Lesson 1 Nama (Name)
The first thing you will notice is the absence of the verb "to be" in Malay in
the above sentences.
In fact the verb "to be" is simply not needed here.
A sentence without a verb? Yes, it's possible in Malay.
Those who had to struggle with the conjugation of the verb "to be" in
French or Spanish will be greatly relieved to hear this! (Having said that,
people who feel lost without putting in a verb in a sentence can note that the
word adalah is sometimes used for the verb "is". Thus Dia guru saya and
Dia adalah guru saya both mean "He/She is my teacher".)
Another thing you will notice is that while in English we have the pronoun
before the noun (eg. my name, your name) in Malay it is just the opposite ie.
the noun comes first then the pronoun (so in Malay we say "name my",
"name your"). If you remember this it will serve you throughout this course
as it is the same word order when it comes to adjectives and nouns (so "big
car" becomes "car big" in Malay).
The third important thing to remember is something that you'd better get
right from the very beginning and that is the same pronoun "dia" is used for
BOTH "he" and "she". Only the context will tell whether you're talking
about a man or a woman.
Please note that the colloquial forms (Apa nama anda? and Apa
namanya? ) are used in this lesson. The formal forms would be Siapa
nama anda? and Siapa namanya?
The formal forms only confuse English-speaking students because Siapa
actually means "Who" as in Siapa dia? = "Who is he (or she)?" while Apa
normally means "What" as in Apa ini? (What is this?). So to make it easier
for English-speaking students (why be pedantic when you are a beginner?) I
am using the colloquial form. Please note that this course is aimed at giving
you a basic knowledge so you can get around in Malaysia and not to make
you a Malay language expert. Those hoping to become Malay scholars will
have to go to a proper school.
For those who want to know more:
You will notice that the suffix nya is tagged on to the noun to indicate "his" or
"her". So namanya can either mean "his name" or "her name" (depending on
the context). Similarly bukunya can mean "his book" or "her book" and
kawannya can mean "his friend" or "her friend".
So far you have learnt the Malay pronouns for I, you, he and she.
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The Malay word for the pronoun "they" or "them" is mereka. To help you
remember I am going to bring up three common names: Murphy, Raymond and
Kazan, the famous Hollywood film director. What is so special about these
three people, you might ask. Well, if you remember them, they're not only going
to help you remember the Malay word for "they" or "them" but also help you to
pronounce the word correctly. How is this possible? Well just pronounce the
FIRST syllable of each of the three names and you will get mereka as it should
be pronounced (Mur-Ray-Ka). I hope this little mnemonic will be of help to
you. At least it will show you that the e vowel has got two different sounds in
Malay (see Lesson 50), one the schwa sound as the "Mur" in Murphy (the
phonetic symbol for this sound being ə) and the other the ay sound as in Ray (if
you know French, it's the sound of é).
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Saya boleh cakap bahasa Melayu.
Peter tidak boleh cakap bahasa Jepun.
Dia cakap bahasa Inggeris.
Mereka tidak boleh cakap bahasa Cina.
I can speak the Malay language.
Peter cannot speak Japanese.
He speaks English.
They cannot speak Chinese.
Vocabulary
Saya = I
boleh= can
cakap = speak
bahasa = language
Melayu = Malay
tidak boleh = cannot
bahasa Jepun =Japanese language
Dia = He/She
bahasa Inggeris = English language
Mereka = They
bahasa Cina = Chinese language
Lesson 2 Bahasa (language)
For those who want to know more:
The Malaysian language (Bahasa Malaysia) is actually the Malay language (Bahasa
Melayu). As such the two terms are interchangeable.
In Lesson 1 saya was used as a possessive (nama saya = "my name" and buku saya
= "my book"). Here it is used as a pronoun.
Another widely-used word for "I" is aku.
Dia can mean he or she depending on the context. Thus:
Dia kawan saya. (= He is my friend - if the person referred to is a man)
Dia kawan saya. (= She is my friend - if the person referred to is a woman)
Dia marah. (= "He is angry" or "She is angry" depending on the context)
The two words in Malay to distinguish between the two sexes are:
lelaki for "male" and
perempuan for "female".
Thus to avoid any ambiguity in the above sentences you could say:
Orang lelaki itu kawan saya. (= That man is my friend) or
Orang perempuan itu kawan saya. (= That woman is my friend)
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By the way while "male" and "female" are also used to describe animals in English
lelaki and perempuan should never be used for animals in Malay.
The male of an animal is described as jantan and the female as betina.
Thus a cock is ayam jantan and a hen is ayam betina.
In written form Dia is often replaced by Ia which is also used to indicate objects and
animals (equivalent of "it").
By the way newspapers often use beliau for "he" or "she" (but this use is restricted
to an elderly or respectable person and is not used for a criminal).
nya is tagged on to a noun to mean "his" or "her" eg. isterinya (his wife), suaminya
(her husband) or anaknya (his child or her child - depending on the context).
Similarly kawannya can mean "his friend" or "her friend" and keretanya can mean
"his car" or "her car", again depending on the context.
Are you ready to do an exercise? If yes, click here.
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Lesson 3 Ini......(This is.....)
Ini kereta saya.
Ini bapa saya.
Ini emak saya.
Ini isteri saya.
Ini anak saya.
Ini kawan saya.
This is my car.
This is my father.
This is my mother.
This is my wife.
This is my child.
This is my friend.
Vocabulary
Ini... = This is ...
kereta = car
kereta saya = my car
bapa = father
emak = mother
isteri = wife
anak = child
For those who want to know more:
You might have noticed that unlike English and French, where the
possessive pronoun precedes the noun, in Malay it is the other way round
i.e. the noun comes first followed by the possessive pronoun. Thus "my
car" becomes kereta saya (car my) and "your friend" becomes kawan anda
(friend your).
1. Ini is used for something within reach or when you are introducing
someone. When an object is not within reach we use Itu eg. Itu rumah
saya. = That is my house.
2. Another word for "father" in Malay is ayah .
3. Another word for "mother" is ibu. .
4. Another word for "wife" is bini .
5. From anak (child) we have anak lelaki (son) and anak perempuan
(daughter).
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Lesson 4 Orang Inggeris (Englishman or
woman)
Vocabulary
Dia orang Inggeris.
He/She is English.
orang Inggeris = English
Saya orang Malaysia**. I am Malaysian.
orang Malaysia =
Anda orang
Are you French?
Malaysian
Peranciskah?
They are Spanish.
orang Perancis = French
Mereka orang Sepanyol. Her husband is Japanese. orang Sepanyol = Spanish
Suaminya orang Jepun. .
suaminya = Her husband
orang Jepun = Japanese
For those who want to know more:
1. As you have seen earlier the pronoun dia (third person singular) can
refer to a woman as well as a man. Thus:
Dia orang Amerika. = He/She is American.
Dia orang Jerman. = He/She is German.
Dia orang Belanda. = He/She is Dutch.
Dia orang Rusia. = He/She is Russian.
Note that the pronunciation and spelling of Russia is changed to conform
with Malay pronunciation (roo-si-ah) and spelling (only one S).
Dia orang Singapura. = He/She is Singaporean.
Dia orang Thai. = He/She is Thai.
Dia orang Mesir. = He/She is Egyptian.
Dia orang Israel. (pronounced in 3 syllables i.e. Is-ra-el) = He/She is
Israelite.
A more common word for this is orang Yahudi (Jew).
A word to describe a person's race is bangsa eg. Dia bangsa Cina. = He (or
She) is Chinese or Dia bangsa Melayu. = He (or She) is Malay.
2. Note how a question can easily be formed from a statement by adding
the question tag kah at the end. Thus:
Anda orang Perancis. (= You are French.)
Anda orang Peranciskah? (= Are you French?)
Do note however that you do not really need to add the suffix kah to turn
the statement into a question. As in most languages, a rising tone on the
last syllable of the statement is sufficient to turn it into a question. Thus
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Anda orang Perancis? (= Are you French?)
3. Note also that in this type of sentences the verb "to be" is not needed in
Malay and that kah is tagged on to the word preceding it and does not
stand by itself.
4. The word for a foreigner is orang asing but you might often hear people
talking about orang putih (literally: white person) or mat salih. They are
referring to Caucasians (as opposed to Asians). Note that Caucasian is
used here to mean one of the main ethnic divisions of the human race or
what is loosely called the white race.
5. You should find the word Inggeris very easy to remember as it is the
Malay spelling for "English" (ok, I agree with you, it is not an exact
phonetic reproduction as the final "sh" sound becomes "s"). This is
because in the Malay language the "sh" sound must always be followed by
a vowel eg. syarat or mesyuarat. More of this in Lesson 49.
6. Saudi Arabia in Malay is Arab Saudi.
Recapitulation
After studying lessons 2 and 4 you would have noticed that names of
languages always start with the word bahasa and nationalities with the
word orang or rakyat (see note below). The same principle applies to the
names of countries. These start with the word negara or negeri . The
following table will help you understand better. And if you don't find your
country here the chances are the name of the country is retained as it is
and used with the appropriate word eg. if you are from Sweden you are
orang Sweden or rakyat Sweden, your language is bahasa Sweden and
your country is negara Sweden or negeri Sweden. The spelling though is
sometimes changed to be in line with the Malay sound thus Canada
becomes Kanada, America becomes Amerika and German becomes
Jerman.
The word bangsa is also sometimes used to describe a person's nationality
though it is best to keep it to describe his race eg. a Malaysian can be
Malay (bangsa Melayu), Indian (bangsa India) or Chinese (bangsa Cina)
but they are all rakyat Malaysia.
But perhaps it is easier (and clearer) if you just ask the person where he
comes from. In Malay this would be Anda berasal dari mana? The full
answer would be Saya berasal dari Perancis (if you are from France).
NOTE: If you want to stress that you are a citizen of your country just
replace orang with rakyat.
Under the column Name of country you can easily replace negara with
negeri. The two words are quite often
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Lesson 5 Numbers (1-9)
Satu dua tiga
Empat lima enam
Tujuh lapan
sembilan
Kosong
Apa nombor telefon
anda?
one two three
four five six
seven eight nine
zero
What is your telephone
number? .
Vocabulary
satu = 1, dua= 2
tiga = 3, empat = 4
lima = 5, enam = 6
tujuh = 7, lapan = 8
sembilan = 9, kosong =
zero
nombor telefon = telephone
number
For those who want to know more:
Note that the adjective always comes after the noun in Malay. Thus "telephone
number" is translated as nombor telefon.
Once you are clear about this it is easy to understand why "your telephone number"
becomes nombor telefon anda.
Learn the Malay words for 1 to 9 to perfection as you only need to know five more
words (belas, puluh, ratus, ribu, juta ) to be able to read any number at all in Malay.
More of this later (in Lessons 8 and 22).
The word for "zero" is kosong. It is often used for games results and for telephone
numbers.
Thus Kami menang tiga kosong means "We won 3-0".
The telephone number 041695827 is read as kosong empat satu enam sembilan
lima lapan dua tujuh.
In this connection a useful sentence to learn (yes it's always good to read out the
telephone number a second time) is:
Saya akan baca sekali lagi. (I will read it again).
Could I introduce ordinal numbers at this stage?
In English we would say "first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth,
ninth."
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หน ้า 8
In Malay it's yang pertama, yang kedua, yang ketiga, yang keempat, yang kelima,
yang keenam, yang ketujuh, yang kelapan and yang kesembilan.
What do you notice? Yes, I'm sure you would have noticed that all of them (except
for "first") start with yang ke followed by the number in question. Quite simple, isn't
it?
Okay, let's see it in practice:
You know that Fatimah has got 3 brothers and 4 sisters and you want to know
where she is situated. You would ask her Fatimah anak yang keberapa?
And if she is the sixth of the eight siblings she would reply Saya anak yang keenam.
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Lesson 6 Berapa (How many)
Berapa orang
datang?
Enam orang.
Berapa kali
telefon?
Empat kali.
How many people came?
Six persons.
How many times (did he/she)
call?
Four times.
How many kilos (do you)
want?
Three kilos.
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Vocabulary
berapa = how many
orang = people,
persons
datang = to come
kali = times,
occasions
hendak = to want,
หน ้า 9
Berapa kilo
wish
hendak?
Tiga kilo.
The Plural in Malay
Plurality is indicated by duplicating the noun. Thus:
Kereta-kereta ini mahal. (These cars are expensive.)
But when it is obvious that there are more than one the noun is not duplicated.
Thus:
Semua kereta ini sudah dijual. (All these cars have been sold.)
Similarly:
Orang-orang itu tunggu bas. (Those people are waiting for the bus.)
but:
Banyak orang sudah baca buku itu. (Many people have read that book.)
***Please read important note about the use of "ramai" when it concerns people
below.
Two more examples:
Kawan-kawannya melawat ke rumahnya pada Hari Krismas. (His friends visited him
on Christmas Day.)
Dia mempunyai banyak kawan. (He has many friends.)
Rumah-rumah di kawasan itu semuanya sudah dijual. (The houses in that area have
all been sold.)
Orang kaya itu mempunyai tiga buah rumah. (That rich man possesses three
houses.)
Sorry I have to bring in the word "buah", which is the numerical coefficient (or
classifier, if you like) for houses here. This topic will be explained fully in Lesson 60.
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Lesson 7 (Days of the Week)
Hari ini hari apa?
hari Ahad
hari Isnin
hari Selasa
hari Rabu
hari Khamis
hari Jumaat
hari Sabtu
What day is it today?
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Vocabulary
hari = day
hari ini = today
esok = tomorrow
kelmarin = yesterday
lusa = the day after
tomorrow
minggu = week
hari Minggu = Sunday
kerana = because
For those who want to know more:
My wife always goes to market on Sundays. = Isteri saya selalu pergi ke pasar pada hari
Ahad. or Isteri saya selalu ke pasar pada hari Ahad.
Note: When the preposition of direction (ke = towards) is used the verb "to go" (pergi)
can be omitted in Malay.
hari Ahad (Sunday) is also known as hari Minggu.
hari jadi = birthday. (This is used more often than hari lahir which literally means "day
of birth"). To wish someone a happy birthday in Bahasa Malaysia you'd say Selamat
Hari Jadi!
hari besar = festival day. (It literally means "big day").
hari gaji = pay day (gaji by itself means "salary". Bila hari gaji? (When is pay day?) is
a question often heard in offices. Let's be frank, why is everyone there if not for this?
Hari Kebangsaan = National Day. It falls on 31st August and is also known as Hari
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Kemerdekaan (Independence Day).
The Malay term for public holiday is cuti am or cuti umum. But if you hear hari cuti or
hari kelepasan don't you worry. They all mean the same thing. (The opposite of this, by
the way, is hari kerja i.e. a working day, kerja meaning work).
By the way you might also hear Dia cuti meaning He/She is on leave (note that the verb
is omitted here). If you want to specify that he is not on holiday but on sick leave you
would say Dia cuti sakit. The word sakit, as you will see in Lesson 16, means "sick".
Thus Dia tidak pergi ke pejabatnya hari ini kerana cuti sakit means "He did not go to
his office today because he is on sick leave."
"Annual leave" is cuti tahunan (the word tahun means "year").
"School holidays" is cuti sekolah.
And lastly "to take leave" is ambil cuti.
Hari Natal is the "pure" Malay word for Christmas Day though the "English" version
Hari Krismas seems to be more used.
tiap-tiap hari = every day
Note that there are three syllables in the word Jumaat (pronounced as joo-ma-art)
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Lesson 8 Numbers (10-99)
BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
If you have mastered counting from one to nine in Lesson 5 you now need to know
only two more words (belas and puluh) to be able to count from 10 to 99.
Counting from 11 to 19 in Malay is simple when you remember how 13 to 19 are
counted in English (as in four-teen, six-teen, eighteen, nine-teen). The "teen" in the
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second syllable is replaced by belas, that's all. Study the examples in the first
column.
Counting the tens (10, 20, 30, 40, etc.) in Malay is like counting the tens in English
(note the second syllable in forty, six-ty, eighty, nine-ty). The "ty" is replaced by
puluh, that's all. Study the examples in the second column.
As for all the other numbers in-between 10 and 99 they are formed in exactly the
same way as in English . Thus when you have a number such as 47 you only have to
say forty (empat puluh) first, then seven (tujuh). For more examples see Column 3
in the table below (I have underlined the part in tens to help you). Good luck!
sebelas = 11
dua belas = 12
tiga belas = 13
empat belas = 14
lima belas = 15
enam belas = 16
tujuh belas = 17
lapan belas = 18
sembilan belas = 19
sepuluh = 10
dua puluh = 20
tiga puluh= 30
empat puluh = 40
lima puluh = 50
enam puluh = 60
tujuh puluh = 70
lapan puluh = 80
sembilan puluh = 90
83 = lapan puluh tiga
21 = dua puluh satu
36 = tiga puluh enam
47 = empat puluh tujuh
54 = lima puluh empat
65 = enam puluh lima
78 = tujuh puluh lapan
82 = lapan puluh dua
99 = sembilan puluh
sembilan
Try to say the random numbers below (they should change if you come back
tomorrow). When you are able to do so without looking at the table you would have
mastered this lesson. Congratulations! Good work!
81
47
39
91
54
27
72
66
For those who want to know more:
When satu is added to another word it is often contracted to se and tagged on to
the following word. Thus "satu" puluh (one ten or 10) becomes sepuluh.
This is also the case with sebelas (= 11 - remember that in Malay all numbers from
11 to 19 end in belas).
Berapa umur anda? (How old are you)
We are now ready to practise asking and answering questions about a person's age.
By the way if there is any centenarian here please kindly excuse me as we have not
come to 100 yet! It will be in Lesson 22. To show you how truly sorry I am, I hereby
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offer to send you a special prize in return for your forgiveness (but you have to show
me proof first that you are really a hundred years old!)
So let's start with the standard question which is Berapa umur anda? (How old are
you?) and the standard answer Saya berumur ____ tahun (I am ____ years old).
For more meaningful practice how about making a few sentences of the members of
your family? A full list of family members can be found in Lesson 29 (no harm going
there now for this purpose). Thus:
Emak saya berumur empat puluh tiga tahun. (My mother is 43 years old.)
Abang saya berumur sembilan belas tahun. (My elder brother is 19 years old.)
Adik perempuan saya berumur tujuh belas tahun. (My younger sister is 17 years
old.)
Mary berumur lima puluh lapan tahun. (Mary is 58 years old.)
Suaminya berumur enam puluh dua tahun. (Her husband is 62 years old.)
Okay if you want to take the easy way out, study the above sentences in Malay and
when you have learnt them just look at the English sentences and see if you can
translate them into Malay. Or write out your answers if you prefer.
Good luck.
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Lesson 9 (Telling the time)
A second reading (by Michelle Nor Ismat, a
native speaker)
Pukul berapa sekarang? (= What time is it
now?)
Pukul lima. (= It's five o'clock.)
Pukul lapan setengah. (= Half-past eight)
Pukul dua sembilan belas. (= 2:19
Practice in telling the time.
The sentences below are just for practice in
telling the time. Because of the changing of
summer and winter times every six months I
quite often forget to change to the new time. If
you need to know the actual time you can go
here.
Pukul berapa sekarang?
=What time is it now?
(Please read pagi for "am" and petang for "pm"
in the Malay sentences below. My programming
skills are still not that good!)
Sekarang pukul 05:32 pm di Malaysia
= It's now 05:32 pm in Malaysia
Sekarang pukul 5:32 am di New York
= It's now 5:32 am in New York
Sekarang pukul 11:32 am di Paris
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Pronounced "two
= It's now 11:32 am in Paris
nineteen" as in English)
Pukul sepuluh empat puluh lima. (=
10:45)
n the absence of a teacher, the table below will help you correct yourself if you
should make a mistake:
37 = tiga puluh
25 = dua puluh
13 = tiga belas
tujuh
lima
49 = empat puluh
14 = empat
38 = tiga puluh
26 = dua puluh
sembilan
belas
lapan
enam
50 = lima puluh
1 = satu
15 = lima
39= tiga puluh
27 = dua puluh
51 = lima puluh
2 = dua
belas
sembilan
tujuh
satu
3 = tiga
16 = enam
40 = empat
28 = dua puluh
52 = lima puluh
4 = empat belas
puluh
lapan
dua
5 = lima
17 = tujuh
41 = empat
29 = dua puluh
53 = lima puluh
6 = enam belas
puluh satu
sembilan
tiga
7 = tujuh 18 = lapan
42 = empat
30 = tiga puluh
54 = lima puluh
8 = lapan belas
puluh dua
31 = tiga puluh
empat
9=
19 = sembilan
43 = empat
satu
55 = lima puluh
sembilan belas
puluh tiga
32 = tiga puluh
lima
10 =
20 = dua puluh
44 = empat
dua
56 = lima puluh
sepuluh
21 = dua puluh
puluh empat
33 = tiga puluh
enam
11 =
satu
45= empat
tiga
57 = lima puluh
sebelas
22 = dua puluh
puluh lima
34 = tiga puluh
tujuh
12 = dua dua
46 = empat
empat
58= lima puluh
belas
23 = dua puluh
puluh enam
35 = tiga puluh
lapan
tiga
47 = empat
lima
59 = lima puluh
24 = dua puluh
puluh tujuh
36 = tiga puluh
sembilan
empat
48 = empat
enam
puluh lapan
When you want to tell the time in Malay you always start with the word pukul
(literally means to hit - think of hitting a gong to announce the time). What follows is
exactly like telling the time in English. Thus "It is 9:25" (nine twenty-five) is
translated as Pukul 9 (sembilan) 25 (dua puluh lima).
If you like to do so you can add minit for the minutes but this is not really necessary,
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eg. Pukul sembilan dua puluh lima or Pukul sembilan dua puluh lima minit are both
correct.
Apart from announcing the time pukul is also used in the sense of beating (hitting) a
person eg. Dia memberi tahu polis dia telah dipukul oleh dua orang samseng. (He
told the police that he was beaten up by two gangsters).
For those who want to know more:
To tell someone the time you usually start with Pukul or Jam (this is more frequent
in Indonesia) followed by the actual time but if you are asking someone AT what
time he sleeps, for example, you have to precede it with the preposition pada (= at).
Eg. Anda tidur pada pukul berapa?
But it would be better to precede the question with Biasanya (Usually).
And as you have already seen in Lesson 7 pada is also used with days of the week
eg. pada hari Isnin (on Monday). Similarly pada hari jadinya means "on his
birthday".
It is also used with months eg. pada bulan Mac (in March) though you are more
likely to hear dalam bulan Mac.
Thus depending on the usage pada can mean "at", "on" or "in".
Jam berapa? is sometimes used instead of Pukul berapa?
2.15 is pukul dua suku (suku means a quarter). You can also say pukul dua lima
belas (minit).
At this point you might as well learn the common fractions: one quarter is suku, half
is setengah and three-quarters is tiga suku.
Thus 9.45 is pukul sembilan tiga suku or pukul sembilan empat puluh lima (minit).
By all means use tiga suku each time you want to say "three-quarters" but make
sure you don't use it for a person as Dia tiga suku would mean that the person you
are referring to is half-crazy!
To distinguish between 06:00 and 18:00 you will say Pukul enam pagi for 06:00 and
Pukul enam petang for 18:00. When it's in the early part of the afternoon eg. 14:00
you can say Pukul dua tengah hari.
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Lesson 10 (The 12 Months
Bulan ini bulan
What month is
apa?
this month?
Januari
January
Februari
February
Mac
March
April
April
Mei
May
Jun
June
For those who want to know more:
In Malay
Julai
Ogos
September
Oktober
November
Disember
In English
July
August
September
October
November
December
As can be seen above the 12 months of the year are all borrowed from English with
adaptations to their spelling.
Thus "March" is spelt Mac because "ch" in all Malay words are replaced with just the
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letter "c" though the pronunciation remains that of "ch" (as in "chair").
There is another meaning for bulan, apart from "month". It also means the moon.
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Lesson 11 - Greetings
Selamat pagi (=Good morning)
Selamat tengah hari (=Good afternoon - from noon to
2p.m. or so)
Selamat petang (=Good afternoon/Good evening)
Selamat malam (=Good night)
Other greetings:
Selamat datang (=Welcome) eg.
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Selamat datang ke rumah saya.(=Welcome to my
house)
Apa khabar? (=How are you?)
Khabar baik, terima kasih.(=I'm fine, thank you.)
Selamat jalan.(Goodbye, you say this to the person
leaving.)
Selamat tinggal.(Goodbye, you say this to your host who
is staying behind.)
SAYING GOODBYE IN MALAY
There are two different ways of saying "Goodbye" in Malay depending
on whether you're leaving or staying behind. These are Selamat tinggal
and Selamat jalan . I will explain them in detail below.
1st form: Selamat tinggal
The one who is leaving will say to the one staying behind (the host)
Selamat tinggal . So normally it is the guest who says this when taking
leave of his host. This of course has to take place at the host's house
and not at a restaurant if the host is also leaving at the same time as his
guest since tinggal here means to stay (back)!
Note: The word tinggal by itself is used as follows:
Saya tinggal di PJ. = I live in PJ (or Petaling Jaya if you like).
Saya tinggalkan payung saya di rumahnya. (I left my umbrella at
his house.)
2nd form: Selamat jalan
The host i.e. the one who is remaining in the house will say this to his
departing guest to wish him a safe journey back. Though jalan means "to
walk" this term is still used even if the guest is returning home by car.
If the above two forms of saying Goodbye are a bit confusing to you then
just stick to Jumpa lagi or in its full form Sampai berjumpa lagi. It simply
means "See you soon" or "So long!"
Note: The word jumpa alone means "to meet" as in this sentence:
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Saya akan jumpa dia esok. (= I shall be meeting him/her tomorrow).
Warning: When you say Jumpa lagi in the sense of "So long" make sure
you do not raise the tone at the end or it could be taken for a question
("Shall we meet again?") in which case you are likely to be asked in turn,
Ya, bila? (Yes, when?)
For those who want to know more:
Note: The following rules are not at all rigid. They are only meant to be
used as a guide and I know that some people interpret them differently.
So please don't hold me responsible for your quarrels!
From sunrise (about 5 or 6 a.m.) to 12 noon, you say Selamat pagi.
Between 12 noon and 2 p.m. or so, you say Selamat tengah hari.
From 2 p.m. until sunset (about 8 or 9 p.m.) , you say Selamat petang.
From sunset to midnight, you can say Selamat petang or Selamat
malam (the latter is usually said upon leaving an evening function).
But after midnight and until sunrise you can either say (considering that
it is already a.m.) Selamat pagi or, if you are taking leave of your
colleagues after a night shift Selamat malam.
A word that does not go by the clock hour is siang which means daytime
i.e. when you don't need to turn on the lights. So if you are baffled by
Selamat pagi, Selamat tengah hari and Selamat petang you can just say
Selamat siang which is not so precise and which is more used by
Indonesians but which serves the purpose.
If all this sounds too complicating to you a passe-partout (or all-purpose)
greeting which can be used at all times of the day and night is Apa
khabar? It's equivalent to "How are you?" in English or "Qué tal?" in
Spanish. The standard answer is Khabar baik, terima kasih. (=I'm fine,
thank you.)
Incidentally if someone says Terima kasih (=Thank you) to you the
standard reply is Sama-sama (=You're welcome). An Indonesian though
would reply Kembali instead of Sama-sama but that's another story.
Another useful expression to learn is Maafkan saya when you wish to
apologise for something. Instead of this you could also say Minta maaf
or Harap maaf (= Excuse me). The usual reply to this would be Tak apa
(=It doesn't matter) or Tak apalah (see Lesson 20). Note that the suffix
lah is always added to soften the tone or to make something less formal.
("Yeslah it's true" I can hear your Malaysian friends saying!)
Note also that greetings in Malay are normally followed by the name of
the person to whom we greet. Thus if we are greeting Mr. Ahmad, we
don't just say Selamat pagi but Selamat pagi, Encik Ahmad or Selamat
pagi, Cik Ahmad.. Note that while in the written form "Cik" is equivalent
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to "Miss", in its spoken form "Encik" for Mr. is very often contracted to
"Cik".
If we are greeting someone whose name we do not know (as when
asking a stranger for information) we can use "encik" (mister) or "puan"
(madam). Thus: Selamat pagi, encik or Selamat pagi, puan (for a
married or elderly woman).
When addressing someone whom we know to be a teacher we can use
cikgu eg. Apa khabar, cikgu?
By the way the Malay word for "teacher" is guru.
Example: Dia guru anak saya. (He/She is my son/daughter's teacher).
When addressing a titled person we can just use his title without his
name. Thus Apa khabar, Datuk? or Selamat pagi, Tan Sri.
"Datuk" (sometimes spelt Dato or Dato'), which literally means
grandfather, is a title conferred to "prominent" Malaysians (ah, I'm
treading on dangerous ground here by using the word "prominent" since
there have been cases of such titles being bought!) by the King or
Sultans on their birthdays. The wife of a "Datuk" should be addressed as
"Datin" but if it is a woman who has the title of "Datuk" in her own right
(which is quite rare) her husband is not affected by her title.
Higher up on the title hierarchy is "Tan Sri" and even higher still is "Tun".
The wife of a "Tan Sri", by the way, should be addressed as "Puan Sri"
and the wife of a "Tun" as "Toh Puan".
Incidentally "Tun" is limited to 60 living holders at the moment (at the
initial stage it was limited to only 5). If you like to read more on this
subject click here.
When you know that besides the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the King),
each of the thirteen States also confers such titles every year you will
not be surprised by their proliferation.
WISHING AND HOPING:
First Wishing:
As you have seen above all wishes and greetings start with the word
Selamat (followed by another word).
Other examples are:
Merry Christmas = Selamat Hari Krismas
Wish You a Happy New Year = Selamat Tahun Baru
Wish you success = Selamat berjaya
Or if you prefer you can also say Selamat maju jaya (the word maju
meaning "progress").
There is also Selamat sejahtera (May peace be with you) and Selamat
Hari Jadi (Happy Birthday)
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Then there is Selamat berbahagia which you say when wishing
someone long life and happiness and Selamat belayar to a person about
to sail on a ship.
Incidentally if you want to put the above wishes in a full sentence you
can by starting with Saya mengucapkan... meaning "I wish you (success,
etc)"
Thus the sentence "I wish you and your family a Happy New Year"
would be translated in Malay as:
Saya mengucapkan Selamat Tahun Baru kepada anda dan keluarga
anda.
But mengucapkan does not mean "to wish" but rather "to express" in the
following sentence:
Bila dia mendengar kematian kawannya dia pun mengucapkan takziah
kepada keluarganya. (=When he heard about his friend's death he
expressed his condolence to the family.)
This little word pun is used here to show an action that follows, or is the
result of, an earlier action. In this case the first action is that of hearing
his friend's death and this resulted in the second action, the sending of
his condolence to the family.
Apart from Christmas and the international New Year on January 1,
there are the following occasions when you might have to express your
greetings to your Malaysian friends:



End of the fasting month by wishing the Muslims Selamat Hari
Raya
The Chinese New Year by wishing your Malaysian Chinese friends
Selamat Tahun Baru Cina (unless you'd like to wish them in
Chinese in which case you'd say
"Xin Nian Kuai Le" or
"Gong Xi Fa Cai")
The Hindu festival Diwali, also called the "festival of lights," by
wishing your Malaysian Indian friends Selamat Hari Deepavali
(Diwali is spelt Deepavali in Malaysia)
Talking about the Chinese New Year here is an interesting article on
the tradition of giving "lucky money" (ya1 sui4 qian2) or red packets
("ang pow" in Hokkien or duit raya in Bahasa Malaysia) given by
married people to friends' children - and even to 60-year-old adults if
they're still unmarried! If your child happens to receive an "ang pow"
tell him not to open it in front of the giver to see how much is inside.
If he is impatient, do like what some children do - go out of the room
to open it! In fact this age-old custom has been "adopted" by the
Malays and Indians too so if you are staying in Malaysia for some
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time you might want to know more about it. Go here for an interesting
background reading on the subject by KTemoc, a popular Malaysian
blogger.
Next Hoping:
When you tell someone that you hope he will get a job, for example, you
start with Semoga (can be replaced by Moga-moga or Mudahmudahan). All three terms mean "It is hoped that..." or "I hope that..."
Thus Semoga anda dapat pekerjaan yang diminta itu means "I hope you
will obtain the job you applied for" and
Mudah-mudahan saya dapat tolong anda means "Hopefully I'll be able to
help you".
Note the two different meanings of the verb dapat in the above two
sentences:
1. meaning "to get" or "to obtain" eg.
Dia dapat banyak hadiah untuk hari jadinya. (= He obtained many gifts
for his birthday).
2. meaning "can" or "be able to" eg.
Dia tidak dapat membuat kerja itu. (= He is not able to do the job).
There is another way of saying the same thing (in fact this is closer to
the English way) since the Malay verb for "to hope" is harap or berharap
to give its formal form with the prefix. So if you want to tell someone that
you hope he gets the job for which he applied you can also say:
Saya harap anda akan dapat pekerjaan yang diminta itu ("I hope you will
obtain the job you applied for".)
Other examples on how to use Semoga:
I hope that you will get well soon (or if you prefer "I wish you a speedy
recovery") =
Semoga cepat sembuh or simply Harap cepat sembuh
I hope you will pass your exam = Semoga lulus dalam peperiksaan
anda.
I hope you will be happy in your new life = Semoga anda berbahagia
dalam kehidupan baru.
If you want to split hairs you can always say that Semoga berjaya means
"I hope you will succeed" while Selamat berjaya means "I wish you
success". But to all intents and purposes it comes to the same thing so
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in this particular case you might just as well use the first word that
comes to your mind.
In the case of wishing someone good health though you have to use
Semoga or Moga-moga or Mudah-mudahan but not Selamat.
Thus you would say Semoga sihat selalu meaning "I hope you will
always be in good health".
Want some more? Well, sihat walafiat is of Arabic origin and means
good health but is quite often used by the local Malays. Thus if you have
a Malay friend you could write:
Semoga anda dan keluarga anda dalam keadaan sihat walafiat (= May
this find you and your family in a state of good health).
And in case you are the religious type you might wish to say "I pray
that.." In Malay it is Saya berdoa or Saya berdoa kepada Tuhan (I pray
to God).
Example:
Saya berdoa semoga ibu anda sembuh dengan cepat. (I pray that your
mother will have a quick recovery)
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Lesson 12 Warna (Colours)
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THE COLOURS IN
MALAY:
TEST YOURSELF:
1. (warna) merah
2. (warna) biru
3. (warna) hijau
For orange, you can use
the same word warna
oren (though you can
also say warna jingga).
4. (warna) kuning
5. (warna) hitam
6. (warna) oren
(or warna jingga)
7. (warna) ungu
Another exercise: Name the four colours in
the rectangle below?
For those who want to know more:
To make a colour darker all you have to do is to put the adjective tua (literally "old")
after it. Example:
dark red = merah tua
dark blue = biru tua
dark yellow = kuning tua
dark green = hijau tua
Similarly to make a colour lighter all you have to do is to put the adjective muda
(literally "young") after it. Example:
light green = hijau muda
light blue = biru muda
light yellow = kuning muda
light red = merah muda
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By the way the Malay word for "pink" is also merah muda or merah jambu, "jambu"
("guava" or "rose apple" in English) being the name of a Malaysian fruit that is pink
in colour (on the outside at least). As the rose colour is close to pink it is also called
merah jambu in Malay.
At times you might want to say that something has the tinge or shade of a certain
colour (eg. reddish, yellowish, greenish, bluish, etc). It's quite simple to do this in
Malay. Just repeat the colour word and add the prefix ke and the suffix an to it.
Thus:
reddish = kemerah-merahan
yellowish = kekuning-kuningan
greenish = kehijau-hijauan
bluish = kebiru-biruan
Just as coklat takes its name from the colour of chocolate, the same is true for oren,
which takes its name from the colour of orange. There is another word for this
colour though and that is jingga.
Apart from coklat there is another word for "brown" in Malay and that is the word
perang. If you are heavily suntanned you would be described as perang. But as
chocolate itself is brown in colour I have used the word coklat but if you prefer the
word perang make sure you pronounce it as pay-rang (if you know French it will
help your pronunciation to see it spelt as pérang). Unfortunately in Malay you don't
have the é to help you with the pronunciation and the same word perang, if it is
pronounced pərang (pə has the schwa vowel sound ə as in "per cent") means "war"
. So watch out, if you are not going to start a war, pronounce the word for "brown"
as pay-rang and not pərang. But why take the risk when you can use coklat for the
brown colour?
As for gray, which is the background colour of all the pages in this website, the
Malay word for it is kelabu.
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Lesson 13 Belum (Not yet)
Saya belum makan.
Dia belum datang lagi.
Saya belum mandi.
Abang saya belum kahwin.
Bapa saya belum balik.
I've not eaten yet.
He/She has not come yet.
I've not bathed yet.
My elder brother has not married yet.
My father has not come home yet.
For those who want to know more:
Although belum is often used in conjunction with lagi (not...yet) it is perfectly all right to use
it alone. Thus Saya belum makan is the same as Saya belum makan lagi.
In the sentence Abang saya belum kahwin above it is evident that "abang" means one's elder
brother, just as kakak is one's elder sister. However don't be surprised if you hear a woman
calling her husband abang. If you are wondering why this is so, read Zaidel Baharuddin's
interesting article entitled Why Malay husbands are called "Abang" here.
When the sibling referred to is younger than oneself the word is adik and if it is necessary to
mention if it is one's younger brother or younger sister the word is adik lelaki and adik
perempuan respectively.
Incidentally the youngest child of the family is called anak bongsu while the eldest is called
anak sulung.
Though there is a specific word for each child's rank up to the seventh child (called anak
hitam) it's unlikely that you will ever hear them being used. What you are likely to hear
though is anak yang kedua (for "second child"), anak yang ketiga (third child), anak yang
keempat (fourth child), anak yang kelima (fifth child), anak yang keenam (sixth child) and
anak yang ketujuh (seventh child).
Since all these start with anak it might be useful (if you can still take it) for me to add two
more common expressions, namely, anak angkat meaning an "adopted child" and anak
tunggal meaning the "only child".
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Lesson 14 Hendak (Wish to)
Saya hendak tidur.
I want to sleep.
Anda hendak pergi ke mana?
Where do you want to go?
Saya hendak keluar sekejap.
I want to go out for a while.
Dia hendak beli kereta saya.
He wants to buy my car.
Anda hendak minum apa?
What do you want to drink?
Saya hendak beli payung.
I want to buy an umbrella.
Possible answers to the question Anda hendak pergi ke mana? are:
Saya hendak pergi ke lapangan terbang. (I want to go to the airport.)
Saya hendak pergi ke stesen kereta api. (I want to go to the railway
station.)
Saya hendak pergi ke pasar. (I want to go to the market.)
Saya hendak pergi ke pejabat pos. (I want to go to the post office.)
As to the other question Anda hendak minum apa? see Lesson 24 for
possible answers.
For those who want to know more:
Although pedants will say that hendak should be translated as "wish to" and mahu
(contracted to mau) as "want to", to all intents and purposes both are often used
interchangeably and you can feel free to use one or the other so long as the sense of
intention of wanting or wishing to do something is there (thus in the translated
sentences above you can replace "want" with "wish").
To express the opposite meaning i.e. when there is unwillingness to do something,
simply put the word tidak before either hendak or mahu. However you might be
interested to know that there is a single Malay word for this and that is the word
enggan. Thus, if she does not wish to go, you can either say:
Dia enggan pergi or
Dia tidak mahu pergi or
Dia tidak hendak pergi.
Similarly if he is unwilling to lend you money you can either say:
Dia enggan meminjamkan wang kepada saya or
Dia tidak mahu meminjamkan wang kepada saya or
Dia tidak hendak meminjamkan wang kepada saya.
Note that in all the above examples hendak is always followed by a verb as it is used in
the sense of wishing or wanting to DO something.
However when the word is used all alone by itself and with a rising intonation you can
be sure that the speaker is asking you if you want to have something. Thus if you should
come along while we are eating biscuits we would certainly ask you Hendak? You
should know by now that if you accept the invitation you would say Ya, terima kasih
else you would say Tidak, terima kasih.
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Lesson 15 Akan (The future tense)
Dia akan datang esok.
Saya akan telefon dia malam ini.
Saya akan jumpa dia pada hari
Ahad.
Dia akan datangkah?
Saya akan tanya dia.
For those who want to know more:
He will come tomorrow.
I will give him a call tonight.
I will meet him on Sunday.
Will he be coming?
I will ask him.
As already explained in Lesson 4 the pronoun "dia" (third person singular) can refer to
a woman as well as a man. Thus Dia akan datang esok can mean "He will come
tomorrow" or, if we are talking about a woman, "She will come tomorrow". I might not
be repeating this each time in future. So even when dia is translated as "he" please bear
in mind that it could just as well stand for "she" if it is a woman we are talking about.
You might have learnt the word bertemu which is a synonym for berjumpa and
therefore means "to meet" someone but it is much more formal than berjumpa. Thus if
President Obama were to meet Prime Minister Najib we would likely use bertemu but if
you were to meet your friend, better use berjumpa or simply jumpa (without the prefix
which makes it even less formal). By the way "See you" or "So long" in Malay is Jumpa
lagi!
Since we are talking about the future it is time to learn the following:
"Next week" is minggu hadapan or minggu depan in its shortened form.
"Next month" is bulan hadapan or bulan depan.
"Next year" is tahun hadapan or tahun depan.
It will make your learning much easier if you will just remember that di hadapan means
"in front of" or ahead of so evidently the word hadapan in the above three sentences
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denote something that is going to take place in the future.
"Will it rain?" is simply translated as Akan hujankah?
I hope you will not need to use the next sentence during your stay in Malaysia but learn
it anyway in case you have a bad experience. The sentence is Saya akan panggil polis
and it means "I am going to call the police".
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Lesson 16 Kalau..... (If.....)
Kalau hujan dia tidak
akan datang.
Kalau sakit pergi jumpa
doktor.
Kalau tidak faham
tanyalah saya.
Kalau begitu saya tidak
akan pergi.
If it rains he will not
come.
If you are sick, go and
see a doctor.
If you don't understand
ask me.
If that is the case I will
not go.
hujan = to rain
datang = to come
sakit = sick
jumpa = to meet, see
faham = to understand
tanya = to ask
begitu = like that
pergi = to go
For those who want to know more:
Kalau hujan dia tak datang (see banner) is the colloquial form of Kalau hujan dia tidak
akan datang
Note in passing that tak is the abbreviated form of tidak.
Note that in sentences two and three above anda (you) is not necessary as it is obvious
you are referring to the person whom you are addressing.
The suffix lah in Kalau tidak faham tanyalah saya is meant to soften the tone so that it
does not appear as a harsh order.
By the way the Malay suffix "lah" has infiltrated so widely into "Manglish" (Malaysian
English) that no true Malaysian, however well-educated he might be in English, can do
without it when speaking to fellow Malaysians. The very use of it ignites a kind of
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Malaysian intimity from which the foreigner (non-Malaysian) is excluded, as explained
in this delightful article on "The Adorable Lah" by Lee Su Kim.
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Lesson 17 Bila..... (When.....)
Bilakah dia
balik?
- Pagi ini.
When did he return?
Vocabulary
Bilakah mereka - This morning.
balik = to return
tiba?
When did they arrive?
mereka = they
- Semalam.
- Yesterday.
tiba = to arrive
Bilakah dia
When did he stop working?
berhenti = to stop
berhenti kerja? - Last week.
kerja = work
- Minggu lalu.
When did he get married?
minggu = week
Bilakah dia
- Last year.
kahwin = to get married
kahwin?
- Tahun lalu.
When Bila is used to ask questions about future events the word akan,
which indicates a future event (see Lesson 15), is always used with it. In
such a case the above questions become:
Bilakah dia akan
When will he return?
balik?
- Next month.
- Bulan depan.
When will they
Bilakah mereka akan arrive?
tiba?
- Tomorrow.
- Esok.
When will he stop
Bilakah dia akan
working?
berhenti kerja?
- At the end of this
- Pada hujung bulan month.
ini.
When will he get
Bilakah dia akan
married?
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kahwin?
- Tahun hadapan.
- Next year.
For those who want to know more:
The written form of the verb kahwin ("to marry") has the ber- prefix added to it
(berkahwin). You might come across another word (bernikah) which means exactly the
same thing.
The suffix kah is often added to Bila to indicate that a question is being asked. It is often
omitted by native speakers as the rising intonation leaves no doubt that a question is
being asked. Thus: Bila dia balik? instead of Bilakah dia balik?
There are two Malay words widely used for "yesterday", namely semalam and
kelmarin. Note that "last night" is translated as malam semalam.
"Last week, last month, last year" is usually translated as minggu lalu, bulan lalu,
tahun lalu though you will also hear minggu yang lalu, bulan yang lalu, tahun yang lalu
as well as minggu lepas, bulan lepas, tahun lepas.
Question of priority: When something has got to be done urgently (and in answer to
the question Bila...) the usual answers are: Sekarang juga (Right now) or Dengan segera
(Urgently). When it is not that urgent the answer can be Secepat mungkin (As soon as
possible) or Bila-bila saja or Bila-bila masa sahaja (Anytime at all).
Cultural note (1): Although dropping by a friend's house unannounced is common
practice in a rural environment, most people in the city telephone in advance to fix a
time that is convenient to both parties. Incidentally the Malaysian hospitality is such
that at times when you are invited to a person's house you are also invited to stay on for
a meal. The following sentences might come in handy when socializing:
Saya hendak menjemput anda ke rumah saya. (I would like to invite you to my house.)
Datanglah ke rumah saya bila senang. (Come to my house when you are free.)
Note that senang has got two meanings depending on the context. It can mean "free, not
busy" as in the above sentence.
It can also mean "easy, simple" as you will learn in Lesson 47 and again in Lesson 58.
Bolehkah saya datang ke rumah anda? (Can I visit you at your house?)
Bilakah anda dapat datang ke rumah saya? (When can you come to my house?)
Cultural note (2): balik you have learnt, means "to return". While in Malaysia you
might often hear the term balik kampung. It simply means to return to one's hometown
(where one's roots are) especially during the Hari Raya holidays or when one takes a
week's leave from work.
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Lesson 18 Jangan..... (Don't.....)
Jangan takut.
Jangan merokok di sini.
Jangan bising ya, dia
sedang tidur.
Jangan lupa datang esok,
ya?
Jangan ganggu dia, dia
sedang bekerja.
More sentences
Don't be afraid.
Don't smoke here.
Don't make any noise please
as he is sleeping.
Please don't forget to come
tomorrow.
Don't disturb him, he is
working.
VOCABULARY
takut = afraid
merokok = to smoke
di sini = here
bising = to make
noise
lupa = to forget
ganggu = to disturb
Jangan ketawa. Ini bukan lucu. (= Don't laugh. This is not at all funny.)
The opposite of ketawa is menangis as in this example:
Mengapa dia menangis? Dia menangis kerana jatuh. (=Why is he crying? He is crying
because he fell)
For those who want to know more:
Jangan merokok di sini is the same as Jangan hisap rokok di sini. = Don't smoke
cigarettes here.
The usual term in public places where smoking is not allowed is: Dilarang merokok.
(Smoking is forbidden.)
Anda tidak boleh hisap rokok di sini. = You cannot smoke cigarettes here.
In Jangan lari, nanti jatuh (Don't run or you will fall) the word nanti is used to indicate
the future tense. By itself the word nanti usually means "to wait" as in Nanti sekejap (or
Tunggu sekejap).
Note: In order to make a command sound less of a command, we add ya at the end of a
phrase starting with Jangan. Thus Jangan bising ya, dia sedang tidur is not a harsh
command not to make noise but a gentle request equivalent to "Please do not make any
noise as he is sleeping".
sedang is one of a number of "verb modifiers" present in Bahasa Malaysia. Common
verb modifiers are:
(i) sudah, telah and pernah which indicate an action that has happened in the past
(ii) akan, kelak and mungkin which indicate the future.
(iii) sedang, tengah and masih which indicate actions that are happening at the time the
speaker makes his remark.
The answer to the reminder Jangan lupa datang esok, ya (yes, again this
is not an order but a gentle reminder since it is "cushioned" by ya at the
end) is: Tidak, saya tidak akan lupa.
Note that di as a preposition is a word by itself and is not joined to the
word that comes after it. Thus di sini (=here) and di sana (= there).
But when di precedes a verb (normally to make it passive as below) it is
joined to it. Thus:
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(see illustration) Dia telah digigit oleh anjing (= He was bitten by a dog).
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Lesson 19 Questions beginning with Apa
Apa kerja anda?
Apa ini?
What is your job?
Apa maknanya? What is this?
Apa nama barang What is the meaning?
ini?
What is the name of this
Apa kita buat
article?
sekarang?
What shall we do now?
Apakah dia
What does he want?
hendak?
For those who want to know more:
Vocabulary
kerja = job
makna = meaning (of
a word)
barang = a thing,
object, article
sekarang = now
kemudian = later
In case you have forgotten what I mentioned in the very first lesson the "a" sound in the
second syllable is sometimes pronounced as "er" (as the sound of the second vowel in
"butter"). Thus apa and mana are pronounced as "aper" and "maner" in some States
though in this course I will stick to the phonetic pronunciation throughout. It's good to
bear this in mind though.
Note that in the first four sentences Apa is not translated as "What" but as "What is"
(This is another example of when the verb "to be" is left out in Malay)
Note also that barang is an all-purpose word that you can use to describe any object or
article whose name you do not know or do not bother to name. So each time you wish to
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say "this object" (without bothering to name it) just say barang ini.
By the way, since we're at the word barang you might note that sebarang simply means
"any" eg. Sudah lama saya tidak menerima sebarang berita daripada kawan lama saya.
(It's been a long time since I've received any news from my old friend.)
Another word that is quite often used in the place of barang is benda. Thus you can also
say Apa nama benda ini? (What is the name of this article?).
HOBBIES AND INTERESTS: This is a standard question to ask people about their
hobbies or interests:
Apakah anda suka buat pada masa lapang anda? (What do you like to do in your free
time?)
I have the most common answers below. Learn them well (especially the sentence that
applies to you!) as they may come in handy during a conversation.
Saya suka membaca. (I like to read.)
Saya suka memancing. (I like to go fishing.)
Saya suka mendengar muzik. (I like to listen to music.)
Saya suka tengok-tengok barang di kedai. (I like to window-shop.)
Saya suka berkebun. (I like gardening.)
Saya suka main golf. (I like to play golf.)
Saya suka pergi ke panggung wayang. (I like to go to the cinema.)
In case you want to know what "hobby" is in Malay it is kegemaran.
Thus Kegemarannya ialah membaca. (His hobby is reading.)
In Apa kerja anda? the word kerja is actually the spoken form for pekerjaan (job,
occupation)
The answer to the question Apa kita buat sekarang? can be, for example, Kita tunggu
sekejap lagi (We'll wait a bit more) or Kita balik (We'll go back).
By the way you might often hear the term balik kampung. It simply means to go back
or return to one's hometown especially during festive seasons.
Although kampung by itself means "village" it is frequently used in the sense of
hometown. Thus if two Malaysians should meet in a foreign land they're likely to ask
each other Dari kampung mana?. Or if you prefer the more complete form, you could
ask Anda berasal dari mana?
A synonym of makna (meaning) is maksud although the latter is also used in the sense
of a person's intention.
The question tag kah is sometimes added to Apa as in the last sentence above although
it is quite redundant as the rising tone of the voice will indicate that a question is being
asked. Thus Apakah dia hendak? is the same as Apa dia hendak? and
Apakah nama barang ini? is the same as Apa nama barang ini?
In other cases, however, the question tag kah is necessary eg. Tidakkah dia beritahu
anda? (Didn't he tell you?)
By the way please note that you'll often hear the question tag "kah" not pronounced as
"ka" but as "kə" (the schwa sound).
You have learnt in Lesson 16 that the same word hujan (for "rain") is used both as a
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noun as well as a verb. Here in this lesson you have learnt that the Malay word for
"now" is sekarang. You should be able to say "It's raining now" in Malay. Click here to
see if you have guessed rightly.
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Lesson 20 Maafkan saya
Maafkan saya kerana datang Please excuse me for coming
lambat.
late.
Maafkan saya, saya sudah
Please excuse me, I have
lupa.
forgotten.
Maafkan saya, tuan. Apa
Excuse me, sir. What is the
nama jalan ini?
name of this road?
Itu bukan sengaja. Maafkan That was not done on purpose.
saya.
Please excuse me.
For those who want to know more:
kerana = because
lambat = late
lupa = to forget
tuan = sir
jalan = road
sengaja =
purposely
The standard reply to sentences one and two is: Tak apalah. (It doesn't matter.)
This is one sentence you have to use each time you don't understand something to avoid
misunderstanding: Maafkan saya. Saya tidak faham. (= Excuse me. I do not
understand).
Please note that there are three syllables in the word Maafkan (ma-af-kan).
To tell someone that you feel sorry for another person's plight you can say Saya kasihan
sama dia (= I feel sorry for him/her).
To say that you regret having done something you can say Saya menyesal perbuatan itu.
(menyesal comes from sesal meaning "to regret")
To excuse oneself for something unimportant you can say Jangan marah ya? (Please
don't be angry) and to put it in an even lighter vein (this often works with a woman),
you can say Jangan marah ya nanti lekas tua! (Please don't be angry or you will get old
in no time!)
If you should trip someone up, or just as bad, step on his toes make sure you say
Maafkan saya or Minta maaf. Malaysians are a friendly and forgiving race and such an
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apology will always be accepted with good grace (provided you don't repeat the accident
the minute after in which case you'd better watch out!)
Either of these two expressions or just Maaf is also used when interrupting someone or
being obliged to make one's way between two people holding a conversation.
When you are unable to accept an invitation you can say Maafkan saya tetapi saya
tidak dapat datang pada hari itu. (Please excuse me but I will not be able to come on
that day).
Note how the verb dapat which usually means "to get" or "to obtain" is used here.
When followed by another verb (as in this sentence) it has the sense of not being in a
position to do something.
When used in this way it can always be replaced by boleh. Thus instead of saying
Maafkan saya tetapi saya tidak dapat datang pada hari itu you can say Maafkan saya
tetapi saya tidak boleh datang pada hari itu.
The word Tolong! usually means Help! (try shouting this out when you are drowning!)
but when it precedes another verb (as in the final sentence in the table) it can be
translated as "Please". (Tolong maafkan saya = Please excuse me.)
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Lesson 21 Questions beginning with Di
mana
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Where is the washroom? bilik = room
Where are my shoes?
air = water
Where is Petaling
bilik air = washroom
Street?
kasut = shoes
Where is the post office? pejabat pos = post
Where is he/she?
office
Where is my key?
kunci = key
In case you have forgotten that the verb "to be" is often left out in Malay,
you will be reminded that this is so from the questions above. So in Malay
you only need to ask "Where washroom?, Where my shoes?, Where
Petaling Street?, Where he?, Where my key?" Don't laugh - after all Malay
is not English!
While di can mean "at" as in the sentence Dia ada di rumah (He is at
home) I would suggest that you just learn that di mana means "where"
(although mana alone also means "where").
By the way you will notice that di is not joined to the word mana so as to
become a single word. In fact di is only joined to verbs so that they become
passive as you would have seen in earlier lessons (eg. Dia telah dipukul oleh
dua orang samseng means "He was beaten up by two gangsters"). When
used with adverbs, however it is not joined to them to become a single word
but is detached from them eg. di atas (= above), di bawah (= below), di sana
(= over there), di sini (= here) and not diatas, dibawah, disana or disini. Not
that it is that important as some Malaysians themselves do get them mixed
up too, but good to know.
Note:
1. Di mana bilik air?
2. Di mana kasut saya?
3. Di mana Jalan Petaling?
4. Di mana pejabat pos?
5. Di mana dia?
6. Di mana kunci saya?
You might want to replace bilik air with tandas (= toilet) or with a much less exquisite
word jamban. Any of these three words would be understood in Malaysia for the
washroom or toilet though in some inward areas of the country jamban could be just
the place where you defecate and may not even have a washbasin. So better stick to
tandas or bilik air if you can. Incidentally while "bathroom" can also mean
"washroom" in American English, in Malaysia it can only mean the place where one
goes to take one's bath, in which case the word is bilik mandi (mandi meaning "to
bathe"). So only if you intend to go for your bath should you ask Mana bilik mandi?
Okay, since we are on this topic let me introduce the two relevant words (apart from the
obvious cuci tangan = wash hands). The two words are:
kencing meaning "to urinate" and
berak (the first syllable is pronounced as "bay") meaning "to defecate".
Or if you prefer to use more refined language, you can also say buang air kecil for the
first and buang air besar for the second. If you are curious to know what they mean
well the first means "throw little water" and the second "throw big water" - very
illuminating indeed! And if you want more of Malaysian euphemism (in English this
time) instead of saying "urinate" you can say "put out the fire" while if you need to
pass motion you can say you're going to the bank. But enough of all this nonsense - let's
get back to our lesson!
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For those who want to know more:
Possible answers to the above questions:
1. Di belakang (At the back) or Di tingkat atas (On the top floor)
2. Di bawah meja (Under the table) or Dekat pintu (Near the door)
3. Di sebelah kiri (To the left) or Di sebelah kanan (To the right)
Di sebelah here means "to the side of".
4. Di hadapan anda (In front of you) or Di sana (Over there)
5. Di kedai kopi (In the coffee shop) or Di pejabat (In the office)
6. Di atas meja (On the table) or Di dalam beg anda (In your bag)
But if you don't know the answer to any of the above questions you can simply say Saya
tidak tahu or you can use a very "Malay" expression meaning the same thing:
Entahlah..
More questions:
Di mana perhentian bas? (Where is the bus-stop?)
Di mana lapangan terbang? (Where is the airport?)
Di mana stesen kereta api? (Where is the railway station?)
Note that "station" is spelt stesen and not stesyen as it would normally be if pronounced
the English way. (More on this in Lesson 49).
Di mana tempat yang baik untuk membeli-belah? (Where is a good place to go
shopping?)
Cultural note:
When one approaches a stranger with a question one does not normally put the
question abruptly to him. It is customary for one to start with a preliminary question:
Boleh saya tumpang tanya? meaning "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" or Boleh
saya tumpang tanya sedikit? (Can I ask you a bit?)
As a stranger it is better to get the go-ahead before you ask the real question though
Malaysians might just take the answer for granted and start asking the real question
immediately after eg. Boleh saya tumpang tanya, apa nama jalan ini? meaning "Don't
mind if I ask you the name of this road?"
Anyway in my whole life I have never got "No" for an answer to this question (the
preliminary question I mean) as the Malays are without doubt a very friendly race (and
all Malaysians too, for that matter).
It's best to learn this expression by itself without worrying too much about the meaning
of the word tumpang. But if you are really curious to know what it means I won't hide it
from you. It is normally used in the following two cases:
If you are putting up at a friend's place you would say you tumpang at his place. This is
quite a common practice among Malaysians who when travelling usually put up at their
friends' or their relatives' place instead of staying in hotels. It's not so much that they
are trying to save money on hotel charges (the gifts that they bring along would have
paid for the hotel room!) but it's just part of their cultural heritage, that's all (this is
slowly changing with the times though).
Sorry, I've digressed a bit. To come back to our subject. The word tumpang is also used
when you are asking for a lift in a friend's car eg. Boleh saya tumpang kereta anda ke
bandar? (Can I get a lift in your car to the city?)
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Mnemonics (to help your memory):
It's so easy to confuse the words for "left" and "right" more so when they are learnt at
the same time. From the pedagogical point of view only one of these two words should
be introduced in class until it sinks in, then only the other in order to avoid confusion.
Just imagine turning left when you are told to turn right just because you mixed up the
two words. Scary, isn't it?
However since this is not so practical in an online course, if you need to make use of
mnemonics to help you not to mix them up I have one for you. Look at the two words
and their English equivalents. The Malay word for "left" is kiri while the word for
"right" is kanan. What do you notice? Firstly, that both words in Malay start with the
letter "k" (not much of a help - only adds to the confusion). And secondly that whether
it is in English or in Malay "left" has got four letters and "right" five. Now you will
never ever mix them up again, will you?
A quick check before I say goodbye for today, is kiri right or left?
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Lesson 22 Numbers (from 100 onwards)
Before you begin:
If you have mastered counting up to 99 in Lesson 8 this final lesson on numbers in Malay
will be plain sailing to you. You will now need to know only three more words (ratus,
ribu and juta) to be able to count any number in Malay.
Counting 3-digit figures in Malay is like counting them in English the word "hundred"
being replaced by ratus.
Similarly counting in thousands and millions in Malay is like counting them in English.
You only have to replace "thousand" by ribu and "million" by juta.
As examples speak better than words here are a few examples:
193 = seratus sembilan
puluh tiga
3,586 = tiga ribu lima ratus lapan puluh enam
7,497 = tujuh ribu empat ratus sembilan puluh
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459 = empat ratus lima
tujuh
puluh sembilan
4,824 = empat ribu lapan ratus dua puluh empat
638 = enam ratus tiga
9,310 = sembilan ribu tiga ratus sepuluh
puluh lapan
6,794 = enam ribu tujuh ratus sembilan puluh
874 = lapan ratus tujuh empat
puluh empat
1,312 = seribu tiga ratus dua belas
241 = dua ratus empat
52,493 = = lima puluh dua ribu empat ratus
puluh satu
sembilan puluh tiga
562 = lima ratus enam
829,473 = lapan ratus dua puluh sembilan ribu
puluh dua
empat ratus tujuh puluh tiga
927 = sembilan ratus dua 5,413,826 = lima juta empat ratus tiga belas ribu
puluh tujuh
lapan ratus dua puluh enam
382 = tiga ratus lapan
1,123,457 = sejuta seratus dua puluh tiga ribu
puluh dua
empat ratus lima puluh tujuh
734 = tujuh ratus tiga
puluh empat
111 = seratus sebelas
For those who want to know more:
When satu is added to another word it is often contracted to se and tagged
on to the following word. Thus "satu" ratus (one hundred) becomes
seratus.
This is also the case with one thousand (seribu) and one million (sejuta).
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Lesson 23 Apa yang anda suka makan?
Saya suka makan ayam. I like to eat chicken.
Vocabulary daging = meat
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Anda suka makan apa?
Saya suka makan ikan.
Isteri saya suka makan
udang.
Suaminya suka makan
telur dan daging.
Kami* makan nasi tiaptiap hari.
What do you like to
eat?
I like to eat fish.
My wife likes to eat
prawns.
Her husband likes to
eat eggs and meat.
We eat rice every day.
suka = to
like
makan = to
eat
ayam =
chicken
ikan = fish
udang =
prawns
keju =
cheese
telur = egg
kami = we
(exclusive explanation at
bottom of page)
nasi = rice
tiap-tiap hari =
every day
itik = duck
For those who want to know more:
daging means meat in general. If you want to be specific
you can say daging lembu for beef, daging kambing for
mutton and daging babi for pork (in case you do not
already know you should not be eating pork or daging babi
Ini daging. (This is meat.)
in the company of your Malay i.e. Muslim friends).
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About the most popular Malaysian dish is called nasi lemak (photo above), a humble yet
appetizing dish (on the spicy side for most foreigners though) comprising rice cooked in
coconut milk and served with almost anything (basic items being anchovies, fried
peanuts, cucumber slices, chicken, hard-boiled egg and chili paste).
Then there is char koay teow (photo below), a dish that all Malaysians (and especially
Penangites) can never have enough of at any time of the day or night. Char koay teow
recipe here. By the way these mouth-watering photos come from the site at
http://www.malaysatayhut.com/menu.htm which shows many more popular Malaysian
dishes.
Other popular Malaysian food dishes are: rojak, sate, laksa, roti canai, mee goreng,
bihun, popiah... Sorry, I can't go on. I'm getting lapar already, are you? (I'm
introducing this word only in Lesson 33 but I think you can guess its meaning here).
Need a clue? It starts with the letter "h"!
My God, there is also the rendang daging or beef rendang. How could I have forgotten
this dish? It's simply out of this world. The beef will simply melt into your mouth, if that
is possible. But watch out, it can be a bit spicy on your palate! The photo of beef
rendang below comes from http://sunflower-recipes.blogspot.com/2010/10/rendangdaging-beef-rendang.html
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In fact while the watchword of many tourists in Malaysia is "Shop till you drop" the
watchword of Malaysians is, without doubt, "Eat till you drop." No wonder someone
has said that eating is one of the main hobbies of Malaysians!
Find out for yourselves what they are and especially what they taste like when you are
in Malaysia! Try this dish, for example. It's called roti canai. And go here for a BBC
report on Malaysia's roadside food stalls.
Incidentally the word for vegetable is sayur. "Oh, another word to learn" do I hear you
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protesting? Protest not, as this word will probably save the life of your vegetarian
friend!
If you want plain white rice in a restaurant ask for nasi putih (putih means "white"
remember?) while fried rice is nasi goreng. Yes, you guessed rightly. The word goreng
means "fried". Thus fried fish would be ikan goreng and fried chicken ayam goreng
(the adjective always comes AFTER the noun, remember?)
Please note that there are two distinct words for cooked and uncooked rice in Malay.
Rice that is already cooked (as in all the examples above) is nasi while uncooked rice
that you buy from the supermarket is called beras. So if you wish to buy 3 kilos of rice
to stock for one month you will have to say Saya hendak beli tiga kilo BERAS, and not
nasi, ok?
While on the subject of food you'll probably need to use these two adjectives at one time
or another in your eating experience:
(i) sedap which means delicious. In fact if you wish to praise your hostess's cooking you
can add the suffix nya to it. Thus after putting some food into your mouth and tasting it
you can say Ah, sedapnya
making the nya drag on for a full second or two! You can
be sure that this will please your hostess no end! I know, earlier on you have learnt that
nya is tagged on to a noun to indicate possession (bukunya means his or her book). But
sedapnya here could be translated as "Isn't it delicious!" Another word for delicious is
enak (it's pronounced as ay-nak).
(ii) The second word is pedas which means spicy (which the delicious-looking dish in the
photo above is likely to be). I hope you won't have to use this word though I doubt it
very much seeing that quite often even a local would find the curry a bit too spicy for
his palate! But then there is not one curry but different types of curry. The Malays,
Chinese and Indians all have their own versions of curry. To make matters worse some
States also have their own brand of curry!
By the way you might have heard of the expression bahasa rojak. It simply means
incorrect Malay or Malay mixed with other languages. This term comes from a popular
Malaysian dish called rojak, a mixture of raw fruits and vegetables in a hot sauce.
POPULAR MALAYSIAN FRUITS
Now we come to the names of fruits (called buah or buah-buahan in Malay). Typical
Malaysian fruits (the first two have no equivalent name in English) are: durian,
rambutan and manggis (mangosteen).
Ah, durian. The word is enough to make me take the first plane back to Malaysia for it.
And yet foreigners often complain about its "stinking" smell. Actually if you don't like
it it's simply because you're not a Malaysian, that's all. And as a foreigner you can be
forgiven for not liking it. After all not many Malaysians appreciate cheese as much as
you do. The first of the photos below is that of the durian, also known as the "king of
Malaysian fruits" that, understandably, is banned from 4 and 5-star hotels even in
Malaysia because foreigners complain of its "stinking" smell.
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From left to right (English names in brackets): durian, rambutan, manggis (mangosteen),
langsat, belimbing (starfruit) and betik (papaya)
There is also a yellow, grape-sized tropical fruit you find everywhere in Malaysia when
it's in season called langsat, with varieties called duku, dokong and duku langsat. I
particularly like "duku langsat" as when fully ripe it is really heavenly to the palate and
one could continue eating one after another without stopping! Like grapes too they
come in bunches. Not only humans love them, bats love them too - yes, that nocturnal
flying mammal with wings that are a constant nightmare to "langsat" farmers.
The table below gives the names of other common fruits found in Malaysia.
Please note that the Malay name is sometimes preceded by buah eg. papaya is betik or
buah betik and pineapple is nanas or buah nanas.
pineapple
nanas
water-melon
tembikai
banana
pisang
mango
mempelam
grape
anggur
How many meals a day do you take?
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breakfast
makan pagi (sarapan pagi)
lunch
makan tengah hari
dinner
makan malam
supper
makan lewat malam
Note:The three main meals of the day all start with the word makan meaning "to eat"
(what else?) followed by the time of the day when it is taken i.e. pagi (morning), tengah
hari (noon) and malam (night). Thus breakfast is makan pagi, lunch is makan tengah
hari and dinner is makan malam. Just think of the literal translation in English ("eat in
the morning", "eat in the afternoon", "eat at night" and you won't go wrong). Did I
hear you say "Elementary, my dear Watson"? You're right. Nothing can be easier than
this!
lewat (the first syllable is pronounced as lay-) means late (as to be late for an
appointment) so lewat malam means "late at night" and accordingly supper, which is
taken late at night, would be makan lewat malam.
If you are used to saying "Bon appétit" as the French do I doubt if you will find an
equivalent expression in Malay as Malaysians, being epicureans (and who can blame
them, with the rich diversity of appetizing dishes that they have), normally waste no
time in preliminaries when it comes to eating! You might just hear Jemput makan
(Please eat) or simply Makan, makan (Eat, Eat!) just before the "opening ceremony",
that's all. And if I were you I would not keep my host waiting, because if you are not in
a hurry to eat, he is (i.e. unless he is a Malaysian diplomat, in which case he has been
trained to be patient even though he is craving to eat!)
However if you really must find something equivalent for "Bon appétit" I guess you can
say Selamat makan since we always start any wish at all with the word Selamat so you
can't go wrong there.
You have already learnt that you go to a kedai kopi for a drink. Where then do you go
for food? Well, "restaurant" has its counterpart in Malay (restoran) or you can also say
kedai makanan, the word makanan meaning food in general. Thus:
Saya belanja lima ratus ringgit tiap bulan untuk makanan. (I spend 500 ringgit a month
on food).
*There are two words for "We" in Bahasa Malaysia, the "we inclusive" (i.e. the person
to whom you are addressing is included) and the "we exclusive" (i.e. the person to
whom you are addressing is not included). When a Malaysian says Kami makan nasi
tiap-tiap hari (We eat rice every day) he is implying that the person to whom he is
addressing (probably an European) is not included in what he says. If a Malaysian
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addresses another Malaysian (all Malaysians eat rice every day!) he will say Kita makan
nasi tiap-tiap hari (We eat rice every day).
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Lesson 24 Apa yang anda hendak minum?
(What do you want to drink?)
Saya hendak minum
kopi.
Anda hendak minum
apa?
Saya hendak minum teh.
Dia minum susu tiap-tiap
pagi.
Kawan saya minum air
sahaja.
I want to drink coffee.
What do you want to
drink?
I want to drink tea.
He drinks milk every
morning.
My friend only drinks
water.
Vocabulary
hendak = to
wish
(also, to want)
minum = to
drink
kopi = coffee
teh = tea
susu = milk
tiap-tiap pagi =
every morning
kawan = friend
air = water
sahaja = only
For those who want to know more:
Please refer to Lesson 14 on the use of hendak.
"Beer" and "whisky" keep their English pronunciation though their spelling is changed in
Malay to bir and wiski in conformity with Malay spelling rules. Thus:
Dia suka minum bir tetapi saya suka minum wiski. = He likes to drink beer but I like to drink
whisky.
Another "foreign" drink that keeps its English pronunciation is "wine" though it is spelt the
Malay way eg. Saya hendak minum wain.
And after drinking so much whisky and wine don't be surprised if you become mabuk. Yes,
you guessed it! Dia mabuk means "He is drunk".
When asking a guest what he wants to drink, it is perhaps better to use hendak (wish) than
suka (like).
However, instead of asking Anda hendak minum apa? you can also ask Anda mahu minum
apa? (What do you want to drink?) in which case the answer would be Saya mahu minum
kopi.
Note that mahu is normally pronounced mau in its spoken form.
As you've just learnt, the Malay word for milk is susu so coffee with milk is kopi susu and tea
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with milk teh susu. Similar to teh susu (except that it is covered with a thick layer of froth) is
teh tarik. It means "pulled" milk tea. You'll have to see the teaman in action tossing the tea
from one receptacle to your teacup to understand what this really means. Go below or click
here for photos of the teh tarik seller.
Those who are new to Malaysia will soon find out that teh tarik is a real social leveller in
Malaysia and considered as its national drink. Whether you are King or just a common
labourer everyone has a right to his glass of teh tarik. In fact when the price of fuel was
increased in Malaysia even non-motorists protested as they felt that this would have an
impact on the price of a glass of teh tarik! And have you heard of this? An attempt will be
made by the first Malaysian astronaut to make teh tarik in space when he accompanies the
Russian space launcher on October 6, 2007. It's going to be a really acrobatic act!*
Coffee without milk (but with sugar) is called kopi O (pronounced "or") or kopi
kosong. Same for tea - ask for teh O or teh kosong. If you want either with ice cubes just add
the word ais (as in "ice" - its English origin) or beng (Chinese origin). This is a good example
of the versatility of the Malay language adopting words from other languages like all active
and dynamic languages do.
Malaysians normally take their coffee and tea sweet so if you don't take sugar you have to
add tanpa gula (without sugar) or tak mau gula (don't want sugar)
But what if it is not sweet enough? Just say Tak cukup manis. Tolong tambah sedikit gula
lagi. (It's not sweet enough. Please add some more sugar.)
Oh, I nearly forgot. How do you say "I feel thirsty" in Malay? It's Saya berasa dahaga.
There is another word for thirsty. It's haus. So you can also say Saya berasa haus.
Incidentally "coffee shop" in Bahasa Malaysia is kedai kopi. It is equivalent to the English
pub or the French café and you go there not just for a cup of coffee but also to have your
meals (nasi lemak, roti canai, char koay teow, etc) or to sembang (chat) with your friends
(which can be very loud at times, everyone feeling as much at home in a coffee-shop as in his
own house!).
By the way please note that the first syllable in sembang is pronounced as in the English
word "same" and not as the first syllable of sembilan which, as you have already learnt in
Lesson 5, means "nine".
In fact the kedai kopi is such an institution in Malaysia and the Chinese word for it kopitiam
("tiam" meaning shop in Chinese) so widely used that the word has recently found its way
into the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka's authoritative Malay dictionary Kamus Dewan (edisi
keempat) which appeared in 2005 (the previous edition came out in 1994 and did not include
the word) with this entry:
kopitiam = kedai kopi
Another place where Malaysians like to hang out is the "mamak" stall ("mamak" being the
word locals use for an Indian converted to Islam), though if you use the word to refer to an
Indian Muslim it could stir up some hot Indian blood! And knowing how spicy Indian curries
are I would advise you not to use it! Read more about the "mamak stall" in this Wikipedia
article.
From kedai kopi meaning "coffee shop" (in Malay the adjective comes after the noun,
remember?) you would have guessed that the Malay word for "shop" is kedai. Thus Saya
akan pergi ke kedai kasut esok means "I shall be going to the shoe shop tomorrow".
Cultural note: At social functions drinks are normally offered and received with both
hands.
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Lesson 25 Mengapa? (Why?)
Mengapa tidak datang?
Kerana sakit.
Mengapa datang
lambat?
Kerana hujan.
Mengapa sedih?
Kerana sudah hilang
pasport saya.
Why didn't you come?
Because I was sick.
Why did you come late?
Because it rained.
Why are you sad?
Because I have lost my
passport.
Vocabulary
sakit = sick
lambat = late
hujan = rain
sedih = sad
hilang = to lose
For those who want to know more:
You will notice that although "you" and "I" have to be specified in English in the above
examples they are more commonly left out in Malay.
Putting the above question-and-answer form in a sentence would produce the following:
Saya tidak datang kerana sakit.
Saya datang lambat kerana hujan.
Saya sedih kerana sudah hilang pasport saya.
Another word that is used as much as kerana is sebab.
Thus to the question Mengapa datang lambat? the answer could just as well be Sebab
hujan.
Okay, if mengapa means "why", what does tidak mengapa mean? It is just an
expression that means "It doesn't matter", "It's all right" or "Forget about it". It's the
same as tidak apa.
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Lesson 26 Questions beginning with Boleh
Boleh saya masuk?
Ya, boleh.
Boleh anda datang
esok?
Tidak, tidak
boleh.
Boleh anda cakap
bahasa Inggeris?
Ya, boleh.
Boleh saya merokok?
Tidak, tidak
boleh.
Can I enter?
Yes you can.
Can you come
tomorrow?
No I can't.
Can you speak English?
Yes I can.
Can I smoke?
No you can't.
Vocabulary
boleh = can
tidak boleh = cannot
masuk = to enter
keluar = to leave
merokok = to smoke
rokok = cigarette
For those who want to know more:
Further examples:
Boleh saya jumpa Encik Tan? (Can I meet Mr. Tan?)
Boleh saya bercakap dengan saudara sekejap? (Can I talk to you for a while?). Note that
saudara is often used among friends of the same age group when addressing each other in the
place of awak or kamu.
(To a taxi-driver) Boleh tunggu sebentar? (Can you wait for a while?).
And at the end of it all (especially if he had waited patiently and in good humour for you) you
might want to say Simpan semuanya (means "Keep the change" though literally the sentence
means "Keep everything") when you hand him the fare.
To all intents and purposes there is no difference between sebentar and sekejap both of which
mean "for a short while".
Bolehkah saya pinjam pen anda sekejap? (= Can I borrow your pen for a second?)
Possible answer: Boleh, memang boleh. Ini dia. (Yes, you can, of course you can. Here it is.)
Please note the difference in pronunciation in the first syllable of memang (=of course) and
menang (=to win) both of which is spelt "me".
The first syllable of memang is pronounced as in the English word "may" while the first
syllable in the word menang is pronounced as in the first syllable of the name "Murphy".
(More of this in Lesson 50.)
Dia memang pandai means "Of course he is clever" (there is no doubt about it - it's a fact).
To end this lesson let me introduce the expression "Mana boleh!". These two words, which
you have already learnt separately, are about the most common words in the Malay language
and yet, when put together they have a very special meaning. Can you guess? Well, taking
the sense of each word in turn you would translate it literally as "Where can!". The actual
meaning is "How can!" - a protest or an exclamation meaning "It's impossible" or "I can't
believe it!" (Not to be confused with "How come?" meaning "Why" translated simply as
Mengapa).
WHAT? You don't even have a dollar in your pocket, a millionaire-to-be like you? Mana
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boleh tuan! ("How can man!" in Manglish)
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Lesson 27 Barangkali (Perhaps)
Mengapa dia belum
Why is he not here yet?
sampai lagi?
Perhaps he is sick.
Barangkali dia sakit.
When is the postman
Bila posmen akan
coming?
datang?
Perhaps in a short
Barangkali sekejap lagi.
while.
Saya mesti/harus pergi
I have to go now.
sekarang.
For those who want to know more:
When there is uncertainty
Vocabulary
belum = not yet
sampai = to arrive
posmen = the postman
mesti (harus) = must
sekarang = now
Other words that are often used in the place of barangkali are:
mungkin (=may, likely) eg.
Mungkin akan hujan esok. (It may rain tomorrow.) and
Dia mungkin datang. (He may come.)
An expression to denote a possibility is boleh jadi eg.
Boleh jadi dia tidak akan datang (It is possible that he will not turn up.)
When there is obligation or certitude
There are a number of words to convey the idea of obligation. You have already seen
one of them in the last sentence in the table above:
The word is mesti meaning "must". Example:
Saya mesti pergi sekarang. meaning "I must go now".
A more refined way of saying this is as follows: Saya harus pergi sekarang.
Here's another example of the use of mesti:
Saya mesti habiskan kerja ini sebelum pukul lima. (I must/have to finish this piece of
work by 5.)
Do you need some mnemonics to help you? Just remember that mesti and "must" both
start with the letter "m"!
A word which can be used in its place is harus, also having the sense of "must, should,
have to, ought to".
Thus the above sentence can also be put this way: Saya harus pergi sekarang. (I have to
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go now.)
A common word for certitude is tentu meaning "sure". Example:
Dia tentu gembira bila mendengar berita baik ini. (He/She is sure to be happy when
he/she hears the good news.)
Another example: Dia tentu akan datang. (He/She is sure to come.)
When you are sure about something (in the sense of "certain" or "positive"), you can
use the word pasti eg. I am sure he will win (Saya pasti dia akan menang.)
When you want to say that there is an uncertainty over some future action you can say
Belum pasti eg. It is not certain that he will be able to play (Belum pasti dia dapat
bermain.)
The word to use when you want to say that something is compulsory is wajib. Example:
Persekolahan adalah wajib untuk semua kanak-kanak. (Schooling is compulsory for all
children.)
Oh, I must not forget another common word perlu which has also the sense of
obligation besides that of needing something. It is sometimes translated as "necessary"
eg. Semua orang perlu makan dan minum untuk hidup. (Everyone needs to eat and
drink in order to live.)
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Lesson 28 Selalu (Always/Often)
Dia selalu datang ke
rumah saya.
Emak saya selalu pergi ke
pasar pada hari Ahad.
Saya selalu main tenis
dengan kawan saya.
Dia selalu naik bas untuk
pergi bekerja.
He often (always) comes to
my house.
My mother always goes to
market on Sundays.
I always play tennis with
my friend.
He always takes the bus to
go to work.
selalu = often,
always
pasar = market
main = to play
dengan = with
kawan = friend
For those who want to know more:
Although the Malay word for "take" is ambil note that when you "take" a train, a
plane, a ship, a taxi, a car or a bus you can also say naik which actually means "to
ascend" or "to rise" eg.
Harga petrol sudah naik. (The price of petrol has gone up.)
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Study the following sentence:
Untuk pergi ke Pulau Pinang dari Kuala Lumpur anda boleh naik kereta api, kapal
terbang, teksi ataupun bas.
It means "To go to Pinang from Kuala Lumpur you can take a train, a plane, a taxi or a
bus".
If you want to be very precise then use the word selalu for "always" and kerap kali for
"often". Now that you know the Malay word for "often" you might want to know how
to say the opposite i.e. "rarely" (or "seldom"). Well, the word is jarang.
Thus Dia jarang datang ke rumah saya means "He/She seldom comes to my house".
To drive home the point further you can say jarang sekali.
Thus Saya jarang sekali pergi ke dewan tari-menari. = I very rarely go to the dance-hall
(or, if you prefer, I hardly ever go to the dance-hall).
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Lesson 29 Questions beginning with Siapa
For those who want to know more:
I don't know if the word "clerk" is very widespread in your country (I sometimes see
"office workers" being used instead but in Malaysia if you ask people what type of
jobs they hold you'll often be told Saya kerani (I'm a clerk) so learn the word kerani
well (at least know what it means when you hear it). Does that word ring a bell? Do
you think you have come across that word already? In that case the chances are
that you're confusing it with the word kerana which means "because" and which you
have already learnt in Lesson 25.
While we're at it I guess there's no harm bringing up two more words quite similar
so you won't ever mix them up. One is kereta meaning "a car" and the other kelabu
meaning "grey" in colour.
And in case you have an enemy and want to make it known you might need to learn
this sentence!
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Dia bukan kawan saya. Dia musuh saya. (He is not my friend. He is my enemy).
There is a second word for enemy (starting with s) but I don't think you have that
many enemies to need to learn another word for it!
Further examples with siapa:
(When answering the telephone) Helo, Peter di sini. Siapa itu? or Siapa di sana?
(Hello, Peter here. Who is it?)
Siapa orang lelaki itu? - Dia guru bahasa saya. (Who is that man? - He is my
language teacher.)
Siapa orang perempuan itu? - Dia isteri saya. (Who is that woman? - She is my
wife.)
In all the above examples I have used Siapa at the beginning of the sentence.
However it can also appear at the end, as in the following sentences:
Anda cari siapa? (Who are you looking for?)
Saya cari kawan saya. (I'm looking for my friend.)
cari or mencari means to search or to look for someone or something eg.
Dia sedang mencari kunci keretanya. (=He is searching for his car keys.)
Incidentally (as you will learn in Lesson 49) the pronunciation of the syllable "ca" in
cari is not ka but cha as in cha-cha-cha so the word is pronounced as cha-ri.
Ini untuk siapa? (Who is this for?)
Ini untuk bapa saya. (This is for my father.)
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Family Relationships
I think this is a good place to bring in the Malay words for the most important
members of the family. Here is the core vocabulary for family members (some of
which you have already come across but I'm adding them here to make the list
complete)
One thing to note though. Apart from the linguistic aspect, there is also the cultural
aspect to be kept in mind when you are talking about your siblings in Malay. This is
because while in English we can just say "He is my brother" or "She is my sister" and
leave it at that (that is, without revealing if he or she is older or younger than
yourself), this is simply not possible in Malay where you have to specify each time if
it is your younger or elder brother or sister you are talking about. The only possible
case for ambiguity is in the case of a younger sibling where you can leave out the
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gender eg. Adik saya tinggal di New York will leave the listener in doubt as to
whether you are talking about a younger brother or a younger sister. (To make it
clear you will have to say adik lelaki for a younger brother or adik perempuan for a
younger sister). Of course this will not be necessary if the person is with you, as the
situation will show if it's a brother or sister.
Another thing to note is that just as Malaysians are fond of using the word "uncle" or
"auntie" when addressing a man or woman who is older than you (out of
politeness), adik can also be used to address a child, even if he is unrelated to you.
A woman could also call her husband abang. It doesn't mean that he is her elder
brother at all! So let's look at the list of the most common family members below:
father = bapa or ayah
mother = emak or ibu
daughter = anak perempuan
son = anak lelaki
brother (younger) = adik lelaki
brother (elder) = abang
sister (younger) = adik perempuan
sister (elder) = kakak
husband = suami
wife = isteri
aunt = emak saudara (spoken form: mak cik)
uncle = bapa saudara (spoken form: pak cik)
grandfather = datuk*
grandmother = nenek
grandson = cucu lelaki
granddaughter = cucu perempuan
nephew = anak saudara lelaki
niece = anak saudara perempuan
cousin = saudara sepupu
father-in-law = bapa mertua
mother-in-law = ibu mertua
son-in-law = menantu lelaki
daughter-in-law = menantu perempuan
brother-in-law (older than you) = abang ipar
brother-in-law (younger) = adik ipar (lelaki)
sister-in-law (older) = kakak ipar
sister-in-law (younger) = adik ipar (perempuan)
step-mother = emak tiri
step-father = bapa tiri
adopted child = anak angkat
Quite a handful eh? The best way to study this category of vocabulary is to write the
names of your family members on a piece of paper and then their relationships to
you eg.
Tom adalah adik lelaki saya (replace "adik lelaki" with abang or bapa saudara or
suami, etc.)
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Mary adalah adik perempuan saya (replace "adik perempuan" with kakak or emak
saudara or isteri, etc.)
So whenever you are asked Siapa dia? (= Who is he/she?) you will have your
answer ready.
Besides this is a much more meaningful way of learning such words than if you were
to learn them by rote off a list.
*Please note that Datuk (with a capital letter) is a title awarded to prominent
Malaysians by the Sultans or King on their birthdays. It is usually followed by the
person's name though you normally use the word by itself without the name when
you are addressing the person directly. But if you are a nondescript like me, you can
still "earn" that title by becoming a grandfather!
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Lesson 30 Sejuk (Cold)
I am cold.
Saya sejuk.
My coffee has become
Kopi saya sudah sejuk.
cold.
Kopi anda masih panas.
Your coffee is still hot.
Hari ini panas.
It is hot today.
sejuk = cold
kopi = coffee
masih = still
panas = hot
hari ini = today
For those who want to know more:
In the second sentence the word sudah indicates that some action has
already taken place, in this case the coffee that was formerly hot has
turned cold.
From the word panas (=hot) we have the expression panas hati (hati=heart) which means "got
worked up". This is a more refined way of saying that someone is angry (=marah)
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Lesson 31 Sedang (Present Continuous
Tense)
Dia sedang mandi.
Jangan nyanyi, dia sedang
tidur.
Sila (Tolong) tunggu sekejap,
dia sedang makan.
He is having his bath.
Don't sing, he is sleeping.
Please wait for a while, he is
eating.
mandi = to
bathe
nyanyi = to
sing
tolong =
please
tunggu = to
wait
For those who want to know more:
sedang is used to indicate that someone is in the middle of doing something (what
grammarians call the present continuous tense). As in the examples above, where you need to
add -ing to an English verb you would put sedang before the verb in Malay.
Another example: Bila saya masuk ke pejabatnya dia sedang baca surat khabar. (When I
entered his office he was reading a newspaper.)
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Lesson 35 Sudah (Describing the past)
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For those who want to know more:
Please note that "I have not eaten" cannot be translated as Saya tidak sudah makan. If
you wish to say the opposite of sudah you have to replace sudah with belum (not yet)
which is already dealt with in Lesson 13.
A word that is often used in the place of sudah is telah. However telah is mainly used in
the written form, not in the spoken.
Yet another word to indicate an action that took place in the past is pernah which will
be explained in Lesson 53.
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Lesson 36 Tadi (Just now)
Dia datang tadi.
Isteri anda telefon tadi.
Apa kata dia?
Dia kata dia sakit.
Saya pergi ke rumah kawan
saya tadi.
He came just now.
Your wife phoned a while
ago.
What did she say?
She said she was sick.
I went to my friend's
house just now.
Vocabulary
tadi = just now, a
while ago
kata = to say
sakit = sick
kawan saya = my
friend
More examples:
Dia marah dengan saya tadi (a little pause here) kerana saya tidak tolong dia = He was angry with me
just now because I didn't help him.
Please note that the colloquial form uses the word sama instead of dengan.
So don't be surprised at all if you hear the above sentence as:
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Dia marah sama saya tadi (a little pause here) kerana saya tidak tolong dia.
In short if you want to ask someone if he (or she) is angry with you, you can either say:
Anda marah dengan sayakah? or Anda marah sama sayakah?
For those who want to know more:
Instead of tadi, you might sometimes hear sekejap tadi which also means "a short while ago".
Please don't mix this up with sekejap lagi which means "in a short while".
Thus while tadi or sekejap tadi is used for the immediate past, sekejap lagi is used for the
immediate future.
So if you should ask Bila hendak keluar? (When are you leaving?) and you get the answer
Sekejap lagi you will know that the person you are talking to is leaving in a short while.
When you visit a person at his house or at his office you might sometimes be told Tunggu
sekejap. It means "Wait a while" eg.
Dia akan datang sekejap lagi. Tunggu sekejap. (He will be coming soon. Wait a while.) or
Dia akan balik sekejap lagi. Tunggulah sekejap. (He will be back soon. Please wait a while)
The suffix -lah can be added to a word to "soften" what might appear to be a "command" word
(in this case not "You wait here" but "Please wait here".)
Similarly Berhenti sekejap mean"Stop a while".
This brings me to another important word to add to your Malay vocabulary. The word is penat
and it means "tired".
Example:
Saya penat. Boleh berhenti sekejap? (I'm tired. Can we stop a while?)
There's another word meaning the same as penat and that is letih.
Thus you can also say:
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Saya letih. Boleh berehat sekejap? (I'm tired. Can we rest a while?)
For practice try to get someone to ask you the following questions and answer them with tadi
or sekejap tadi.
Bila dia datang? (When did he come?)
Bila dia telefon? (When did he phone?)
Bila dia keluar? (When did he leave?)
Or perhaps if your friend doesn't know Malay it's easier if it is you who ask the questions and
your friend only has to reply tadi! Have fun!
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Lesson 37 Tidak Not (used with adjectives or verbs)
Saya tidak faham.
Dia tidak marah.
Saya tidak lapar.
Saya tidak tahu.
Anda tidak boleh
masuk.
I don't understand.
He is not angry.
I am not hungry.
I don't know.
You can't enter.
faham = to
understand
marah = angry
lapar = hungry
tahu = to know
tidak boleh = cannot
masuk = to enter
For those who want to know more:
Tidak apa (or tidak mengapa) means "It doesn't matter". It is quite often shortened to
Tak apa in its spoken form.
Tidak ada (not to have) is often abridged to tiada eg. Dia tiada wang.= He has no money.
Further examples:
Dia tidak sakit. (He is not sick.)
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Sepuluh ringgit sahaja? - Tidak mahal! (Only 10 ringgit? It's not expensive!)
Pejabat saya tidak jauh dari sini. (My office is not far from here.)
Saya tidak dengar berita itu. (I didn't hear that piece of news.)
Saya tidak kenal dia. (I don't know him.)
Ini tidak bagus. (This is not good.)
Cerita itu tidak benar. ( That story is not true.)
Itu tidak betul. ( That is not true.)
Note: There is often some confusion for beginners over the use of the word tidak and bukan,
both of which mean "not". Generally, when "not" is used with a noun or pronoun (eg. He is not
my friend or It was not him) bukan and not tidak is used while tidak is normally used with
verbs and adjectives (except for adjectives of colour which take bukan) . As I do not wish to
confuse the learner by introducing both tidak and bukan at the same time I have waited till
Lesson 51 to show how bukan is used.
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Lesson 38 Tolong Please (asking a service)
Tolong tunggu di sini.
- Baiklah.
Tolong panggil dia.
Tolong tutup pintu.
Tolong berhenti
sekejap.
Please wait here.
- All right.
Please call him.
Please close the door.
Please stop for a while.
tunggu = to wait
panggil = to call
tutup = to close
pintu = door
berhenti = to stop
sekejap = a while
For those who want to know more:
Tolong
is the word to use when you are asking a service or help from someone.
Thus "Can you help me?" would be Bolehkah anda tolong saya? or if you want to speak like
the locals do, that is, colloquially, just say Boleh tolong sikit? (literally Can you help a bit?)
The usual answer is simply Boleh (= Can) or if you feel like impressing your interlocutor
answer with Memang boleh. (Of course I can help you!) Make sure you pronounce it as may-
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mang (remember that the e vowel has got two pronunciations in Malay).
Note: The usual answer to requests beginning with the word Tolong, for example, Tolong
jawab telefon (Please answer the phone) is: Baiklah. (= okay)
When used alone (usually as an exclamation) Tolong! means Help! Thus if you shout out
loudly TOLONG! you are asking the people around you for help as you are in trouble (as when
you are being forcibly robbed or attacked but certainly not when you are drowning!) In this last
case it is likely to be the bystanders who will shout out TOLONG! on your behalf!
Much easier though is to ask someone to close the window: Tolong tutup tingkap. You can
also say: Tolong tutup jendela as both tingkap and jendela mean "window".
An expression meaning "If you don't mind, please..." which is perhaps not so easy to learn but
which is sure to impress people with your politeness (and your Malay!) when you use it, is:
Kalau tidak keberatan, tolong... followed by whatever favour you want the person to whom you
are saying this to do eg. if you wish somebody to explain something to you all over again you
can say: Kalau tidak keberatan (a little pause) tolong terangkan kepada saya sekali lagi. (= If
you don't mind, please explain it to me again).
The word keberatan (= unwillingness, objection) comes from the word berat which means
"heavy" as in Barang ini berat (This thing is heavy).
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Lesson 39 Untuk (For)
Ada surat untuk saya?
- Ya, ini dia.
Ini untuk siapa?
- Untuk anda.
Dia simpan wang untuk beli
kereta baru.
Is there a letter for me?
Yes, here it is.
Who is this for?
For you.
He is saving money to buy a
new car.
surat = a letter
siapa = who
simpan = to
keep/save
wang = money
beli = to buy
baru = new
Further examples:
Saya ada hadiah untuk anda. (I have a gift for you.)
Surat ini untuk siapa? - Untuk dia. (Who is this letter for? - For him.)
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Lesson 40 Yang mana? (Which one?)
Which pen is yours?
- This one.
Which umbrella is
yours?
That one.
Which one do you
want?
The red one.
For those who want to know more:
Yang mana pen anda?
- Yang ini.
Yang mana payung
anda?
- Yang itu.
Yang mana hendak?
- Yang merah itu.
Vocabulary
mana = where
pen = a pen
payung = umbrella
hendak = to wish
merah = red
The word "yang" is also widely used in forming the superlative eg. "Dia yang tua
sekali" (He is the oldest). You will learn about this in Lesson 58.
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Lesson 31 Sedang (Present Continuous Tense)
Dia sedang mandi.
Jangan nyanyi, dia
sedang tidur.
Sila (Tolong) tunggu
sekejap, dia sedang
makan.
He is having his bath.
Don't sing, he is sleeping.
Please wait for a while, he
is eating.
mandi = to
bathe
nyanyi = to
sing
tolong =
please
tunggu = to
wait
For those who want to know more:
sedang is used to indicate that someone is in the middle of doing
something (what grammarians call the present continuous tense). As
in the examples above, where you need to add -ing to an English verb
you would put sedang before the verb in Malay.
Another example: Bila saya masuk ke pejabatnya dia sedang baca
surat khabar. (When I entered his office he was reading a newspaper.)
Lesson 32 Suka (To like)
Dia suka makan keju.
Saya suka makan nasi
goreng.
Abang saya suka main
badminton.
Saya suka tengok
wayang gambar
Melayu.
Boleh tolong tunjuk
gambar anda?
He (or she) likes to eat
cheese.
I like to eat fried rice.
My elder brother likes
to play badminton.
I like to watch Malay
movies.
Can you please show me
your photo?
keju = cheese
nasi = rice
goreng = to fry
nasi goreng = fried rice
main = to play
tengok = to watch
wayang gambar = film,
movie
tunjuk = to show
gambar = photo
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For those who want to know more:
Note that filem (from the English word "film") has the same two meanings as in
English: (1) a movie, also called wayang gambar as in the sentence above and (2) the roll
of film that you put in a camera.
By the way you can also say Saya suka menonton wayang gambar Melayu instead of
Saya suka tengok wayang gambar Melayu for "I like to watch Malay movies".
Similarly, although gambar means "photo" you can if you like use the English word
which is spelt foto in Malay.
There, you already know two Malay words without any effort: filem meaning a film
(movie) as well as a roll of film and foto meaning a photo. Who says Malay is a difficult
language to study?
A word for liking something that is a sport or a hobby is gemar. This word however is
not to be used for a person so perhaps it's better just to forget about it and use suka
even for sports and games. Example:
Dia gemar berenang. (He/She likes to swim.)
Abang saya gemar main badminton. (My elder brother likes to play badminton, which
by the way, is a favourite sport among Malaysians.)
Saya gemar menonton filem. (I like to watch movies.)
When you are not sure, however, whether to use gemar or suka it's best to stick to suka.
You can never go wrong there. And you will also make life less complicating!
When it comes to love between a man and a woman, however, the word to
use is cinta (pronounced chin-ta).
Sorry, I forgot to give the equivalent of the famous "I love you" in Bahasa
earlier.
It's Saya cinta padamu (mu being the short form for kamu). You can use anda,
of course, though in this context the word somehow sounds less romantic! Shh,
just between you and me, in how many languages can you say this now?
Nuances in synonyms: In English "to like" and "to love" are quite often used
interchangeably eg. "He loves to eat cheese" is the same as "He likes to eat cheese" (Dia
suka makan keju). Though it is also possible to use "love" in the sense of "like" in
Malay I will, from here on, talk about love with regard to sentiments only and not with
regard to one's tastes.
There are 3 words for "to love" in Malay. These are: sayang, kasih and cinta. These
three words in fact are used to express one's sentiments or love for another person,
normally for family members or one's beloved. While cinta
is used for lovers and
lovers only sayang and kasih are used for love among family members.
Thus you will say Saya cinta teman lelaki saya (I love my boyfriend) or Saya cinta
teman perempuan saya (I love my girlfriend) but you will say Saya sayang adik lelaki
saya (I love my little brother).
But sayang is also the word to use when you regret something. Thus each time you want
to say "What a pity!" you can say Sayang! or if you want to give it even greater
emphasis Sayang sekali! (What a real pity!)
If you like someone outside of the family circle but not in a romantic way then you can
say Saya suka dia. (I like him.) But to avoid any ambiguity you could add Dia macam
abang saya. (He is like my big brother.)
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Let's see if I can help you with some mnemonics. If you court someone or if you have a
crush on someone, that is romantic love, not family love. You will notice that both
words start with the letter c just as cinta the Malay word to use in such a case, does. I
hope this helps and that you will not use it wrongly.
Paradoxically, although kasih itself is affection among family members (normally in the
expression kasih sayang) the word kekasih DOES mean one's lover. Thus: Dia jumpa
kekasihnya tiap-tiap hari. (She sees her sweetheart every day/He sees his sweetheart
every day).
or Dia akan berkahwin dengan kekasihnya tahun hadapan. (He is going to marry his
beloved next year).
But in Malaysia it's still the practice to get engaged before you get married. Once you
become engaged your kekasih becomes your tunang (= betrothed or fiancé/fiancée).
If you wish to convey the idea of missing someone or even pining for him or her the
word to use is rindu.
Thus Dia rindu akan anak perempuannya yang berada di luar negeri means "He misses
his daughter who is abroad". I hope I don't have to repeat that dia can also stand for
"she" so it could just as well be the mother who's saying this.
However please note that the word rindu is not restricted to people only.
Thus to say that one is homesick one can say:
Saya rindu akan kampung halaman saya.
(kampung halaman means one's hometown or native village so it is equivalent to saying
"I miss my hometown").
You will notice that in both the above examples rindu is always followed immediately by
the preposition akan.
If you don't want to use the preposition akan then you will have to add a prefix and a
suffix to rindu making it merindui.
In such a case the above examples become:
Dia merindui anak perempuannya yang berada di luar negeri.
and
Saya merindui kampung halaman saya.
Choose the syntax that is the easiest for you.
More vocabulary:
teman lelaki = boyfriend
teman perempuan = girlfriend
kekasih saya = my love (beloved)
merindui = to miss, to long for (someone or something)
To kiss someone is mencium
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Lesson 33 Sangat (Very)
ni sangat mahal!
Dia sangat marah.
Saya sangat lapar.
Ini sangat mustahak.
This is very expensive!
He is very angry.
I am very hungry.
This is very important.
mahal = expensive
murah = cheap
marah = angry
lapar = hungry
mustahak = important
More examples:
Dia sangat pandai (He is very clever)
Kopi ini sangat panas (This coffee is very hot)
Note the difference between the former sentence and this: Kopi ini terlalu panas (This
coffee is too hot)
There is another word for "very" though it is a little bit more formal than sangat. The
word is amat eg. Barang ini amat mahal (This item is very expensive) or Dia amat
pandai. (He is very intelligent.)
And what is another word for barang, do you remember? It also starts with the letter
"b" (you can find it in Lesson 19).
Lesson 34 Sila (Please)
Sila duduk!
Boleh saya masuk?
Boleh, sila masuk.
Sila makan.
Sila minum.
Sila datang ke rumah
saya bila senang.
Please sit!
Can I enter?
Yes, please enter.
Please eat.
Please drink.
Please come to my house
when you are free.
Vocabulary
sila = please
duduk = to sit
masuk = to enter
minum = to drink
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For those who want to know more:
The word Sila can be translated as "Please" in English and is usually used when you
invite someone respectfully to do something. Thus Sila datang ke rumah saya bila
senang means "Please come to my house when you are free." So just remember that Sila
is always used for a polite invitation or request.
In the case of asking a service of another or for help it is better to use the word Tolong
(see Lesson 38) to remove all ambiguity.
When you want your guests to feel really at home you can say Buat seperti di rumah
sendiri (literally) Behave as if you are in your own house, or as we say in English: Make
yourself at home!
When Sila is used with the suffix kan it doesn't need any other word to go with it as it
has the sense of "Go ahead" or "Help yourself".
Thus when someone asks if he can borrow something from you (eg. Boleh saya pinjam
pen anda sekejap? meaning "Can I borrow your pen for a while?") you can just say
Silakan (the equivalent in English being "Sure, go ahead" or "Sure, just help yourself".
Another word that is often used in the place of Sila is Jemput or Jemputlah. Thus when
you invite someone to enter your house you can say Jemputlah masuk.
When asking guests to help themselves to the food that is displayed on the table you can
simply say Jemputlah or Silakan (both of which mean "Please help yourself") with your
hand showing the table where the food is. Similarly instead of saying Sila makan you
can also say Jemput makan.
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Lesson 35 Sudah (Describing the past)
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Saya sudah makan.
Dia sudah mandi.
Saya sudah siap.
Anak perempuan saya
sudah kahwin.
I have eaten.
He has taken his bath.
I am ready.
My daughter is
(already) married.
Vocabulary
siap = to be ready
anak = child
anak perempuan =
daughter
anak lelaki = son
For those who want to know more:
Please note that "I have not eaten" cannot be translated as Saya tidak sudah makan. If
you wish to say the opposite of sudah you have to replace sudah with belum (not yet)
which is already dealt with in Lesson 13.
A word that is often used in the place of sudah is telah. However telah is mainly used in
the written form, not in the spoken.
Yet another word to indicate an action that took place in the past is pernah which will
be explained in Lesson 53.
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Lesson 36 Tadi (Just now)
Dia datang tadi.
Isteri anda telefon tadi.
Apa kata dia?
Dia kata dia sakit.
Saya pergi ke rumah kawan
saya tadi.
He came just now.
Your wife phoned a while
ago.
What did she say?
She said she was sick.
I went to my friend's
house just now.
Vocabulary
tadi = just now, a
while ago
kata = to say
sakit = sick
kawan saya = my
friend
More examples:
Dia marah dengan saya tadi (a little pause here) kerana saya tidak tolong dia = He was angry with me
just now because I didn't help him.
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Please note that the colloquial form uses the word sama instead of dengan.
So don't be surprised at all if you hear the above sentence as:
Dia marah sama saya tadi (a little pause here) kerana saya tidak tolong dia.
In short if you want to ask someone if he (or she) is angry with you, you can either say:
Anda marah dengan sayakah? or Anda marah sama sayakah?
For those who want to know more:
Instead of tadi, you might sometimes hear sekejap tadi which also means "a short while ago".
Please don't mix this up with sekejap lagi which means "in a short while".
Thus while tadi or sekejap tadi is used for the immediate past, sekejap lagi is used for the
immediate future.
So if you should ask Bila hendak keluar? (When are you leaving?) and you get the answer
Sekejap lagi you will know that the person you are talking to is leaving in a short while.
When you visit a person at his house or at his office you might sometimes be told Tunggu
sekejap. It means "Wait a while" eg.
Dia akan datang sekejap lagi. Tunggu sekejap. (He will be coming soon. Wait a while.) or
Dia akan balik sekejap lagi. Tunggulah sekejap. (He will be back soon. Please wait a while)
The suffix -lah can be added to a word to "soften" what might appear to be a "command" word
(in this case not "You wait here" but "Please wait here".)
Similarly Berhenti sekejap mean"Stop a while".
This brings me to another important word to add to your Malay vocabulary. The word is penat
and it means "tired".
Example:
Saya penat. Boleh berhenti sekejap? (I'm tired. Can we stop a while?)
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There's another word meaning the same as penat and that is letih.
Thus you can also say:
Saya letih. Boleh berehat sekejap? (I'm tired. Can we rest a while?)
For practice try to get someone to ask you the following questions and answer them with tadi
or sekejap tadi.
Bila dia datang? (When did he come?)
Bila dia telefon? (When did he phone?)
Bila dia keluar? (When did he leave?)
Or perhaps if your friend doesn't know Malay it's easier if it is you who ask the questions and
your friend only has to reply tadi! Have fun!
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Lesson 37 Tidak Not (used with adjectives or verbs)
Saya tidak faham.
Dia tidak marah.
Saya tidak lapar.
Saya tidak tahu.
Anda tidak boleh
masuk.
I don't understand.
He is not angry.
I am not hungry.
I don't know.
You can't enter.
faham = to
understand
marah = angry
lapar = hungry
tahu = to know
tidak boleh = cannot
masuk = to enter
For those who want to know more:
Tidak apa (or tidak mengapa) means "It doesn't matter". It is quite often shortened to
Tak apa in its spoken form.
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Tidak ada (not to have) is often abridged to tiada eg. Dia tiada wang.= He has no money.
Further examples:
Dia tidak sakit. (He is not sick.)
Sepuluh ringgit sahaja? - Tidak mahal! (Only 10 ringgit? It's not expensive!)
Pejabat saya tidak jauh dari sini. (My office is not far from here.)
Saya tidak dengar berita itu. (I didn't hear that piece of news.)
Saya tidak kenal dia. (I don't know him.)
Ini tidak bagus. (This is not good.)
Cerita itu tidak benar. ( That story is not true.)
Itu tidak betul. ( That is not true.)
Note: There is often some confusion for beginners over the use of the word tidak and bukan,
both of which mean "not". Generally, when "not" is used with a noun or pronoun (eg. He is not
my friend or It was not him) bukan and not tidak is used while tidak is normally used with
verbs and adjectives (except for adjectives of colour which take bukan) . As I do not wish to
confuse the learner by introducing both tidak and bukan at the same time I have waited till
Lesson 51 to show how bukan is used.
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Lesson 38 Tolong Please (asking a service)
Tolong tunggu di sini.
- Baiklah.
Tolong panggil dia.
Tolong tutup pintu.
Tolong berhenti
sekejap.
Please wait here.
- All right.
Please call him.
Please close the door.
Please stop for a while.
tunggu = to wait
panggil = to call
tutup = to close
pintu = door
berhenti = to stop
sekejap = a while
For those who want to know more:
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Tolong
is the word to use when you are asking a service or help from someone.
Thus "Can you help me?" would be Bolehkah anda tolong saya? or if you want to speak like
the locals do, that is, colloquially, just say Boleh tolong sikit? (literally Can you help a bit?)
The usual answer is simply Boleh (= Can) or if you feel like impressing your interlocutor
answer with Memang boleh. (Of course I can help you!) Make sure you pronounce it as maymang (remember that the e vowel has got two pronunciations in Malay).
Note: The usual answer to requests beginning with the word Tolong, for example, Tolong
jawab telefon (Please answer the phone) is: Baiklah. (= okay)
When used alone (usually as an exclamation) Tolong! means Help! Thus if you shout out
loudly TOLONG! you are asking the people around you for help as you are in trouble (as when
you are being forcibly robbed or attacked but certainly not when you are drowning!) In this last
case it is likely to be the bystanders who will shout out TOLONG! on your behalf!
Much easier though is to ask someone to close the window: Tolong tutup tingkap. You can
also say: Tolong tutup jendela as both tingkap and jendela mean "window".
An expression meaning "If you don't mind, please..." which is perhaps not so easy to learn but
which is sure to impress people with your politeness (and your Malay!) when you use it, is:
Kalau tidak keberatan, tolong... followed by whatever favour you want the person to whom you
are saying this to do eg. if you wish somebody to explain something to you all over again you
can say: Kalau tidak keberatan (a little pause) tolong terangkan kepada saya sekali lagi. (= If
you don't mind, please explain it to me again).
The word keberatan (= unwillingness, objection) comes from the word berat which means
"heavy" as in Barang ini berat (This thing is heavy).
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Lesson 39 Untuk (For)
Ada surat untuk saya?
- Ya, ini dia.
Ini untuk siapa?
- Untuk anda.
Dia simpan wang untuk beli
kereta baru.
Is there a letter for me?
Yes, here it is.
Who is this for?
For you.
He is saving money to buy a
new car.
surat = a letter
siapa = who
simpan = to
keep/save
wang = money
beli = to buy
baru = new
Further examples:
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Saya ada hadiah untuk anda. (I have a gift for you.)
Surat ini untuk siapa? - Untuk dia. (Who is this letter for? - For him.)
Lesson 40 Yang mana? (Which one?)
Which pen is yours?
- This one.
Which umbrella is
yours?
That one.
Which one do you
want?
The red one.
For those who want to know more:
Yang mana pen anda?
- Yang ini.
Yang mana payung
anda?
- Yang itu.
Yang mana hendak?
- Yang merah itu.
Vocabulary
mana = where
pen = a pen
payung = umbrella
hendak = to wish
merah = red
The word "yang" is also widely used in forming the superlative eg. "Dia yang tua
sekali" (He is the oldest). You will learn about this in Lesson 58.
Lesson 51 Bukan Not (used with nouns/pronouns)
Dia bukan isteri saya!
Ini bukan payung saya.
Itu kereta anda?
Bukan,
itu bukan kereta saya.
Dia bukan orang Malaysia, dia
She is not my wife!
This is not my umbrella.
Is that your car? No, that is not my
car.
He is not Malaysian, he is Japanese.
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orang Jepun.
For those who want to know more:
There are two words of negation in Malay bukan and tidak.
But there is a difference between them. Bukan
is mainly used to DENY the truth of
something and is therefore used with nouns
and pronouns eg. Ini bukan kereta saya (This
is not my car) or Bukan dia (Not him) while
tidak (already covered in detail in Lesson 37),
is mainly used with adjectives and verbs. To
refresh your memory here are some sentences
that show how tidak is used with adjectives:
Ini tidak berat. = This is not heavy.
Dia tidak gemuk. = He is not fat.
and with verbs:
Dia tidak ambil beg saya. = He didn't take my
bag.
Don't ask me why but the word ambil is often
pronounced as ambek in its spoken form.
Saya tidak tahu dia sudah keluar. = I didn't
know that he had left.
Note the difference between Dia tidak bodoh.
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= He is not stupid (as can be seen from his
consistently good results) and
Dia bukan bodoh tetapi malas. = He is not
stupid but lazy (to explain why he got low
marks).
Bukan and not tidak is used for colours, eg.:
Warna kesukaannya ia-lah biru, bukan merah.
= His favourite colour is blue, not red.
Note that bukan is also used as a question tag
in the same way that French speakers use
"n'est-ce pas". Eg.:
Ini pen anda, bukan? = This is your pen, isn't
it?
where bukan is added more for confirmation
than anything else. Thus in such questions the
person expects you to answer Ya, ini pen saya.
(Yes, this is my pen.) But if this is not the case
and it is not your pen, the answer would be:
Bukan, ini bukan pen saya. (No, this is not my
pen.)
Another eg.:
Dia kata dia akan datang esok, bukan? = He
said he would be coming tomorrow, didn't he?
How would you translate the following
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sentence in Malay: "This is the first time I
come to Malaysia".
Well, it is translated as Ini kali pertama saya
datang ke Malaysia.
But how do you deny the above statement (i.e.
if this is not the first time you come to
Malaysia). Where would you put bukan? As in
English bukan (not) is inserted before "first
time". Thus:
Ini bukan kali pertama saya datang ke
Malaysia. = This is not the first time I come to
Malaysia.
If I said Hari ini hari Ahad = Today is Sunday
when it is not so, again it is bukan and not
tidak that has to be used.
You will therefore say Hari ini bukan hari
Ahad = Today is not Sunday. Perhaps it will
help if you remember that when factual errors
have to be corrected it is bukan that has to be
used.
In other words when someone says something
that is not true you have to use bukan and not
tidak (though as you are a foreigner you will
be understood even if you should use one for
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the other so don't worry too much over this.)
Incidentally when you wish to point out to
someone that he is not doing things as it
should be done you will say Bukan begitu.
In the rare occasions when bukan is used with
an adjective it is usually followed by another
clause starting with tetapi as in the following
sentence:
Dia bukan sombong tetapi malu. = He is not
proud but shy.
If no such distinction is made you will simply
say Dia tidak sombong. (He is not proud).
Finally if all the above is quite confusing to
you just learn these two little phrases by heart
as they will be needed at one time or another
in your daily conversations:
Bukan dia meaning "Not him (or her)" but
someone else
and Bukan itu meaning "Not that one!" (when
you are being shown an article in a shop).
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Lesson 52 Masih (Still)
Dia masih sibuk.
Dia tidak dapat jumpa tuan. Dia
masih sakit.
Tunggulah sekejap. Dia masih
makan.
Dia belum siap lagi. Dia masih tidur.
He is still busy.
He is not able to meet you. He is still
sick.
Please wait a while. He is still eating.
He is not ready yet. He is still
sleeping.
For those who want to know more:
The best way to learn to use the word masih correctly is through studying
illustrative sentences. Thus:
Saya sudah minta dia makan tetapi dia masih bermain.
= I have already asked him to eat but he is still playing.
Dia sudah berumur 40 tahun tetapi masih bujang.
= He is already 40 but is still a bachelor.
Abang saya sudah berumur 50 tahun tetapi belum berkahwin lagi.
= My elder brother is already 50 but is still unmarried (literally "has not
married yet").
I might as well introduce the other words that describe one's marital status.
The Malay word for spinster is anak dara (the word dara alone means
"virgin").
Since the word tua means old the Malay equivalent for an old maid is anak
dara tua (shortened to andartu from the first syllables of each of the three
words).
If you wish to say that a person is married you say Dia sudah berkahwin.
Similarly to say that a person is divorced you say Dia sudah bercerai.
Next we have the word janda which usually means a divorcée though it can
also mean widow (the more common word for widow being balu)
In the case of a man the same word duda is used for a widower as well as a
divorcé.
Yes, I do admit it is confusing - even for me!
At this stage of the course you should be able to tackle even longer
sentences. So here goes:
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Walaupun sudah 20 tahun kami tidak berjumpa, dia masih kenal saya
juga.
= Although we have not met for 20 years, he could still recognise me.
Here juga is used to "reinforce" the sentence but it could very well be left
out. The usual sense of juga is "also". Example:
Dia senyum (He is smiling)
Dia senyum juga. (It is also smiling)
Saya ingat dia sudah keluar tetapi dia masih ada di rumah.
I thought he had left but he is still in the house.
Please note that the usual meaning of ingat is "to remember" as in Ingat
tak? (Do you remember?) to which the answer could be Ya, saya ingat
(Yes, I do remember) or Tidak, saya sudah lupa (No, I've forgotten).
However, as in my illustrative sentence above ingat is often used to mean "I
think that" or "I believe that" eg. Saya ingat akan hujan sekejap lagi (I
think it will rain soon). The usual word for "think" though (meaning "to
ponder") is fikir.
At times you might want to start a sentence with "I feel that..." In Malay
you would say Saya rasa... or, equally, Saya ingat...
In this case it would be the equivalent of saying Saya fikir...
Note: Ada means to have, as in ( Saya ada 2 orang anak. = I have two
children) but it is often used to indicate that someone is at a certain place
eg. Dia ada di sana (He is there.) instead of saying Dia di sana.
To say that someone is at the office at this moment we would say Dia ada di
pejabat pada masa ini.
Although Saya hendak pergi juga is translated as "I wish to go too" don't
think for a moment that you can use juga in a sentence such as "He is too
shy". In such a sentence "too" has to be translated as terlalu. Thus Dia
terlalu malu is how you would say "He's too shy" in Malay.
Lesson 53 Pernah (ever)
Saya pernah berjumpa
I have met him before.
(dengan) dia.
He was once my neighbour (at a certain time in
Dia pernah menjadi jiran the past).
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saya.
I have already visited Paris (when exactly is of
Saya pernah melawat ke secondary importance).
Paris.
I was once a journalist (but I am no longer one).
Saya pernah menjadi
wartawan.
For those who want to know more:
As the above statements indicate that something happened at a particular time in the
past it is usually followed by questions of place and time as the following examples will
show:
Saya pernah berjumpa dia.
Bila itu? (When was that?)
Sudah 10 tahun. (10 years ago).
Di mana? (Where?)
Di rumah kawan saya. (At a friend's house).
Saya pernah melawat ke Paris.
Bila itu? (When was that?)
Pada tahun lalu. (Last year.)
Dengan siapa? (With whom?)
Seorang diri. (Alone).
What if you wish to say that you have never done something or never been to a place?
To be able to say this all you have to do is to add belum or tidak before pernah. Thus:
Saya belum pernah ke Amerika Syarikat. (I have never been to the United States).
Incidentally the word syarikat alone means a "company" (a business company).
Dia belum pernah melihat salji. (He has never seen snow).
Saya tidak pernah buat kerja ini. (I have never done this type of work before).
Note that tidak pernah is often contracted to tak pernah in its spoken form. Use these
two words also when you answer a question with the word "Never".
I didn't realize it could be confusing for a learner to choose between sudah and pernah until I
received this email from Jean Kagi (reproduced with permission):
Dear Mr P. Goh,
I'm enjoying studying the Malaysian Language with your online course, but I have just one
problem. I can't understand or "feel" the subtle difference between the use of sudah and
pernah. I think I have it worked out but then I read a new sentence and I'm confused again!
Even trying through French and German, I can't work it out. I don't like to bother you, but I
would appreciate it if you could tell me either that it really is difficult or if there is some
obvious explanation that I just can't find.
As the problem could be shared by others I've decided to publish my reply here:
Hi,
Thanks for your email and sorry that I can only get back to you now.
Ok let's put it this way. Both sudah and pernah indicate that you have done an action.
If it is something that you do often eg. eat, bathe, sleep, telephone a friend, send a letter, etc
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then use sudah. In such cases you just cannot use pernah.
But if it is something that perhaps you do only once in your lifetime eg. go to a far distant
country, meet the president of your country, talk to someone ten years ago though he doesn't
remember it, went dancing with your film idol (how lucky can you get!), studied a foreign
language and then gave it up, been up in a spaceship, been neighbours with someone (but not
anymore), been a teacher once (but not anymore), etc then use pernah. I hope you get the drift.
Also when you use pernah it is not for something that happened yesterday but it is for
something that took place in some distant past. If you are thinking in English try to think on
the lines of "I have done (whatever action) BEFORE" to justify using pernah.
However if it is still confusing I would suggest you forget about pernah and just use sudah
under all circumstances. You cannot go wrong there. And if you hear someone use pernah you
know you can substitute it with sudah. Don't crack your head over this. It's not such a big
issue after all to use one or the other correctly - especially for a foreign learner.
Lesson 54 Alamat (Address)
Anda tinggal di mana?
Di mana rumah anda?
Apa alamat rumah anda?
Anda duduk di mana?
Where do you live?
Where is your house?
What is your house address?
Where do you stay?
For those who want to know more:
Just as in English, there are also different ways of asking a person where he
stays in Malay. The most frequently-used among them is:
Anda tinggal di mana? to which the answer could be just the name of the street,
e.g.
Di Jalan Silang. (= In Silang Street)
Note: If the word tinggal sounds familiar to you it is because it has already been
introduced in Lesson 11 ( Selamat tinggal = Goodbye). But you say this only if
you are taking leave of your host (who is staying behind). If you are the host
and you wish to say goodbye to your guest who is leaving you to return home or
to go somewhere else you should say Selamat jalan (May you have a safe
journey).
A second way of asking a person where he stays is: Di mana rumah anda?
The answer could be Di PJ =In Petaling Jaya. (Petaling Jaya, by the way, is
rarely called by its full name, it's always shortened to PJ, just as Kuala Lumpur
is always shortened to KL).
But if you want to know a person's house number (and not just the name of the
road or the district where he lives) the question to ask is:
Apa alamat rumah anda? to which the answer could very well be:
Nombor 20 Jalan Damansara. BTW how do you say "twenty" in Malay? Click
here if you have forgotten.
There is a fourth way of asking where a person lives. It is:
Anda duduk di mana? Although duduk usually means "to sit" (Duduklah or
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Silakan duduk means "Please sit") be aware that when you are asked this
question in Malaysia you are being asked where you live and not where you are
sitting.
I remember we once had an Indonesian woman journalist with us when we were
attending a journalism course and when we asked her this question she was
completely perplexed as we could all see where she was then sitting i.e. on a
chair so why the question?
If you want to find out how long a person has been staying at a place the
question is:
Sudah berapa lama anda tinggal di sini?
and if the answer is five years, you would hear: Sudah 5 tahun.
Another useful sentence:
Bolehkah anda beri alamat rumah anda kepada saya?
Can you please give me your house address?
Lesson 55 Dia kata... (He said that...)
Isteri anda telefon tadi.
Apa kata dia?
Dia kata dia tidak akan balik untuk
makan malam.
Saya jumpa Ali tadi.
Apa kata dia?
Dia kata dia akan kahwin bulan
depan.
Your wife phoned just now.
What did she say?
She said she will not be home for
dinner.
I met Ali just now.
What did he say?
He said he will be getting married
next month.
Dia kata dia akan telefon anda esok. He said he will give you a call
Dia kata dia sakit perut dan akan
tomorrow.
jumpa doktor.
He said he has a stomach-ache and
will be seeing a doctor.
Dia kata dia tidak dapat datang
He said he will not be able to come
malam ini.
tonight.
Dia kata dia akan beli ubat sebelum He said he will be buying the
balik.
medicine on the way back.
He said he has been to his father's
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Dia kata dia sudah pergi ke rumah
bapanya.
Dia kata dia akan datang lagi.
Dia tidak kata apa-apa.
house.
He said that he will come again.
He didn't say anything.
By now you would know that only the context will show if dia refers to
"he" or "she" though for practical purposes "he" is used in all the above
sentences.
For those who want to know more:
1. In colloquial Malay bilang is often used for kata. You will often hear
people saying Bilang sama dia... which means "Tell him..." (The correct
form would be Beritahu dia...)
2. Meaning of balik kampung:
Balik means "to return" and when you ask someone where he is going for
his holidays or for Hari Raya and he says Saya akan balik kampung he
means to say "I am going to my hometown" (where probably his
parents/relatives are still staying).
By the way one of the most pleasant words in Malay (or in any language for
that matter) is cuti (pronounced choo-ti). It means "holiday" or "leave".
Don't confuse it with curi (pronounced choo-ri) which means "to steal". In
any office you will often hear workers asking each other Bila nak cuti?
(When are you going on leave?) or Cuti pergi mana? (Where are you going
for your holidays? Literally it is "Holiday go where?")
Since this is quite a short lesson I'm taking advantage of it to introduce two
words which could come in handy in a conversation. These two words are
bakal and bekas. You can consider them as opposites as bakal means
"going to be" or "future" and bekas means "ex" or "former". Both words
are used with nouns only. These illustrative sentences will show you how
they are used:
Peter akan berkahwin bulan hadapan. Bakal isterinya adalah seorang
jururawat. (Peter is getting married next month. His wife-to-be is a nurse.)
Jiran saya adalah bekas guru saya. (My neighbour is my former teacher.)
Lesson 56 Bahagian badan (Parts of the
body)
kepala head
mata eye
gigi
leher
teeth
neck
perut
kaki
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stomach
foot/feet
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telinga ear
hidung nose
mulut mouth
.
bahu
tangan
jari
shoulder
hand
finger
rambut
muka
tulang .
hair
face
bone
For those who want to know more:
Note that the same Malay word is used for singular or plural. Thus gigi is
translated as "tooth" or "teeth" according to the context.
From the word mata (eye) we have the word matahari (hari, as you have
seen in Lesson 7, means "day"). So what can matahari mean? Why, "eye of
the day", of course, which is the Malay way of referring to the sun!
For the more ambitious among you (or simply lovers of nature) the
following are the Malay words for "sunrise" and "sunset":
matahari terbit = sunrise (terbit means "rise")
and
matahari terbenam = sunset (terbenam means "hidden", "set" or
"submerged")
To continue with the word mata. Please don't apply blindly the common
rule that the plural in Malay is formed by duplicating the word for matamata does not mean "eyes" but "policeman" (ok, eyes of the people if you
like). And what does mata-mata gelap (dark eyes) mean? Well, if I were to
tell you that in English we don't say "dark eyes" but "private eyes" you
would have been able to guess the meaning. Yes, mata-mata gelap is the
Malay word for a detective.
Incidentally the plural form of a word in Malay is not needed when it is
evident that there are more than one. Compare:
Buku-buku di atas meja itu belum lagi dibaca. (= The books on the table
have not been read yet.)
and
Dia ada banyak buku. (He has many books.)
A number of compound words are formed with the names of the various
parts of the body. Among them are:
jam tangan = a wrist-watch
tali leher = a neck-tie
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cermin mata = spectacles
ubat gigi = toothpaste (ubat, as you would know from the previous lesson,
means medicine). Thus, literally, toothpaste is medicine for the teeth in
Malay though if you have learnt the Malay word for "for" (good for you!)
you will tell me that the latter should be translated as ubat untuk gigi!
kakitangan = staff, employees (literally translated kakitangan means the
feet and hands). If you like to make use of mnemonics, well just remember
that in any office the staff are the ones who have to move their feet and do
things with their hands, certainly not the director!)
Incidentally, your left hand is tangan kiri while your right hand is tangan
kanan. Please remember that when you are in Malaysia you must always
use your right hand (and never your left) when giving (or passing)
something to someone. It is considered impolite to use the left hand when
handing over things to someone.
Do you remember what rambut means? (Just glance up if you don't.) Well,
someone without any rambut is botak (bald-headed). Thus when you hear
Orang itu botak you know it means "That man is bald-headed."
Finally it might be interesting to note that kaki, apart from meaning "foot"
or "leg" has also the following meanings:
kaki minum or kaki botol = a drinker (botol is the Malay spelling for
"bottle")
kaki gaduh = a quarrelsome chap, someone who will pick up a fight over
nothing (bergaduh means "to quarrel")
kaki bohong = a liar (bohong means "to lie")
kaki pancing = a fishing enthusiast, an angler (memancing or mamancing
ikan means to fish)
kaki judi = a gambler (berjudi means "to gamble")
kaki perempuan = a womanizer
kaki bola = a football fan (the word for "football" is actually bola sepak)
While the above expressions have to do with a tendency towards something
the ones that follow have a meaning much to themselves:
kaki lima = pavement ("five-foot-way")
kaki ayam = barefooted (easy, this one! Hens don't wear shoes!)
Lastly, if you hear a person being mentioned as someone's kaki it simply
means that he is his buddy, chum, crony or member (slang).
These various expressions coming from a single word show you how rich
and colourful the Malay language can be.
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Lesson 57 Saya sakit. (I am sick.)
If you have learnt the names of the various parts of the body in Malay
from the previous lesson you will be able to say what exactly you are
suffering from. Unlike English where the name of the sick body member
is followed by the word "ache" (headache, toothache, ear-ache,
stomach-ache, etc) in Malay it is the other way round i.e. the word sakit
(equivalent to "ache" but meaning "sick") comes before the name of the
body member that is sick, as you can see from the list below.
Oh, by the way, you do say "eat medicine" in Malay. Thus the question
"Have you taken your medicine?" is Sudahkah anda makan ubat? (literally "Have you
eaten your medicine?")
You know now that ubat is the Malay word for medicine and you have
learnt in the previous lesson that gigi means teeth so what can ubat gigi
mean? Medicine for the teeth, you mean toothpaste?
Saya hendak jumpa doktor.
Mengapa?
Kerana saya sakit kepala.
Anda tidak datang bekerja
kelmarin.
Mengapa?
Kerana saya sakit.
Sakit apa?
Sakit perut.
I wish to see a doctor. (jumpa = to meet)
Why?
Because I have a headache.
You didn't come to work yesterday.
Why?
Because I was sick.
What were you suffering from?
A stomach-ache.
sakit gigi
sakit mata
sakit telinga
sakit kaki
toothache (literally "sick tooth")
eye pain (literally "sick eye")
ear-ache (literally "sick ear")
pain in leg (literally "sick leg")
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doktor gigi
doktor mata
Saya demam.
Saya batuk.
Saya muntah.
Saya sakit cirit-birit.
Saya selsema.
Saya tidak berapa sihat.
Dia sudah pengsan.
Saya sihat.
Makan ubat ini tiga kali
sehari.
dentist
ophthalmologist
I have a fever.
I cough.
I vomit.
I have diarrhoea.
I have flu.
I am feeling poorly or out of sorts.
He/She has fainted.
I am in good health.
Take (literally "eat") this medicine 3 times a
day
The five senses
As we are talking about the parts of the body in this lesson can
I bring in the five senses here?
First there is the eye (mata) which you see (melihat) with.
Other words that are used for seeing are: tengok (to watch)
which you have learnt in Lesson 32 and nampak.
Just as in English there is a slight nuance between "to look" and
"to see" so too in Malay.
Thus "Look at that man" is Lihat orang itu while "I can see that
man" is Saya boleh nampak orang itu.
Don't make life difficult for yourself. Just learn these two
sentences by heart and you'll be using them correctly.
Then there is the ear (telinga) that you hear (mendengar) with.
Third in line is the nose (hidung) which you smell (or rather
sniff = menghidu) with.
Another word meaning "to smell" is berbau.
Note that the word bau by itself means a smell.
Watch out how you use the word berbau as berbau by itself can
also mean smelly.
Thus Orang ini berbau would mean "This man stinks."
You don't want to provoke a fight, do you? And don't think you
can get away by saying you're a foreigner!
By the way bau can only be pronounced ba-oo.
It cannot be pronounced ba-hoo as there is a word bahu
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meaning shoulders.
I know, you have learnt in Lesson 24 that mahu can also be
written mau and thus can be pronounced as ma-hoo or ma-oo.
Similarly tahu (to know) can also be written tau and can thus
be pronounced as ta-hoo or ta-oo.
But bau and bahu are two entirely different words so don't mix
them up.
Here is a sentence you can learn using berbau to mean "smell":
Durian berbau wangi untuk orang Malaysia tetapi berbau busuk
untuk orang asing.
(= Durians smell nice to Malaysians but smell bad to
foreigners.)
Then comes the finger (jari) which you use to touch with
(sentuh or menyentuh with the prefix).
And lastly there is the tongue (lidah) for you to taste (merasa)
with.
To sum up, the following sentences in Malay might help you to
study the five senses better:
Saya melihat dengan mata. (I see with my eyes.)
Saya mendengar dengan telinga. (I hear with my ears.)
Saya menghidu dengan hidung. (I smell with my nose.)
Saya menyentuh dengan jari. (I touch with my fingers.)
Saya merasa dengan lidah. (I taste with my tongue.)
Lesson 58 Making comparisons
Anda lebih kaya daripada saya!
Anaknya lebih besar daripada anak saya.
Saya lebih suka main badminton daripada
tenis.
Perkara ini lebih penting daripada perkara
itu.
You are richer than me!
His child is bigger than mine.
I prefer playing badminton to tennis.
This matter is more important than
that.
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หน ้า 91
More examples:
Kereta saya lebih besar daripada keretanya. (My car is bigger than his.)
Dia lebih gemuk daripada saya. (He is fatter than me.)
Kasut ini lebih mahal daripada kasut itu. (These shoes are more
expensive than those.)
Adiknya lebih pandai daripada dia. (His younger brother/sister is cleverer
than he is.)
Bahasa Malaysia lebih senang daripada Bahasa Perancis. (Bahasa
Malaysia is easier than French.)
Emak anda lebih muda daripada emak saya. (Your mother is younger
than mine.)
Or if you prefer putting it the other way round (and still saying the same
thing):
Bahasa Perancis lebih susah daripada Bahasa Malaysia. (French is more
difficult than Bahasa Malaysia.)
Emak saya lebih tua daripada emak anda. (My mother is older than
yours.)
Note that the English verb "to be" is absent from all the above
sentences though if you like you can use "adalah" in the place of a verb
eg. Emak saya adalah lebih tua daripada emak anda.
You will also notice from the above examples that you only have to put
"lebih" before the adjective to turn it into the comparative case. Thus:
close = dekat closer = lebih dekat (literally "more close")
rich = kaya richer = lebih kaya (literally "more rich")
big = besar bigger = lebih besar (literally "more big")
good = baik better = lebih baik (literally "more good")
strong = kuat stronger = lebih kuat (literally "more strong")
difficult = susah more difficult = lebih susah
And just as in English you use the word "than" (fatter than, stronger
than, etc.) to denote whatever you are comparing with, so too in Malay
the word "daripada" is used as can be seen from the sentences given
above.
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For those who want to know more:
The superlative case is just as simple. There are two ways of describing
things in the superlative.
You either put the adjective BETWEEN "yang" and "sekali" eg.
closest = yang dekat sekali
richest = yang kaya sekali
biggest = yang besar sekali
best = yang baik sekali
strongest = yang kuat sekali
most difficult = yang susah sekali
or you put the adjective AFTER "yang paling" eg.
closest = yang paling dekat
richest = yang paling kaya
biggest = yang paling besar
best = yang paling baik
strongest = yang paling kuat
most difficult = yang paling susah
You might find it confusing if you study both forms at the same time so
I would suggest you study the form that you find easier to remember.
Perempuan ini
cantik.
(This woman is
pretty.)
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Perempuan ini
cantik juga.
(This woman is
also pretty.)
Both of them are pretty but which one is prettier?
Kedua-duanya cantik tetapi yang mana lebih cantik?
If you are able to answer that question (I can't!) then you could say:
Yang di kiri (the one on the left) or Yang di kanan (the one on the right)
Or if you are not sure which word is "left" and which is "right" then just
point to the one you think is prettier and say "Yang ini" (this one).
Please make a note of the two meanings of the word "senang" which
has already been mentioned in Lesson 47:
(1) Datanglah ke rumah saya bila senang. (Come to my house when you
are free.)
(2) Kerja itu senang sahaja. Dia pun boleh buat. (That job is really
simple. Even he can do it.)
By the way the little word pun has got quite a number of other uses and
if you'd like to learn more about these I have put them together in one
page, following an email inquiry from a student. Go here for Various
uses of the Malay word pun.
Lesson 59 Pekerjaan (Occupations)
ukang masak
tukang rambut
tukang kebun
jururawat
jurubahasa
jurucakap
penyanyi
pemandu teksi
penulis
guru
wartawan
setiausaha
cook
barber
gardener
nurse
interpreter
spokesperson
singer
taxidriver
writer
teacher
journalist
secretary
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The words denoting the various occupations are best learnt by putting
them into 4 groups (their meanings are given in the table below):
(i) words that come after the word tukang (meaning skilled workman or
craftsman) but are not joined to it (words in the first column)
(ii) words that come after juru and are joined to it to form a single word
(meaning a skilled worker other than a handicraftsman) as in the second
column
(iii) words that begin with the pe(N) prefix (words in the third column).
The rules regarding the use of the pe(N) prefix are explained in the
Appendix.
(iv) words that don't follow any of the above rules but just stand by
themselves are shown in the fourth column.
Here is a table of some common occupations with their English
equivalents:
tukang masak = cook
tukang rambut = barber
tukang kebun =
gardener
tukang kayu = carpenter
tukang emas =
goldsmith
tukang besi =
blacksmith
tukang jahit = tailor
tukang gambar =
photographer
tukang paip = plumber
tukang jam = watchrepairer
tukang cat = painter
(house)
tukang kasut = cobbler
jururawat =
nurse
jurubahasa =
interpreter
jurucakap =
spokesperson
juruterbang =
pilot
jurutaip = typist
juruwang =
cashier
jurutera =
engineer
jurutrengkas =
stenographer
juruhebah =
announcer
juruacara =
emcee
jurujual =
salesperson
juruaudit =
pengurus = manager
penterjemah =
translator
pensyarah = lecturer
peniaga =
businessman
pengarang = editor
pengarah = director
pelayan = waitress
pemberita = reporter
penyambut =
receptionist
penari = dancer
pelukis = painter
(artist)
pencuci = cleaner
pelakon = actor
Bahasa Malaysia for the beginers credit from http://pgh13.com
pakar = expert, specialist
guru besar = headmaster
wartawan = journalist
setiausaha = secretary
askar = soldier
mata-mata = policeman
saudagar = merchant
peguam = lawyer
duta besar = ambassador
jaga = watchman
kerani = clerk
akauntan = accountant
arkitek = architect
orang gaji = servant
ahli bahasa = linguist
หน ้า 95
auditor
jurulatih = coach
juruelektrik =
electrician
For those who want to know more:
Both tukang gambar and jurugambar are used for a photographer.
Similarly both juru kira-kira and akauntan (English word adapted to
Malay spelling) mean an accountant.
Regarding the third group i.e. words beginning with the pe(N)
prefix:
For the moment just be aware that the pe(N) prefix can take the
following forms: pe-, pem-, pen-, peng-, peny- depending on the initial
letter of the root word.
The most usual way of asking a person's occupation is: Apa pekerjaan
anda? (= What's your job?) or
Apa pekerjaannya? (= What's his/her job?)
Note that when we talk about a person's occupation the verb "to be" is
normally left out of the Malay sentence. Thus to say "I am a journalist"
you only have to say Saya wartawan (literally "I journalist") though you
can also say Dia seorang wartawan (= He is a journalist) or if you feel
the need to put in a verb: Dia adalah seorang wartawan.
DON'T BE DISCOURAGED!
I don't remember if I have said this earlier. Never, never be afraid to
campur (mix) English words with Malay if you don't know how to say
them in Bahasa Malaysia. All Malaysians do that so as a foreigner
learning Malay you also have a right to it! Even the well-educated
Malays do that (in this case it's not because they don't know how to say
the whole thing in Malay). Somehow a sprinkling of English with Malay
in a conversation makes the setting more easy-going or relaxed and less
formal. A good example is in using the English word "you" among
friends in the place of anda, kamu or awak as in:
Bila you nak pergi? (When are you going?). Or the boss could tell his
secretary "Make sure saya tak ada appointment untuk esok ya?". (Make
sure I have no appointments for tomorrow, ok?).
Even the people at the very top do campur their Malay with English (or
the other way round if you prefer). This, for example, is part of a
verbatim report of what the former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir
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Mohamad said when talking to reporters: "You tak boleh publish ini
semua in the newspapers. It's all censored." (From a Sun2Surf report
dated April 13, 2006).
So when your Malay vocabulary falls short and you have to bring in an
English word or phrase, just do it and remember that you are in good
company!
In fact this sprinkling of English words with Malay is so prevalent that
the Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim was
reported to have told The Star newspaper on April 18, 2004: "And most
glaring is how language is being spoken in the country. That can also be
a question for (the) Education (Ministry) but in the heritage department,
we would like to say: Do not make the language so rojak so as to make
it unintelligible in the future. The French don’t mix their language with
other words. But in Malaysia, half our sentences is in English while the
other half is in Malay. In the end, we don’t pick up the good parts in
either language."
But then even Members of Parliament do this (mixing English and Malay
in their speeches in the Malaysian Parliament) so much so that the
Speaker had to bring this matter up as in the following report (though
knowing the state of things in Malaysia I doubt this will have much
effect):
KUALA LUMPUR, April 18, 2006 (Bernama) - Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan
Sri Ramli Ngah Talib Tuesday ticked off some members of the Dewan
Rakyat who mixed up Malay and English when addressing the House,
describing their act as polluting the Malay language. He said the
reminder was made after it was found that, on several occasions,
Members of Parliament (MPs) did not use the Malay language in full but
alternated by speaking in English in the Dewan Rakyat.
Well, there are pedantics everywhere. I personally feel that
those who are truly bilingual (in whatever languages) will
agree with me that certain things are best said in one language
and other things in another so in the case of such people it is
not uncommon for them to use two languages in the same sentence!
Lesson 60 Penjodoh bilangan (Numerical
coefficient/classifier)
seorang anak
dua orang bini
one child
two wives
empat ekor kucing
enam biji telur
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four cats
six eggs
หน ้า 97
sebuah rumah
tiga buah kereta
seekor anjing
one house
three cars
one dog
tiga biji durian
three durians
sepuluh batang rokok ten cigarettes
dua pucuk surat
two letters
The use of numerical coefficients can be summarized as follows:
orang is used for people. The word itself means "person, people".
ekor is used for animals. The word itself means "tail".
buah is used for most objects eg. books, tables, cars, houses, schools. The word
itself means "fruit".
biji is used for small, round objects such as eggs, sweets and fruits. The word itself
means "seed".
batang is used for long, slim items such as pencils, pens, or sticks.
keping is used for a piece/pieces of paper, bread, cake, cheques, photographs.
pucuk is used for letters and arms.
More sentences:
Anda ada anak?*
Ya, saya ada tiga orang anak.
Tidak, saya tidak ada anak.
Dia hisap lima batang rokok tiap hari.
Dia ada dua buah kereta.
Saya ada seekor anjing.
Jiran saya ada dua ekor kucing.
Do you have any children?
Yes, I've got three children.
No, I do not have any children.
He smokes five cigarettes a day.
He has got two cars.
I have a dog.
My neighbour has two cats.
*But if it is the number of children that you want to know, the question is: Anda ada
berapa orang anak?
Also, as it is a question, remember to raise your voice at the last syllable (or add the
suffix -kah).
Lesson 61 Apa ini? (What is this?)
Ini kapal
terbang.
Ini anjing.
Ini pintu.
Ini hati.
Ini kuda.
Ini bola.
Ini itik.
Ini pisang.
Ini surat
khabar.
Ini
rumah.
Ini nombor
satu.
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Ini kupukupu.
Ini
matahari.
หน ้า 98
Ini gajah.
Ini
burung.
Ini kertas.
Ini kunci.
Ini
sampul surat.
Ini babi.
Ini surat.
Ini buku.
Ini mata.
Ini singa. Ini nombor
tiga.
Ini ikan.
Ini ubat.
Ini otak.
Ini arnab.
Ini bal
lampu.
Ini rokok.
Ini jam.
Ini
komputer.
Ini jalan.
Ini
monyet.
Ini bunga.
Ini tong
sampah.
Ini bulan.
Ini katak.
Ini
gunting.
Ini
harimau.
Ini kereta
api.
Ini pokok.
Ini
payung.
Ini tikus.
Ini
hadiah.
Ini
tangan.
Ini lembu.
Ini kapal.
Ini nombor
empat.
Ini mulut.
Ini kasut.
Ini ular.
Ini topi.
Ini cawan.
Ini tali
leher.
Ini wang.
Ini nombor
lima.
Ini nombor
dua.
Ini
telefon.
Ini sayur.
Ini jam
tangan.
Ini
tembikai.
Ini cermin
mata.
Ini nombor
enam.
Ini
tingkap.
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