Saya tidak mau kalah.

I don’t want to lose.

Breakdown of Saya tidak mau kalah.

• saya: I
• tidak: not
• mau: want
• kalah: to lose

Questions & Answers about Saya tidak mau kalah.

What does each word in Saya tidak mau kalah mean?

Saya = “I”
tidak = “not” (negates verbs/adjectives)
mau = “want”
kalah = “to lose”
Literally it’s “I not want to lose,” i.e. “I don’t want to lose.”

Why do we use tidak instead of bukan to negate mau kalah?

In Indonesian, tidak negates verbs and adjectives, while bukan negates nouns and pronouns. Since mau kalah is a verb phrase (“want to lose”), you must use tidak.

What’s the difference between Saya tidak mau kalah and Saya tidak ingin kalah?

Both mean “I don’t want to lose,” but:

• mau is more colloquial and immediate (“I wanna”)
• ingin is more formal or literary (“I would like to”)
  So tidak mau kalah gives a stronger, conversational, competitive vibe.

How would you express “I don’t want to be defeated” in passive voice?

Use the passive form of kalah:
Saya tidak mau dikalahkan.
Here di- + kalahkan means “to be defeated.”

How is kalah pronounced and which syllable is stressed?

Pronounce it as [KA-lah], with the stress on the first syllable. Both “a” vowels sound like the “a” in “father.”

Is kalah in this sentence a verb, noun, or adjective?

In Saya tidak mau kalah, kalah functions as a verb meaning “to lose.” The noun form would be kekalahan (“the loss”), and “defeated” as an adjective can be kalah in some contexts but often you’d say terkalahkan.

Can I make this phrase more informal?

Yes. In casual slang you’d often hear:
Gue nggak mau kalah.
Here gue replaces saya (“I”) and nggak is an informal variant of tidak.