Pisau lipat ini kecil.

this

Breakdown of Pisau lipat ini kecil.

• kecil: small
• pisau lipat: the folding knife

Questions & Answers about Pisau lipat ini kecil.

What does each word in Pisau lipat ini kecil mean?

A word-by-word breakdown is:

• pisau = knife
• lipat = fold / folding
• ini = this
• kecil = small

So pisau lipat means folding knife or foldable knife, and the whole sentence means This folding knife is small.

Why is ini after the noun instead of before it, like this in English?

In Malay, demonstratives such as ini (this) and itu (that) usually come after the noun phrase they describe.

So:

• pisau ini = this knife
• pisau lipat ini = this folding knife

This is normal Malay word order. English says this folding knife, but Malay says something closer to folding knife this.

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

Malay often leaves out the verb to be in simple sentences with adjectives.

So:

• Pisau lipat ini kecil literally looks like This folding knife small
• but it naturally means This folding knife is small

This is a very common feature of Malay. You do not need a separate word for is here.

Is pisau lipat one idea or two separate words?