di- Passive: Aspect, Modality, and Negation in Malaysian Malay | Malay Grammar

Malay builds the temporal and modal interpretation of a di- passive with separate preverbal markers. The passive verb remains unchanged: dibaca appears after sudah, sedang, akan, boleh, tidak, and belum without acquiring tense or agreement endings. The central template is passive subject + marker sequence + di-verb + optional agent.

Marker order affects scope. These particles are not English auxiliaries that can be moved after the verb or inverted around the subject. This page isolates aspect, modality, and negation; basic formation, arguments, discourse choice, and extraction are covered elsewhere in the di- series.

Minimal marker sequence

Function	Clause	Interpretation
completed: sudah	Buku itu sudah dibaca Rina.	Rina has read that book.
progressive: sedang	Buku itu sedang dibaca Rina.	Rina is reading that book.
future/prospective: akan	Surat itu akan ditulis oleh Ali.	Ali will write that letter.
modal: boleh	Surat itu boleh ditulis oleh Ali.	That letter can/may be written by Ali.
negative: tidak	Kuncinya tidak diambil.	The key is/was not taken.
not yet: belum	Kuncinya belum diambil.	The key has not been taken yet.

Buku itu sudah dibaca Rina sebelum kelas bermula.

Rina had read that book before class began.

Buku itu sedang dibaca Rina di ruang bacaan.

That book is being read by Rina in the reading room.

Surat itu boleh ditulis oleh Ali selepas butirannya disahkan.

That letter can be written by Ali after its details are confirmed.

Kuncinya tidak diambil semasa pemeriksaan dijalankan.

The key was not taken while the inspection was conducted.

Kuncinya belum diambil dari kaunter keselamatan.

The key has not yet been collected from the security counter.

These five examples keep the voice predicate constant. The separate particle changes how the event is located or evaluated.

Aspect before an unchanged passive verb

sudah and telah

Sudah presents an event or resulting state as realized. Telah is frequent in formal reports and narratives (formal).

Semua borang sudah diperiksa oleh pegawai bertugas.

All the forms have been checked by the duty officer.

Keputusan tersebut telah diumumkan melalui laman rasmi kementerian.

The decision has been announced through the ministry's official website. (formal)

Neither particle turns diperiksa/diumumkan into a participle. They precede a fully formed passive predicate.

sedang and tengah

Sedang locates a dynamic event in progress. Conversational tengah can fill the same slot (informal).

Jalan itu sedang dibaiki, jadi gunakan laluan sebelah.

That road is being repaired, so use the adjacent route.

Makanan tengah disediakan; tunggu sekejap, ya.

The food is being prepared; wait a moment, okay? (informal)

Progressive marking works best with a process that can unfold. With stative passives, sedang may force an unusual dynamic reading or sound poor. Maklumat itu sedang diketahui semua orang is generally inferior to Maklumat itu kini diketahui semua orang “The information is now known to everyone.”

pernah, masih, and combinations

Aspectual meanings can combine when their scopes are compatible.

Bangunan itu sudah pernah digunakan sebagai pusat pemindahan.

That building has previously been used as an evacuation center.

Kes itu masih sedang disiasat oleh pihak berkuasa.

The case is still being investigated by the authorities.

In sudah pernah, completion scopes over experiential pernah. Masih sedang explicitly says the ongoing process continues, though one marker may suffice in a less contrastive context. More markers do not automatically make a sentence more precise.

akan and prospective time

Akan precedes the passive verb and presents the event as prospective or predicted.

Surat itu akan ditulis oleh Ali selepas mesyuarat petang ini.

That letter will be written by Ali after this afternoon's meeting.

Jambatan baharu itu akan dibuka kepada orang ramai bulan depan.

The new bridge will be opened to the public next month.

Time can also be supplied without akan: Jambatan itu dibuka bulan depan can function as a scheduled-event statement. Akan makes the prospective stance explicit; it does not conjugate the verb.

Boleh can express ability, possibility, or permission. With a passive subject, it evaluates whether the event can or may affect that participant.

Dokumen ini boleh dimuat turun melalui portal pelanggan.

This document can be downloaded through the customer portal.

Bilik itu hanya boleh digunakan oleh kakitangan yang diberi kuasa.

That room may only be used by authorized staff.

Tidak boleh dibuka is contextually ambiguous between inability and prohibition. A warning sign favors prohibition; a jammed lid favors inability. Lexical additions such as dilarang or tidak dapat make the intended force clearer.

Other modal sequences preserve the same position:

Permohonan itu mungkin akan diluluskan pada mesyuarat seterusnya.

The application may be approved at the next meeting.

Kesilapan tersebut mesti diperbetulkan sebelum laporan diterbitkan.

That error must be corrected before the report is published.

The order mungkin akan diluluskan gives possibility scope over the prospective event. See marker order for the broader system.

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Locate the passive verb first, then build the marker sequence to its left. Keep di- attached: belum diperiksa, not belum di periksa.

tidak, belum, and bukan

tidak: ordinary verbal negation

Tidak negates occurrence or applicability of the passive event.

Nama pemohon tidak dinyatakan dalam dokumen itu.

The applicant's name is not stated in that document.

In tidak akan dibaca, negation has scope over the future event: it will not be read. In mungkin tidak dibaca, possibility scopes over the negative: perhaps it will not be read.

Laporan itu tidak akan diterbitkan sebelum semua data disahkan.

The report will not be published before all the data are verified.

Catatan kecil itu mungkin tidak dibaca oleh semua peserta.

That small note may not be read by every participant.

belum: nonoccurrence up to a reference point

Belum incorporates “not yet.” It normally carries an expectation or open possibility that the event may occur later.

Surat itu belum ditandatangani oleh pengerusi.

That letter has not yet been signed by the chairperson.

Tidak ditandatangani merely denies signing in the relevant frame; belum ditandatangani says signing has not occurred up to now.

bukan: constituent contrast, not ordinary verbal negation

Use bukan to reject or contrast a noun phrase or focused constituent, not as the default negator immediately before a passive verb.

Bukan surat itu yang ditulis oleh Ali, tetapi laporan mesyuarat.

It was not that letter that Ali wrote, but the meeting report.

Here bukan contrasts surat itu. Ordinary “the letter was not written” is Surat itu tidak ditulis.

jangan and passive directives

Jangan prohibits an action. Passive signs and instructions are natural when the affected item is prominent and the addressee is generic.

Pintu ini jangan dibuka semasa mesin sedang beroperasi.

This door must not be opened while the machine is operating.

Permukaan yang masih panas itu jangan disentuh.

Do not touch that surface while it is still hot.

The implied actor is the person subject to the instruction. Some passives are poor imperatives because their lexical meaning is stative or lacks a controllable actor. Jangan diketahui is normally incoherent as a direct command unless it means “must not become known” in a special secrecy context; Jangan beritahu sesiapa is clearer in conversation.

Common Mistakes

1. Moving the aspect marker after the verb

❌ Buku itu dibaca sudah oleh Rina.

Incorrect marker position—sudah precedes the passive verb.

✅ Buku tersebut sudah dibaca oleh Rina hingga tamat.

That book has been read through to the end by Rina.

2. Separating di- from the verb

❌ Surat itu akan di tulis oleh Ali.

Incorrect spelling—the passive prefix remains attached after a marker.

✅ Surat itu akan ditulis oleh Ali selepas mesyuarat.

That letter will be written by Ali after the meeting.

3. Using bukan for ordinary verbal negation

❌ Kuncinya bukan diambil oleh pengawal.

Incorrect for simple event negation—use tidak.

✅ Kuncinya tidak diambil oleh pengawal.

The key was not taken by the guard.

4. Translating not yet as tidak

❌ Borang itu tidak diperiksa lagi setakat pagi ini.

Poor choice for an expected event pending up to now—use belum.

✅ Borang itu belum diperiksa setakat pagi ini.

The form has not yet been checked as of this morning.

5. Forcing progressive aspect on a stable knowledge state

❌ Fakta itu sedang diketahui oleh semua penyelidik.

Unnatural progressive stative reading—use kini or sudah for the intended state.

✅ Fakta itu kini diketahui oleh semua penyelidik.

That fact is now known to all researchers.

Key Takeaways

The passive verb never conjugates: separate preverbal particles build aspect, time, modality, and negation. Use sudah/telah for realization, sedang for a dynamic process, akan for prospect, boleh for ability/permission/possibility, tidak for verbal negation, belum for “not yet,” and jangan for prohibition. Marker order signals scope, while lexical aspect and control determine whether a combination is natural.

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