Sunday, March 8, 2009

The use of transitive verb in a statement

In Bahasa Melayu or Malay, a transitive verb must be given the prefix meN (me, mem, men, meng, meny or menge) when it appears in a statement (ayat penyata). Look at the following examples (wrong and correct sentences)

1 Dia lepaskan burung yang baru ditangkapnya itu. (incorrect)
Dia melepaskan burung yang baru ditangkapnya itu. (correct)
[He released the bird which he had just caught.]

2 Saya suka baca surat khabar. (incorrect)
Saya suka membaca surat khabar. (correct)
[I like to read newspapers.]

3 Pegawai itu jalankan tugasnya dengan cekap. (incorrect)
Pegawai itu menjalankan tugasnya dengan cekap. (correct)

4 Mereka sedang ikuti kursus itu. [incorrect]
Mereka sedang mengikuti kursus itu. [correct]

5 Pelajar itu susun kerusi dan meja di dalam kelasnya. (incorrect)
Pelajar itu menyusun kerusi dan meja di dalam kelasnya. (correct)

6 Ibu lap permukaan meja itu dengan kain. (incorrect)
Ibu mengelap permukaan meja itu dengan kain. (correct)
[Mother wiped the surface of the table with cloth. ]

So much for the correct use of transitive verb in a statement in Bahasa Melayu.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Two interesting words in Malay

There are two interesting words which I would like to share with Malay language enthusiasts. These are 'memerun' and 'menogelkan'.

The word 'memerun' means 'to burn dry leaves'. An example would be:

Ali memerun daun kering yang dikumpulkannya di luar rumahnya. [Ali burned the dry leaves which he had gathered outside his house's compound.]

As for 'menogelkan;, it means 'to cut off the tails of animals such as cats and dogs.
You can make a sentence such as the following with this word:

Budak lelaki yang nakal itu menogelkan ekor kucing yang dibencinya itu. [The naughty boy severed the tail of the cat which he hated.]

So much for two interesting words in Bahasa Melayu or Malay.