The suffix -kan often adds or foregrounds a caused result, a moved theme, or an action performed for someone. In Ibu membacakan buku kepada anak, the mother is actor, buku is the direct theme object, and kepada anak names the beneficiary or recipient. In Dia memasukkan kunci ke dalam beg, kunci is what undergoes caused motion and the bag is its goal.
English word order does not reliably identify these roles. Malay argument status emerges from the lexical -kan verb, voice prefix, object position, relativization, and information structure together. This page focuses on arguments; the -kan overview introduces formation, while discourse choice, particle combinations, and advanced constraints are handled by the neighboring pages.
Core argument patterns
| Pattern | Example | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| actor + meN-...-kan + theme + beneficiary | Ibu membacakan buku kepada anak. | actor, theme, beneficiary |
| actor + meN-...-kan + theme + goal | Dia memasukkan kunci ke dalam beg. | causer, moved theme, goal |
| actor + meN-...-kan + affected object | Pekerja membersihkan meja. | actor, result-bearing patient |
| affected subject + di-...-kan + beneficiary | Pintu dibukakan untuk tetamu. | patient pivot, beneficiary |
Ibu membacakan buku cerita kepada anak sebelum tidur.
The mother reads a storybook aloud to the child before bedtime.
Dia memasukkan kunci ke dalam poket jaketnya.
He put the key into his jacket pocket.
Pekerja itu membersihkan meja selepas pelanggan beredar.
The worker cleaned the table after the customer left.
Pintu dibukakan untuk tetamu yang membawa kerusi roda.
The door was opened for the guest using a wheelchair.
The suffix is attached to the verb: membacakan, memasukkan, membersihkan, dibukakan. The active and passive prefixes select voice; -kan shapes valency.
Subjects and direct objects in actor voice
In actor voice, the causer or performer is normally the preverbal subject. The first noun phrase after the verb is its direct object and usually bears the caused motion, result, or service.
Aina memasukkan fail itu ke dalam laci berkunci.
Aina put the file into the locked drawer.
Pasukan sukarelawan membersihkan dewan selepas majlis tamat.
The volunteer team cleaned the hall after the event ended.
In the first, fail itu moves; ke dalam laci berkunci is a goal phrase. In the second, dewan changes toward a clean result. The nearest English noun after put or clean happens to be an object too, but the Malay analysis is supported by its ability to become a passive pivot:
Fail itu dimasukkan ke dalam laci berkunci oleh Aina.
The file was put into the locked drawer by Aina.
Dewan itu dibersihkan oleh pasukan sukarelawan selepas majlis.
The hall was cleaned by the volunteer team after the event.
Theme, beneficiary, and recipient
With a service or transfer-like verb, -kan commonly keeps the theme as direct object and expresses the beneficiary with kepada or untuk.
Kakak membacakan surat itu kepada nenek yang kurang jelas penglihatannya.
My older sister read the letter aloud to our grandmother, whose vision is poor.
Pegawai itu mencetakkan salinan tambahan untuk setiap peserta.
The officer printed an additional copy for each participant.
Kepada highlights a human recipient or addressee; untuk often presents a beneficiary or intended user. They are not interchangeable in every lexical frame.
The theme can become passive subject:
Surat itu dibacakan kepada nenek oleh kakak.
The letter was read aloud to Grandmother by my older sister.
Some established ditransitive patterns also allow a human beneficiary to become the passive pivot, especially with verbs such as bacakan in appropriate contexts:
Anak-anak itu dibacakan sebuah cerita sebelum tidur.
The children were read a story before bedtime.
Here anak-anak itu is the passive subject, while sebuah cerita remains after the verb. This alternation is lexical and construction-specific; it does not authorize promoting any kepada phrase with every verb.
Full nouns, pronouns, and clitics
A full-noun actor follows a passive verb directly or after oleh:
Meja itu dibersihkan pekerja baharu sebelum kedai dibuka.
The table was cleaned by the new worker before the shop opened.
Meja itu dibersihkan oleh pekerja baharu sebelum kedai dibuka.
The table was cleaned by the new worker before the shop opened.
With first- or second-person actors, Malaysian Malay normally uses object voice: affected participant + actor pronoun + bare suffixed verb.
Kunci itu saya masukkan ke dalam sampul kecil.
I put that key into a small envelope.
Pintu ini perlu anda bukakan untuk penghantar barang.
You need to open this door for the delivery person. (formal)
The suffix remains on masukkan/bukakan, but the meN- prefix is absent after the actor pronoun. Attached -nya can express a compact third-person agent: Pintu itu dibukakannya (formal/literary).
Pintu itu dibukakannya perlahan-lahan supaya bayi tidak terjaga.
He/She opened the door slowly so that the baby would not wake. (literary)
Omitted arguments
Context can omit a recoverable actor, beneficiary, goal, or even an understood object in an imperative. Omission does not change the verb's lexical valency; it leaves a role implicit.
Meja sudah dibersihkan sebelum mesyuarat bermula.
The table had been cleaned before the meeting began.
Masukkan perlahan-lahan supaya tidak tumpah.
Put it in slowly so that it does not spill.
The imperative has an understood addressee and an understood theme supplied by the situation. A listener must know what is to be inserted. This is different from an intransitive masuk clause, where the subject itself enters.
Changed word order and unchanged roles
Voice changes the pivot while preserving semantic roles:
Ali memasukkan kunci itu ke dalam kotak.
Ali put the key into the box.
Kunci itu dimasukkan oleh Ali ke dalam kotak.
The key was put into the box by Ali.
Kunci itu Ali masukkan ke dalam kotak.
Ali put the key into the box. (object-focused/colloquial)
The third pattern with a full-noun actor before a bare verb is common in colloquial topicalization but is more restricted than first-/second-person object voice. In careful prose, actor voice or di- passive is generally clearer.
Relative clauses also reveal the pivot:
Inilah buku yang dibacakan ibu kepada anak itu.
This is the book that the mother read aloud to the child.
The head buku corresponds to the theme pivot of dibacakan. To make ibu the relative head, use actor voice: ibu yang membacakan buku....
Common Mistakes
1. Treating the goal as the direct object of memasukkan
❌ Dia memasukkan ke dalam kotak kunci itu.
Poor neutral order—the moved theme follows the verb before its goal.
✅ Dia memasukkan kunci itu ke dalam kotak kecil.
He put the key into the small box.
2. Adding kepada before the theme
❌ Ibu membacakan kepada buku itu untuk anak.
Incorrect roles—the book is the direct theme object.
✅ Ibu membacakan buku itu kepada anak sebelum tidur.
The mother read that book aloud to the child before bedtime.
3. Dropping -kan in an object-voice causative
❌ Kunci itu saya masuk ke dalam beg.
Incorrect causative valency—this makes masuk intransitive while retaining a fronted theme.
✅ Kunci itu saya masukkan ke dalam beg.
I put that key into the bag.
4. Separating the passive prefix
❌ Pintu itu di bukakan untuk tetamu.
Incorrect spelling—the passive prefix is attached.
✅ Pintu itu dibukakan untuk tetamu kehormat.
The door was opened for the guest of honor.
5. Confusing an omitted actor with absent causation
❌ Meja itu dibersihkan bermaksud meja itu membersihkan dirinya sendiri.
Incorrect interpretation—the passive leaves its actor unstated.
✅ Meja itu dibersihkan sebelum restoran dibuka.
The table was cleaned before the restaurant opened.
Key Takeaways
In actor voice, the causer precedes a meN-...-kan verb and the result-bearing theme or patient normally follows it directly. Beneficiaries and goals commonly appear in kepada, untuk, or locative phrases. Passive and relative-clause alternations reveal which participant has pivot status; first- and second-person actors favor object voice while retaining -kan. Lexical valency, not English word order alone, controls which alternations are available.
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Start learning Malay →Related Topics
- -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.
- -kan Valency Patterns: Choosing This Construction in Malaysian MalayB2 — Choose -kan when a clause presents caused motion, a result-bearing participant, or an action performed for someone.
- -kan Valency Patterns: Aspect, Modality, and Negation in Malaysian MalayB2 — Place aspect, modal, and negative particles before unchanged active, passive, and object-voice verbs ending in -kan.
- -kan Valency Patterns: Advanced Constraints and Register in Malaysian MalayC1 — Analyze -kan in relative clauses, extraction, lexicalized verbs, agentless passives, and formal and colloquial voice patterns.
- -kan versus -i: Overview and Formation in Malaysian MalayB2 — Choose -kan or -i by identifying whether a moved theme, caused result, location, goal, or recipient is treated as directly affected.
- di- Passive: Subjects, Objects, and Argument Order in Malaysian MalayA2 — Identify the patient subject, optional agent, pronoun patterns, and argument alternations licensed by the Malaysian Malay di- passive.