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After learning about How to Say Good Afternoon, Learn How to Say Good Evening, and How to Say Goodnight in Indonesian, we finally arrived at another Indonesian Greeting Etiquette and Manners, which is how to say ‘Good Morning’ Greetings in Indonesia.
Learn How to Say Good Morning Greetings in IndonesiaÂ
For your information, ‘ good morning’ in Indonesian is simply translated as selamat pagi [səlɑmɑt pɑgi]. Here are the examples how to use it formally.
- Selamat pagi! (Good morning!)
- Selamat pagi, Ciko! Bagaimana kabarmu? (Good Morning, Ciko! How are you?)
However, in daily life, people rarely use the complete phrase selamat pagi. It only used to show respect, especially in formal situation or ceremony. Selamat pagi is usually shortened to just pagi [pɑgi]. Nonetheless, it still shares the same meaning with more informal and friendly sense. Here are the examples.
- Pagi, Pak! (Good Morning, Sir!)
- Pagi, ada yang bisa saya bantu! (Good morning, is there anything I could help?)
Even though pagi commonly refers to the time around 5 a.m. until 10.00 a.m in Indonesia, sometimes it is used for differently for different purpose. People sometimes use the phrase selamat pagi as a sarcastic way to tell someone that he/she has already late. Therefore, if you got in this situation, you should understand the meaning and context.
- [pukul 11.30 di kantor] Selamat Pagi! Jam berapa ini? ([11.30 a.m in the office] Good Morning! What time is it?)
You should notice the example above is actually a pragmatic ways to tell the disappointment to someone who’s late. Now, you also a little bit more about ‘Good Morning’ Greeting in Indonesia for different purpose. Furthermore, to advance your skill about Indonesian time, you should check How to Tell Time in Indonesia
Learn More about Indonesian TimeÂ
As a noun, pagi has several synonyms. However, you could not use them as greeting like ‘Selamat Pagi’ or Pagi’. Learn How to Say Time in Bahasa Indonesia
One of the terms that may be related to morning is subuh [subÊŠh]. Because Indonesia has strong relation with Arabic culture, there are several cultures that was absorbed and adapted in Indonesia, including terms about time (check Indonesian Words Derived from Arabic).
One of it is subuh that refers the time between near sunrise until sunrise, the time when Muslim do their morning prayer as part of the daily five prayer. It is usually translated as ‘dawn’ in English. However, it is unusual to say selamat subuh even it is grammatically acceptable.
Furthermore, the other term that has synonym relation to pagi is fajar [fɑʤɑr] which also refers (1) time before sunrise or (2) sun. Nonetheless, sometimes people use fajar to replace the word pagi (as a noun). Like subuh, it is derived from Arabic. However, you should remember that subuh and fajar are not an equivalent translation as pagi for ‘Good Morning’ because their specific function as noun.
To conclude, it is actually so easy to learn good morning greetings in Indonesia. Formally, you just need to say ‘Selamat Pagi’ or ‘Pagi’ for more informal situation. If you want to explore more about Indonesian Etiquette and Manners please check