Malay Articles
Learning the Malay Articles is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you practice the subject, the closer you get to mastering the Malay language. But first we need to know what the role of Articles is in the structure of the grammar in Malay.
Malay articles are words that combine with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the noun. Generally articles specify the grammatical definiteness of the noun. Examples are "the, a, and an". Here are some examples:
| English Articles | Malay Articles |
| articles | rencana |
| the | itu |
| a | sebuah |
| one | pertama |
| some | beberapa |
| few | beberapa |
| |
| the book | buku |
| the books | buku-buku |
| a book | sebuah buku |
| one book | satu buku |
| some books | beberapa buah buku |
| few books | beberapa buah buku |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Articles in Malay has a logical pattern. Locate the Articles above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Malaysian.
List of Articles in Malay
Below is a list of vocabulary where you can use the Definite and Indefinite Articles in Malay. Try to practice but also memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Malay vocabulary.
| English Vocabulary | Malay Vocabulary |
| Food | makanan |
| almonds | kacang almond |
| bread | roti |
| breakfast | sarapan |
| butter | mentega |
| candy | gula-gula |
| cheese | keju |
| chicken | ayam |
| cumin | jintan |
| dessert | pencuci mulut |
| dinner | makan malam |
| fish | ikan |
| fruit | buah |
| ice cream | ais krim |
| lamb | daging kambing biri-biri |
| lemon | lemon |
| lunch | makan tengahari |
| meal | makanan |
| meat | daging |
| oven | ketuhar |
| pepper | lada |
| plants | tanaman |
| pork | daging babi |
| salad | salad |
| salt | garam |
| sandwich | sandwic |
| sausage | sosej |
| soup | sup |
| sugar | gula |
| supper | makan malam |
| turkey | Ayam belanda |
| apple | epal |
| banana | pisang |
| oranges | Oren |
| peaches | Pic |
| peanut | kacang tanah |
| pears | buah pear |
| pineapple | nenas |
| grapes | anggur |
| strawberries | buah strawberi |
| vegetables | sayur-sayuran |
| carrot | lobak merah |
| corn | jagung |
| cucumber | timun |
| garlic | bawang putih |
| lettuce | daun salad |
| olives | buah zaitun |
| onions | bawang besar |
| peppers | lada benggala |
| potatoes | ubi kentang |
| pumpkin | labu kuning |
| beans | kacang |
| tomatoes | tomato |
Definite and Indefinite Articles have a very important role in Malay, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with the Malaysian Articles, you might want to check the rest of our Malay lessons here: Learn Malay. Don't forget to bookmark this page.