Questions & Answers about Saya tidak begitu lelah hari ini.
What exactly does begitu mean here, and how is Saya tidak begitu lelah hari ini different from Saya tidak lelah hari ini?
Begitu literally means so / that / like that, but in this context it works like “so” in “not so tired”.
- Saya tidak lelah hari ini = I am not tired today (sounds more absolute: not tired at all, or at least clearly not tired).
- Saya tidak begitu lelah hari ini = I’m not that tired today / I’m not so tired today (you are a bit tired, but not very).
So begitu softens the statement and makes it more like “not very” or “not particularly” tired.
Why is the negation tidak placed before begitu lelah and not somewhere else?