English puts a dummy it into “It is raining” and “It is hot today,” even though it does not refer to anything. Malay needs no such grammatical placeholder. An environmental word can be the whole predicate: Sekarang hujan “It's raining now” and Hari ini panas “It's hot today.”
Malay weather descriptions therefore reveal a broader feature of the language: a complete clause does not always need an overt subject. A time or place phrase can set the scene, after which a weather predicate, an adjective, or an ada phrase supplies the new information.
Hujan can stand as the weather predicate
The word hujan names rain, but it can also form a clause that English translates with a verb.
Sekarang hujan.
It's raining now.
Di luar hujan lebat.
It's raining heavily outside.
Petang tadi hujan sekejap.
It rained briefly this afternoon.
There is no invisible pronoun hidden before hujan. Sekarang, di luar, and petang tadi are scene-setting frames, not translations of dummy it. The bare predicate gets its time from those frames and the conversation.
Malay can also use a fuller verbal expression when the event itself matters. Hujan turun dengan lebat (formal/news) means “Rain fell heavily,” while Hari dah nak hujan (informal) means roughly “It looks as though it's about to rain.” The everyday bare pattern remains the best foundation.
Temperature and sky conditions use adjective predicates
Weather adjectives behave like other Malay adjective predicates: they need no form of be and do not agree with any noun.
Hari ini panas betul.
It's really hot today.
Udara pagi ini sejuk dan nyaman.
The air is cool and pleasant this morning.
Malam di tanah tinggi itu agak dingin.
Nights in those highlands are rather chilly.
In Malaysian everyday speech, sejuk is normally the unmarked word for cool or cold weather and air. Dingin is correct but often sounds more (formal) or (literary) in Malaysia; it is more everyday in Standard Indonesian. That cross-border register difference matters: a Malaysian forecast may use suhu yang dingin, but a friend is more likely to say Sejuk malam ini.
Other common predicates include mendung “overcast,” cerah “clear/bright,” lembap “humid,” and berjerebu “hazy.”
Pagi tadi mendung, tetapi sekarang sudah cerah.
It was overcast this morning, but now it has cleared up.
Words such as sangat, agak, terlalu, and conversational betul grade the condition. Do not put adalah before an ordinary weather adjective: Hari ini sangat panas, not Hari ini adalah sangat panas.
Use ada to present wind, clouds, or a local phenomenon
When English says “There is/are ...,” Malay commonly uses ada. This presents an environmental entity rather than simply assigning a quality.
Ada angin kencang di kawasan pantai.
There are strong winds in the coastal area.
Tadi ada pelangi selepas hujan.
There was a rainbow after the rain earlier.
Di lebuh raya itu ada kabus tebal pada waktu pagi.
There is thick fog on that highway in the morning.
Compare Ada angin kencang “There are strong winds” with Hari ini berangin “It is windy today.” The first presents wind as something present; the second describes the day or conditions. Neither requires English dummy there or it as a Malay subject.
Negation preserves the distinction. Tidak hujan denies the rain event, while tidak ada angin says that no wind is present.
Malam ini tidak hujan, tetapi tidak ada angin langsung.
It isn't raining tonight, but there is no wind at all.
Time and place normally come first
Weather reports often begin with a time or location because that is what listeners need to anchor the forecast.
Di Kuala Lumpur, cuaca panas dan lembap pada sebelah petang.
In Kuala Lumpur, the weather is hot and humid in the afternoon.
The comma is useful when a substantial fronted place phrase frames a formal forecast. In a short spoken clause, no comma is needed: Esok hujan lagi “It will rain again tomorrow.” Cuaca “weather” can be an ordinary lexical subject when the speaker wants one, but it is not required merely to make the sentence grammatical.
Direction and location must remain distinct. Di Sabah hujan means “It is raining in Sabah”; ke Sabah means “to Sabah” and cannot replace the static location marker.
Forecasts use modal and probability words
Malay does not create a future form of the weather predicate. Akan can mark prediction, while mungkin, dijangka (formal/news), and berkemungkinan (formal) express degrees and sources of certainty.
Esok mungkin hujan pada sebelah petang.
It may rain tomorrow afternoon.
Hujan lebat dijangka berterusan hingga malam.
Heavy rain is expected to continue until tonight. (formal/news)
Angin akan bertiup lebih kencang di perairan terbuka.
The wind will blow more strongly over open waters.
The difference is evidential and stylistic, not tense conjugation. Dijangka gives an institutional forecast a source-like tone; mungkin is equally at home in everyday plans. For the broader future-reference system, see Predictions with akan.
Common Mistakes
Adding a dummy pronoun for English it
❌ Ia sedang hujan.
Incorrect in the intended weather meaning—ia would refer to an actual noun, not serve as dummy ‘it.’
✅ Sekarang hujan.
It's raining now.
Using itu as an expletive
❌ Itu panas hari ini.
Incorrect if itu has no referent—itu means ‘that,’ not empty weather ‘it.’
✅ Hari ini panas.
It's hot today.
Inserting adalah before an adjective
❌ Cuaca hari ini adalah sangat panas.
Unnatural for an ordinary adjectival weather predicate.
✅ Cuaca hari ini sangat panas.
The weather is very hot today.
Confusing static di with directional ke
❌ Ke Pulau Pinang hujan lebat pagi ini.
Incorrect for location—ke means movement toward Penang.
✅ Di Pulau Pinang hujan lebat pagi ini.
It is raining heavily in Penang this morning.
Negating existence as though it were an event
❌ Angin tidak di pantai hari ini.
Incorrect—presenting the absence of wind requires tidak ada.
✅ Tidak ada angin di pantai hari ini.
There is no wind at the beach today.
Key Takeaways
- Malay environmental clauses require no dummy equivalent of English it.
- Hujan can itself be a predicate; panas, sejuk, and mendung form adjective predicates without a copula.
- Use ada to present wind, fog, clouds, or another environmental entity.
- Fronted time and place phrases frame the report but do not force an overt subject.
- Akan, mungkin, and formal dijangka express prediction without changing the weather word itself.
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Start learning Malay →Related Topics
- Adjectival Sentences in Malaysian MalayA1 — How Malay adjectives form complete predicates, combine with negation and degree words, and describe physical or experiential states without a copula.
- Locative Sentences in Malaysian MalayA1 — How Malay states where someone or something is with a prepositional predicate, with or without ada.
- Existential and Presentational Sentences in Malaysian MalayA2 — How ada introduces people, things, events, and problems without an English-style dummy subject.
- Impersonal and Generic Sentences in Malaysian MalayA2 — How Malay suppresses an actor or uses orang and kita to express signs, instructions, advice, and general truths.
- akan: Prospective and Predicted Events in Malaysian MalayA1 — Use akan to present plans, predictions, and commitments as prospective without treating it as an obligatory future tense.
- Time Adverbs and Reference Points in Malaysian MalayA1 — Use sekarang, tadi, semalam, esok, nanti, and dulu to locate events in time without English-style tense changes.