entah

Entah is an Indonesian particle used to express uncertainty, doubt, or indefiniteness in a statement or question. It can indicate that the speaker does not know the answer or cannot predict an outcome, and it is often translated as “I don’t know,” “perhaps,” or “whether.” In practice, entah can precede a clause to mark questioning or wonder, as in entah dia datang (I don’t know whether he will come) or entah kapan dia selesai (I don’t know when he will finish). It is also common with words like kenapa, bagaimana, kapan, or siapa to convey a sense of uncertainty about reason, manner, time, or identity.

Entah can also function as a sentence-initial or sentence-medial element, and in spoken Indonesian it frequently appears as part of longer expressions such as entah mengapa (for some reason) or entah bagaimana (somehow). The related form entahlah is a standalone interjection used to express resignation or lack of knowledge, roughly equivalent to “I don’t know” or “who knows.”

In terms of nuance, entah differs from expressions of probability such as mungkin or barangkali, which posit a possibility. Entah signals ignorance or doubt about a fact or outcome rather than a probabilistic expectation. While common in everyday speech and informal writing, entah is less typical in formal writing, where more direct phrasing or standard interrogatives may be preferred. The word is widely used in Indonesian and other Malay-speaking communities with largely the same function.