In today’s lesson, I share the pronunciation of some common interrogative words and how to use them in Malay.
| How to pronounce the vowels A E I O U | ||
| A | : | AH |
| E | : | UH |
| I | : | EE |
| O | : | OH |
| U | : | OOH |
The Interrogative Words
| ENGLISH | MALAY | ||
| 1 | What | : | Apa |
| 2 | Where | : | Mana |
| 3 | When | : | Bila |
| 4 | Why (formal) | : | Mengapa |
| Why (colloquial form) | : | Kenapa | |
| 5 | How (formal) | : | Bagaimana |
| How (colloquial form) | : | Macam mana* | |
| Like | : | Macam | |
| Where | : | Mana | |
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*Even though ‘macam mana’ directly translates to ‘like where’, in Malay it just means ‘like how’. |
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| 6 | Who | : | Siapa |
| Examples of sentences | |||
| MALAY | ENGLISH | ||
| 1 | Apa tu? | : | What is that? |
| Apa | : | What | |
| Tu (short form of ‘itu’) | : | That | |
| 2 | Mana awak pergi? | : | Where did you go? |
| Mana | : | Where | |
| Awak | : | You | |
| Pergi | : | Go | |
| 3 | Bila nak pergi? | : | When are we going? |
| Bila | : | When | |
| Nak | : | Want | |
| Pergi | : | Go | |
| 4 | Pukul berapa nak pergi? | : | What time are we going? |
| Pukul berapa** | : | What time | |
| Nak | : | Want | |
| Pergi | : | Go | |
|
**While ‘pukul berapa’ means ‘what time’, individually they have different meanings:- • Pukul : Has two meanings. (1) Time (2) To hit someone / something • Berapa: How many / How much Next time you hear ‘pukul’ and ‘berapa’ said together, don’t worry about the individual meanings. When together, it always means ‘what time’. |
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| 5 | Pukul dia! | : | Hit him/her! |
| Pukul | : | Hit | |
| Dia (Gender-neutral) | : | He / Him / His / She / Her / It^ | |
|
^In colloquial Malay, ‘dia’ is also applicable to non-human entities like objects, animals, companies |
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| 6 | Sekarang pukul lima | : | Now is five o’clock |
| Sekarang | : | Now | |
| Pukul | : | Time / O’clock (no distinction in Malay) | |
| Lima | : | Five | |
| 7 | Kenapa dia pergi? | : | Why did he/she go? |
| Kenapa | : | Why | |
| Dia | : | He / She | |
| Pergi | : | Go | |
| 8 | Macam mana dia buat? | : | How did he/she do it? |
| Macam mana | : | Like how | |
| Dia | : | He / She | |
| Buat | : | Do | |
Main takeaways
- If you encounter a Malay word that ends with ‘a’, the pronunciation automatically sounds like ‘uh’ and not ‘ah’.
- The interrogative words can be placed at the beginning or at the end of the sentence and it would still make sense.
- The two points above are applicable to colloquial Malay only. Formal Malay is of course more strict, but that’s not what this website is about 😀