An embedded question is a question used as part of a larger clause: “I don't know whether she is coming” or “They asked when the meeting would begin.” In Malaysian Malay, the embedded portion preserves normal Malay word order. It does not acquire the inversion or auxiliary machinery found in English direct questions.
There are two central patterns. Yes-no alternatives use sama ada ... atau tidak “whether ... or not,” while content questions retain a word such as apa, siapa, bila, di mana, mengapa, or bagaimana inside the complement. Review the question-word overview if those in-situ patterns are not yet familiar.
Whether: sama ada ... atau tidak
Use sama ada before the proposition when the issue is whether it is true. The explicit alternative atau tidak may appear after the proposition.
Saya tidak tahu sama ada dia datang atau tidak.
I don't know whether he or she is coming.
Sila sahkan sama ada tempahan itu masih sah atau tidak.
Please confirm whether the booking is still valid.
Kami sedang menilai sama ada cadangan itu boleh dilaksanakan atau tidak.
We are evaluating whether the proposal can be implemented.
The proposition itself remains dia datang, tempahan itu masih sah, and cadangan itu boleh dilaksanakan. Nothing is inverted. Sama ada opens an alternative set: true or not true. Compare independent yes-no questions, which do not need this embedded alternative frame.
The final atau tidak is often omitted when the alternative is already obvious, especially in concise formal prose:
Mereka belum memutuskan sama ada mesyuarat itu perlu ditangguhkan.
They have not decided whether the meeting needs to be postponed.
Including atau tidak makes the two-way contrast explicit; omitting it avoids repetition. Neither choice changes the basic embedded-question syntax.
Retaining the question word
For an open content question, keep the relevant question word. It occupies the same semantic slot as in a direct Malay question.
Saya bertanya bila mesyuarat dimulakan.
I asked when the meeting was started.
Kami belum tahu siapa yang akan mengetuai projek itu.
We do not yet know who will lead that project.
Boleh encik jelaskan mengapa bayaran itu ditolak?
Could you explain why that payment was rejected, sir?
The first example contains the embedded question bila mesyuarat dimulakan. Malay does not introduce a special past form corresponding to English would begin or was begun merely because the question is reported. Time interpretation comes from context and aspect expressions.
Question words can remain in situ after a verb or preposition:
Saya tidak pasti mereka tinggal di mana sekarang.
I'm not sure where they live now.
Polis sedang menyiasat wang itu datang dari mana.
The police are investigating where the money came from.
The prepositions remain meaningful: di mana asks location and dari mana asks source. Write both as separate words. Fronted variants are possible, especially in careful writing, but in-situ placement is thoroughly Malay and should not be “corrected” into English order.
Direct questions versus embedded questions
A direct question is an independent speech act and normally ends with a question mark. An embedded question is grammatically subordinate to a larger statement or request; the punctuation follows the whole sentence.
| Direct question | Embedded form |
|---|---|
| Dia akan datang? | Saya ingin tahu sama ada dia akan datang. |
| Mesyuarat bermula bila? | Saya bertanya mesyuarat bermula bila. |
| Mereka memilih siapa? | Kami belum tahu mereka memilih siapa. |
Saya ingin tahu sama ada dia akan datang.
I would like to know whether he or she will come.
Because this entire sentence is a statement, it ends with a full stop. But a polite matrix question can contain an embedded question and still take a question mark:
Boleh puan beritahu saya bila pejabat itu dibuka?
Could you tell me when that office opens, ma'am?
The outer Boleh ...? makes the whole utterance a question. Bila pejabat itu dibuka remains the content requested.
Complements after tahu, tanya, pastikan, and related predicates
Common matrix predicates select slightly different conversational actions:
- tahu / tidak tahu presents knowledge or lack of it;
- bertanya / menanyakan reports a question;
- ingin tahu presents curiosity or a request for information;
- pastikan seeks verification;
- selidik / siasat presents an inquiry.
Saya tahu bila kedai itu tutup, tetapi saya tidak tahu bila ia dibuka.
I know when that shop closes, but I don't know when it opens.
Pegawai itu menanyakan bagaimana kejadian tersebut berlaku.
The officer asked how the incident occurred.
Pastikan sama ada semua nama sudah dimasukkan atau tidak.
Check whether all the names have been entered.
In (formal) written Malay, menanyakan directly takes the matter asked, while bertanya tentang can introduce a topic: Dia bertanya tentang jadual baharu “He asked about the new schedule.” Do not force every English ask into one Malay frame.
Nominalized alternatives
Sometimes Malay packages the unknown information as a noun phrase rather than an embedded interrogative clause. This is common in administrative and academic prose.
Pihak jawatankuasa akan menentukan tarikh pelaksanaan projek itu.
The committee will determine the project's implementation date.
Compare the explicit embedded question:
Pihak jawatankuasa akan menentukan bila projek itu akan dilaksanakan.
The committee will determine when the project will be implemented.
The nominalized tarikh pelaksanaan projek itu is denser and more (formal). The bila clause presents the same information as an unresolved question. Nominalization is not automatically better; it is a register choice and can obscure agency if overused.
No English inversion inside the complement
English direct questions invert auxiliaries (Where is she?), then undo that inversion in embedded questions (I know where she is). Malay has no corresponding alternation. Both direct and embedded questions keep Malay clause order.
Dia berada di mana? — Saya tidak tahu dia berada di mana.
Where is she? — I don't know where she is.
The question word can be fronted for focus, but that is not English subject-auxiliary inversion:
Saya tidak tahu di mana dia berada sekarang.
I don't know where she is now.
Both dia berada di mana and di mana dia berada occur. The first is transparently in situ; the second fronts the locative question phrase. In neither form does the subject trade places with an auxiliary.
Common Mistakes
Copying English inversion
❌ Saya tidak tahu di mana berada dia.
Incorrect — do not invert the predicate and subject inside the embedded question.
✅ Saya tidak tahu di mana dia berada.
I don't know where she is.
Using adakah after sama ada
❌ Kami belum pasti sama ada adakah Farid akan hadir atau tidak.
Incorrect — sama ada already introduces the whether-alternative; adakah is redundant.
✅ Kami belum pasti sama ada Farid akan hadir atau tidak.
We are not yet sure whether Farid will attend.
Treating every embedded question as a direct question in punctuation
❌ Kami belum tahu bila keputusan itu diumumkan?
Incorrect punctuation when the whole sentence is a statement.
✅ Kami belum tahu bila keputusan itu diumumkan.
We do not yet know when the decision will be announced.
Dropping a semantically required preposition
❌ Mereka sedang menyiasat wang itu datang mana.
Incorrect — source requires dari mana.
✅ Mereka sedang menyiasat wang itu datang dari mana.
They are investigating where the money came from.
Key Takeaways
- Use sama ada ... atau tidak for “whether ... or not”; atau tidak may be omitted when understood.
- Retain apa, siapa, bila, di mana, and other question phrases inside content-question complements.
- Preserve ordinary Malay clause order; never add English inversion or auxiliary do.
- Punctuation reflects the whole sentence, not merely the embedded question.
- Nominalized alternatives are common in formal prose but package information differently.
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