The suffixes -kan and -i often choose different affected participants. -Kan commonly places a moved theme or caused result directly after the verb: mengirimkan surat kepada Rina. -I often places a recipient, goal, or location there instead: mengirimi Rina surat. This is a valency contrast, not a rule about which English noun happens to occur first.
The tendency is powerful but not completely productive. Some roots allow a meaningful alternation, some forms differ in repetition or lexical meaning, and some roots accept only one established derivative. This overview builds on the -kan overview and introduces neutral clause shapes; later pages treat arguments, choice, particles, and advanced constraints in depth.
Core form-and-function table
| Form | Directly affected participant | Other participant | Core construal |
|---|---|---|---|
| mengirimkan surat kepada Rina | surat: moved theme | kepada Rina: recipient | send the letter toward Rina |
| mengirimi Rina surat | Rina: recipient | surat: transferred theme | supply Rina with a letter |
| memasukkan barang ke dalam kotak | barang: moved theme | kotak: goal | cause the item to enter |
| memenuhi kotak dengan barang | kotak: affected container | barang: contents | fill the box |
| melemparkan batu ke arah sasaran | batu: projected theme | sasaran: goal | throw a stone |
| melempari sasaran dengan batu | sasaran: repeatedly affected goal | batu: instrument/theme | pelt the target with stones |
The memasukkan/memenuhi comparison uses different roots because Malaysian Malay does not build every conceptual alternation from one root. What matters is the structural contrast: the theme is affected as moved in one clause; the container is affected as filled in the other.
Formation and spelling
Both suffixes attach to the base, and any voice prefix attaches at the left edge:
| Layer | -kan series | -i series |
|---|---|---|
| actor voice | mengirimkan | mengirimi |
| di- passive | dikirimkan | dikirimi |
| object voice/imperative | saya kirimkan; kirimkan! | saya kirimi; kirimi! |
Actual words are solid: mengirimkan, not mengirim kan; dikirimi, not di kirimi. Abstract labels retain hyphens because -kan and -i are suffixes.
Mereka mengirimkan surat pengesahan kepada Rina semalam.
They sent the confirmation letter to Rina yesterday.
Mereka mengirimi Rina surat pengesahan yang sama.
They sent Rina the same confirmation letter. (careful)
Mengirimi is standard Malaysian Malay, especially in careful usage, but everyday logistics often prefers menghantar surat kepada Rina or mengirim surat kepada Rina. A structurally available form need not be equally frequent in every register.
-kan: theme and caused-result orientation
With motion and transfer, -kan commonly gives direct-object status to what moves. The goal follows ke, ke dalam, kepada, or another relator.
Pegawai itu memasukkan dokumen asal ke dalam sampul berkunci.
The officer put the original document into a locked envelope.
Kami menghadiahkan sebuah komputer riba kepada pemenang pertandingan.
We presented a laptop to the competition winner.
With adjective-like or stative bases, -kan often creates a caused result:
Pekerja membersihkan bilik itu sebelum tetamu tiba.
The workers cleaned the room before the guests arrived.
The room becomes clean. English simply uses clean as a transitive verb, but Malay makes the result relation visible in membersihkan.
Benefactive -kan can also profile an action done for someone: membacakan cerita kepada anak, membukakan pintu untuk tetamu. This use is related to adding an affected or benefited participant, but its exact distribution is lexical.
-i: location, goal, and recipient orientation
-I commonly makes a location, recipient, or target the direct object. A theme or material may remain after the object or appear in a dengan phrase.
Mereka menghadiahi pemenang itu sebuah komputer riba.
They presented the winner with a laptop. (formal)
Petani menanami kawasan itu dengan pokok buah-buahan tempatan.
The farmer planted that area with local fruit trees.
Pekerja melumuri permukaan kayu itu dengan minyak pelindung.
The worker coated the wooden surface with protective oil.
The winner, area, and surface are construed as affected endpoints. English may use a double-object construction or with, but Malay chooses the affected object through the suffixed verb.
Theme-goal alternations
Compare a gift event:
Syarikat menghadiahkan baucar buku kepada setiap peserta.
The company gave a book voucher to every participant.
Syarikat menghadiahi setiap peserta baucar buku.
The company presented every participant with a book voucher. (formal)
In menghadiahkan, baucar buku is the direct transferred theme and kepada setiap peserta is the goal/recipient. In menghadiahi, setiap peserta is the direct affected recipient.
The passive test exposes the contrast:
Baucar buku itu dihadiahkan kepada setiap peserta.
The book voucher was presented to every participant.
Setiap peserta dihadiahi baucar buku.
Every participant was presented with a book voucher. (formal)
The noun that becomes the passive pivot differs because suffix choice has selected a different direct object.
Repeated or distributed effect with -i
Some -i derivatives add a repeated, distributed, or surface-wide reading rather than merely changing object order.
Budak itu melemparkan sebiji batu ke arah pokok.
The child threw a stone toward the tree.
Orang ramai melempari papan sasaran itu dengan bola-bola kecil.
The crowd pelted the target board with small balls.
Melemparkan presents the projected object; melempari presents the target as repeatedly affected. A single-event double-object translation would miss that lexical-aspect difference.
Similarly, menanami tanah dengan pokok normally implies distributing plantings over the location, not placing one isolated plant.
Lexical pairs that must be learned
Some roots have both suffixes but not a simple theme-versus-goal alternation. Mendudukkan means cause someone to sit or assign a position; menduduki means occupy a seat, post, territory, or ranking. Menurunkan means lower or cause to descend; menuruni means go down along a route such as stairs or a slope.
Petugas mendudukkan kanak-kanak itu di kerusi hadapan.
The attendant seated the child in the front chair.
Pasukan itu menduduki tempat pertama dalam liga.
The team occupies first place in the league.
Mereka menurunkan kotak-kotak dari lori.
They unloaded/lowered the boxes from the lorry.
Para pendaki menuruni cerun dengan berhati-hati.
The hikers descended the slope carefully.
These meanings are conventional. The affected-participant principle helps organize them, but it cannot replace lexical knowledge.
Non-alternating roots
Do not assume every base accepts both suffixes. Membersihkan is established, but an invented membersihi is not its location-object partner. Mengetahui is established, but mengetahkan is not a causative counterpart. Even when two forms exist, one may be rare, specialized, or semantically distant.
There is no perfectly reliable spelling algorithm or English paraphrase that predicts acceptability. Learn frequent verbs with their object frames and consult Malaysian usage when creating a less familiar derivative.
Neutral clause shapes and voice
Suffix choice and voice choice are separate layers:
Dokumen itu dikirimkan kepada Rina oleh pihak urus setia.
The document was sent to Rina by the secretariat.
Rina dikirimi dokumen itu oleh pihak urus setia.
Rina was sent the document by the secretariat. (careful)
Dokumen itu saya kirimkan kepada Rina pagi tadi.
I sent that document to Rina this morning.
The passive pivot follows the suffix-selected object, while first-person object voice places saya before the bare suffixed verb. Neither suffix marks tense.
Common Mistakes
1. Keeping recipient-object order with -kan
❌ Mereka mengirimkan Rina surat pengesahan itu.
Wrong standard object frame for the intended -kan pattern—the theme should be direct object.
✅ Mereka mengirimkan surat pengesahan itu kepada Rina.
They sent the confirmation letter to Rina.
2. Adding kepada before an -i recipient object
❌ Mereka mengirimi kepada Rina surat pengesahan.
Incorrect—Rina is already the direct affected recipient.
✅ Mereka mengirimi Rina surat pengesahan tersebut.
They sent Rina the confirmation letter. (careful)
3. Treating a location as the moved object
❌ Pegawai memasukkan kotak dengan dokumen.
Wrong participant construal for putting documents into a box.
✅ Pegawai memasukkan dokumen ke dalam kotak.
The officer put the documents into the box.
4. Assuming every root alternates
❌ Pekerja itu membersihi semua meja.
Invented form—membersihkan is the established verb.
✅ Pekerja itu membersihkan semua meja selepas majlis.
The worker cleaned all the tables after the event.
5. Separating actual suffixes
❌ Setiap peserta di hadiah i sebuah buku.
Incorrect spelling—the passive derivative is one word.
✅ Setiap peserta dihadiahi sebuah buku terbitan tempatan.
Every participant was presented with a locally published book.
Key Takeaways
-Kan often makes a moved theme or caused result the direct object; -i often selects an affected location, goal, recipient, or repeated target. Passive alternations expose that object choice. The principle explains important families, but lexicalized pairs and non-alternating roots require memorization. Choose from Malaysian collocations and participant structure, not English word order alone.
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Start learning Malay →Related Topics
- -kan versus -i: Subjects, Objects, and Argument Order in Malaysian MalayB2 — Track how -kan and -i select theme, recipient, and container objects across actor voice, passive voice, pronouns, omission, and object voice.
- -kan versus -i: Choosing This Construction in Malaysian MalayB2 — Choose -kan when a transferred or moved theme is central and -i when discourse profiles an affected recipient, location, or container.
- -kan versus -i: Aspect, Modality, and Negation in Malaysian MalayC1 — Place aspect, modal, and negative markers before invariant -kan and -i predicates while preserving their distinct object alignments and scope.
- -kan versus -i: Advanced Constraints and Register in Malaysian MalayC2 — Handle extraction, passive and object-voice alternations, lexicalized suffix meanings, omitted agents, and Malaysian formal-colloquial preferences.
- -kan Valency Patterns: Overview and Formation in Malaysian MalayA2 — Form Malaysian Malay -kan verbs and recognize how they add a causer, beneficiary, moved theme, or result-bearing participant.
- -i Applicative Patterns: Overview and Formation in Malaysian MalayB2 — Understand how -i promotes a location, recipient, or affected target to direct-object status and why its meaning remains lexically constrained.