Kata sendi nama link a noun to the rest of the sentence, and kata pemeri (ialah and adalah) link a subject to its explanation. A wrong choice in either is a language error in any written answer, so these small words carry marks out of proportion to their size.
This lesson completes the morphology cluster. The wider habit of finding such errors is covered in finding grammatical errors in context.
Which kata sendi should I use?
Decide from what follows the word, not from how the sentence sounds.
| Word | Use it before | Example |
|---|---|---|
| di | A place where something is | Buku itu ada di atas meja. |
| ke | A place you move towards | Kami pergi ke perpustakaan. |
| dari | A place or time of origin | Dia datang dari Kuantan. |
| daripada | A person, a thing or a material, for source or comparison | Hadiah itu daripada nenek. |
| pada | A time, or a person as the place where something is | Kelas bermula pada pukul lapan. |
| kepada | A person who receives something | Saya memberi pinjaman kepada Siti. |
Which kata pemeri should I use?
Ialah goes before a noun phrase. Adalah goes before an adjective phrase or a prepositional phrase. Some sentences read more smoothly with neither, so do not add one by reflex.
| Sentence | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Pengetua sekolah kami ialah Puan Noraini. | “Puan Noraini” is a noun phrase |
| Air sungai itu adalah jernih. | “Jernih” is an adjective |
| Bekalan ini adalah untuk mangsa banjir. | “Untuk mangsa banjir” is a prepositional phrase |
Worked example: repairing one sentence
Original sentence: “Hadiah itu diberi dari guru kepada Ali di hari Isnin, dan ketua kelas adalah Ali.”
The first fault is “dari guru”. A person is the source here, so the word is daripada guru.
The second fault is “di hari Isnin”. A time takes pada, so it becomes pada hari Isnin.
The third fault is “adalah Ali”. A name is a noun phrase, so the word is ialah Ali.
The repaired sentence is: Hadiah itu diberi daripada guru kepada Ali pada hari Isnin, dan ketua kelas ialah Ali. Each change has a reason you can write beside it.
The mistake that costs marks
A common error is “di” before a person, such as “Saya meminjam buku di Ali”. People are not locations, so the word should be daripada for the source, as in “meminjam buku daripada Ali”.
Another slip is to write “diatas” as one word, when “di atas” is two.
Check yourself
Correct the errors: “Mereka pulang dari sekolah lalu menghantar kad itu di Mira. Tujuan mereka adalah Mira.”
Answer
“Menghantar kad itu di Mira” should be kepada Mira, because Mira is a person receiving the card.
“Dari sekolah” is acceptable, since “sekolah” is a place of origin.
“Tujuan mereka adalah Mira” should be ialah Mira, because “Mira” is a noun phrase. The corrected text reads: “Mereka pulang dari sekolah lalu menghantar kad itu kepada Mira. Tujuan mereka ialah Mira.”
What to study next
Put all four morphology skills under time pressure in the morphology practice set. Record any word pair you still mix up in the mistake log and paper-error review.
For a teacher to check your writing for these slips, see online one-to-one Bahasa Melayu tuition.