VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Voice of Indonesia presents “Let’s Speak Bahasa Indonesia,” a lesson in the Indonesian language on the radio, introducing some Indonesian vocabulary and tips on how to use it in a conversation. This segment is a joint initiative of Voice of Indonesia and the Language Development and Cultivation Agency at the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture.  Today’s topic is ‘Sorry’ or Mohon Maaf.

Next is a conversation about Mohon Maaf or ‘Sorry’. Three days ago was Ied-El Fitr. Tony joined to celebrate the Holy Day at Joko’s house. He congratulates Joko and Dinda, Joko’s wife.

Tony           : Selamat hari raya Idul Fitri

Joko           :Terima kasih. Saya mohon maaf atas semua kesalahan

                     saya.

Tony           : Sama-sama. Saya juga minta maaf, ya.                                                       

After the conversation, now I’ll introduce some vocabularies and idioms related to the topic today. I’ll say each word slowly, and twice and you can follow after me.

- Idul Fitri                                (Ied el-fitr)

- Selamat hari raya Idul Fitri   (Happy Ied-el Fitr)                                    

- Kesalahan                  (mistake)                                             

- Saya mohon maaf atas semua kesalahan saya (I beg your forgiveness

                                               for my mistakes)

- Saya juga mohon maaf, ya (I’m sorry too)

To convey congratulation for any celebration, such as religious holiday or other celebration days, you can use the word selamat.

For example :

Selamat hari raya Idul Fitri (‘Happy Ied-El-Fitr’)

Selamat tahun baru    (‘Happy New Year’)

Selamat ulang tahun (‘Happy Birthday’)

Usually, on Ied el-Fitr, Muslims apologize each other by saying Saya mohon maaf atas semua kesalahan sayawhich means ‘I beg your forgiveness for my mistakes’. The expression can also be used in daily conversation, if you have mistakes. For example when you accidentally stepped someone’s feet. You can say saya minta maafor maaf ya which means sorry.

The phrase mohon maaf is more polite than the phrase minta maaf. The phrase minta maaf is usually used with friends or in informal situation. While mohon maaf is usually used in a formal situation or when you have big mistakes and hope to be forgiven

Eid al-Fitr is also called Lebaran. On this day Muslims usually visit the homes of family, relatives and neighbors to stay in touch. They apologize to each other for mistakes that have been made intentionally or unintentionally.