Jangankan sotong, udang pun abang saya tidak makan kalau dia sudah terlalu letih.

Let alone squid, my older brother does not even eat shrimp if he is already too tired.

Breakdown of Jangankan sotong, udang pun abang saya tidak makan kalau dia sudah terlalu letih.

• makan: to eat
• adalah: to be
• tidak: not
• terlalu: too

Questions & Answers about Jangankan sotong, udang pun abang saya tidak makan kalau dia sudah terlalu letih.

What does the pattern Jangankan A, B pun ... tidak ... mean?

It is a very common Malay pattern meaning:

let alone A, (someone) does not even B

So in this sentence:

• Jangankan sotong = let alone squid
• udang pun ... tidak makan = (he) does not even eat shrimp

A natural English rendering is often:

He won’t even eat shrimp, let alone squid, if he is already too tired.

Notice that English often sounds more natural if you reverse the order when translating.

Does jangankan literally mean don’t because it starts with jangan?

No. In this sentence, jangankan is a fixed expression and does not mean a command like don’t.

Here, jangankan means something like:

• let alone
• never mind
• much less

So learners should treat jangankan ... pun ... as a set structure, not as a normal jangan command.

What is pun doing in udang pun?