English prepositions are often part of a verb’s conventional packaging: speakers arrive at a station, look for a key, and discuss a problem without about. Malaysian Malay packages those same relations differently. A place may take di, a destination ke, a recipient kepada, a duration selama, or no preposition at all because the Malay verb already takes a direct object.
Word-for-word substitution therefore fails even when each individual word seems familiar. The distinguishing insight is morphological as well as lexical: Malay roots and affixes may encode relations that English expresses in separate prepositions. This is a practical repair guide, not an exhaustive catalogue of every prepositional idiom. The broader inventory begins with the locative di and the directional ke.
Build the scene before choosing the relator
Start from the relation, not the English word:
| Relation | Typical Malay choice | Example |
|---|---|---|
| static physical location | di | di stesen |
| destination or direction | ke | ke stesen |
| origin in place or time | dari | dari stesen |
| time point or abstract locus | pada | pada pukul tiga, bergantung pada |
| recipient or directed target | kepada | kepada penyelia |
| purpose or beneficiary | untuk | untuk mesyuarat |
| elapsed duration | selama | selama tiga tahun |
| topic | tentang | bercakap tentang projek |
No row is a permanent translation pair. English at maps to di in at the station but to pada in at three o’clock. English for maps to untuk in for the meeting but to selama in for three years.
di, ke, and dari form a spatial contrast
Use di for a static physical location, ke for movement toward a destination, and dari for movement or orientation from an origin:
Kami menunggu di pintu utama stesen.
We are waiting at the station's main entrance.
Selepas makan tengah hari, kami berjalan ke muzium.
After lunch, we walked to the museum.
Bas itu datang dari pusat bandar.
That bus comes from the city centre.
The verb does not determine the choice alone. Tiba “arrive” describes the endpoint of movement, but the endpoint is construed as the location reached: tiba di lapangan terbang, not a calque with pada from English arrive at.
For a source that is a person, material, comparison standard, or cause, careful Standard Malay generally uses daripada rather than spatial dari: hadiah daripada ibu, meja daripada kayu, lebih tinggi daripada saya. Everyday speech often levels this contrast (informal), but maintaining it improves edited writing.
Surat itu saya terima daripada pihak universiti pagi tadi.
I received that letter from the university this morning. (formal)
pada is not a universal translation of at or on
Use pada for a point in time and for certain abstract relations:
Taklimat akan bermula pada pukul sembilan pagi.
The briefing will begin at nine in the morning. (formal)
Keputusan akhir bergantung pada jumlah permohonan yang diterima.
The final decision depends on the number of applications received. (formal)
For a concrete place, use di: di pejabat, di kaunter, di Kuala Lumpur. For common bare time expressions such as hari ini, esok, malam tadi, and tahun depan, no preposition is normally needed. English on Monday may be pada hari Isnin in careful language, but English next week is naturally minggu depan, not automatically pada minggu depan.
kepada marks a recipient, not a destination
Use kepada when a person, group, or institution receives an object, message, payment, or directed act:
Sila hantar salinan resit itu kepada pegawai kewangan.
Please send a copy of the receipt to the finance officer. (formal)
Pengurus memberikan kunci bilik itu kepada saya.
The manager gave me the room key.
Physical destinations take ke, even when the destination contains people: pergi ke pejabat, pulang ke rumah, datang ke kaunter. Compare Aina pergi ke sekolah untuk menyerahkan borang kepada gurunya: the school is the destination, while the teacher is the recipient.
Pada can occur with a human noun when no transfer is involved: Kunci itu ada pada saya “I have the key with me”; Pada saya, rancangan itu terlalu mahal “In my view, the plan is too expensive.” Humanness is not the rule—recipienthood is.
untuk expresses purpose; selama measures duration
English for hides several relationships. Untuk commonly marks a purpose, beneficiary, intended use, or destination in a broader nonspatial sense:
Bilik ini disediakan untuk ibu bapa yang menunggu.
This room is provided for parents who are waiting.
Saya membeli penyesuai ini untuk mengecas komputer riba.
I bought this adapter to charge the laptop.
Use selama when the phrase measures how long a state or activity continues:
Dia bekerja di hospital itu selama tiga tahun.
She worked at that hospital for three years.
In (formal) contracts and administrative prose, untuk tempoh tiga tahun means “for a period of three years.” The noun tempoh explicitly turns the phrase into an allotted term. Without such a structure, selama tiga tahun is the natural expression of elapsed duration. Do not replace every English for with untuk.
tentang introduces a topic only when the verb permits it
Tentang means “about/concerning” after expressions that introduce a topic, such as bercakap tentang, bertanya tentang, and artikel tentang:
Kami berbincang tentang jadual baharu selepas makan tengah hari.
We discussed the new schedule after lunch.
The derived verb membincangkan, however, is transitive and takes its topic as a direct object:
Kami membincangkan jadual baharu selepas makan tengah hari.
We discussed the new schedule after lunch.
These two sentences express similar events through different grammar. Berbincang is an intransitive/reciprocal discussion verb whose topic is introduced by tentang. Membincangkan packages the topic as its object through the transitive meN-...-kan form. Writing membincangkan tentang jadual redundantly combines both frames in edited Standard Malay.
Some Malay verbs take direct objects where English uses a preposition
Several frequent transfer errors disappear once the Malay verb is learned together with its argument pattern:
| English packaging | Malay pattern |
|---|---|
| look for a key | mencari kunci |
| wait for the bus | menunggu bas |
| attend a meeting | menghadiri mesyuarat |
| listen to music | mendengar muzik |
| discuss a plan | membincangkan rancangan |
Saya masih mencari kunci kereta.
I'm still looking for the car key.
Kami menunggu bas terakhir di hadapan pasar raya.
We are waiting for the last bus in front of the supermarket.
The direct object is not missing a translated preposition. The Malay verb’s lexical or affixal structure already licenses that participant. This is why memorizing isolated pairs such as for = untuk creates errors: the relation may live inside the verb construction instead.
Common Mistakes
1. Calquing arrive at with pada
❌ Kereta api tiba pada stesen itu lewat sepuluh minit.
Incorrect — the station is the concrete endpoint location, not a time point or abstract locus.
✅ Kereta api tiba di stesen itu lewat sepuluh minit.
The train arrived at that station ten minutes late.
2. Translating look for with untuk
❌ Saya sedang mencari untuk kunci pejabat.
Incorrect — mencari takes the sought item as a direct object.
✅ Saya sedang mencari kunci pejabat.
I'm looking for the office key.
3. Adding tentang after membincangkan
❌ Kami akan membincangkan tentang masalah itu esok.
Redundant in edited Standard Malay — membincangkan already takes the topic as its direct object.
✅ Kami akan membincangkan masalah itu esok.
We will discuss that problem tomorrow.
Alternatively, change the verb frame completely: Kami akan berbincang tentang masalah itu esok.
4. Translating a duration with untuk
❌ Mereka tinggal di Kuching untuk lima tahun.
Incorrect for elapsed duration — untuk normally marks purpose, beneficiary, or intended use.
✅ Mereka tinggal di Kuching selama lima tahun.
They lived in Kuching for five years.
5. Using ke for a recipient
❌ Sila serahkan pas masuk ini ke petugas di pintu utama.
Nonstandard in careful Malay — the staff member is the recipient, not merely a destination.
✅ Sila serahkan pas masuk ini kepada petugas di pintu utama.
Please hand this entry pass to the staff member at the main entrance. (formal)
Key Takeaways
- Use di / ke / dari for location, destination, and spatial origin; use pada for time points and selected abstract relations.
- Use kepada for a genuine recipient, not for a physical destination.
- Use untuk for purpose or beneficiary and selama for elapsed duration.
- Use tentang with a topic-taking frame such as berbincang tentang, but not after transitive membincangkan.
- Learn Malay verbs with their objects: mencari kunci, menunggu bas, and mendengar muzik need no English-style preposition.
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Start learning Malay →Related Topics
- di: Static Location in Malaysian MalayA1 — Use the separate preposition di for static settings, and distinguish it from directional ke and the attached passive prefix di-.
- ke: Direction and Destination in Malaysian MalayA1 — Mark movement toward destinations with the separate preposition ke, and distinguish it from static di and attached ordinal ke-.
- dari: Source, Origin, Material, and Comparison in Malaysian MalayA1 — Distinguish dari for spatial and temporal starting points from daripada for sources, materials, partitives, and comparisons in Standard Malaysian Malay.
- pada: Time Points and Abstract Location in Malaysian MalayA2 — Use pada for time points, holders, viewpoints, and conceptual attachment, while reserving di for ordinary physical location.
- kepada: Human Goals and Recipients in Malaysian MalayA2 — Use kepada for recipients, addressees, and socially directed targets, while keeping it distinct from directional ke and conceptual pada.
- untuk: Beneficiary and Purpose in Malaysian MalayA1 — Use untuk for intended beneficiaries, uses, and outcomes rather than every English expression containing for.