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- Topic: Indonesian >
- "Apa kabar, nama saya Tini."
28 Comments
627
"How do you do?" does not mean "Apa kabar?", instead it means "Hi!" or "Hello!"
When someone says it to you, you also have to answer "How do you do?"
The same case also often happens in Chinese. There are two expressions: • 你好! (ni hao) = Hi!; Hello!; How do you do? • 你好吗? (ni hao ma) = How are you (doing)?
你好! (ni hao) is often translated as "Apa kabar?"; "How are you?" It is wrong! When someone says "你好!" to you, you have to answer "你好!" as well.
627
It sounds very weird if you translate "How do you do?" as "Apa kabar?" In Indonesian, we NEVER do that as the following example:
A: How do you do? B: How do you do?
A: Apa kabar? (X) B: Apa kabar? (X)
26
Oh, my. I have spoken and studied and sometimes taught English for almost 80 years now and I have never heard "How do you do?" answered by "How do you do?" even in the movies. I have always understood the proper reply to "How do you do?" to be "I am fine (or "Very well") thank you. And you?"
The only difference in meaning between "How are you?" and "How do you do?" is level of formality. Today, "How do you do?" sounds extremely formal and even stodgy, so only old folk like me remember it being used regularly. One would always use it in a formal introduction, for example.
26
It's a standard inquiry after a person's health or circumstances when you meet them for the first time during the day. "How do you do?" is the most formal phrasing. Less formal equivalents are "How are you?" "How're things going?" "How goes it?" and many others.