Bare tahu is the everyday Malaysian verb for knowing a fact, answer, location, or way of doing something. Mengetahui presents knowledge more explicitly as an active relation, especially in careful prose, while passive diketahui centers the known fact. Pengetahuan names knowledge as a body or capacity, and ketahuan describes something becoming known or being found out in selected usage.
English uses know for both factual knowledge and familiarity with a person. Malay normally separates tahu from kenal: you tahu jawapannya “know the answer” but kenal jirannya “know the neighbor.” This page focuses on the tahu family; general derivation belongs to the voice system.
Family map
| Form | Usual frame | Core use |
|---|---|---|
| tahu | knower + tahu + noun/question/clause | know, be aware, know how |
| mengetahui | knower + mengetahui + fact/object | know, ascertain, be informed of |
| diketahui | fact/entity + diketahui (+ oleh knower) | be known |
| pengetahuan | noun | knowledge, body of information |
| ketahuan | result predicate | be found out, become known; marked in Malaysian usage |
| tahu-menahu | fixed reduplicated expression | know anything about, usually under negation |
Standard Malaysian spelling is jawapan, hence jawapannya “the answer.” Indonesian jawaban/jawabannya should not be copied into Malaysian prose.
No person or tense conjugation
| Context | Malay | Meaning source |
|---|---|---|
| present | Saya tahu jawapannya. | context |
| past discovery | Dia baru tahu keputusannya semalam. | baru + semalam |
| continuing lack | Kami masih tidak tahu. | masih |
| future knowledge | Mereka akan tahu nanti. | akan + nanti |
Saya tahu jawapannya, tetapi saya mahu mendengar pendapat awak dahulu.
I know the answer, but I want to hear your opinion first.
Mereka masih tidak tahu bila jalan itu akan dibuka semula.
They still do not know when the road will reopen.
Tahu never gains an ending equivalent to knows or knew. Bare tahu is a complete stative predicate, not an infinitive form awaiting conjugation.
Complements of tahu
Nouns and embedded questions
Tahu + noun identifies the known information. With siapa, apa, bila, mengapa, bagaimana, or di mana, it introduces an embedded question without English-style inversion.
Awak tahu alamat pejabat baharu mereka?
Do you know the address of their new office?
Saya tidak tahu di mana dia meletakkan dokumen asal itu.
I do not know where she put the original document.
Kami mahu tahu mengapa bekalan air terputus semalam.
We want to know why the water supply was cut off yesterday.
tahu bahawa + clause
Bahawa introduces a proposition as the content of knowledge, especially in careful writing. It is often omitted in conversation when the boundary remains clear.
Saya tahu bahawa keputusan ini akan mengecewakan sesetengah pihak.
I know that this decision will disappoint some parties.
Dia tahu kami sudah sampai.
She knows that we have arrived. (neutral conversation)
Yang is not the ordinary replacement for complementizer bahawa. Yang builds relative and nominal structures, whereas bahawa explicitly frames a proposition.
tahu + verb: practical knowledge
Tahu + verb can mean know how to perform an activity. Malay needs no equivalent of English how to in a simple frame.
Adik saya sudah tahu berenang tanpa pelampung.
My younger sibling already knows how to swim without a float.
mengetahui: explicit active knowledge
Mengetahui takes a known fact or situation as its object. It is common in reports, official communication, and careful explanations (formal), though it also occurs neutrally when a transitive relation is being emphasized.
Pihak berkuasa mengetahui kewujudan masalah itu sejak bulan lalu.
The authorities have known about the problem's existence since last month. (formal)
Selepas membaca surat itu, barulah kami mengetahui sebab sebenar kelewatan tersebut.
Only after reading the letter did we learn the real reason for the delay.
In the second example, mengetahui approaches “come to know/learn.” The surrounding sequence, not the prefix alone, supplies the moment of discovery. In ordinary conversation, baru tahu is more compact: Saya baru tahu hari ini.
Do not replace every tahu with mengetahui to sound educated. Awak tahu? remains the natural everyday question.
diketahui: known facts and impersonal evidence
Passive diketahui lets a fact, identity, cause, or proposition become central. It is especially productive in reports and academic prose.
Punca kebakaran itu masih belum diketahui.
The cause of the fire is still unknown. (news/formal)
Diketahui bahawa perubahan suhu mempengaruhi kadar tindak balas tersebut.
It is known that changes in temperature affect the reaction rate. (academic)
Setakat ini, identiti pemilik akaun itu tidak diketahui oleh penyiasat.
So far, the account holder's identity is not known to investigators. (formal)
Clause-initial Diketahui bahawa... creates an impersonal epistemic frame: the knowledge is treated as established without centering an individual knower. Academic writers should still cite evidence; grammatical impersonality is not proof.
Write diketahui solid. In diketahui di seluruh negara, the passive prefix attaches but locative di seluruh negara remains separate.
pengetahuan: knowledge as a noun
Pengetahuan refers to what someone knows, a field of knowledge, or awareness acquired through study and experience.
Kursus itu memberi peserta pengetahuan asas tentang keselamatan siber.
The course gives participants basic knowledge of cybersecurity.
Setakat pengetahuan saya, peraturan itu belum berubah.
To the best of my knowledge, that rule has not changed. (careful)
Distinguish pengetahuan from maklumat “information.” A document contains maklumat; a person develops pengetahuan by understanding and retaining information.
ketahuan and discovery
Ketahuan means become known, be discovered, or get caught. It is recognizable across Malay varieties, but akhirnya ketahuan is more strongly associated with Indonesian and cross-regional informal usage. Neutral Malaysian prose often chooses akhirnya diketahui, akhirnya terbongkar, or akhirnya tertangkap, depending on what was discovered.
Perbuatannya akhirnya ketahuan apabila rakaman kamera diperiksa.
What he had done was eventually found out when the camera footage was examined. (informal/cross-regional)
Rahsia itu akhirnya terbongkar selepas audit dalaman dijalankan.
The secret was finally exposed after an internal audit was conducted. (neutral Malaysian)
There is no universal replacement: terbongkar suits a concealed fact, diketahui a fact becoming known, and tertangkap a person being caught.
The fixed negative tidak tahu-menahu means have no knowledge or involvement at all.
Dia menegaskan bahawa dia tidak tahu-menahu tentang urusan tersebut.
He insisted that he knew absolutely nothing about the matter. (formal/emphatic)
Common Mistakes
1. Copying Indonesian jawaban
❌ Saya tahu jawabannya.
Wrong Malaysian spelling—the standard noun is jawapan.
✅ Saya tahu jawapannya, tetapi saya belum menulisnya.
I know the answer, but I have not written it down yet.
2. Using tahu for personal acquaintance
❌ Saya tahu jiran baharu itu sejak kecil.
Wrong lexical choice for being acquainted with a person—use kenal.
✅ Saya kenal jiran baharu itu sejak kecil.
I have known that new neighbor since childhood.
3. Adding English question order inside an embedded question
❌ Saya tidak tahu bila akan jalan itu dibuka semula.
Incorrect embedded-question order—the subject remains before the predicate.
✅ Saya tidak tahu bila jalan itu akan dibuka semula.
I do not know when the road will reopen.
4. Separating passive di-
❌ Puncanya masih belum di ketahui.
Incorrect spelling—the passive prefix is attached.
✅ Puncanya masih belum diketahui oleh pasukan penyiasat.
The cause is still not known to the investigation team.
5. Treating pengetahuan as countable information items
❌ Borang itu mengandungi lima pengetahuan tentang pemohon.
Wrong noun—discrete details in a form are maklumat, not pengetahuan.
✅ Borang itu mengandungi lima butiran penting tentang pemohon.
The form contains five important details about the applicant.
Key Takeaways
Use tahu for everyday factual or practical knowledge and kenal for acquaintance. Mengetahui explicitly profiles a knower and known content, while diketahui centers established or unknown information. Pengetahuan is a body of knowledge, not a single fact. Recognize ketahuan, but choose diketahui, terbongkar, or tertangkap when a more neutral and precise Malaysian expression fits.
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