “Look!/Listen!” is “Begini” or more commonly “Gini”.

Agung : Saya tidak mengerti. (I don’t understand)
 
 Rini : Begini, maksud saya adalah . . . (Look, what I’m trying to say is . . .)

CONTEXT 2 :

begini or gini can be used to propose an idea : “How about this?”

Agung : Saya tidak tahu lagi apa yang harus saya lakukan. (I don’t know what else to do.)
 
 Rini : Bagaimana kalau begini, . . . (How about this, . . .)

#vocabularyincontext #vocabularyoftheweek #begini #begitu #gini #gitu