Tapak perkhemahan itu dekat air terjun.

A natural word-by-word breakdown is:

• tapak = site, ground, base
• perkhemahan = camping, campsite-related activity; in this phrase it helps form campsite / camping site
• itu = that / the (depending on context)
• dekat = near
• air terjun = waterfall

So tapak perkhemahan means campsite, and the whole sentence means The campsite is near the waterfall.

Malay often leaves out the verb to be when linking a subject to a description or location.

So where English says:

• The campsite is near the waterfall

Malay simply says:

• Tapak perkhemahan itu dekat air terjun

This is completely normal. In sentences like this, Malay does not need a separate word for is.

In this sentence, itu points to a specific campsite. It can often be understood as:

• that campsite
• or simply the campsite

Malay uses itu after the noun:

• tapak perkhemahan itu = that campsite / the campsite

This is different from English, where demonstratives come before the noun:

• English: that campsite
• Malay: tapak perkhemahan itu

That is the normal Malay pattern.

Malay places demonstratives like ini and itu after the noun:

• rumah itu = that house
• buku ini = this book
• tapak perkhemahan itu = that campsite

So even though English says that campsite, Malay says campsite that in word order.

It is a noun phrase, not a single word.

• tapak = site / ground / location
• perkhemahan = camping / camp-related noun

Together they form tapak perkhemahan, meaning campsite or camping site.

Malay often builds meanings this way by putting nouns together.

In this sentence, dekat means near and functions naturally in the location statement.

For a learner, the easiest way to think of it is:

• X dekat Y = X is near Y

So:

• Tapak perkhemahan itu dekat air terjun = The campsite is near the waterfall

You may also hear related forms like:

• di dekat = near / in the vicinity of
• berdekatan dengan = close to / located near

But dekat by itself is very common and natural in everyday Malay.

Yes, you can. It is understandable and natural in many contexts.

Compare:

• Tapak perkhemahan itu dekat air terjun = The campsite is near the waterfall.
• Tapak perkhemahan itu di dekat air terjun = The campsite is near the waterfall / in the area near the waterfall.

The version without di is very common in speech and simple statements.
The version with di dekat can sound a little more explicitly locational.

Literally, air terjun means falling water:

• air = water
• terjun = dive / plunge / fall downward

Together, the fixed expression air terjun means waterfall.

This is a good example of Malay compound expressions not always translating word-for-word in the most natural English way.

Malay does not have articles exactly like English a and the.

Whether a noun is understood as a waterfall or the waterfall usually depends on context.

So:

• air terjun can mean a waterfall or the waterfall
• tapak perkhemahan itu is more specific because of itu

In this sentence, the intended meaning is likely the waterfall because the context probably makes it clear which waterfall is meant.

Mostly yes.

The sentence structure is:

• Tapak perkhemahan itu = subject
• dekat air terjun = location / predicate

So it follows a pattern similar to:

• The campsite
  • is near the waterfall

The biggest differences from English are:

• no verb is
• itu comes after the noun

If you say:

• Tapak perkhemahan dekat air terjun

it becomes less specifically tied to that/the campsite.

It may sound more like:

• A campsite is near the waterfall
• or The campsite near the waterfall, depending on context

Adding itu makes the noun phrase more definite and specific:

• tapak perkhemahan itu = that campsite / the campsite

Yes, if you want to mean this campsite instead of that campsite.

• tapak perkhemahan ini = this campsite
• tapak perkhemahan itu = that campsite

So:

• Tapak perkhemahan ini dekat air terjun = This campsite is near the waterfall

Again, the demonstrative comes after the noun.

A simple approximate pronunciation for English speakers is:

• TAH-pahk pair-khem-AH-han EE-too DEH-kaht AH-eer tair-JOON

A few helpful notes:

• tapak: both a vowels are like the a in father
• air is usually pronounced like ah-eer, not like English air
• terjun ends with joon
• Malay pronunciation is generally quite regular, so words are often pronounced close to the way they are spelled

Yes. It is short, grammatical, and natural.

It is the kind of simple sentence Malay commonly uses for describing location:

• Sekolah itu dekat masjid. = The school is near the mosque.
• Rumah saya dekat sini. = My house is near here.
• Tapak perkhemahan itu dekat air terjun. = The campsite is near the waterfall.

So this is a very useful sentence pattern to learn.