Sunday, September 27, 2009

The difference between 'menambah' and 'menambahkan'

The difference between 'menambah' and 'menambahkan'

The verb 'menambah' means to increase while 'menambahkan' means to add.

Here are the correct usage for both verbs.

1 Dia banyak membaca buku untuk menambah ilmu pengetahuannya.
[He reads a lot of books to increase his knowledge.]

2 Lina bercadang untuk menambah pelaburannya dalam saham baru itu.
[Lina plans to increase her investment in the new share.]

3 Kakak menambahkan gula ke dalam air di dalam gelas itu supaya manis rasanya.
[My sister added sugar to the water in the glass so that it tastes sweet.]

4 Ibuku menambahkan garam ke dalam kuah yang dimasaknya.
[My mother added salt to the gravy she cooked.]

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Three Oral words in Malay

There are three oral words in Malay that I know of. They are cuma, kalau and jadi. These three words are usually used orally. Now look at the written words for them as listed below.

1 The written word for cuma is hanya. In Malay, both are translated as "only".
a) "Saya cuma bergurau sahaja," kata Ali kepada saya. ["I was just joking only," said Ali to me.]
b) Saya hanya datang ke sini sekali-sekala. [I only come here once in a while.]

2 The written word for kalau is jika, jikalau, sekiranya and seandainya all of which mean "if".
a) "Kalau awak ada masa lapang, datanglah ke rumahku," kata Zamri. ["If you are free come to my house," said Zamri.]
b) Jika kita rajin belajar, kita pasti akan lulus dalam peperiksaan. [If we study hard, we certailny will pass in the exams.]

3 The written word for jadi is oleh itu. In English, it is the equivalent of "so".
a) "Jadi, kau mesti belajar bersungguh-sungguh," kata Muthu. ["So you must work hard," said Muthu.
b) Oleh itu, kita mestilah menjaga kebersihan di sekitar kita. [So we must maintain the cleanliness of our surroundings.]

Saturday, September 12, 2009

The difference between 'kebanyakan orang' and 'orang kebanyakan'

In Malay, kebanyakan orang means 'most people'. You can construct a sentence such as the one below to bear out this meaning.

Kebanyakan orang suka membeli barang yang murah.
[Most people like to buy cheap things.]

On the other hand, 'orang kebanyakan' means 'commoner' (the opposite of royalty). Perhaps the following sentence containing 'orang kebanyakan' will make it clear to readers as to its meaning.

Pada zaman dahulu, seseorang putera tidak dibenarkan bernikah dengan orang kebanyakan. [In the olden time, a prince is not allowed to marry a commoner.]