The prefix di- forms a patient-oriented passive: it keeps the event named by the base but presents the participant affected, moved, created, perceived, or otherwise targeted by that event as the clause's starting point. Aina membaca laporan itu begins with the reader; Laporan itu dibaca oleh Aina begins with the report.
Passive di- does not encode past time, a completed result, or agreement with any person. Time and aspect come from words such as sudah, sedang, akan, pernah, and from context. This page explains that semantic network; spelling is treated on the formation page, and agent placement and competing passive constructions on the usage page.
Voice changes perspective, not the basic event
Compare an active clause with its di- passive counterpart. The event still involves reading, but the grammatical perspective changes.
Aina membaca laporan itu sebelum mesyuarat.
Aina reads the report before the meeting.
Laporan itu dibaca oleh Aina sebelum mesyuarat.
The report is read by Aina before the meeting.
In the active, Aina is the actor and laporan itu is the patient. In the passive, laporan itu becomes the subject-like topic, while the actor can appear after oleh or remain unexpressed. The lexical meaning “read” comes from baca, not from di-.
This perspective is useful when the patient is already under discussion, when its fate matters most, or when the actor is unknown or irrelevant.
Bayaran balik anda sedang diproses.
Your refund is being processed. (neutral-professional)
The institution processing the refund need not be named. The communicatively important participant is bayaran balik anda.
The actor is semantically present but may be omitted
A passive event normally implies an actor even when no agent phrase is stated. Pintu itu dibuka pada pukul lapan describes an opening event construed as brought about by someone or by an established operation. If the sentence merely describes the door's state, Pintu itu terbuka “The door is open” may be more appropriate.
Pintu utama dibuka oleh pengawal pada pukul lapan.
The main door is opened by the guard at eight.
Pintu utama dibuka pada pukul lapan.
The main door is opened at eight.
The first names the agent; the second leaves it implicit. Omitting the agent does not turn dibuka into an adjective or erase the event. It simply declines to identify the opener.
Passive clauses are therefore not necessarily evasive. They can efficiently preserve the current topic:
Resit itu perlu disimpan selama tujuh tahun.
The receipt must be kept for seven years. (formal)
Here the rule concerns the receipt and its retention, not the identity of every person who might store it.
di- has no tense or person agreement
The same passive verb can occur with different times and aspects. Its form does not change:
| Context marker | Malay clause | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| semalam | Surat itu ditulis semalam. | past: was written |
| sedang | Surat itu sedang ditulis. | progressive: is being written |
| akan | Surat itu akan ditulis esok. | future: will be written |
| selalu | Surat itu selalu ditulis dengan tangan. | habitual: is always written |
Minit mesyuarat itu ditulis semalam.
The meeting minutes were written yesterday.
Surat itu sedang ditulis oleh setiausaha.
The letter is being written by the secretary.
Surat itu akan ditulis esok.
The letter will be written tomorrow.
English uses was written, is being written, and will be written. Malay keeps ditulis unchanged and places temporal meaning elsewhere.
Nor does di- agree with a singular or plural patient:
Satu salinan dikirim kepada pemohon, dan dua salinan dikirim kepada pejabat daerah.
One copy is sent to the applicant, and two copies are sent to the district office. (formal)
Both clauses use dikirim. Malay has no passive-participle ending that agrees with the number or gender of the noun.
The base contributes the event and its possible readings
The prefix supplies patient orientation; the base supplies a lexical family that may itself be polysemous. Context then chooses the natural English rendering.
| Root family | Active event | Passive perspective in context |
|---|---|---|
| baca → membaca → dibaca | someone reads something | something is/was/will be read |
| tulis → menulis → ditulis | someone writes something | something is written, recorded, or stated in writing |
| ambil → mengambil → diambil | someone takes something | something is taken, collected, selected, or picked up |
| kirim → mengirim → dikirim | someone sends something | something is sent or dispatched |
baca → dibaca
Artikel itu boleh dibaca secara percuma dalam talian.
The article can be read online for free.
Dibaca can refer to decoding a text, reading it aloud, or consulting it, depending on the object and context. di- itself does not choose among those established senses of baca.
tulis → ditulis
Dalam kontrak itu, tempoh notis ditulis sebagai tiga puluh hari.
In that contract, the notice period is stated in writing as thirty days. (formal)
English naturally uses “is stated in writing” here, not always the literal “is written.” The Malay remains a regular passive of the tulis family.
ambil → diambil
Sampel darah diambil sebelum pesakit diberi ubat.
The blood sample is taken before the patient is given medication.
Gambar itu diambil ketika matahari terbenam.
That photograph was taken at sunset.
With sampel, English selects “take/collect”; with gambar, it selects “take [a photograph].” The variation belongs to the whole lexical construction.
kirim → dikirim
Kod pengesahan akan dikirim melalui SMS.
The verification code will be sent by SMS.
The means of transmission can be expressed, while the sender remains implicit because the service and the code are more relevant.
Productive passives and conventional abstract families
Passive di- is productive with transitive predicates, including abstract ones. Some high-frequency forms acquire conventional discourse functions. Dikatakan often introduces reported information, dianggap assigns a classification or evaluation, and diketahui presents something as known.
Bangunan itu dianggap selamat selepas pemeriksaan selesai.
The building is considered safe after the inspection is completed. (formal)
Setakat ini, punca gangguan masih belum diketahui.
So far, the cause of the disruption is still unknown. (formal)
Dikatakan bahawa laluan lama itu pernah digunakan oleh pedagang.
It is said that the old route was once used by traders. (literary/formal)
These are not separate tense forms and not necessarily idioms detached from their roots. They are frequent lexical families whose passive meanings are conventional enough that English may use an adjective or impersonal it construction.
Passive di- versus locative di
Only the prefixed form contributes passive voice. Separate di introduces a location and has no actor or patient structure.
Borang itu diisi di kaunter hadapan.
The form is filled in at the front counter.
Diisi is the passive predicate “is filled in”; di kaunter hadapan locates the event. Spacing distinguishes two homophonous grammatical items.
Common Mistakes
Adding adalah as though it were English “was”
❌ Laporan itu adalah dibaca semalam.
Incorrect — adalah is not a past-tense auxiliary equivalent to English ‘was’.
✅ Laporan tersebut dibaca semalam.
The report was read yesterday.
Changing the passive form for plural patients
❌ Semua surat itu ditulis-tulis oleh kerani.
Incorrect — reduplication does not mark passive agreement with a plural patient.
✅ Semua surat itu ditulis oleh kerani.
All those letters were written by the clerk.
Treating an unexpressed agent as meaning “no cause”
❌ “Pintu itu dibuka” hanya bermaksud pintu itu berada dalam keadaan terbuka, tanpa peristiwa pembukaan.
Faulty analysis — dibuka presents an opening event even when its agent is omitted.
✅ “Pintu itu terbuka” menyatakan keadaan; “pintu itu dibuka” menyatakan peristiwa pasif.
Pintu itu terbuka states a condition; pintu itu dibuka states a passive event.
Translating every di- word with one fixed English phrase
❌ Gambar itu dikutip semalam.
Wrong lexical choice caused by treating every sense of English ‘take’ alike; dikutip means collected or picked up, not photographed.
✅ Gambar itu diambil semalam.
The photograph was taken yesterday.
Confusing passive di- with a location
❌ Surat itu di kirim ketika kami berada dipejabat pos.
Incorrect spacing — the passive prefix must be solid, and the locative preposition must be separate.
✅ Surat itu dikirim ketika kami berada di pejabat pos.
The letter was sent while we were at the post office.
Key Takeaways
- di- changes voice: it presents the patient as the clause's starting point while preserving the base event.
- The agent remains conceptually available but may be expressed with oleh or omitted.
- di- marks neither tense nor person; aspect words, time phrases, and context determine the English rendering.
- Polysemy comes from lexical families and contexts: diambil can be taken, collected, selected, or photographed.
- Frequent forms such as dikatakan, dianggap, and diketahui are best learned with their conventional discourse uses.
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Start learning Malay →Related Topics
- di-: Formation and Allomorphy in Malaysian MalayA1 — Form passive di- verbs with stable spelling and use spacing to distinguish the prefix from the locative preposition di.
- di-: Valency, Lexicalization, and Register in Malaysian MalayA2 — Build natural di- passive clauses by managing patients, agents, competing voice patterns, and formal versus colloquial choices.
- di- Passive: Overview and Formation in Malaysian MalayA1 — Form the Malaysian Malay di- passive by placing the affected subject first, attaching di- to the verb, and optionally adding a third-person agent.
- di- Passive: Aspect, Modality, and Negation in Malaysian MalayC1 — Build temporal, modal, and negative meanings by placing preverbal particles before an unchanged di- passive verb.
- meN-: Meanings and Derivational Network in Malaysian MalayA2 — Understand how meN- builds actor-oriented verbs whose precise meanings come from both the base and an established lexical family.