These particles are scattered through colloquial Jakartan speech and writing. They don’t carry concrete meaning, but rather express the speaker’s feelings about what is being said. Their effect is subtle and often hard to pin down.
Particularly common ones are: kan, nih, tuh, lho, kok, deh, sih, dong.
They are illustrated in the section below.Note that their effect is captured only approximately by the English translations.
* KAN
- kan (1)
On the end of questions, kan? is just short for bukan, i.e. a question tag like “right?”, “isn’t it”? “can’t I?”, etc.
- Tita emang cantik kan?
Tita really is pretty, isn’t she?
- Mau nanya. Boleh, kan?
I want to ask something. I can, right?
- kan (2)
- kan on statements suggests the hearer already knows whatever it is you’re telling them.
- Nggak mau jalan. Kan jauh.
I didn’t want to walk there. It’s a long way (as you know)
- Tapi gue kan ga kaya elo Nur. Gua nih jadi gugup kalo deketin cowok.
But I’m not like you Nur (as you know). I get nervous when I approach guys.
* NIH
nih isn’t always used to mean “this”. Sometimes it is just added to emphasise what the person is saying.
- Abis wisuda aku ga bisa ke mana-mana nih …
After I graduated I wasn’t able to go off traveling anywhere, nih …
- Ini nih yang bikin turis gak mau balik ke Indonesia lagi.
It’s this, nih, that makes tourists not want to come back to Indonesia.
* TUH
Similarly, tuh isn’t always used to mean “that”. Sometimes it is just added to emphasise what the person is saying.
- Banyak tuh temen-temen gue yg pake jilbab.
There are lots, tuh, of my friends who wear a Moslem headscarf.
- Bukan sekali itu tuh gue keilangan dompet.
It’s not just that one time, tuh, that I lost my wallet.
* LHO
- lho (1)
Lho at the start of sentences expresses surprise.
- Lho, udah pagi.
Gosh, it’s morning already.
- Lho, siapa bilang marketing itu nggak penting?
Hey, who says marketing isn’t important?
- lho (2)
Lho at the end of statements is a kind of emphatic reminder (or warning) that what you’re saying is true
- Kita juga capek lho.
We’re tired as well, you know.
- Bintang film tuh ga harus cantik lho.
Film stars don’t necessarily have to be pretty, you know.
- (talking about a type of diet pill)
Aku juga pake! Bagus lho.
I use them too! They’re good, believe me.
