Malay distinguishes a reason stated as a clause from a cause packaged as a noun phrase. The safest basic contrast is kerana + clause “because …” versus akibat + nominal expression “because of/as a result of ….” Both point to a cause, but they organize it differently.
That grammatical difference also affects tone. Kerana is neutral across ordinary conversation and formal writing. Akibat strongly highlights consequences and often, though not always, suggests harm. Choosing between them therefore tells the listener both what kind of complement follows and how the speaker frames responsibility.
For the wider system of causes, endpoints, and discourse conclusions, see cause and result chains.
Kerana introduces a reason clause
Use kerana before a clause that contains a predicate. The subject may be overt or understood from context.
Kami membatalkan perkelahan itu kerana hujan turun dengan lebat.
We cancelled the picnic because it was raining heavily.
Zulkifli tidak dapat menghadiri latihan kerana motosikalnya rosak.
Zulkifli could not attend training because his motorcycle had broken down.
In the first sentence, hujan is the subject and turun dengan lebat is the predicate. In the second reason clause, motosikalnya is the subject and rosak is an adjectival predicate. Malay does not require a verb corresponding to English was before rosak.
The reason can come first when it sets the frame for the whole message:
Kerana lif rosak pagi ini, kami menggunakan tangga.
Because the lift was out of order this morning, we used the stairs.
Initial reason clauses are normally followed by a comma in edited prose. Clause-final reasons usually have no comma because they are integrated into the main clause.
Why kerana can appear before a bare noun
Natural Malaysian Malay also permits compact expressions such as kerana hujan, kerana kerja, and kerana masalah teknikal. These look like kerana + noun, but speakers understand an omitted or compressed predication: “because there was rain,” “because of work,” or “because a technical problem occurred.”
Perlawanan itu ditangguhkan kerana hujan lebat.
The match was postponed because of heavy rain.
Dia jarang balik sekarang kerana kerja.
He rarely comes home now because of work. (informal)
The first is entirely normal in neutral and formal Malay because hujan lebat readily names the causal event. Kerana kerja is more context-dependent and conversational (informal); careful writing might expand it to kerana tuntutan kerja or kerana dia perlu bekerja.
This means “a noun follows” does not automatically make kerana wrong. The useful question is whether the expression is understood as a compressed reason. When precision matters, expand the clause instead of forcing every nominal reason into one mechanical pattern.
Akibat packages the cause nominally
Akibat is historically and synchronically a noun meaning “result, consequence, outcome.” In causal use, contemporary Malay commonly places a nominal expression directly after it: akibat hujan lebat, akibat kecuaian, akibat kemalangan itu. This direct complementation is well established in Malaysian dictionary examples and formal usage.
Beberapa jalan ditutup akibat banjir kilat.
Several roads were closed because of flash floods.
Syarikat itu mengalami kerugian besar akibat kecuaian pengurusan.
The company suffered major losses as a result of management negligence.
Bekalan air terganggu akibat paip utama pecah.
The water supply was disrupted because the main pipe burst.
The complement after akibat may be a simple noun phrase (banjir kilat, kecuaian pengurusan) or a compact event expression (paip utama pecah). The construction presents that material as the source of a consequence. It does not behave exactly like neutral English because of: akibat makes the resulting damage or unwanted outcome prominent.
Akibat, akibat daripada, and nonstandard akibat dari
Malaysian usage shows both direct akibat + nominal and akibat daripada + nominal. DBP guidance has not been perfectly uniform across individual advisory answers: some accept akibat daripada tindakan itu, while others recommend the leaner akibat tindakan itu. The direct pattern is unambiguously supported and is the clearest learner baseline.
Penerbangan dibatalkan akibat cuaca buruk.
The flight was cancelled because of bad weather.
Penduduk menanggung kesan buruk akibat daripada pencemaran itu.
Residents suffered harmful effects as a result of that pollution. (accepted expanded variant)
If a linking preposition is retained, Malaysian daripada, not dari, matches a non-spatial source or cause. Avoid akibat dari in careful Standard Malaysian Malay. Prefer akibat banjir; akibat daripada banjir is an attested expanded alternative.
The form akibatnya means “as a result” and refers back to a previously stated situation. It is a discourse linker rather than a relator introducing a new cause:
Sistem amaran gagal berfungsi. Akibatnya, pemindahan penduduk bermula lewat.
The warning system failed. As a result, the evacuation began late.
Oleh kerana, oleh sebab, and disebabkan oleh
Oleh normally introduces an agent in a passive clause; kerana introduces a reason clause. The sequence oleh kerana is widespread in Malaysian usage and occurs even in formal-looking prose, especially at the beginning of a sentence:
Oleh kerana keadaan cuaca tidak menentu, acara itu dipindahkan ke dewan.
Because the weather was unsettled, the event was moved into the hall. (widespread usage; not the prescriptive edited form)
In the DBP/Tatabahasa Dewan norm for tightly edited Standard Malaysian Malay, however, oleh kerana is not accepted: the preposition oleh is expected to take a noun phrase, whereas kerana is a conjunction. Use oleh sebab before a nominal reason or simply kerana before a clause: Oleh sebab cuaca buruk, … or Kerana cuaca buruk, …. With a passive causal construction, use disebabkan oleh:
Kerosakan itu disebabkan oleh kebocoran pada paip utama.
The damage was caused by a leak in the main pipe. (formal)
This form can assign responsibility more explicitly than akibat. Compare projek itu lewat akibat masalah bekalan (focus on the causal circumstance) with kelewatan itu disebabkan oleh pembekal (the supplier is identified as cause or responsible party). Do not use oleh alone as a general translation of English because of.
Cause versus purpose and justification
A cause explains what produced an actual situation. A purpose describes an intended outcome and normally uses untuk or supaya, not kerana or akibat.
Mira menutup tingkap kerana hujan sudah turun.
Mira closed the window because it had started raining. (cause)
Mira menutup tingkap supaya air hujan tidak masuk.
Mira closed the window so that rainwater would not come in. (purpose)
In argumentative writing, kerana can introduce a speaker's justification rather than a physical cause: Cadangan itu perlu dikaji semula kerana datanya belum lengkap. The incomplete data justify the recommendation. Akibat would be unsuitable because no harmful outcome is being presented as resulting from the data.
Word boundaries
These relators are free words: kerana hujan, akibat banjir, oleh sebab kecuaian. Likewise, locative di and directional ke are written separately from a complement: di sekolah, ke hospital. Prefixes attach: ditutup has passive di-, while ketibaan has nominalizing ke-...-an.
Mangsa dibawa ke hospital kerana cedera parah.
The victim was taken to hospital because of serious injuries.
Common Mistakes
1. Copying the Indonesian spelling karena
❌ Mesyuarat dibatalkan karena pengerusi tidak hadir.
Incorrect in Standard Malaysian Malay—karena is the Indonesian spelling.
✅ Mesyuarat dibatalkan kerana pengerusi tidak hadir.
The meeting was cancelled because the chairperson was absent.
2. Treating akibat as a neutral reason for a voluntary action
❌ Saya datang awal akibat Farah menjemput saya.
Unnatural—akibat wrongly frames an invitation as a harmful causal outcome.
✅ Saya datang awal kerana Farah menjemput saya.
I came early because Farah invited me.
3. Using akibat dari for a non-spatial cause
❌ Banyak rumah rosak akibat dari ribut itu.
Nonstandard in careful Malaysian Malay; dari is not the source preposition here.
✅ Banyak rumah rosak akibat ribut itu.
Many houses were damaged as a result of the storm.
4. Confusing cause with purpose
❌ Kami bertolak awal kerana tidak terlepas penerbangan.
Incorrect for intended purpose—the negative clause does not state the actual cause.
✅ Kami bertolak awal supaya tidak terlepas penerbangan.
We left early so that we would not miss the flight.
5. Using oleh alone for because of
❌ Perlawanan dihentikan oleh hujan lebat.
Misleading—the sentence treats rain like a straightforward passive agent.
✅ Perlawanan dihentikan kerana hujan lebat.
The match was stopped because of heavy rain.
Key Takeaways
Use kerana + clause for a neutral explanation: kerana hujan turun. Compact kerana + nominal is also natural when an omitted event is easily recovered: kerana hujan. Use direct akibat + nominal to foreground a consequence, especially an adverse one: akibat hujan lebat. Recognize akibat daripada as an attested expanded variant, avoid akibat dari in careful Malaysian Malay, and use disebabkan oleh when a passive construction must identify the cause or responsible party explicitly.
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Start learning Malay →Related Topics
- Cause, Reason, and Result Chains in Malaysian MalayB1 — Distinguish causal sources with kerana or sebab, resulting endpoints with sehingga or sampai, and discourse conclusions with akibatnya or oleh sebab itu.
- kerana and sebabA2 — Give reasons with kerana and sebab, distinguish the noun sebab from its spoken linker use, and connect a cause to a conclusion clearly.
- oleh: Passive Agent and Cause in Malaysian MalayA2 — Introduce passive agents and causes with oleh, and learn when an adjacent passive agent can appear without it.
- 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.
- sejak, hingga, and sampai in Malaysian MalayA2 — Express starting points, endpoints, continuing duration, and spatial limits with sejak, hingga, and sampai.
- Malay Nouns: No Gender, Case, or AgreementA1 — Learn how Malay noun phrases use stable word forms, head-first order, and context instead of gender, case, articles, or agreement.