Breakdown of Saya mengambil napas pelan-pelan supaya tidak terlalu gugup.
Questions & Answers about Saya mengambil napas pelan-pelan supaya tidak terlalu gugup.
In Indonesian, mengambil napas literally means “to take a breath”, and it’s a very natural, common expression—especially when talking about taking one or a few deliberate breaths, like calming yourself down.
You can also use:
- bernapas – “to breathe” (general, continuous action)
- Dia masih bernapas. – He/She is still breathing.
- tarik napas – “inhale, take a breath” (more colloquial/imperative)
- Tarik napas dalam-dalam. – Take a deep breath.
In your sentence, mengambil napas emphasizes the intentional act of taking a breath, which fits the idea of trying not to be too nervous.
The root word is ambil (to take).
The prefix meN- (here it becomes meng- because of the initial vowel a) turns a root into an active transitive verb:
- ambil → mengambil = to take (something)
- baca → membaca = to read (something)
- pakai → memakai = to wear/use (something)
So mengambil is the standard active form, and mengambil napas = to take a breath. In casual speech, some people might drop meng- and just say ambil napas, but mengambil napas is more complete/neutral.
Napas means breath (the air you inhale/exhale).
You will see two spellings:
- napas – the standard, officially correct spelling in Indonesian
- nafas – older/alternative spelling, still commonly seen in informal writing, song lyrics, or from speakers influenced by Malay or older Indonesian spelling
They mean the same thing. In modern, formal Indonesian, you should write napas.
Pelan means slow or slowly.
Reduplication (pelan-pelan) in Indonesian can:
- Emphasize the meaning
- Make it sound more gentle, gradual, or casual
So:
- pelan – slow / slowly
- pelan-pelan – slowly / very gently / nicely and slowly
In this sentence, mengambil napas pelan-pelan suggests taking slow, gentle breaths (not just “not fast,” but deliberately calm and gentle).
Yes, you could say:
- Saya mengambil napas pelan supaya tidak terlalu gugup.
This is grammatically correct and understandable.
The nuance:
- pelan – “slow(ly)” in a more neutral or slightly descriptive way
- pelan-pelan – adds a sense of care, gentleness, and deliberate slowness, very natural in this calming context
Both are fine; pelan-pelan just matches the calming, self-soothing tone very well.
They’re very close in meaning: both mean slowly / gradually.
- pelan-pelan – very common in everyday, informal to neutral speech.
- perlahan-lahan – slightly more formal or “textbook-like,” often used in writing or speech that’s a bit more careful.
In your sentence, you could also say:
- Saya mengambil napas perlahan-lahan supaya tidak terlalu gugup.
This sounds a bit more formal or written, but still natural.
Supaya introduces a purpose/result clause, like “so that” in English.
- Saya mengambil napas pelan-pelan supaya tidak terlalu gugup.
→ I take slow breaths so that I’m not too nervous.
Comparisons:
- supaya – “so that,” used for results you want, especially with feelings or states. Very common in speech.
- agar – almost the same as supaya, but more formal or written.
untuk – “for / to (do something),” followed usually by a verb or noun, not a full clause with a subject:
- Saya mengambil napas untuk menenangkan diri.
I take a breath to calm myself. (verb phrase after untuk)
- Saya mengambil napas untuk menenangkan diri.
You wouldn’t normally use untuk with a clause like tidak terlalu gugup; supaya or agar is more natural.
- tidak gugup = not nervous at all
- sangat gugup = very nervous
- terlalu gugup = too nervous / excessively nervous
- tidak terlalu gugup = not too nervous, i.e., still maybe a bit nervous, but at a manageable level.
The speaker isn’t trying to eliminate nervousness completely; they just don’t want it to become too much, so tidak terlalu gugup is the precise idea.
Gugup means nervous, especially in the sense of being tense, stuttering, or not fluent when you speak because you’re nervous.
Grogi also means nervous, but it’s:
- very informal/colloquial
- often used for performance anxiety or stage fright, similar to English “nervy / jittery / having stage fright.”
Example:
- Saya gugup saat wawancara kerja. – I’m nervous during the job interview.
- Saya grogi mau presentasi di depan banyak orang. – I’m nervous (have stage fright) about presenting in front of many people.
In your sentence, gugup is perfectly natural and neutral.
Yes, you can omit Saya if the subject is clear from context. Indonesian often drops pronouns when they’re obvious.
- Mengambil napas pelan-pelan supaya tidak terlalu gugup.
→ (I’m) taking a slow breath so (I’m) not too nervous.
This might sound like:
- a description in a narrative
- instructions to oneself
- or a note in a diary
Including Saya just makes it explicitly “I.”
The usual, natural order is:
[Subject] + mengambil + [object] + [manner adverb]
So:
- Saya mengambil napas pelan-pelan. ✅
You sometimes see variations, but they can sound less natural or change emphasis:
- Saya pelan-pelan mengambil napas. – possible, but slightly marked; puts more emphasis on pelan-pelan.
The object napas normally stays right after mengambil, and pelan-pelan is an adverb of manner that naturally goes after the object in this kind of sentence.
Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct and understandable:
- Saya bernapas pelan-pelan supaya tidak terlalu gugup.
→ I breathe slowly so (I’m) not too nervous.
Nuance:
- mengambil napas – focuses on taking a breath / breaths, often more discrete, intentional actions.
- bernapas – focuses on the ongoing process of breathing.
In the context of calming yourself by deliberately taking breaths, mengambil napas pelan-pelan or tarik napas pelan-pelan sounds slightly more natural and idiomatic.