If you're trying to learn Malay Pronouns which is also called Malaysian, check our courses about Personal pronouns, indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns, reciprocal or reflexive pronouns... to help you with your Malay grammar. Try to concentrate on the lesson and notice the pattern that occurs each time the word changes its place. Also don't forget to check the rest of our other lessons listed on Learn Malay. Enjoy the rest of the lesson!
Learning the Malay Pronouns displayed below is vital to the Malay language. But first we need to know what the role of Pronouns is in the structure of the grammar in Malay.
Malay pronouns include personal pronouns (refer to the persons speaking, the persons spoken to, or the persons or things spoken about), indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns (connect parts of sentences) and reciprocal or reflexive pronouns (in which the object of a verb is being acted on by verb's subject).
The usage of personal pronouns in Malay can be a bit confusing especially if you are new to Malay. This is because there are several words that carry the same meaning but the usage is different according to whom you are addressing or speaking to. An incorrect usage can make you come across as disrespectful, which is why I am putting extra emphasis on personal pronouns. Here are some English pronouns and their Malay equivalents:
|
English Pronouns |
Malay Pronouns |
Usage |
|
I, me |
Saya, aku |
‘Saya’ is the safest option to use especially when talking to people you just met. On the other hand, ‘aku’ is only used with those whom you are close with e.g. your friends and is very disrespectful especially if used when talking to people older than you. |
|
You |
Kamu, awak, anda, kau |
‘Kamu’ and ‘awak’ are the safest options although this is not the case if you are talking to older people (I am not going to go into details about this). I would suggest to use ‘awak’ as it is more widely-used compared to ‘kamu’. ‘Anda’ is slightly formal, while the context of usage of ‘kau’ is the same as ‘aku’. |
Here are more examples:
| English Pronouns | Malay Pronouns |
|---|---|
| Pronouns | Kata ganti |
| I | Aku |
| you | awak/anda |
| he | dia |
| she | dia |
| we | kita |
| they | mereka |
| me | saya |
| you | awak/anda |
| him | dia |
| her | dia |
| us | kami |
| them | mereka |
| my | saya |
| your | awak/anda |
| his | dia |
| her | dia |
| our | kami |
| their | mereka |
| mine | milik saya |
| yours | milik anda |
| his | milik dia |
| hers | milik dia |
| ours | milik kita |
| theirs | milik mereka |
Note: ‘Punya’ basically means ‘belongs to’.
As you can see from the examples above, the structure of pronouns in Malay has a logical pattern. Locate the pronouns above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Malaysian.
Below is a list of pronouns in Malay placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Malay vocabulary.
| English Pronouns | Malay Pronouns |
|---|---|
| I speak | Saya bercakap |
| you speak | Anda bercakap |
| he speaks | Dia bercakap |
| she speaks | Dia bercakap |
| we speak | Kita bercakap |
| they speak | Mereka bercakap |
| give me | beri saya |
| memberi anda | |
| give him | memberi dia |
| give her | memberi dia |
| give us | memberi kita |
| give them | memberi mereka |
| my book | buku saya |
| your book | buku anda |
| his book | buku dia |
| her book | buku dia |
| our book | buku kami |
| their book | buku mereka |
Personal pronouns, indefinite pronouns, relative pronouns, reciprocal and reflexive pronouns have a very important role in Malay. Once you're done with the Malaysian Pronouns, you could also check other important Malay lessons here: Learn Malay. Don't forget to bookmark this page.
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