A di- passive reorganizes a transitive event around its patient. The active object becomes the passive subject-like topic, while a third-person actor can follow the verb, usually with oleh, or be omitted. This makes di- especially useful when a document, application, product, decision, or affected person is more relevant than whoever performs the action.
Passive di- is fully standard Malaysian Malay and is common in neutral speech as well as formal writing. Casual conversation may choose an active clause, an object-voice pattern, or adversative kena instead; those alternatives change the construction and sometimes the nuance. They are not permission to detach or delete the prefix inside a di- passive.
The di- meaning page explains the patient-oriented perspective itself; this page concentrates on argument structure and register choices.
From active valency to a di- passive
Start with a transitive event containing an actor and a patient. In a meN- active clause, the actor normally precedes the verb and the patient follows it. In the corresponding di- passive, the patient is placed first and the actor becomes optional.
| Root family | Actor-oriented active | Patient-oriented di- passive |
|---|---|---|
| baca | Pegawai itu membaca permohonan. | Permohonan itu dibaca oleh pegawai itu. |
| tulis | Aina menulis surat itu. | Surat itu ditulis oleh Aina. |
| ambil | Penghantar mengambil bungkusan itu. | Bungkusan itu diambil oleh penghantar. |
| kirim | Pihak sekolah mengirim sijil itu. | Sijil itu dikirim oleh pihak sekolah. |
Pegawai itu membaca setiap permohonan dengan teliti.
The officer reads every application carefully.
Setiap permohonan dibaca dengan teliti.
Every application is read carefully.
The passive omits the actor because the procedure, not the individual officer, matters. The valency is still transitive at the semantic level: there is an understood reader and an expressed thing read.
Expressing a third-person agent
The safest neutral and formal pattern is patient + di-verb + oleh + third-person agent.
Laporan akhir ditulis oleh pasukan penyelidik.
The final report was written by the research team. (formal)
Bungkusan itu sudah diambil oleh jiran saya.
The parcel has already been collected by my neighbour.
When the agent immediately follows the passive verb, oleh can often be omitted, especially with a short, definite third-person agent:
Lagu itu ditulis P. Ramlee pada tahun 1950-an.
That song was written by P. Ramlee in the 1950s.
Using oleh removes possible ambiguity and is strongly preferred when other material intervenes between the verb and agent. Compare the clear formal ordering:
Cadangan itu diteliti dengan mendalam oleh jawatankuasa khas.
The proposal was examined in depth by the special committee. (formal)
Do not strand a bare agent after an intervening adverbial as though word order did not matter. Either keep the bare agent adjacent to the verb or use oleh.
The agent is omitted when unknown, generic, recoverable, or deliberately irrelevant:
Semua telefon bimbit mesti dimatikan sebelum taklimat bermula.
All mobile phones must be switched off before the briefing begins. (formal)
First- and second-person actors use object voice
Standard Malay normally expresses a first- or second-person actor with an object-voice construction: patient first, then the actor pronoun, then a bare verb. It does not normally use di-verb + oleh saya/awak as the everyday counterpart.
| Actor | Natural pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| first person | patient + saya/kami + bare verb | Laporan itu saya baca semalam. |
| second person | patient + awak/anda + bare verb | Borang ini perlu anda isi. |
| third person | patient + di-verb (+ oleh + agent) | Laporan itu dibaca oleh mereka. |
Surat itu saya tulis malam tadi.
I wrote that letter last night.
Bungkusan ini perlu awak ambil sebelum pukul lima.
You need to collect this parcel before five o'clock.
Sijil itu akan kami kirim minggu depan.
We will send that certificate next week.
These are patient-first clauses, but saya tulis, awak ambil, and kami kirim have no di-. The actor must stay directly before the bare verb; English speakers often misplace it because English uses a by-phrase after the passive participle.
Formal clauses and conversational paraphrases
Formal prose often retains the patient across sentences and uses di- to describe an institutional process. Conversation can choose a simpler active clause when the actor is relevant.
Semua permohonan akan dibaca dan keputusan akan ditulis dalam surat rasmi.
All applications will be read, and the decision will be written in an official letter. (formal)
Nanti pegawai tu baca permohonan awak, kemudian dia tulis keputusan dalam surat.
The officer will read your application later, then put the decision in a letter. (informal)
Dokumen asal telah diambil dan dikirim ke ibu pejabat untuk pengesahan.
The original document has been collected and sent to headquarters for verification. (formal)
Mereka dah ambil dokumen asal dan kirim ke ibu pejabat untuk semakan.
They've collected the original document and sent it to headquarters for checking. (informal)
The colloquial examples use bare baca, tulis, ambil, and kirim after an expressed third-person actor. That is a conversational active pattern, not a malformed passive. In a formal report, use standard active membaca, menulis, mengambil, mengirim or keep the di- passive.
Passive di- is not inherently stiff. A neutral conversation can naturally preserve an object as topic:
Kereta awak dah dibaiki?
Has your car been repaired? (informal)
The particle-free passive is ordinary speech; dah is the informal counterpart of sudah.
Choosing between di-, object voice, ter-, and kena
Closely related constructions encode different perspectives:
| Construction | Typical use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| di- passive | patient-oriented event, usually third-person or omitted agent | Pintu itu dibuka oleh pengawal. |
| object voice | patient first with first/second-person actor before bare verb | Pintu itu saya buka. |
| ter- | resulting state, accidental event, or reduced actor control | Pintu itu terbuka. |
kena
| affected/adversative passive, often colloquial | Telefon aku kena curi. |
Pintu stor dibuka oleh penyelia setiap pagi.
The storeroom door is opened by the supervisor every morning.
Pintu stor terbuka sejak pagi tadi.
The storeroom door has been open since this morning.
The first presents a controlled recurring event; the second presents a state and does not name an opener. With kena, an unwanted consequence is often prominent:
Telefon aku kena curi dalam bas.
My phone got stolen on the bus. (informal)
Telefon saya dicuri di dalam bas.
My phone was stolen on the bus. (neutral)
Do not stack the two passive markers as kena dicuri in the ordinary colloquial construction. Choose the construction whose nuance and register match the context.
Derived bases, lexical families, and apparent exceptions
Not every root can take di- directly. A passive requires a transitive predicate. Tidur “sleep” is intransitive, so ditidur is not an ordinary passive; ditidurkan means “be put to sleep” because -kan creates a causative transitive stem. Duduk “sit” likewise does not yield diduduk for “be sat”; diduduki belongs to the lexical family meaning “be occupied; be inhabited.”
Kanak-kanak itu ditidurkan lebih awal kerana demam.
The child was put to sleep earlier because of a fever.
Bangunan lama itu pernah diduduki oleh tentera Jepun.
That old building was once occupied by the Japanese army.
Some high-frequency passive families have specialized professional or discourse meanings: dikatakan “it is said,” dianggap “be regarded,” dikehendaki “be required/wanted,” and dimaklumkan “be informed.” Their forms are analyzable, but their normal complements and institutional uses must be learned.
Semua calon dikehendaki membawa kad pengenalan.
All candidates are required to bring an identity card. (formal)
Dengan ini dimaklumkan bahawa pejabat akan ditutup pada hari Isnin.
Please be informed that the office will be closed on Monday. (formal)
This is why di- is best learned as a productive voice schema plus lexical families. A dictionary can confirm a word, but its existence does not guarantee that every sense is transparently predictable or equally current in every register.
Passive relatives inside noun phrases
Malay commonly places a yang relative after a noun to identify something by an event affecting it. The passive stays a full predicate inside the relative clause.
Dokumen yang telah ditandatangani oleh pengarah sudah dihantar.
The document that was signed by the director has been sent.
Barang yang dibeli semalam tidak boleh dipulangkan tanpa resit.
Goods bought yesterday cannot be returned without a receipt.
English can reduce the document that was signed to the signed document. Malay does not generally create an English-style adjective merely by putting ditandatangani before the noun. Use noun + yang + passive clause as the reliable standard pattern.
Common Mistakes
Using a di- passive with a first-person actor in the ordinary pattern
❌ Laporan itu dibaca saya semalam.
Incorrect standard actor placement for an ordinary first-person passive.
✅ Laporan itu saya baca semalam.
I read that report yesterday.
Leaving a bare third-person agent after intervening material
❌ Cadangan itu diteliti secara menyeluruh jawatankuasa khas.
Incorrect in careful prose — the agent is separated from the passive verb without oleh.
✅ Cadangan itu diteliti secara menyeluruh oleh jawatankuasa khas.
The proposal was examined thoroughly by the special committee. (formal)
Passivizing an intransitive root mechanically
❌ Bayi itu ditidur pada pukul lapan.
Incorrect — tidur is intransitive and does not directly form this passive.
✅ Bayi itu ditidurkan pada pukul lapan.
The baby was put to sleep at eight.
Combining object voice with an English-style by-phrase
❌ Surat itu saya tulis oleh saya malam tadi.
Incorrect — object voice already places the first-person actor directly before the bare verb.
✅ Surat itu saya tulis sendiri malam tadi.
I wrote that letter myself last night.
Treating every di- form as a prenominal adjective
❌ ditandatangani dokumen itu sudah dihantar
Incorrect English-style prenominal ordering.
✅ Dokumen yang ditandatangani itu sudah dihantar.
The document that was signed has been sent.
Key Takeaways
- A di- passive promotes the patient as discourse anchor and leaves a third-person agent optional.
- Use oleh for a clear agent phrase, especially when other material intervenes.
- With a first- or second-person actor, prefer object voice: Laporan itu saya baca, not ordinary dibaca saya.
- Formal prose favours standard di- passives or full meN- actives; casual speech may use bare active roots or adversative kena + bare verb.
- Derived and lexicalized forms such as ditidurkan, diduduki, dikehendaki, and dimaklumkan must be learned with their valency and register.
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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-: Meanings and Derivational Network in Malaysian MalayA2 — Understand how passive di- keeps the lexical event but presents it from the patient’s perspective without marking tense or person.
- di- Passive: Subjects, Objects, and Argument Order in Malaysian MalayA2 — Identify the patient subject, optional agent, pronoun patterns, and argument alternations licensed by the Malaysian Malay di- passive.
- Object Voice with a Bare Verb: Overview and Formation in Malaysian MalayA2 — Form object voice with a fronted definite patient, a preverbal first- or second-person actor, and a verb without actor-voice meN-.
- kena and Adversative Passive: Choosing This Construction in Malaysian MalayB2 — Choose adversative kena for colloquial affectedness and neutral di- passive or actor voice when event reporting or actor tracking matters more.