Malay indirect speech does not mechanically move a verb into the past. A verb such as datang keeps the same form whether the original speaker said “come”, “came”, or “will come”. Instead, the reporter chooses a complement frame—often bahawa—and then actively manages viewpoint: who saya refers to, where di sini is, and which day counts as esok.
This page focuses on indirect reports and reported thought rather than the punctuation of direct quotation. The core contrast with English is simple but important: English often applies sequence-of-tense rules (is → was); Malay preserves the predicate and changes only the pronouns, deictic expressions, and aspect words required by the new reporting situation.
Bahawa introduces reported content
In careful standard Malay, bahawa introduces a content clause after verbs and expressions of saying, believing, discovering, or awareness. It is especially common in edited, official, and (formal) prose. The content clause has normal Malay word order and can contain its own subject.
Pengurus menjelaskan bahawa pejabat itu akan ditutup pada hari Jumaat.
The manager explained that the office would be closed on Friday.
Aina percaya bahawa keputusan itu masih boleh diubah.
Aina believes that the decision can still be changed.
Kami sedar bahawa maklumat tersebut belum lengkap.
We realized that the information was not yet complete.
The reporting predicate determines the stance: menjelaskan presents an explanation, percaya a belief, and sedar an attained awareness. Bahawa itself does not tell you whether the content is true, past, or doubtful.
In conversation, speakers often omit bahawa after an ordinary reporting verb, especially kata:
Dia kata mesyuarat itu mula pukul sembilan.
She said the meeting starts at nine.
This is (informal/neutral spoken) Malaysian usage. Dia berkata bahawa mesyuarat itu bermula pada pukul sembilan is more formal and fully explicit. The shorter construction is not an Indonesian borrowing; it is normal Malaysian speech. In formal writing, however, bahawa makes a long complement boundary easier to parse.
No sequence-of-tense backshift
English commonly changes present to past after a past reporting verb: “I am tired” becomes “She said that she was tired.” Standard Malay has no corresponding automatic backshift because penat has no tense form to change.
Nadia berkata, ‘Saya penat.’ → Nadia berkata bahawa dia penat.
Nadia said, ‘I am tired.’ → Nadia said that she was tired.
Likewise, akan is retained when futurity remains part of the reported message:
Hakim berkata, ‘Saya akan hadir.’ → Hakim berkata bahawa dia akan hadir.
Hakim said, ‘I will attend.’ → Hakim said that he would attend.
And an aspect marker remains only if the original temporal meaning remains:
Lina berkata, ‘Saya sudah makan.’ → Lina berkata bahawa dia sudah makan.
Lina said, ‘I have eaten.’ → Lina said that she had eaten.
The words akan and sudah survive because they express future orientation and completion, not because Malay substitutes one “tense” for another. If the report is still valid now, it may sound just as natural with a past reporting event and present reference:
Doktor memberitahu saya semalam bahawa ubat ini selamat digunakan.
The doctor told me yesterday that this medicine is safe to use.
The safety claim is presented as generally valid. English may allow either is or was here; Malay does not impose that choice on the predicate.
Pronouns must follow the new speech roles
Although verbs stay stable, personal reference may need substantial revision. A direct saya identifies the original speaker. In the reporter's sentence, that person will normally become dia, beliau, a name, or a title. Direct awak changes according to who was addressed and how the reporter relates to that person.
Nurul berkata kepada saya, ‘Saya akan menghubungi awak.’ → Nurul berkata bahawa dia akan menghubungi saya.
Nurul said to me, ‘I will contact you.’ → Nurul said that she would contact me.
If Nurul spoke to Encik Rahman rather than to the present reporter, awak should not become saya:
Nurul berkata kepada Encik Rahman, ‘Saya akan menghubungi tuan.’ → Nurul berkata bahawa dia akan menghubungi Encik Rahman.
Nurul said to Mr Rahman, ‘I will contact you, sir.’ → Nurul said that she would contact Mr Rahman.
Malay reference is socially sensitive. A respectful beliau may be appropriate for a third-person human referent in formal reporting, but it is not a universal replacement for every direct saya. See Malay Personal Reference and Reference Chains Across a Text.
Time and place shift with the reporting point
Words such as hari ini “today”, esok “tomorrow”, semalam “yesterday”, sekarang “now”, di sini “here”, and ini “this” are deictic: their meaning depends on the speaker's time and place. If the report happens later or elsewhere, preserve the intended reference by changing them.
| Direct viewpoint | Possible later report | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hari ini | pada hari itu | that day |
| esok | pada keesokan harinya / hari berikutnya | the next day |
| semalam | sehari sebelumnya | the day before |
| sekarang | ketika itu | at that time |
| di sini | di situ / di tempat itu | there / at that place |
| ini | itu / tersebut | that / the aforementioned |
These are possible shifts, not automatic substitutions. If a message sent this morning is reported on the same day, hari ini may still be correct.
Sofia berkata pada hari Isnin, ‘Saya akan datang ke sini esok.’ → Sofia berkata bahawa dia akan datang ke tempat itu pada keesokan harinya.
On Monday, Sofia said, ‘I will come here tomorrow.’ → Sofia said that she would come to that place the next day.
Amir berkata, ‘Saya sedang sibuk sekarang.’ → Amir berkata bahawa dia sedang sibuk ketika itu.
Amir said, ‘I am busy now.’ → Amir said that he was busy at that time.
The aspectual sedang stays because the busyness was in progress at the original speech time; sekarang changes because the reporter has moved the temporal centre.
Katanya and menurut: compact source frames
Katanya—written as one word—can open or close a report and means approximately “he/she said” or “according to him/her”. It is gender-neutral and common in narrative and journalistic reporting. It can also create a slight evidential distance: the information is attributed to a source rather than asserted independently by the writer.
Katanya, jalan itu sudah dibuka semula pagi tadi.
According to her, the road was reopened earlier this morning.
Mereka tidak menerima sebarang notis, katanya.
They did not receive any notice, he said.
Menurut takes a source noun phrase, not a bahawa clause: menurut laporan itu, menurut saksi, menurut beliau. It is common in (formal) news, research, and administrative prose. Menurut saya often means “in my view”.
Menurut laporan kementerian, jumlah permohonan meningkat sebanyak dua puluh peratus.
According to the ministry report, the number of applications increased by twenty percent.
The writer may follow menurut + source directly with the reported proposition. Writing menurut bahawa confuses a source preposition with a complementizer.
Reported thought follows the same viewpoint logic
Thought, inference, hope, and realization take content complements just as speech does. What changes is the evidential meaning of the main predicate.
Pada mulanya, saya menyangka bahawa kedai itu sudah tutup.
At first, I thought that the shop had already closed.
Dia berharap agar semua orang dapat hadir, tetapi dia tahu bahawa ada yang bekerja pada hari itu.
She hoped that everyone could attend, but she knew that some people were working that day.
The distinction between menyangka “suppose”, tahu “know”, and berharap “hope” matters more than any tense manipulation inside the complement.
Common Mistakes
1. Adding completion merely to imitate English past backshift
❌ Faiz berkata bahawa dia telah bekerja dari rumah setiap hari Jumaat.
Wrong for the intended habitual report — telah makes the work completed rather than simply habitual.
✅ Faiz berkata bahawa dia bekerja dari rumah setiap hari Jumaat.
Faiz said that he worked from home every Friday.
2. Keeping saya after the original speaker is no longer the reporter
❌ Salmah berkata bahawa saya akan menghantar fail itu.
Incorrect if Salmah, not the current speaker, promised to send the file.
✅ Salmah berkata bahawa dia akan menghantar fail itu.
Salmah said that she would send the file.
3. Retaining a deictic word after its reference point has moved
❌ Pada hari Rabu, Ali melaporkan bahawa mesyuarat akan diadakan esok, iaitu hari Selasa.
Incoherent — from Wednesday, esok cannot identify Tuesday.
✅ Pada hari Rabu, Ali melaporkan bahawa mesyuarat telah diadakan pada hari sebelumnya, iaitu hari Selasa.
On Wednesday, Ali reported that the meeting had been held the previous day, Tuesday.
4. Combining menurut directly with bahawa
❌ Menurut bahawa harga akan naik, ramai pelanggan membeli lebih awal.
Incorrect — menurut requires a source noun phrase.
✅ Menurut penganalisis itu, harga akan naik, lalu ramai pelanggan membeli lebih awal.
According to the analyst, prices will rise, so many customers bought early.
Key Takeaways
- Use bahawa to mark a content complement, especially in formal or structurally complex prose; it is often omitted after kata in conversation.
- Do not backshift a Malay verb after a past reporting verb. Retain akan, sedang, sudah, or other markers only when their meanings remain relevant.
- Recalculate pronouns and social reference from the new speaker–addressee configuration.
- Shift time and place expressions only when the reporting point changes.
- Use katanya for a compact attributed report and menurut + source noun phrase for “according to”.
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Start learning Malay →Related Topics
- Direct Quotation and Reporting Clauses in Malaysian MalayA2 — Frame exact or represented wording with Malay reporting verbs, punctuation, clause order, embedded particles, and register-faithful quotation.
- A Map of Malay Complex SentencesB1 — See how coordination, subordination, complementation, relativization, quotation, and parataxis connect Malay propositions without finite and nonfinite verb contrasts.
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- Reference Chains Across a Text in Malaysian MalayC1 — Track people and institutions across Malaysian Malay discourse by balancing full noun phrases, pronouns, zero anaphora, -nya, salience, and respect.
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- Past, Present, and Future Reference in Malaysian MalayA1 — Locate unchanged Malay verb phrases in time through adverbials, context, event sequence, and optional aspect markers.