Giving involves three participants: a giver, something transferred, and a recipient. The beri family reorganizes those participants. A strong edited baseline contrasts memberi seseorang sesuatu, with the recipient directly after the verb, and memberikan sesuatu kepada seseorang, with the transferred item as direct object. Their clearest passive counterparts are seseorang diberi sesuatu and sesuatu diberikan kepada seseorang. Actual usage shows some overlap, discussed below; English give offers no equivalent formal contrast.
These alternations are part of the wider three-participant system, but this page concentrates on the lexical beri family.
No person or tense conjugation
Forms remain unchanged across subjects and times. Separate markers establish aspect and time.
| Frame | Present/general | Past context | Future context |
|---|---|---|---|
| recipient-centered actor voice | Dia memberi saya buku. | Dia telah memberi saya buku. | Dia akan memberi saya buku. |
| theme-centered actor voice | Dia memberikan buku kepada saya. | Dia telah memberikan buku kepada saya. | Dia akan memberikan buku kepada saya. |
| recipient passive | Saya diberi buku. | Saya sudah diberi buku. | Saya akan diberi buku. |
| theme passive | Buku diberikan kepada saya. | Buku telah diberikan kepada saya. | Buku akan diberikan kepada saya. |
The required patterns memberi saya buku, memberikan buku, and saya diberi differ in participant structure, not tense. Telah, sudah, and akan remain separate.
Bare beri
Bare beri is natural in commands and object voice. Actor-first bare-root use is common (informal) but not the safest choice in careful prose.
Beri saya masa lima minit untuk menyemak angka ini.
Give me five minutes to check these figures.
Peluang kedua itu saya beri kerana dia mengakui kesilapannya.
I gave that second chance because he admitted his mistake. (object voice)
Saya beri dia nombor telefon awak semalam.
I gave her your phone number yesterday. (informal)
The command and object voice are standard constructions. In a careful actor-first report, use Saya memberi dia... or reorganize as Saya memberikan nombor telefon awak kepadanya.
Memberi centers the recipient
Memberi can be followed directly by the recipient and then the transferred theme.
Penyelia memberi saya salinan laporan yang telah disahkan.
The supervisor gave me a copy of the verified report.
Doktor memberi pesakit itu ubat untuk mengurangkan kesakitan.
The doctor gave the patient medicine to reduce the pain.
Program tersebut memberi usahawan kecil peluang untuk memasarkan produk mereka.
The programme gives small entrepreneurs an opportunity to market their products.
Recipients can be literal receivers or metaphorical beneficiaries: memberi peluang, memberi perhatian, memberi kesan, and memberi kebenaran are common collocations. The second noun phrase identifies what is transferred or conferred.
Some contexts omit the theme because it is recoverable: Dia suka memberi “She likes giving.” Most practical sentences identify what is given.
Memberikan centers the transferred item
Memberikan characteristically takes the transferred item as its direct object. The recipient follows in a kepada phrase.
Pegawai itu memberikan borang baharu kepada setiap pemohon.
The officer gave a new form to every applicant.
Syarikat memberikan bantuan kewangan kepada keluarga yang terjejas.
The company provided financial assistance to affected families. (formal)
Beliau memberikan penjelasan yang terperinci kepada ahli jawatankuasa.
She gave a detailed explanation to the committee members.
The required memberikan buku follows this theme-centered model: Guru itu memberikan buku kepada murid baharu. The suffix does not merely make the sentence “more formal.” It helps organize which participant is direct.
Productive benefactive meN-...-kan also licenses double-object patterns for some speakers and grammatical descriptions, including memberikan murid itu sebuah buku. Other prescriptive guidance maintains the sharper memberi Y X / memberikan X kepada Y contrast. For maximally transparent edited Malaysian prose, especially for learners, the two baseline frames above avoid that area of variation.
Guru itu memberikan sebuah buku kepada murid baharu tersebut.
The teacher gave a book to the new pupil.
Diberi and diberikan choose different passive subjects
With diberi, the recipient is commonly the passive subject and the theme remains after the verb.
Saya diberi masa dua hari untuk menyiapkan pembetulan itu.
I was given two days to complete the corrections.
Setiap peserta diberi sebuah fail dan sebatang pen.
Each participant was given a file and a pen.
With diberikan, the transferred theme most transparently becomes the passive subject and the recipient appears with kepada. Recipient-subject forms such as saya diberikan sebuah buku occur under the overlapping benefactive analysis, but careful learner prose can avoid the variation by using saya diberi sebuah buku.
Anugerah itu diberikan kepada seorang jururawat dari Perak.
The award was given to a nurse from Perak.
Maklumat lanjut akan diberikan kepada pemohon yang berjaya.
Further information will be given to successful applicants. (formal)
Compare Peserta diberi sijil with Sijil diberikan kepada peserta. The same transfer is viewed through recipient or theme. Passive di- attaches in diberi/diberikan; locative di dewan remains separate.
Pemberian and other nominal members
Pemberian names an act of giving, an allocation, or something bestowed. Pemberi names a giver in formal or technical compounds.
Pemberian bantuan itu akan dibuat secara berperingkat mulai bulan hadapan.
The distribution of the assistance will be carried out in stages beginning next month. (formal)
Hadiah itu ialah pemberian terakhir daripada arwah datuknya.
The gift was the last thing given to her by her late grandfather.
Identiti pemberi maklumat tersebut dirahsiakan.
The informant's identity is kept confidential. (formal)
Pemberian may focus the process or the bestowed item; the surrounding noun identifies the domain: pemberian biasiswa, pemberian kuasa, pemberian hadiah.
Memberitahu is lexicalized
Memberitahu means “tell/inform.” Although historically and visibly related to beri + tahu, it is learned as one solid lexical verb with its own argument patterns.
Tolong beritahu saya jika jadual itu berubah.
Please tell me if the schedule changes.
Pegawai itu memberitahu kami bahawa permohonan tersebut telah diluluskan.
The officer informed us that the application had been approved.
Saya sudah memberitahunya tentang perubahan tempat mesyuarat.
I have already told her about the change of meeting venue.
Do not derive its meaning word by word as “give know,” and do not separate it as memberi tahu for the standard verb. Bare beritahu is common in commands and object voice; memberitahu is the careful actor-voice form.
Common collocations
| Expression | Meaning | Typical frame |
|---|---|---|
| memberi peluang | give an opportunity | memberi Y peluang |
| memberi kesan | have/give an effect | memberi kesan kepada X |
| memberikan penjelasan | provide an explanation | memberikan penjelasan kepada Y |
| diberi kebenaran | be granted permission | Y diberi kebenaran |
| memberitahu bahawa | inform that | memberitahu Y bahawa P |
Keputusan baharu itu memberi kesan kepada semua cawangan di pantai timur.
The new decision affects all branches on the east coast.
The collocation memberi kesan kepada does not normally reorganize as though “effect” were a physical gift. Lexical convention matters alongside productive valency.
Common Mistakes
1. Treating beri as a universal infinitive
⚠️ Pihak sekolah beri setiap peserta sijil penyertaan.
Too colloquial for the intended careful statement.
✅ Pihak sekolah memberi setiap peserta sijil penyertaan.
The school gave every participant a certificate of participation.
2. Reversing the memberikan frame
⚠️ Pegawai itu memberikan pemohon borang baharu.
Attested under a benefactive double-object analysis, but variable in prescriptive usage; the baseline careful frames are memberi Y X or memberikan X kepada Y.
✅ Pegawai itu memberikan borang baharu kepada pemohon.
The officer gave a new form to the applicant.
3. Mixing passive participant structures
❌ Saya diberikan kepada sebuah buku.
Incorrect—the recipient passive is saya diberi buku.
✅ Saya diberi sebuah buku panduan semasa mendaftar.
I was given a guidebook when I registered.
4. Separating memberitahu
❌ Dia memberi tahu saya tentang perubahan itu.
Incorrect standard spelling for the lexical verb memberitahu.
✅ Dia memberitahu saya tentang perubahan tarikh tersebut.
She told me about the change of date.
5. Separating passive di-
❌ Setiap peserta di beri sebuah fail.
Incorrect spacing—the passive prefix attaches to beri.
✅ Setiap peserta diberi sebuah fail berwarna biru.
Each participant was given a blue file.
Key Takeaways
Use memberi Y X when recipient Y is directly central and memberikan X kepada Y when transferred item X is central. Their passives mirror the contrast: Y diberi X versus X diberikan kepada Y. Bare beri belongs in commands, object voice, and labeled informal usage. Learn memberitahu as a solid lexical verb and keep every passive di- attached.
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